from Africa to Australia

Tanzania

The night ferry reached Dar around 6am. Buses were fully booked for the first 2 days so the only option of getting south was the train. First class was sold out but there were some seats available in second (6pax a cabin) for the next day. Men and women are separated on the train, but luckily our cabins were adjacent so during the day we could be together. It took us over 24hours through nice landscapes and small rural villages to cover the 900km to Mbeya.
Arriving there we got a minibus to the bus station where we got 2 more to the Malawian border. The border closes at 6pm and we got there a few minutes before closing, thanks to some guys who gave us a ride on there bike. To end an already very exhausting day we took another over packed minibus to Karonga, the nearest town 100km further.

Malawi

Again a travel day… 2 minibus rides took us to Nkhata Bay, on the shores of Lake Malawi. The N-S road in Malawi is paved the whole way and (for African standards) in good condition. The only negative thing is that different from Kenya and Tanzania, were there is a legal limit on the maximum amount of passengers, the Malawian drivers just keep filling up their vehicle. So you sit very uncomfortable with luggage under and on you, surrounded by fish (dead), chickens (alive) and no leg room whatsoever. Ones definition of ‘personal space’ changes completely. There is always room for more and one more and one more… (20-25 people were no exeption).

But the Malawian scenery is magnificent. Mountains on one side, the mighty Lake on the other, fields with baobab trees, forests, terracotta huts,… You see women in beautiful coloured dresses walking for kms with a child tucked away on the back. And while they are balancing a heavy bag on their heads, they carry buckets of water. Guys ride their handmade bikes which are stacked with wood or coal, and they end up pushing their bikes uphill because there are just so heavy. And little boys walk around in their rags or are playing football with a ball made from banana leaves. While it may sound nice, its poverty, nothing less. You can’t get much poorer then these people who lack just about anything (running water, power, toilet, all things we take for granted). But most people are filled with a joy of life we rarely experienced anywhere else. There is so much laughter, smiling and humanity among the locals. And they still make time for each other. Everyone greets each other, and not just a hello. It’s a ‘how are you’-ritual which takes 30 seconds each time and they get offended if you don’t do the same thing. Africa is an amazing and inspiring continent and it holds an special place in our hearts.


So we decided to have a rest day in Nkhata bay. I did 2 dives in the lake and although the visibility was not so good (rains had started so the water gets murky) I liked it. Diving freshwater is a different experience and watching new fishes (the ones you have in an aquarium back home) is always exiting.

We had an early rise, broke up the tent and made our way back to the village. There are better ways to start your day, then a 30 min walk in the blistering sun with heavy backpacks. There was only 1 minibus in town but luckily it went our direction. After a couple of hours we changed minibuses and 3hours later it was more of the same. This time we got in the back of a lorry filled with people, animals (dead and alive), bicycles, bags of sand, rice, grass. After 10h of non-stop travelling we made it 300km!! further south.

Using local transport (especially minibuses) is very intensive and time-consuming. There are road blocks at least every hour, they stop every 50m to drop people (or pick some up), and in every village they wait until they are full. But the good thing is that we were always the only white faces around. In the whole of Malawi, we didn’t see one other tourist on the road. And the locals are so friendly and always someone wants to talk to you. And in every small village you pass, they sell hawker food (amandas, corn, samosas, fresh fruit) so you never go hungry.

We slept in a town that only had 2 ‘guesthouses’ and 1 place to eat. We slept in 2x3m room behind the bus station. At 3.45am, the first minibus was ready to leave, so the driver started honking non-stop until it was full, and when that happened another driver took over. So by 5.30 am we were on the move again. About 7 hours later we made it to Blantyre, the commercial capital and the second city in the country. We stayed in a really nice backpackers and we had a hot shower for the first time since we left Laura’s uncle house in Kenya. It was also the first place in a long time that had power the whole day and not the ‘22h power-26h no power’ regime most countries (Uganda and Malawi everywhere, Tanzania and Kenya in rural areas) upheld. And there was coca cola again!! The whole northern part experienced a drought because the factory had run out of the gas which makes the bubbles, so there was only beer, water and fresh juice.

Where to go??

We hadn’t figured out what to do from here. We had about 10 days till our flight to Sydney. We really wanted to go to Mozambique and its beautiful beaches again, but flying there was way too expensive and getting overland through the northern part of the country is madness. It takes you 3 days of bus rides to get south and then another 2-3 days to get to Jo’burg. Laura’s body was aching after a week of sitting in minibuses in Malawi so we decided to ditch this option.
Taking the bus straight from Blantyre to Jo’burg would take 26h and proved to be expensive as we had to buy visas for Zimbabwe and Mozambique (100euros). A travel agency told us that you could get cheap standby tickets at the airport. You couldn’t book them anywhere. Just turn up in the morning and hope that there is a seat available. So we took the risk. And how easy did it go! And it even turned out slightly cheaper then the bus and it only took 2,5hours!!
So suddenly we were in South Africa. We had too much time just to stay in Jo’burg and too little to go anywhere else. Flying over to see if Cape Town had changed sounded attractive, renting a car and going to Kruger Park was not too bad either… we just didn’t know where to go!! So many options, so many places to go. To postpone a decision we put ourselves on the waiting list of the already overbooked flight to Sydney. And an hour before departure they called our names!! So we checked in and rushed towards the gate. What a day: we left the backpackers in Blantyre that morning with little hope to catch a flight to Jo’burg and suddenly we were on our way to Australia!!

Sydney

It was a (small) culture shock, like being transferred into a different world. Sydney is a beautiful city. The harbour bridge, the opera house, the gardens, the centre, Bondi beach … its all great. We stayed in Kings Cross, which is the main backpacker area. It’s also the red light district and filled with hookers, sex shops, pushers, hustlers, nightclubs, students, drunks, junkies, tittie bars, crooks… there was never a dull moment, 24h action. We also realized that now we’ve been to all the continents!!

After a couple of days we finally found a campervan we liked. It’s old (1981 Toyota hiace) but Louise (that’s what we call her) drives well and came fully equipped (fridge, bed, cupboard, bed, kitchen and gear, esky, gas fire, wetsuit and snorkelling gear, roadmaps, powerplugs… ). We didn’t had it checked out by a mechanic before we bought it, but we had a good feeling about it and the guy we bought it from was honest. Lauren’s mechanic serviced it a couple of days ago and he said it was in good shape and should get us around.

Philippe, Laura and Louise on the road

So after a small week in Sydney we couldn’t wait to hit the road. As it is an old car, it doesn’t start easy in the morning, you got to use the choke. It also cools downs at night (single digits) so that makes it even harder to start. But so far I always manage to get it running. The good thing is we’ll probably never get a speeding ticket as 90-100km/h is about as fast as Louise wants to go.

The first day didn’t go that smooth. Laura drove us smoothly out of Sydney, but a couple of times she tried to start in third in stead of first (the gears are on the left side attached to the steering wheel, so add this with driving on the left, and you’ll understand that it gets confusing in the beginning) which resulted in me pushing the van from a 4-lane road while cars were passing me.

Out of 3 nights we sleep 2 nights on free park grounds close to the road and 1 night in a caravan park so that we can have a shower. We took it really easy, driving along the coast and taking in the beautiful scenery. We get all our food in big supermarkets and prepare all meals in the van. This saves a lot of money and for the first time since we’re travelling we don’t need to worry where to eat. Now I can finally repay Laura and drive her around in stead of she me, but I love cruising around here.

We have been too so many beautiful places already. But among the nicest so far were the small whaling town of Eden, Wilsons Promontory NP, the 200 km long Great Ocean Road (which is one of the most impressive and beautiful roads in the world) between Torquay and Warnambool, the Grampians NP, and so on…
We have seen wild koalas, kangaroos, wombats… we’ve swam in beautiful but freezing cold rough oceans… hiked through forests…ate fish and chips in small seaside towns… just too much to mention. As you’ve probably heard, there have been massive bushfires in Victoria, so even in Melbourne the sky is hazy.
Australian people are friendly and easygoing. Everybody is your ‘mate’ and everything is ‘no worries’. You just got to love the accent!!

Hey Lauren!

So 10 days and 2000km later we made it to Lauren’s home on Christmas eve. It was great seeing her again after all those months!! Her parents, Paul and Liz, are so friendly and they make us feel right at home. We had Christmas lunch at their place together with Paul’s brother. We got presents from Lauren, her parents and even her boyfriend Scooter. We really didn’t expected this, and we felt bad because we had send a package from Belgium with presents for her and her parents, but so far it still hasn’t arrived.
In the evening we went to Scooters home for more drinks with his family. It was a long but an amazing Australian Christmas day!!! And it was the coldest Christmas since recordings, 14 degrees, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But now its getting warmer, 30 something, phiueeew.

We haven’t been doing much more, Just relaxing, enjoying happy hour and nice meals. We have been to the city twice. Melbourne is great! They are nuts about sports (cricket and Aussie rules football, but any other sport will do) and they love food. The city is filled with restaurants, brasseries,markets, bistros,… and it’s the best food from all over the world.

Near future

Tonight we’ll go in the city to see the fireworks. And there is a party at Lauren’s place, so it will be a great night! Tomorrow, if the hangover is not too bad, we’ll probably go into the city. There is a huge festival (www.summadayze.com) during the day in a park (with basement jaxx, darren emerson, mylo, martin solveig, bob sinclair, etc…sold out:-(, but we’ll go and see/listen from the park.

It’s an understatement but distances here are huge, you can’t believe it. So with pain in our heart we decided not to go to West Australia (which is a 3-day drive and bigger then the whole of Western europe). We will put Louise on the ferry on the 3rd and tour Tasmania for 2 weeks. After that we’ll be staying in Melbourne again. We normally have tickets to go and see the Australian Open (tennis) and Lauren bought tickets for the already sold out Big Day Out Festival (www.bigdayout.com) by the end of January (the killers, muse, tool, justice, the streets,…). After that will go to the middle of the country, Alice Springs, then up north to Cairns and down the eastcoast in Queensland to Sydney.

So we’ll hope you all have a great night tonight!!! And best wishes to all of you!! Enjoy!! When you’ll be having a countdown, we’ll be in bed…

This is our Australian phone number: +61 /4 236 529 57

See ya!!