Welcome to Australia!🐨

After another almost 9-hour flight, we finally landed in Melbourne. Quite cold compared to the hot and humid 33 degrees in Thailand. Only 11 degrees here 😅 :).

Well, we disembarked; picked up our luggage and went to customs.

Due to the strict import regulations and the fear of ending up in an Australian prison as a smuggler, parts of our travel group were somewhat ... let's say 'overzealous' in dealing with the regulations. The piece of thread on the stuffed animal was clearly a natural product, no doubt about it! And the granola bar contained nuts.... Nuts!!! highly risky. 🥜🌰
After the determined protest of the rest of the travel group, we finally agreed to go to the red line at customs and declare the leather belt, but to initially keep quiet about the thread. The customs sniffer dog wasn't interested in any of it anyway. He found the Chinese woman's breakfast behind us much more exciting than the suitcases. And the exact same granola bars were available at the snack vending machine in the hall just after customs.

We then took the Skybus🛣️ from the airport to the city, to Southern Cross. We had our first Australian breakfast there with a vegetable roll and cappuccino with a brownie. We checked into our accommodation in the afternoon. We stayed with Zero. Yes, the man's name is Zero, yes, like the number, and yes, it seems to be his real name - at least that's what it said on the mailbox. 👀

We stayed in his converted garage with our own kitchen. We shared the bathroom with Zero. It is worth mentioning that there were also two little doggos🐶: Penny and Gus. Two small Chihuahuas, each from the shelter, and were rescued from a hoarder's house. You could say that they had a bit of a quirk.
At first, they were never sure whether to run away out of fear or to bark loudly to drive us away. We were able to win them over with patience and treats. In the end, they were never sure whether to run away out of fear or to bark loudly because they were happier to see us... well, at least!

So that's how we started out in Australia: We both got Australian phone numbers (finding Caro's provider took a while).

About Shopping:

You should keep an eye out for offers and discounts:

- you can sometimes get a 60% discount

- Lindt chocolate 🍫 can sometimes be cheap for 1 Euro 🍬

- Meat 🍖 is relatively cheap compared to Germany

- Remember: tomatoes🍅 are expensive (Caro: 'the one thing I like the most')^^ a little insider on the side

St. Kilda Beach🌴⛱️

In the small suburb of St. Kilda lies THE trendy beach of Melbourne. Swimming is difficult in winter when it's 11 degrees and occasionally raining. However, you have the opportunity to see small penguins🐧 here. They are about 30 centimeters tall, have blue feathers, and live at the pier. They walk under your feet (under a grate) to their nests about half an hour after sunset to sleep. And in the morning, they go back out to sea to hunt. You can't see them there at any other time of the day.

The second Airbnb

We booked our first Airbnb with Zero and his two dogs for only 5 days. Since we were still waiting for Phil's bank card, we looked for a new Airbnb.
The first one was in Kensington, a chic little neighborhood/suburb with cute Victorian-style houses. The second accommodation was in Richmond. The area there is a bit rougher. In terms of style, it's less Victorian and more like Halle-Neustadt: security door with bars, electronic lock with a chip for entry. The apartment itself was very cozy. Just not very clean, the bedding was apparently from the previous tenant, dog hair everywhere... So the picky Germans moved in and cleaned everything and did the laundry 😅 (after the landlady left). After 1.5 hours, we felt comfortable.

Melbourne itself...
is probably the most beautiful city we have seen so far🌇. Among the high-rise buildings with shiny and sometimes abstract facades, there are always well-preserved older stone buildings. And this is also true in the city center. On top of that, there is street art of all kinds, from graffiti to statues to the augmented reality gallery (see video).

Video: To be added

In general, the city sees itself as a creative center.

Nevertheless, we have to leave here for now. Next flight: to Cairns (for mom and dad: 'Cairns' ^^):

Since Caro caught a little cold with a runny nose, and we realized that the southern coast doesn't make sense in winter, we decided to fly to the warm north. Besides, the rainy season starts there in 2 months, so it's better to go before that.

✈️✈️✈️