#backpacker Melbourne hostel

[alexiusgoesrogue]

Status update: Jan 22nd

After three failed attempts, the main flights were finally booked. The trip to England had to be cut out, because for some weird reason, (at least) one airline kept on being the reason to continuously cancel my bookings before they could even process the payments.

Instead, the trip officially starts on Feb 7th, going from Bremen Central Station by train down to Düsseldorf International Airport. From there, the first flight stops in Dubai for a brief layover (and airplane switch) to then head over to Melbourne, and after one last layover arrive in Wellington on the 9th.

My hostel is only half an hour away by bus, and fairly cheap too for the eleven nights I’ll be staying there. What my friend and I will be up to is still not fully set. I believe we’ll be spontaneous or figure out our plans the day before instead of creating a whole schedule.

Return flight will be on Feb 20th, directly from Wellington to Dubai and back to Düsseldorf on the 21st. The entire trip back will be about 35 hours, making this the longest day of my life.

Many preparations have been made, several others are still waiting to be done. The luggage and backpack near the door are a constant reminder that February is now only about two weeks away, and somehow I feel as if everything and yet nothing is done.

A bunch of things already are packed away to make sure they’re not forgotten. Others still sit in their usual spots because they’re still in use, and I have to hope I won’t forget about packing them. Yet other items are not even in my possession still, such as film for my Polaroid or a decent powerbank.

But since the most scary part had been overcome already, my nerves have calmed down significantly already. The anxiety shoots up my spine on occasion when I remember that this is actually going to happen soon. However, it also excites me that I’ll finally get to fulfil this dream of a younger, 13 year old me who dreamt of seeing the world and meeting the people they chatted with online in English every day.

And equally exciting is having my friends and family getting to see all the stupid stuff I’ll definitely be getting myself into from home, thanks to this blog. It gives me a funny feeling to see my dad made a tumblr account just to cheer me on in the comments. Not complaining at all though, I find it really sweet.

[travelsbliss]

The Ultimate Guide for Backpackers in Melbourne: A Guide for U.S. Travelers Are you a backpacker planning an adventure in Australia? Melbourne is a top destination for budget travelers seeking culture, history, and vibrant city life. This guide is tailored for U.S. travelers looking for budget-friendly tips and must-see spots in Melbourne. Whether you're staying in a hostel, exploring free attractions, or dining at affordable eateries, Melbourne is perfect for a backpacker’s journey. 🎒🇦🇺 📍 Discover Backpacker Melbourne: The Ultimate Guide for Backpackers in Melbourne - A Guide for U.S. Travelers

[grahamstoney]

How To Be A Dickhead Personal Trainer

New Post has been published on https://grahamstoney.com/health/how-dickhead-personal-trainer

How To Be A Dickhead Personal Trainer

I recently had a conversation with a personal trainer at Fitness First on Collins Street, Melbourne that highlighted for me how not to work with a potential new client. Now I don’t want to malign this fine institution or their personal trainers in general; I don’t know the stringent requirements they have for the position, nor do I want to suggest that all their trainers treat potential clients the same way.

This Guy Is Probably A Lot Better

I’d probably include the specific trainers name here to avoid any possibility of confusion, if I could remember it; but I don’t remember it, and frankly don’t want to. I’ll just call him “Mr Trainer”, on the basis that if I show him some respect, he might learn to do the same to me.

The interaction left me feeling cranky until I could channel my anger passive-aggressively into this article. So here are a few suggestions on how to deal with potential clients that other personal trainers might find helpful if you want to come across as a real dickhead:

1. Tell Potential Clients That They’re Doing It All Wrong

… but don’t tell them how to do it right. This started soon after Mr Trainer asked me “What do you want to get out of coming to the gym today?”

I was in Melbourne primarily for the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, had been there for two weeks, and felt I had done enough sight-seeing during the daytime; which tended to be relatively devoid of comedy. Most of the festival action is on at night, so I had some time to kill and the hostel where I was staying had given me a free gym pass, which turned out to be worth every cent I’d paid for it.

OK, enough back story. I replied: “Well I had some time to kill, and I’d like to improve my upper body strength and my self-confidence.”

“No, that’s not right”, he said.

Well, actually it was, but I was looking for commonality between us to help build rapport and I habitually avoid conflict, so I said “Ok, how about I just want to improve my upper body strength and confidence?”

He shook his head: “Well you’re not going about it the right way. I saw you on the lat pull-down machine before when I was coaching my client beside you”, he said, “and you were lifting the same weight that she was.”

So the implication was that I wasn’t lifting enough weight; I was only lifting a girls weight.

“I see. Are you suggesting I should be lifting more weight?”

“You sit down all the time.”, he said, which was news to me. I’m actually pretty active and gave up my all-day-at-a-desk job years ago. I’m getting into stand-up comedy, not sit-down comedy. “Don’t sit down. Walk around. Use the weight of gravity and work against that. Do push-ups.”, he said.

This pretty much set the theme for our interaction electing him as the expert and me the bumbling fool. I know I’m thin and wiry, but that’s just how god made me. I have been in a gym before, and although I feel intimidated and out-of-place with all those buffed guys walking around lifting cars, I do still have a reasonable idea of how the whole thing works.

Now in all fairness to Mr Trainer, I hadn’t paid for a full fitness assessment, and he didn’t give me one. But he did seem to enjoy telling me that every life choice I ever made was wrong, without asking me why nor taking my specific needs into account. I couldn’t easily see how simply walking around was going to improve my upper body strength and I’m not so feeble that I have to struggle daily against the mere force of gravity.

But it didn’t stop there. When I said I lived in Bondi in Sydney, it seemed that was wrong too.

“Bondi? No, you don’t want to live there.” he said.

“I love it; the beach is beautiful, and the place is full of European backpackers”, I countered.

“People get stabbed there. There are stabbings”, he replied.

Well woop-dee-doo. So idiots sometimes get drunk and pick fights with each other, then pretend they’re the innocent victim of a supreme injustice when it all turns nasty. That happens everywhere. It’s not hard to stay away from the isolated incidents of violence in any big city. Besides, yesterday’s paper said they thought human remains were found off St Kilda beach. Why the hell do people from Sydney and Melbourne have to hate each other? Are we still children who have to argue that my city is better than your city in order to feel good about ourselves?

“I love living in Bondi”, I said, “Every second girl I meet there is a vegan yoga instructor”

I felt the sense of derision: “Well they wouldn’t be much good if they’re a vegan yoga instructor. They’re all messed up in the head.”

I don’t know what his experience of yoga has been, but even though it’s not my favourite spiritual practice, it is renowned for the calming effect it has on the mind. It’s probably even possible to be healthy and vegan.

“Well, I prefer Tai Chi myself, because I prefer the continuous sense of movement”, I replied, again looking for commonality.

“I’m a Tai Chi instructor”, he said. Again I felt the sense of superiority. It was starting to look as though we had a lot in common, and should have got on like a house on fire, if only the guy hadn’t been stuck in ego superiority dickhead land.

2. Treat Potential Clients Like They’re An Idiot

I’m not familiar with the tremendous demands placed on members of the personal training industry by their profession, so maybe I’m being a bit harsh here. I do know that my own life hasn’t always been a walk in the park, but I’m a smart guy and I’ve learned a lot about how to overcome adversity in the last few years with a combination of brute-force persistence, emotional intelligence and a positive mental attitude.

At first I thought that being a comedian, I would have little in common with Mr Trainer. But as the conversation progressed and he launched into an unsolicited lecture on the importance of a holistic approach to health and fitness, the topic of unconscious beliefs, hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, the power of the mind, and the importance of a holistic lifestyle approach that includes both physical and mental aspects came up. All the stuff I’m right into.

“I’m also a life coach”, he said, “I studied hypnosis in Las Vegas.”

Well, everyone’s a life coach these days aren’t they?

“That’s awesome. I’ve been studying NLP for several years myself, and am fascinated by hypnosis and the power of the subconscious mind”, I said. I even threw in a reference to Milton Erickson in the hope of both impressing the guy and getting onto the same page.

We talked a bit more about how the conscious and unconscious mind interact. I neglected to say that I was also a confidence coach, and instead focused on discussing my plan to take over the world by subliminally teaching emotional intelligence, NLP and other mental principles of consciousness to my comedy audience.

“I’ve even been listening to an audio book by Edward De Bono titled How To Have A Beautiful Mind while training today”, I said. Then I looked him in the eye, smiled and said “We have a lot in common.”

This should have been a fascinating conversation between two like-minded soul brothers; yet something was amiss, and in hindsight I think that something was this guy’s need to feel superior to me.

Mr Trainer responded with a look that said “I’m superior to you in every way buddy. We have nothing in common.” To reinforce the point, he pulled up his shirt and showed me his hairy abs. I’m not kidding.

Ironically, the specific part of the audio book I’d just been listening to was on connecting with other people by finding what you have in common with them, rather than areas where you differ. Perhaps Mr Trainer might like to read it to help him build better rapport with future potential clients.

3. Laud Your Physique Over Theirs

I don’t claim to have a body-builder’s body, but I do like to keep mine fit and healthy since it’s the only one I have and I plan on it lasting a long time. Call me lazy, but I don’t spend my spare time between clients working out in the gym, nor did I lift weights like Brutus Beefcake every day for the past ten years.

There’s more than one very good reason for this; but that possibility didn’t seem to occur to Mr Trainer and he didn’t ask. He didn’t bother to enquire what health and fitness activities I did engage in nor what my personal experiences had been up until this point. Instead, he just went about implying that he was better than me because his physique was superior to mine.

During our conversation about the relationship between physical and mental fitness when he looked at me and said: “I took the physical route first and then the mental; I can see that you’ve taken the mental first”.

Yeah, nice one Mr Trainer.

Later on when I wanted to know where the sit-up bench was, I asked another trainer who gave me a useful answer while Mr Trainer gave another unhelpful dickhead response as he condescendingly put his hand on my shoulder.

I took that as a subtle put-down, but then… I am rather paranoid about the whole bullying thing. Perhaps he was well-intentioned. I mean, how could he possibly have forgotten already that he and I have nothing in common?

[damiananthony1]

My first, extremely awkward, hostel experience...

I’ve been in Australia for 3 weeks now and, despite several requests from back home, I’ve dragged my feet when it came to documenting my travels. So, after much procrastination, here it is: my travel blog. Now I won’t make any claims of being a decent “writer” by any means. There will be typos and grammatical errors. I also won’t promise that any of this will be entertaining. Read at your own risk of boredom. I have a long bus ride ahead of me, and nowhere to go, so I’ll write about some of my experiences.

Let’s start with Melbourne and my first ever stay in a hostel. I’ll tell you it was a bit of a shock being 30 and thrown into a crowd of horny 18-20 year olds partying every night non-stop. So I checked into my room in St Kilda and was greeted first by the strong scent of body odour and dirty socks. Good start... Secondly I was approached by two Scottish guys, one was a very big boy with bright ginger hair who I could not understand a single word he said. He would later bring home 48 chicken nuggets, 6 medium fries, and a lot of Coca Cola to share with me so I liked him. My other 4 roommates had been staying in this stinky room for several months just working. A Danish guy, a Swede, an American, and the only girl in the room who was from Perth.

Everybody seemed friendly though, so I decided to go down to the bar in an attempt to be social and just jump straight into the fray. I think this was a terrible idea. It wasn’t even 10PM and everybody was beyond wasted. People were falling all over each other, sweating on everything they touched. It was like a slippery zombie apocalypse except the zombies were a bunch of drunk young guys with more testosterone than active brain cells. And then there were the equally drunk girls who seemed completely unbothered by the tongues being shoved down their throats. It was like an amalgamation of alcohol, sweat, saliva and hormones... I bought some Tim Tams (which are so delicious), and went to bed.

At some point in the middle of the night I heard one of my roommates come home, the girl from Perth. With her was some Irish guy. I think you can all see where this is going. Her bed was in the middle of the room, bottom bunk. There were at least 5 other people sleeping within no more than 1 meter from her bed. We weren’t really sleeping though because the aggressive creaking of the bunk could be heard even through noise cancelling headphones. I feel bad for whoever was on the top bunk and along for the ride. But I feel even worse for the Irish guy she brought home. Sounds like he went soft half way through and she kind of gave him a hard time. That’s a hit to the ego for sure. They kept trying anyway, it was an awkward experience to listen to...

Eventually I fell back asleep, but Perth Girl and I had a good laugh about it in the morning. She claims she couldn’t remember much of what happened so I gave her the recap from the audience perspective. The awkward first hostel experience though, was outweighed by the 4 dozen chicken nuggets Big Ginger Scottish Guy brought back to the room later that day.

[nikolai-novak]

Nikolai’s Travel Timeline

Nikolai graduated from high school in 2018, shortly before his 18th birthday in August. Given his family circumstances at the time, he really needed to get away so he took advantage of the fact that he had a full drivers licence and more than enough money to fund his travels.

June 2018 - December 2018

Nikolai was inspired by a photographer that he really liked -- Brian DeFrees -- when it came to mapping out his road trip around the state. In 2011, Brian travelled through 30-odd states in 53 days to see all the major landmarks. Nikolai followed a similar pathway by catching a flight to Virginia, bought a Kombi van, and started the road trip. Nikolai, however, took a full six months to complete the trip. Nikolai visited the following states and explored significantly in each:

Virginia

South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Louisiana 

Texas

New Mexico 

Arizona

Nevada (in which he caught up with old friends from high school)

California (in which he briefly stopped in and visited his parents to ease their nagging)

Oregon 

Washington (in which he met August Bright for the first time and his intended short stay in Washington was extended considerably. This is a major contributing reason as to why a trip that could have been completed in two months ended up blowing out to six months in duration. (@augustbright)

Idaho 

Montana 

Wyoming

Utah

Colorado 

Nebraska 

South Dakota 

North Dakota 

Minnesota 

Wisconsin 

Iowa

Illinois 

Ohio 

New York 

Nikolai then sold his Kombi van in New York and booked the cheapest round the world ticket that he could find. The ticket included flights from New York --> London --> Bangkok --> Singapore --> Sydney. 

December 2018 - September 2019 

After booking his flight to London, Nikolai spent the next nine and a half months backpacking around Europe. Now this was genuine backpacking, with Nikolai relying on various forms of transport -- including trains, buses, and even hitchhiking at times. His adventures were as follows: 

Great Britain leg -  England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland 

Central Europe, primarily via train - Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, France

Balkans leg - Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo 

Iberian leg - Spain and Portugal 

Transylvanian leg - Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania 

Baltics leg - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia 

Scandinavia leg - Denmark, Sweden, Norway 

South Caucasus leg - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan 

Greek Islands leg 

Note: It was in London that he first met Hannah Callaghan. The two met in a bar, hit it off, and fell into bed together. Nikolai didn’t stay in London for long, however he and Hannah have remained in sporadic contact ever since and will always hook-up again when they’re in the same place at the same time. @hannahcallaghanmu

October 2019 - November 2019

After finishing in Europe, Nikolai booked the next flight on his round the world trip and headed to Bangkok. He spent the next two months backpacking around Thailand, both north and south: 

Thailand - Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin, Ko Tao, Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Samui, Khao Sok National Park, Krabi, Rai Leh, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta

December 2019

After finishing his travels in Thailand, Nikolai used the next part of his round the world the world ticket to head to Singapore. 

Singapore - exhausted from all the backpacking, Nikolai just spent a week in a resort in Singapore. Whilst he did explore the city, he was mainly focused on relaxing and recuperating in a 5-star hotel after primarily sleeping in vans, backpacker hostels, and even tents in some places since first beginning his travels.

December 2019 - July 2020

After Singapore, Nikolai booked the last leg of his round the world ticket and headed to Australia. After landing in Sydney, Nikolai scoured local car dealerships and bought himself another second hand Kombi van and commenced a backpacking trip around Australia. Starting from Sydney, Nikolai’s journey was as follows:

New South Wales - The Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Yamba, Byron Bay

Queensland - Gold Coast, Brisbane, Noosa, Fraser Island, Hervey Bay, Agnes Water, Lady Musgrave Island, Lady Elliot Island, Airlie Beach, Hamilton Island, Townsville, Magnetic Island, Mission Beach, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

He sold the Kombi van after finishing in Cairns so that he could fly over to Western Australia. After spending about a week on Rottnest Island, he managed to buy a second hand van that the owners had renovated for their own past long distance road trips. From there, the adventure continued: 

Western Australia - Margaret River, Denmark, Albany, Esperance, Perth, Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Coral Bay, Exmouth, Ningaloo Reef, Karijini National Park, Broome, the Kimberley

Northern Territory - Darwin, Litchfield, Kakadu, Katherine, Alice Springs, Uluru, The Red Centre

South Australia - Adelaide, Grampians National Park, then the Great Ocean Road into Victoria 

Victoria - Melbourne, Carlton, St Kilda, Brighton, Collingwood, Fitzroy

Nikolai then sold the van, took a flight over to Tasmania, and rented a vehicle as he knew that he would only be there for a few weeks: 

Tasmania - Hobart, Wild West Coast, Cradle Mountain, Launceston, Bay of Fires, Wineglass Bay, Port Arthur

Nikolai then took a flight to Australian Capital Territory, where he spent a few last days in Australia before having to fly back to start at MU:

Australian Capital Territory - Canberra, Jervis Bay

July 2020

After finishing his mammoth Australian adventure, Nikolai received the ultimatum from his parents: either come back to California and get a university degree or they would be cutting off his access to his trust fund. Nikolai requested a couple of weeks to think about it and immediately booked a flight to Bali, Indonesia. Nikolai spent the two weeks in Bali thinking about the offer, before reluctantly booking a flight back to California. 

August 2020 - December 2020 

It was during this period that Nikolai was a student at Monarch University, having enrolled to study Exercise Science and Physiology. Nikolai really didn’t want to be at university and certainly wasn’t passionate about his chosen major. Struggling to adjust to life at MU, Nikolai crunched the numbers and he realised he could continue funding his travel expenses through his travel and photography blog. With that realisation, he called his parents bluff and left campus. His parents didn’t fully cut off his access to the trust fund but did restrict it (meaning that he was able to withdraw less money than usual each month) but between that and his blog, he was able to make it work. 

January 2021 - April 2021

After leaving MU, Nikolai impulsively booked a flight to Florida. He intended to just stay for a couple of weeks to party and blow off steam but ended up meeting Este Castillo (@estecastillo) in Miami. The couple of weeks turned into a few months whilst the two of them casually dated -- which is the most commitment that Nikolai has given to anyone since the whole mess with Lily. Whilst in Florida, his blog really started to take off. Despite the fact that he wasn’t travelling as extensively as he had in the past, people really loved his photos of Florida; and he had plenty of unseen pictures and stories from his previous adventures that he finally had the time to fully share. Este and Nikolai eventually had an amicable breakup as Nikolai was itching to hop on a flight. 

May 2021 - June 2021

Hopping on a flight led Nikolai to another backpacking adventure, this time in Brazil. Nikolai really hit a sweet spot with his photography and travel blog -- when he had first started the account after finishing high school, he had posted a photo a day; which really was only the briefest snapshot of his adventures as he would take countless photos each and every day. Each photo was accompanied with a brief caption to explain where said photo was taken. Having had some time to fully fleshed things out in Florida, Nikolai started posting more and more of the photos that he had taken over the last few years and accompanied them with detailed stories. The combination of his photography and genuine passion for travel was a recipe for success and this only continued as he backpacked through Brazil for two months.

July 2021 - current

Nikolai is back at MU and studying Business and Photography because he wants to figure out a way to make his blog into a sustainable career. Nikolai still has thousands of photos in his back catalogue that he can share, along with countless stories. Still, he’s making sure to supplement the blog by fully exploring everything that California has to offer; and whenever he can, he will take short weekend trips away or make the most of semester breaks to ensure that people get a good combination of both old and new content. 

[summiere-blog]

I’m heading to Melbourne real soon

and i’m so pumped about collecting photos of street art and architecture and all the things!!!!

[ablueworldrover]

Melbs

So... My adventure is coming to an end soon than I had hoped... I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning to try to get back home. It’s disappointing, but I know it’s really just out of my control. 

What’s worse is I just started making friends here in Melbourne! I got a few contacts though, so hopefully I’ll get the chance to see some of these folks again. 

My time in Mel has been too short to be perfectly honest. A week, like I planned, but too short... This city has so much to offer and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I will definitely be back. My hostel, Flinders Backpackers, is a number of things: Lively, fun, intimidating, loud, but above all exciting. There is never a dull moment, someone is ALWAYS doing something, even at 3am. I was nervous when I first checked in because “oh my god there’s So. Many. People.” and slowly (very slowly) but surely, I’ve started talking to people and listening to their stories. I asked someone where they were from and they simple said “Earth”. I was up until 4 one night listening to someone tell me how the world wasn’t what they expected. since being in Melbourne I have seen people pass out, get arrested, laugh, and cry... And I’ve loved every moment of it. 

To be completely honest... I could even see myself living here...

Not sure if that will actually happen, but it will be something to consider. 😊

[hanni1011]

Die Hauptstadt Canberra

04.-08.12.2019

Angekommen in Canberra habe ich in mein neues Hostel (YHA) eingecheckt - sehr ruhig, aber schön mit Dachterrasse, Pool und großer Küche. Und ENDLICH hatte ich mal keine deutschen Backpacker auf meinem Zimmer und ich konnte Englisch sprechen :-) An dem Nachmittag bin ich nur noch ein bisschen durch die Stadt gelaufen, bevor ich früh geschlafen habe.

Den folgenden Tag bin ich sehr erholt in meinem eigenen Bett (wo ich mich mal ganz lang machen konnte, nicht wie im Auto :-D) aufgewacht, habe die Dusche genossen und dann stand Kultur und Geschichte auf dem Plan! Ich habe mir die Art Gallery, the national Museum of Australia (sehr interessant mit der Geschichte der Aborigines) und das alte und das neue Parlament angeschaut. Den Abend habe ich aufgrund der Einladung von Mama&Papa im Irish Pub ausklingen lassen - Danke !!! Es gab leckeres Bier und Chicken Parmigiana (Schnitzel mit Baconstreifen und Käse überbacken) - eine australische Spezialität ! Ein Abendessen zum reinlegen :-)

Passend zum Nikolaus wurde mir den nächsten Tag im Shoppingcenter Schokolade geschenkt und abends gab es ein Weihnachtsfest mit Live-Musik, künstlichem Schnee und Santa ! Es haben nur noch der Glühwein und die gebrannten Mandeln gefehlt.

Gestern habe ich den ganzen Tag in der Stadt und mit Telefonieren mit Phili verbracht. Abends ging es dann erneut ans Sachen packen.

Jetzt sitze ich wieder im Greyhound Bus und habe eine achtstündige Fahrt nach Melbourne vor mir. Dort werde ich die nächste Woche verbringen und mir einige Sehenswürdigkeiten drumherum anschauen.

See ya soon !

[riding-alpacas]

Tierra del Fuego

My route through Patagonia leads me from south to north - starting in the southernmost city of the world: Ushuaia. As usual in South America there are some debates if this is really the southernmost city, given that there are a few more towns and villages further south in Chile. Population wise it certainly is one of the bigger southernmost places.

I didn't have the highest expectations when I came here. Ushuaia is clearly a very busy, touristy place in summer. Lots of cruise ships stop here and it is also the starting point for Antarctica expeditions. I considered doing one of those as well, but when I researched the cost and what kind of trip it would be, I backed off. They are ridiculously expensive and pretty much all of them are targeting a more senior audience. If Antartica still exists when I'm 60, I might consider it again at that age.

Closer to Straya than to Canada

On my first day there was only a limited amount of people in the hostel. Well, that's what I thought. It turned out that during the day almost nobody was in the hostel ever. In the mornings and evenings though the place was buzzing. In one of the Backpacker groups on Facebook I found Corinna who also just arrived in Ushuaia and was looking for hiking buddies. During the following days we spent the majority of our time together as we got along really well. It's a shame that we have very different plans for our time after Ushuaia, but we figured that we might meet again in Central America.

The first hike we attempted was the one to Laguna Esmeralda. It gave me a first taste of the landscape so far south on our wonderful planet. If I'd have to describe it with one word it would definitely be rugged. There is something quite harsh but beautiful about the environment here - which makes sense, given that we had hardly more than 15 degrees during the day and it's basically winter down here most of the time. The tree line is super low (500m or so), the brownish colour above it is quite unique and the mountain peaks are just spectacular. And best of all, it's all pretty much untouched.

Felt a bit like Lord of the Rings

The hike itself was a lot of fun but not only due to the beautiful surroundings. It was muddy like hell. Parts of it led through peat bogs which I never hiked through before. First we both tried to avoid getting into the mud as much as possible by doing ridiculous detours (we actually almost got lost on the first 500m in) but for me at least the tolerance limit got lower pretty quick. My boots were waterproof and in my hostel they had boot brush cleaners anyway. Walking through peat bogs was pretty weird at first. They have a spongy, springy texture and no matter how dry they look, once you step on it you basically press out a lot of water. The lake itself was pretty nice. Many of the lakes I saw in Canada had the same blue, milky colour but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. Unfortunately I wasn't super lucky with the weather during the whole week but again: It's still just beautiful being out there in the spectacular outdoors of the Land of Fire.

A little bit of mud

Mystic

Next day was rest day. And rest day usually means checking out town and its museums. The first museum I tried was an old prison that Ushuaia is famous for. They've split it up into multiple sections, grouped by topic. I was very disappointed. Firstly, it was totally overpriced and secondly it was just... random. I expected some sort of golden thread when walking through the different prison cells but it felt just like a random collection of stuff. And it wasn't even good stuff. I was hoping to learn a little bit about the history of Ushuaia, the indigenous people who lived here etc. but it was very underwhelming. On the way to the city I had a quick look at a "museum" about the Islas Malvinas which was a huge flop, too so I almost skipped the last museum I had in mind. But thankfully I didn't because that one was finally a good one. Historia Fueguina tells four storylines that are related to Ushuaia’s history:

The indigenous people

One of the first European expeditions

The prison

An unbelievable rescue story about Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance

You wander from section to section, each one consisting of life-sized historic figures while listening to the story on the free audio guides. Most of the exhibits can be entered and you can pose for pictures. It was quite quirky but very educational and a lot of fun. Spoiler: Most indigenous people are now eradicated because the Europeans brought diseases and bullets when they discovered gold in the area. Same shit, different country.

Almost as comfy as my hostel beds

Next thing I did was a little hike up to the local glacier in town: Glaciar Martial. I did this one by myself because I really wanted to start it early and Corinna didn't want to pay for the taxi. It's very popular and I wanted to avoid the crowds. Surprisingly life generally starts late here, mostly around 10am. For this one I left the hostel at 8 and was on my way up at 8:30. And I am very happy about my decision because I had the whole trek for myself. Initially I felt a bit meh about this hike. Most photos in the web are quite underwhelming and the start of the hike is basically just walking along a ski slope. Luckily one of my room mates told me about some side trails and that the hike generally is actually quite nice. I'm glad I listened to him. At the beginning I walked along a beautiful creek with some of the clearest water on earth. After getting to a little viewing area, I continued up to the actual glacier. It became quite steep here, but it also wasn't a particularly long section. At the top I had a wonderful view of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel. I found a beautiful section where lots of small streams of water merged and just rested here for about 45 mins to soak in the view and some of the sun when it showed itself for a few seconds.

If I remember correctly this was also the very first time that I was making full use of my layering system. I started with my insulated jacket as it was pretty cold in the morning. Halfway through I added my windbreaker as it became quite windy above the tree line. On the way down it gradually became warmer but it also started raining, so I removed both jackets and changed into my rain jacket. Yes, you truly need a good layering system when in Patagonia.

Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel

More Lord of the Rings

The next day was the highlight of my time in Ushuaia. Corinna, the couple that she shared her Airbnb with and I rented a car and we made our way to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. Corinna and I had a crack at the Cerro Guanaco Trail which literally took our breath away. The hike starts at a glacial lake, then turns into a forrest and climbs up pretty steeply. After a while we reached a little viewpoint before going through some muddy terrain again. With the tree line behind us, we were now in pretty exposed and rugged territory and the trail became extremely steep. But we continued, slowly and steadily until we reached the top and a jaw-dropping view to all sides. We could see Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel in the distance, the glacial lake with some impressive mountains below us, ragged cliffs right next to us. It was just spectacular and very close to what I had in mind when thinking about Patagonia.

Ragged

My favourite view so far

Corinna and I

Beagle Channel

After our return we continued to explore the southern part of the National Park, took some dorky pictures at some touristy signs and returned back to Ushuaia. By the way: If I wouldn't know that the water is freezing cold down here I would just love to jump into all the little lakes and inlets here. The water is crystal clear and when the sun comes out and you actually feel a bit warm it is just too inviting...

The end of the road

Second best thing to do with these water conditions

Jump in!

What stroke us the most during our time down here was the very limited amount of wildlife on land. We saw a couple of brumbies (or whatever they call them here), some birds and a few flies, but that was basically it. No guanacos, no armadillos, not even a bloody worm or ant. I actually digged a little hole at one point to see if there is anything hidden in the soil but there wasn't anything. Corinna and I started building a theory that everything we saw was just fake and we were actually in some sort of TV show. I hope you are all very entertained by now!

The last activity I did was a rather disappointing one. Corinna had now left town and I decided to do a little trip to an island full of penguins and a cruise along the beagle channel on my last day. Little Penguins are quite common in Australia and I already saw a lot of them in Melbourne and on Phillip Island. I was hoping that the species they have here in Ushuaia would be a bit more different, but it turned out that the Magellanic Penguins (by far the biggest group of penguins here) are very, very similar. I also saw Gentoo Penguins and a King Penguin though, which was pretty cool. After spending about an hour on the island and some other random stuff on the way there (trees that were shaped by the wind, a museum about marine mammal skeletons (creepy (especially when they showed us the fresh carcasses (let's just add more brackets because I can)))) we started our cruise. And the cruise was just 100% meh. Towards the end we stopped at the famous lighthouse and at a few rocks with sea lion colonies but I guess I'm just too used to these animals so that in hindsights I'm a little angry with myself spending so much money on that activity.

Looks like it's a bit windy out here

The lady was very excited about skinning this skull

Gentoo Penguins

Spot the king!

Look at this ugly fella

That was my adventure at the end of the world. I started making some good friends and it was a great start to get to know Patagonia. Next up is El Chalten, the hiking capital of Argentina. Apparently they have really bad internet there, so it might get a little quiet here. Apart from that I also managed to get sick (Coronavirus?), so I'll probably have to rest a bit in the next few days.

I might meet Jean (who I met in the hostel) again in Bariloche

[larameetskoala]

Arbeit als Promoterin

Ich befinde mich momentan in einem Working Hostel in der Nähe von Melbourne, möchte euch aber jetzt erst einmal von meiner Arbeitswoche in Sydney berichten, die auf jeden Fall eine recht interessante Erfahrung war.

Ich arbeitete vom 8. Oktober bis zum 11. Oktober  für eine Agentur als Door-to-Door Promoterin. Das heißt also, dass mein Job daraus bestand, in Wohngebieten sechs Stunden am Stück an jeder Tür zu klingeln und mit allen Mitteln zu versuchen, den Leuten einen Vertrag einer Charity-Organisation schmackhaft zu machen. Während ich die ersten 3,5 Stunden des ersten Tages mit meinem Manager verbrachte, der mir demonstrierte, wie ich diesen Job zu machen hatte, war ich die letzten 1,5 Stunden bereits völlig auf mich allein gestellt, was ich wirklich alles andere als toll fand. Bereits nach dem ersten Tag war mir also schon klar, dass ich diesen Job auf keinen Fall für eine lange Zeit machen könnte.

Es gab auch noch einige weitere Probleme mit dem Job, die sich schnell zeigten: Einerseits war die Bezahlung nicht so gut, wie zu Beginn versprochen: 22$ pro Stunde, was zunächst vielleicht viel klingen mag, umgerechnet sind das aber auch „nur“ 13,50€ (in Australien sind die Löhne aufgrund höherer Lebenserhaltungskosten höher, als in Deutschland). Außerdem ist man als Backpacker in Australien verpflichtet, 15% seines Lohns zu versteuern. Zusätzlich gehen dann nochmal 9,5% des Lohns an die Rentenversicherung. Wenn man also nicht gerade schwarz arbeitet, gibt man einiges an Geld an den Staat ab.

Wie also schon erwähnt, wollte ich diesen Job so schnell wie möglich wieder kündigen und sprach am zweiten Tag mit meinem Manager darüber. Der redete mir jedoch ein, dass ich perfekt für diesen Job sei (wir wussten beide, dass das nicht stimmte) und meinte, ich solle es doch noch weiter probieren. Dem stimmte ich zu, wusste allerdings trotzdem genau, dass ich so schnell wie möglich aufhören wollte. Das sagte ich ihm dann auch am dritten Tag nochmal, woraufhin er recht beleidigt reagierte und ich somit am dritten und am vierten Tag die ganze Zeit auf mich allein gestellt war. Das waren wirklich zwei schreckliche Tage, die ganze Zeit hoffte ich nur, dass die Zeit noch schneller vergehen würde. 

Trotzdem möchte ich natürlich auch auf die positiven Seiten dieses Jobs eingehen, die vermutlich auch der Grund sind, weshalb nicht alle direkt nach einem Tag den Job kündigen. Zum einen waren meine Arbeitskollegen alle wirklich coole Leute und die Hin- und Rückfahrten haben aufgrund der Gespräche und der guten Musik immer viel Spaß gemacht. Was auch Spaß gemacht hat, war das Kennenlernen interessanter und netter Menschen beim Klingeln. Unter anderem lernte ich ein deutsches Pärchen kennen, das gerade auf Weltreise ist und in einem Haus auf einen Hund aufpasste. Es kamen tolle Gespräche zustande, aber diese ließen leider das furchtbar unangenehme Gefühl, das ich während der ganzen Arbeitszeit hatte, nicht verschwinden.

Als ich am Freitagabend dann endlich fertig war, freute ich mich wirklich sehr. An diesem Abend ging es dann mit den anderen Promotern noch in den Club, was zwar Spaß machte, aber ich war ehrlich gesagt trotzdem nicht sonderlich traurig darüber, dass ich vermutlich niemanden von denen je wieder sehen würde. Was ich allerdings dann an diesem Abend bemerkte, war, dass ich definitiv nicht die einzige in der Agentur war, die diesen Job absolut nicht ausstehen konnte. Es wurde einem nur stets das Gefühl vermittelt, dass dem so wäre.

Jedenfalls kann ich abschließend sagen, dass die Joberfahrung zwar durchaus interessant war, aber dass ich trotzdem nie wieder einen solchen Promotion-Job freiwillig machen und auch anderen davon abraten würde. Allerdings sind in den Wohngebieten einige schöne Fotos entstanden:

Nach diesem Job war dann erstmal ein Tapetenwechsel nötig, von dem ich euch im nächsten Beitrag berichten werde!

[discoverymelbourne3-blog]

Discovery Melbourne

Our Melbourne hostel/Backpackers accommodation offers the international or local traveller all the comforts they need. With large dorms filled with beds, to hotel quality private rooms, we’ve got you covered. budget accommodation Melbourne Our Social Page: facebook

[bestinau-blog]

Best and Cheap Hostels in Melbourne

Find the perfect hostel Melbourne with bestinau.com.au. Join Best in Australia backpackers hostels and explore cheap hostels Melbourne for yourself. Choose from a wide selection of the best hostels in downtown Melbourne.

[drinkingshoes]

#52: Bryggen (Bergen), Norway - Hansa Pilsner @ Bergen Harbour . One of the most beautiful harbours I’ve seen, even on a dreary day. . Backpacking in Norway was expensive, but loads of fun. I sat in a pub in Bergen with a girl I’d met at the hostel and we passed a beer back and forth between us because they were so insanely expensive we couldn’t afford one each. . Looking up prices now tho, it doesn’t seem any more expensive than getting a pint in Melbourne, but at the time it felt ridiculous after coming from other parts of Europe. I’m sure the exchange rate has changed, too.

[chaletnz]

Belgrade: Day One

I arrived very late to my hostel in central Belgrade welcomed back to the sight of more Cyrillic letters. I realised that I didn't even know which kind of alphabet the Serbian language uses. This was reason enough to go for a free walking tour the next morning! After my free breakfast - that was actually amazing because it was just a voucher to get a breakfast dish from a nice restaurant up the road where the owner of the hostel knows the owner of the restaurant and arranged a good deal for us! I went for the "eggy bread" with clotted cream and got something like less sweet French toast which was delicious but the portion was huge! I'd also ordered a mocha so by the time I'd finished I was waddling to the meeting point for the tour! Our guide was a sweet local girl called Jovanna who gathered us together at the clock tower to tell us the first good news of the day - the National Museum had reopened its doors after a 15 year closure, and the art gallery was also opened again this year after a 10 year closure. She also gave us a back story of the city of Belgrade; situated on the confluence point of two rivers it was the site of 114 battles which resulted in the city being destroyed 20 times. We walked down the oldest street in Belgrade which is still a pedestrian only street filled with traditional Serbian style restaurants that has become an "artistic" area of the city. We stopped outside the old house of Serbian poet Đura Jakšić and there Jovanna told us about the traditional foods of Serbia such as the pepper spread ajvar but more interestingly, she told us about the live musicians that played in the restaurants. Apparently there was a whole system for it that everybody just knows, the musicians go table to table and also you which song you want played and they'll play it loudly as you enjoy your meal. Tipping is the protocol and there are three methods on which tips are accepted;

1. The money can be rolled into a ball and thrown into the trumpet.

2. The money can be carefully placed between the folds of the accordion.

3. The money can be stuck onto the sweaty forehead of any of the performers and if it sticks until they've finished the song they can keep it. If not, they weren't sweaty enough!

Jovanna opened her backpack to reveal a plain plastic bottle filled with a whiskey coloured liquid which she introduced to us as "Serbian moonshine" or a homemade rakije. This one had been brewed by a friend of hers with honey added for sweetness. She poured us all a generous shot and we had our first alcohol in Belgrade together at 11am. Around the corner my question from last night was answered as we were educated on the topic of language. I did already know that Serbian is the same language as Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin but the difference in Serbia is that the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet are used equally and interchangeably. To Serbian people there shouldn't be any difficulty from one alphabet or the other and it's the same language after all, just two ways of reading and writing it. Latin alphabet is becoming dominant because of the advances in technology that have increased the use of Latin characters on the internet and on computer keyboards. As a result to combat this and practice preservation of the Cyrillic Serbian language, all official documents and texts must be written in Cyrillic. Around this neighbourhood we saw a lot of portraits painted on walls and Jovanna told us they were famous Serbians who supported the local football team from this area. Our next stop was the crossroad which was the only road that connected the two rivers and this became the trading route. It also had a church, a synagogue and the practically named Flag Mosque which had the important duty of raising the flag at the five Muslim prayer times each day as a signal for the other mosques in the area. We walked up the hill to the Belgrade fortress; it had been built originally by the Serbs, then reinforced by the Ottomans and finally reinforced again by the Austrians, and there are traces of each of them left. From a hill at the top inside the fortress we could get some amazing views over Belgrade and see where the two rivers meet, and get our first good look at Great War Island. The island is covered in bushes and trees and is home to many species of bird, developers want to turn it into the usual hotel, restaurant, shopping complex but due to the fact it floods every year this is too impractical. The island was the historical "middle ground" on the First World War and gave headway to the troops arriving after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand which is said to be the catalyst event that sparked the entire war. A monument has been built as a memorial to all fighters in the war regardless of uniform - the statue is naked. From our viewpoint on the hill we could see Belgrade's main bridge which came under threats of bombing during the war. Some brave citizens designed tshirts with targets on them and stayed on the bridge for four days so that it could not be destroyed. During this time several bands would come and play music to keep the protestors entertained and as a result this area near the bridge is now home to a network of bars and club with live music. After the walking tour I went on a sort of street art search with a guy from Melbourne called Pete. We wandered all over the hip districts to find the coolest murals and then went for a gyro each for lunch. We were a bit tired so we went back to the hostel for a rest and Pete poured us each a glass of beer from the big 2 liter plastic bottle of it that he'd bought for about 1 euro. It wasn't too bad considering the price! We sat on the rooftop and chatted until it was almost dinner time, leaving just for a few minutes to pick up some ciders from the supermarket. Our dinner was a home cooked Serbian style feast prepared by our host Dragan (he had been slaving away in the kitchen for about 3 hours to get everything ready. There were salads, spicy sausages, spicy rice, roast chicken, potatoes, and beans among the many dishes served to us. My personal favourite dish was the rice, I don't know what herbs and spices he put on his secret recipe but it was so tasty!