Australia

Welcome to Australia

A new continent - hurray!!!! I left Los Angeles being very nervous. Luckily Anita was there "to hold my hand" or I would have probably puked all over the Air Newzealand check in counter - so nervous was I. The big problem was of course the damn bicycle that had to be disassembled and packed and transported... But - oh miracle: Both me and the bicycle survived the trip more or less unharmed. I actually had a wonderful flight with the best inflight programme ever (saw "Mamma Mia" and "Juno") and could even sort of sleep. The bicycle looks like it made it too, but I haven't assembled it yet. Well, the bell broke, but this can be neglected.

I spontaneaously liked Australia. Immigration was easy - no fingerprinting, no stupid questions like "Do you want to marry an American?" - just a stamp in the passport. Awesome. Even in customs they did not bitch about German chocolate or dirty bike tires. Everything worked out great.

Melbourne is a great city - much more atmosphere than comparable American cities, probably due to the British influence. And the food is so good: Lots of Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Italian and whatever you want. But what irony: I expected incredibly dry heat and when I arrived it started to rain....