Trip along the levee

filed under trips germany by Jochen

I’ve added some pictures to the gallery from my second 40km trip on RollerBlades along the levee north of Bremerhaven. Don’t blame me for the quality of the photos, cause I made them only using my cellular phone.

Northern Outpost is taken!

filed under germany organising by Jochen

After a hellride of 6:15h and neverending 755km I reached the Northern Outpost of the Downdownunder Project yesterday.

After a short orientation break I began to search for the house looking like a ship, as Mrs Davidis (the woman in charge for the guesthouses) told me. There I ought to find the facility-manager (who told me ten times where I got to drive) to get the keys to my rooms. I thought these guys around here know what boats and ships like, but they don’t! These house which is the main facility of AWI has nothing in common with a ship… whatever!

My next step was to move into my flat-sharing community. There is space for four people, but only one lives there atm. Tobias seams to be a cool guy and crazy biker. I think you’ll like him Flo!

But after packing my clothes into my dresser I realized the next hell!
THERE’S NO WAY TO GET ONLINE!!!

all work done

filed under germany organising by Florian

Today I got my international drivers license from the district office (read the last entry “wanted by the police” *g), so I’ve got all the necessary documents now I need for the journey.
Three days and still counting until the trip begins…

wanted by the police

filed under germany fun by Florian

“Sorry, this is a person-control. May we see your passport?”
“Ehm, yes of course. Do I look that criminal?”
“Four persons ran away a few minutes ago when some colleagues wanted to check them – and you look like one of them.”
“Okaaaay (*smile)”
“Do your carry any weapons with you? Knifes etc.?”
“No, what for? (after a second) Oh wait! (*smile) Of course I do! As I work at BEHR to earn some money I carry two scalpels and a normal knife (to cut off parts from the plastic-parts I work with).”
“OK, please come with us to the police station. Get into the car.”
”(*smile) Ok (In fact it isn’t that easy to get on the back-seat of a police car because they limit your legroom very much…)”
10 Minutes later when we arrived at the police station.
“Ok, please follow us to the office.”
We entered the building, walked into the office. As soon as we came in a colleague of the two policemen just wave aside, showing that I’m NOT the person they were looking for.
I just smiled – they even offered me to drive me back to the place the caught me, but walking the way was much faster because it was in the center of Pforzheim.

Of course I didn’t tell them that I’m going to fly to Tasmania in three days – finally they would have seen this as an attempt to escape ;-)

pics farewell party

filed under germany party by Florian

Hi folks,

the first fleet of pics is available in our gallery – watchout! ;-)

tips for all the paperwar

filed under germany organising by Florian

Today at 4:30 pm there was a really convincing reportage about Tasmania on NDR – I think I’ll stay down-downunder… The german actor Hans Joachim Fuchsberger (“Blackie”) lives in Hobart for 7 years and will never leave because of the incredible untouched nature (1/3 of Tasmania is a declared protected area) and the easy way of living without any stress.
Anyways, I want to give you some hints of the different documents an other preparations I had to take care about for the trip to Tasmania. Note that this list will be updated in the future. No warranty ;-)

Visa: There is a huge variety of different visa-types. For a first overview visit the homepage of the Australian embassy to get some information how all the stuff works. In my case the best solution was getting an “ETA” (Electronic Travel Authority). It is a normal tourist visa which everyone can get on the website of the embassy. It takes about 2 minutes to fill in your data and costs AUS$ 20 (about 12 Euro), payment is only allowed via credit cards. You can get the same visa when you book your flight in a travel agency. If you have the right connections (as I have due to my job at the AAD *g) it is possible to change your visa type later when you’re in Tasmania.
Passport (Reisepass, Ausweis): You need a german “Reisepass” to travel into Tasmania which sounds much easier than it is: You are only allowed to apply for it at your local city hall where you are registered with your “Erstwohnsitz”. There are different kinds of passports: A final one (needs two pictures, about 13 Euros, 5-6 weeks) and a preliminary one (needs two pictures, about 13 Euros, 1 week) if you are in a hurry (as I was *g). Of course as we are in Germany only you for yourself are allowed to fetch the finished passport from the city hall (which often has VERY friendly opening times… no more comments) – e.g. it’s not possible to give your father a written permission to fetch it.
Flight (travel agency, airline, luggage limits): “The early bird catches the worm” – book early and save money. I didn’t have this chance so I had to pay about 1300 Euro (two-way) and a luggage limit of only 20 kilos (!) plus 7 kilos of hand luggage. The cheapest airline in my case was SIA (Singapore Airlines) and Jetstar for the distance between Sydney and Hobart. Concerning luggage, inofficially you may carry up to 30 kg with SIA and 25 kg with Jetstars – but don’t relay on that ;-) Hint: Grab a seat at the emergency exit – as long as you’re no contortionist…
Drivers License: If you have the “old” pink papermade drivers license you need at first the credit-card like euro-drivers license (24 Euros, 3-6 weeks duration). After that you can apply for an international drivers license (13 Euros, issued instantly). Tassys drive on the left side as you know. The great thing: There is no TUEV, your car just has to be ‘roadable’ to get registered… What you do is paying at least 39 dollars for registering your car and additional 100 dollars for the insurance. But as it’s valid for about one year you may have luck and get a car with three months reg left ;-) Note, that this insurance only covers human damage not material damage…
Accomodation: I had the great luck to get a room in Jane Franklin Hall which belongs to the University of Tasmania. They offer a full catered service in a very dignified ambiance. Of course it’s not that cheap (about 130 Euros a week) – but especially during the first days/weeks it’s perfect to have the head free looking for an alternative.
ISIC: As I mentioned before, either ask for it in the Asta-office of the University you study at or visit the website Asta Reisen – there you’ll find all the information you need.
Immunisation: You should get two immunisations: Hepatitis A/B and Polyo.
Travel Guide: (todo)
Power Supply: Tassies use 230 Volts – YES! But you need a special adapter
Living: Your rent is accounted weekly here, get a cheap accomodation in a molehole for ca. 65 $ a week (you’ll have NOTHING *g) or enjoy a full catered service like Jane Franklin Hall for ca. 240 $ a week which includes: Three great meals on seven days, laundry, huge rooms, huge community around, internal network, DSL internet connection, etc.
Money: Just remember the good old DM – one AUS Dollar is nearly the same than one former DM. Courses vary between 0.54 EUR cent and 0.70 EUR cent for 1 AUS Dollar.
Clothes: June – September = winter in Tassy with temperatures between 2 and 16 degrees, be prepared with some warm clothes as well.
Shopping: (todo)

By the way: To get informed about the meals of the different airlines check the website airlinemeals.net ;-)

ouups....

filed under germany fun by Florian

Some days ago at a well-known german shopping-center:
I was looking for a suitcase and a new moneybag for the flight to Tasmania. Both was selled in the same department of the shopping center. The moneybag was no problem – I took it a few meters to the suitcases, tried about 5 different models, talked to the salesman, asked for a scale, mesured the weight – and finally, 45 minutes later found the perfect suitcase for my needs. Of course the moneybag in my hand got on my nerves so I put it into my hip pocket without thinking about it – as you normally do with your moneybag. I paid the suitcase, talked again to the salesman and walked out of the shopping center. Inside my car I wondered about the two moneybags I carried with me… I won’t say I’ve stolen it – imagine: I bought a Samsonite suitcase for about 150 Euros and the salesman wasn’t able to lower the price, so this moneybag was just a kint of bonus gift ;-)

some organisational stuff

filed under germany organising by Florian

Babsi, my personal travel assistant for international flight affairs just told me that the flight has been booked completely and the tickets are ready to be fetched from her office.

Another information for all students who are looking for an ISIC (International Student Identity Card): If all Asta-bureaus you know are closed, try asta-reisen.de – here you find besides various other information a form to order an ISIC.

SCAR Conference Bremen

filed under germany trips by Florian

You just take: A Daimler A-Class, two free days and a DigiCam and cruise cross-over Germany to Bremen to an international antarctic conference – ultimately nothing else but the Icebreaker-Party is planned for the evening, and you should not miss that. Just had a few happy little drinks with the chief of the AAD and a small discussion about “cock s****** cowboys” with a departmental head of the AAD (alcohol MAY have played just a less important role…) All of our cool pics are just uploaded to our Gallery.

AAD team at icebreaker party

Summary (inofficial): Two days of great fun, nice talks with smart Tassys, profound discussions in an Irish pub and an amount of 1.600 kilometers within two days.
Summary (official): Clarified all open questions, made new important contacts etc.

pics.downdownunder.net

filed under germany organising by Florian

Gallery is set-up, all pics according downdownunder are available on pics.downdownunder.net

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