Outback Queensland II: Adel's Grove

At Adel's Grove I really loved waking up in the morning, opening my tent and right away having this beautiful view out on Lawn Hill Creek. Did I already mention that we had real beds in our tents and every tent had a veranda? It feels like a little house in the middle of nature. Of course they also have the real camping ground, where everybody can set up their own tent etc.

After having a nice freshly prepared breakfast Rod, our host and an accredited Savannah Guide, took us for a ride through the red desert. There was hardly any desert though, it had been raining and the desert was flourishing: Grass sprouting, birds (due to the bloom more and more birds are arriving daily) and the permanent residents the termites. Their mounds picked up the vivid red color of the soil and the rocks.

Rod took us to Riversleigh Fossil Fields, one of five World Hertitage listed spots in Queensland! It was enscribed in 1994 for representing a major stage of Earth's evolutionary history and especially its outstanding the evolution of Australian mammals. The fossils are are up to 25 million years old and they found two species of weird pouched mammals there whose relationship to other mammals is a mystery as well as what they ate or how they lived. It is hard to believe that this site was once a rainforest filled with lakes, rivers and creeks. But with Rod explaining the development, the limestones and other evidence, it is not hard to see. The traces are everywhere!

Even though we were in the middle of the desert, we did not have to drive far to get to an oasis of palm trees. At the Gregory River in Riversleigh we had our tea and cookies while watching a bus driving along the street that ran directly through the river. This how you spend your time in the Outback! There is a lot to see and experience but there is always the time for a rest, a break to take in everything that is around you. It is a great trick to make people fall in love with this remote place! It definitely worked on me! Later that day we hiked to a cave and got a peek at the Lawn Hill National Park. We got to see its great red rock formations and just the next day we would also experience what lies behind them.

The day had a perfect ending! With the Adel's Grove bus we went on the Sunset tour. We were really lucky, as once a month on full moon you can see the sun setting and the moon rising at the same time. What a spectacle! Up on Harry's Hill we had wine and appetizer while sharing this experience not only with a group of nice people but also the termite mounds that looked like
the apostles witnessing a miracle.

28/ 04/ 09: Queensland's Sunshine Coast starts in the Mountains

Early in the morning I arrived at Brisbane Airport, and after my suitcase got x-rayed and examined - contact lenses look really suspicious! - we headed for the Glasshouse Mountains. The mountains are listed as World Heritage. Standing up to 300m high and ethereally shaped, the Aborigines traditionally believe these peaks to be a family of mountain spirits, they are surrounded by national parks and little rivers. The Aboriginal legend about this family and how the rivers were born is quite sad.

But let's talk about more happy things as my experiences in Queensland have only been happy ones so far. The Tourism Queensland booked a cottage for me with an amazing view of the Glasshouse Mountains. I have never seen anything like it in my life! I seriously had tears in my eyes, it was so beautiful! I am not kidding you. The cottages were just perfect, very simple, very Bauhaus, but very modern and luxurious while and at the same time sustainable. Is there possibly more you could ask for?! The floor-to-ceiling glass walls and large open decks overlooked kangaroos grazing in front of the cottages, behind them the lush woods of the Hinterland and in the distance the two grandest Glasshouse Mountains: Mount Beerwah and Mount Coonowrin! Check it out on: www.glassonglasshouse.com.au

More excitement was in store though! We visited the Australian Zoo. What a great legacy Steve Irwin left! I had the best time ever in a zoo and let me tell you, I usually really don't like zoos. I haven't been to one in ten years, because they are so upsetting. But in the Australian Zoo the enclosures are really big and well kept, the birds truly have space to fly and the zoo gets really involved with protecting the animals in the wild. If you want to help as well, support them by checking out www.savestevesplace.com and sign their online petition. In the picture I am holding an one year old alligator! Surprisingly cute and fragile! Here Wayne Poole, an expert guide of the Australian Zoo, is explaining to me how alligators are more romantic lovers than koalas. They blow bubbles underneath the female's belly for weeks before mating. That is why they are my favourites and deserved a picture in my blog! Even though I also petted koalas, kangaroos, a wombat and echidnas (not really petted them! But they licked an insect cocktail off my hands!). What a great first day in Australia that was! I really thought it couldn't get any better.

One step closer to making my trip sustainable

Two days ago I arrived in Queensland and you won't believe all the exciting adventures I experienced since: Glasshouse Mountains, Australian Zoo, Fraser Island, Noosa, Surfing Lessons. Blogs about it will follow soon! Thanks to Emirates and them upgrading me to Business class, my holiday started on the plane and I arrived rested. Here a picture of crew members Mike and Bryana. Some more fun pictures will follow as soon as I get my hands on a scanner.

While I am very excited to be here in Queensland, from the outset my wish was that the natural wonders of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef would be there for future generations. Before setting off on my trip, I realized there is no better place to start making my journey sustainable than myself, so I went online to myclimate.org to calculate the emissions that would be created by my trip in order to buy quality offsets (Gold Standard CERs), i.e. carbon credits. The website offers a handy calculator for figuring out the emissions you generate in your everyday life and by travelling. It is surprisingly accurate and simple to use at the same time.

Luckily, my brother Andrej currently works in London in the field of carbon credits and knows a thing or two about emission reduction projects, so I got a decent idea of how offsetting can make a difference for our climate and nature, especially if many people do it. Most high standard emission reduction projects either fund renewable energy to replace fossile energy in places where this would not be economically viable without the sale of carbon credits or by funding the destruction of greenhouse gases, e.g. methane where they are created by waste, mining or industry. The resulting carbon credits, so called Certified Emission Reductions or CERs are issued by an agency of the UN after a lengthy process of registration, monitoring and verification. They represent emissions, which have already been reduced in a certified project, so this is not an investment into some vague promise about the future, but very much based on real data and emission reductions.
Sustainability is everyone's business.

Meat Australian Wildlife

Actually I ended up trying the kangaroo and it didn't taste bad at all. Still I am much more looking forward to seeing them alive. Soon! Today I am leaving for Queensland! :-)

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.

On a media learning curve

The past 5 weeks have been busy with interviews for radio stations, newspapers, magazines and even some TV appearances. This kind of media attention is a new experience for me.

Initially I got a little caught up in it and stressed out by it, but it all became easier and more fun when I started taking one interview, one question at a time and focusing on the moment. By staying in the moment and organized at all times, I didn't have to be thinking of everything simultaneously and could stay more relaxed, easy-going and spontaneous instead.

Also, I realized it is important to ask journalists for the whole article for authorization, not just your quotes, in order to prevent being cited out of context in an unintended way.

This is what I learned so far.

I am very grateful for the support and interest I am receiving and I am learning every day on this journey. Let's see what tomorrow will bring on my path to the Best Job in the World on Hamilton Island by the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia!

My first dive into the blogosphere

This blog essentially is about my wondrous journey to Hamilton Island and this is how it started:

While it was snowing outside my window I saw this article online about the "Best Job in the World". The beautiful picture of the Great Barrier Reef drew me in right away and I went to check out the website: islandreefjob.com.

I saw even more breath-taking pictures there. Reading about this job offer, its tasks and crazy salary I figured it would be pointless to apply, because EVERYONE will. Although I had some ideas for the video from the start, the whole idea lingered for a week - so I finally gave in: I made the video to regain my peace of mind.

Then one morning in March I got a call. A radio station wanted to interview me:

"Why me?", I asked.

"Because you are one of the 50 candidates for the Best Job in the World!", was the reply.

I seriously could not believe it. And what a crazy day followed! Interviews with newspapers and radio stations and a TV channel. Everybody wanted to talk to me at once while I had to throw all my stuff in my closet to be able to welcome a TV crew in my home!

Since that day in March there have been a lot more interviews, live shows at radio stations, and emails to everybody I know whip them into voting for me and to make sure everybody they know was doing the same. I was invited to a popular German Late Night Show, where the host often shreds his guests to pieces but I survived!

Now, that I have made it to the final round, I am one of only 16 candidates still in the race for the Best Job in the World and last but not least I know without a doubt that I will really travel to this beautiful place, the pictures of which brightened a cold winter day for me: The Great Barrier Reef and its island world in Queensland!

This is my first blog, you guys! I never thought it would be of any interest for anybody to read a blog of mine. But maybe now is the time - anyways, bear with me - I do have to practice!