Easter Bilbies and Diving Easter Bunnies. That is Queensland!

Even though Easter is already over, I want to share with you what I came across when checking out Easter traditions in Queensland, Australia.
As you all might know, there are numerous animals in Australia that are found nowhere else on this planet. One of them is the Bilby. Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores. What?! - It means they live in the desert, have a pouch like kangaroos in which they carry their babies and eat about everything they can find.

As rabbits have been a problem in Australia since the early 20th century and the Bilby is an endagered species, the Easter Bilby is slowly displacing the Easter Bunny in Australia. Why not? It definitely looks cute, is an Australian native and needs more protection in order to thrive than the rabbits do.
Some Easter Bunnies are still left though. This one went underwater to make sure the divers get their egg hunt as well.

Mission Impossible: Snorkeling in a Franconian carp pond

Behind the Scenes: Murphy's Law Strikes

Here's a story about what really happened on the night of 2-3 April:

Having been invited to Munich by Tourism Queensland to await the anouncement of the finalists together with their European team, I knew I was in for a suspenseful evening.

The plan was to spend the evening over some nice Aussie food and getting to know each other while waiting for the all-important phone call from Down Under. I was getting more excited by the minute and anxiously hoping I would make it to the final and get to see Hamilton Island and the Great Barrier Reef!

However, I got more excitement than I bargained for when - just around the time when I was supposed to get the call - my cellphone started malfunctioning and actually died on me.

Several minutes (which seemed like an eternity) of CPR later, people around me started recommending a transplant of the sim card into another phone as the only viable solution. The Tourism Queensland team spontaneously offered me a substitute and we quickly inserted the sim card. Only 20 seconds later the phone rang and Anthony Hayes was on the other end telling me I had made it into the final 16.

Well, I guess if you are reading this you know how the story has continued so far. Anyways, remember that when it really counts and it is crunch time it is better to be safe than sorry, so be sure to have backup! You never know when Murphy's Law strikes again.

P.S. By the way, after partying all night upon hearing the good news from Mr. Hayes, I actually found out that his first call had gone straight to my voice mail, so thanks, mate, for not giving up on me!