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'THE ROAD TO AUSTRALIA'

Time was passing by. The day came that Johan and me were finally off to Australia. I was restless. Didn't know what to think actually, didn't know if I had to be nervous or not be nervous at all. It was like a big blur in my mind.
I had a 'farewell party' with family and friends the day before I left. It was nice wheather. Had another party a few weeks before with all my mates. That was top! My last evening at home I went out for diner with my family. After that all I wanted was a good night sleep.

Now it was the 28th of september. Had a good night sleep. All the bags were packed, I was ready for take off...
Johan, friends, family and myself went to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. We were going to Australia that day.
We caught up with the rest of the group. We actually went with the organisation 'Travel Active'. The first few days were all organized for us. We went with a group of 12 people.

At noon it was time to say goodbye. It was strange, you may not see people for 8,5 months. It was a funny thought, hard to realize actually. I didn't find it hard, though others did, but that is understandible.

First we flew to London where we had to wait for a bit. Went to the pub, had a chat with the rest of the group. They were all nice people.

Then we took off to Hong Kong. It was good to be flying again, love it! Looking out of the window, dreaming away with a beautiful scenery...
Hardly slept during those 12 hours.

Then we got to Hong Kong. Someone from the organisation came to pick us up. Had a drive to the city itself. There we got to our room. Johan and me shared a room. The first of many to follow.
Right after that we did a sightseeing tour. We went to the highest point of the island where you had a good view, did a little boattrip, went to a 'jewelry factory', and seen other little things. We were tired and very hungry after not eating for a day. It was very humid and there was a terrible smell in the streets. There was an open sewerage it seemed. Finally we found a McDonalds and had 2 meals a person...

The next morning we left for Manilla.

We spent about one and a half days in Hong Kong. It was the right amount of time for me. Always have this impression of Hong Kong as from the James Bond movies. Was a bit different as I thought, but it was nice for a stopover. I won't spend a whole holiday over there...

We only stopped in Manilla for 6 hours. We didn't go to the city; We decided to stick with each other and as not everybody wanted to go into the city and we didn't want to miss our plane, we just stayed on the airport. It was even more humid over there. I advise you to not carry any drugs or whatsoever, we got checked about 7 times! All different checks. Like as in Hong Kong it seemed a bit scary to get caught. Then you are really fucked!...

After Manilla we another few hours to fly to Australia. It was again a beautifull and cosy flight. We flew over mainland Australia for a bit and then the plain caught ground. Australian ground...

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