Perth

Happily united, we took a super cheap flight from Denpasar to Perth. There was first a happy reunion, or rather a first meeting, with Marike's cousin Nils, who set off to travel many years ago and got 'stuck' in Australia, and now lives here with his family in Samson near Fremantle. We hadn't seen each other for over 9 years! The first days were very relaxed; Nils showed us some sightseeing - Kings Park, Fremantle, his favorite beaches - and introduced us to the Australian beer culture. Day drinking with a view of the water - what more could you want! It was also very nice to spend time with his family, just experiencing a bit of everyday life and a real home, getting delicious meals cooked for us, barbecuing... and of course, it was great to finally meet the extended family.

After a few days, we continued with the rental car. And because it was so nice, we spent a few more days with Nils at the end. This time we explored the city center of Perth, visited the very beautiful Boola Bardip Museum, and cycled with rickety bikes around Rottnest Island, saying hello to the super cute Quokkas - very friendly and funny marsupials, kind of a mix between a kangaroo and a groundhog. And we even got to participate in a school assembly for Nils's son Jasper - earworm included. E.A.R.T.H. - Planet Earth is a happy place!

Thank you for everything, Rhi, Thea, Harvey, Jasper, and Nils!

So off to Auckland, NZ, via Sydney, which for us was officially the weirdest/backward airport we had ever experienced. Upon our late evening arrival, we first had to pay quite a bit of money for the train to get from the domestic terminal to the international one since the free buses weren’t running anymore. And there we were basically kicked out of the building with a suggestion to get a hotel room. There’s a no-fly ban at night, so no transfer passengers can stay in the airport building, makes sense. Apparently, any lounge/benches are deemed unnecessary. So we spent our last hours in AU outside in the rain, but we did manage to snag one of the few benches in the smoking area. Still - it was nice in Australia!