Amsterdam - Melbourne
Door: Melvin
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Melvin
07 Februari 2014 | Australië, Eltham North
Amsterdam – Melbourne!
Hello everyone!
For starters, I apologise for not putting anything up here since I’ve been here. So, 7 weeks into my trip, here is my first story. Better late than never they say. Alright, so I’ll start with the flight, and our first two weeks in Melbourne.
We departed from Schiphol at 22:00 at night, and as always on intercontinental flights, we had the big plane with the screens in the chairs and everything. The first 6 hours pretty much flew by (literally) and we arrived in Dubai. A couple of hours in Dubai and we headed for Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne. We got in the huge Airbus A380, which was an experience on itself, as it is the biggest plane that has ever roamed the skies. Even Seb had enough leg room!
As we arrived in Melbourne, Michelle Francis was there to pick us up and drive us to their house in Eltham, a fair 40 minutes out of the city centre of Melbourne. On the first day Seb decided he wanted to stay in and sleep, whilst Michelle and myself got in the car and drove to Tante Jo and Ome Toon, as it was Michelle’s birthday that day and her parents wanted to see her, as well as they wanted to see me. It felt a bit weird talking to them in English, as they have such a strong Dutch accent, and ended up talking Dutch, or rather Denglish, as every sentence consisted of a couple of Dutch words, followed by a couple of English words.
But our first real adventure, and proper Aussie experience came after 4 days, when Richard took us out to one of his hunting trips. As a zoologist and owner of his own company ABZECO, he is (also) responsible for population control on various species in particular areas of Melbourne. So we drove out to this private property where he was allowed to hunt, with one of the 8 SUV’s his company owns. Initially, we were hunting deer, as there were enough of them and it was a ‘proper hunt’, as Richard called it. If we wouldn’t be able to get a deer before sunset, we would go and get a kangaroo. But after almost 2 hours of pushing through the thick brush as quiet as possible, and almost spotting one, which would have almost surely resulted in a kill, the sun set and we had to change tactics. We drove back to the plains and I got behind the wheel of the truck. Richard held the big spotlight and it was Seb’s turn to see how good he was with shooting wild rabbit! After he made a couple of clean kills, it was my turn and I got three. As we were collecting the rabbits to put them in the truck, Richard commanded us to give him the 22mm rifle, sat down on one knee, and got one of the only kangaroos that were still around at night time. Clean kill, didn’t know what ever hit him. I would like to apologise for the people that did not like the quite graphic photo’s that were posted on facebook. It was definitely an experience, and I would not want to have missed it for the world.
In our remaining 2 weeks in Melbourne, we visited the city, went up Eureka Tower (the 88 story building), chilled at the pool at Michelle’s house, chucked a footy around with Aiman and caught up with the other members of the family at a nice BBQ they organised for us.
After 2 wonderful weeks with the family we were sad to go, Seb got on very well with everyone, especially with Sam and Toby, as they loved being chucked around in the pool by this gigantic 18-year. On the other hand, we were very excited as well, because next stop: Sydney!
Hello everyone!
For starters, I apologise for not putting anything up here since I’ve been here. So, 7 weeks into my trip, here is my first story. Better late than never they say. Alright, so I’ll start with the flight, and our first two weeks in Melbourne.
We departed from Schiphol at 22:00 at night, and as always on intercontinental flights, we had the big plane with the screens in the chairs and everything. The first 6 hours pretty much flew by (literally) and we arrived in Dubai. A couple of hours in Dubai and we headed for Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne. We got in the huge Airbus A380, which was an experience on itself, as it is the biggest plane that has ever roamed the skies. Even Seb had enough leg room!
As we arrived in Melbourne, Michelle Francis was there to pick us up and drive us to their house in Eltham, a fair 40 minutes out of the city centre of Melbourne. On the first day Seb decided he wanted to stay in and sleep, whilst Michelle and myself got in the car and drove to Tante Jo and Ome Toon, as it was Michelle’s birthday that day and her parents wanted to see her, as well as they wanted to see me. It felt a bit weird talking to them in English, as they have such a strong Dutch accent, and ended up talking Dutch, or rather Denglish, as every sentence consisted of a couple of Dutch words, followed by a couple of English words.
But our first real adventure, and proper Aussie experience came after 4 days, when Richard took us out to one of his hunting trips. As a zoologist and owner of his own company ABZECO, he is (also) responsible for population control on various species in particular areas of Melbourne. So we drove out to this private property where he was allowed to hunt, with one of the 8 SUV’s his company owns. Initially, we were hunting deer, as there were enough of them and it was a ‘proper hunt’, as Richard called it. If we wouldn’t be able to get a deer before sunset, we would go and get a kangaroo. But after almost 2 hours of pushing through the thick brush as quiet as possible, and almost spotting one, which would have almost surely resulted in a kill, the sun set and we had to change tactics. We drove back to the plains and I got behind the wheel of the truck. Richard held the big spotlight and it was Seb’s turn to see how good he was with shooting wild rabbit! After he made a couple of clean kills, it was my turn and I got three. As we were collecting the rabbits to put them in the truck, Richard commanded us to give him the 22mm rifle, sat down on one knee, and got one of the only kangaroos that were still around at night time. Clean kill, didn’t know what ever hit him. I would like to apologise for the people that did not like the quite graphic photo’s that were posted on facebook. It was definitely an experience, and I would not want to have missed it for the world.
In our remaining 2 weeks in Melbourne, we visited the city, went up Eureka Tower (the 88 story building), chilled at the pool at Michelle’s house, chucked a footy around with Aiman and caught up with the other members of the family at a nice BBQ they organised for us.
After 2 wonderful weeks with the family we were sad to go, Seb got on very well with everyone, especially with Sam and Toby, as they loved being chucked around in the pool by this gigantic 18-year. On the other hand, we were very excited as well, because next stop: Sydney!
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26 Maart 2014 - 00:27
Em:
So someone is improving his English! I bet its al because of drinks, more drinks in bars, which always helped me improving my English, Spanish and even Filipian dialect!
Keep us updated! X
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26 Maart 2014 - 14:46
Cris Gale:
Sounds cool Mel, slurp it up, as after this it is all study and rugby (You lucky guy again haha) Glad the hunting was population control too ;), not a lefty but quite fond of animals,,,, cheers Cris -
26 Maart 2014 - 14:52
Mama:
he Mel, wat leuk!! ik zal het, zoals een goede moeder betaamd, uitprinten en bewaren voor je, als een van de blijvende herinneringen aan deze levensreis!! Enjoy and I love you!! -
26 Maart 2014 - 22:54
Maria De Milliano:
Glad to hear from you, Mel. I don't know what your English was like before you went to Australia, but it has definitely improved. Certain expressions are there which you picked up down under. I'm sure you are enjoying yourself immensely. Love from your auntie Maria
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
