New Pictures
I have just posted my latest work. Enjoy.
posted by Sebastian at
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25 September 2005
18 September 2005
Down Under – My First Three Weeks
Sydney
This is a summary of what I have experienced ever since I left Berlin on 26 August. It was a rather grey and miserable day. After having said ‘Good-bye’ to my parents, Antje took me to the airport. On the way to the airport for the first time I had serious doubts whether to fly to Australia or not. I was really close to have Antje turn the car around. I was really close to giving up this dream of mine. I think, at that moment it really hit me that by wanting to pursue my own dream I had to hurt the ones I love the most. But maybe it was also that I was afraid of my own courage to make this dream come true. Maybe I was afraid that I could fail fulfilling my dream which was/is to live in Australia and to learn how to ride waves properly. As you all know, I did leave. I guess in the end I wanted to see where this was going to go.
So, after having been flown around almost the whole world and having been awake for more than 36 hours I arrived safe and sound in Australia, Sydney. It was 7 am when I checked into my room and did, what I should better not have done: I crashed and slept for solid 8 hours which at first glance seems a reasonable thing to do. But it turned out that it was not. For the next 10 days I was fighting to get to sleep; with little success. My sleeping pattern was all over the place. It was three o’clock in the afternoon when I woke up. The next thing I wanted to do was to have a shower. So I undid the zipper of the top-pocket of my backpack to grab my washing kit realizing an all too familiar smell, shower gel. The lid of my shower gel had become loose and left a real mess. And to make things even worse approximately 25 of my precious film rolls were affected…Pointer: film rolls and shower gel should never be in the same place. Anyway, after the shower I decided to have a little wonder through the streets of SYD. Overall first impression, no judgement: a metropolis reminding me of San Francisco, Seattle and New York City.
My next few days in SYD are dedicated to the beaches: Manly Beach, Bondi Beach, the Northern Sydney beaches and Coogee Beach. The variety and different facets of the Sydney beaches are amazing and I did not feel like being in a big city. I have put pictures of some of the beaches on website too. The rest of my Sydney experience could best be described with one word: sightseeing. However, there was one experience which was not ‘touristy’ at all. After a night with no sleep I ventured out to find a non-Starbucks Coffee place for breakfast. As a matter of fact I was looking for another coffee place when I was drawn into this tiny and very small but very busy Italian coffee shop on Victory St. called the ‘Cappuccino Strip’ (see picture). It was 7.15 in the morning. Business men and women, young professionals and even a family were sitting on the pavement on little wooden stools as there was so little space inside and having their ‘morningly’ coffee and a chat before a day full of work. The fact that these people were actually engaging in conversations at that time of the day in a busy city as Sydney was remarkable.
When I was not visiting sights or laying flat on the floor to take pictures (wannabe photographers are weird after all) I spent my time in local coffee places reading Paulo Coelho’s latest publication ‘The Zahir’. For those of you who did like the Alchemist, this is a definite must. And for those of you who have not read the book or have not heard of him, give it a shot.
Byron Bay
After having spent almost a week in SYD, I moved further north, 800km to be precise. After a 15 hour bus journey 3 of which I spent in a gas station as the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere, I arrived in Byron Bay. And this is where I have settled to live for the next 10 weeks or so. It is the ideal combination of plenty of surfing, nice bars, cafés and good shopping. The night life is not bad either. But those who really know me will appreciate that this is not what made me stay. It was actually the feeling in my stomach when I arrived here which told me that this was the place to make my dream come true and to unwind from the last three years full of hectic, stress and too little breaks.
On 14 September I moved in with an Italian mother and her seven-year old daughter and a Brazilian mother and her nine-year old son. And it seems that a 19 year old Student from Brazil is moving in with us next week. I have got a small room to myself which has all I need and will allow me to resume my translational work. My daily routine is that in the morning I normally go surfing for 2-3 hours. When I get back I make lunch. Then it’s normally time to do some work and later in the afternoon I either go to the gym, for a run or take my camera. When I return it is normally dinner time and after that: This is none of your business. I was only kidding; it is watching DVDs, reading books, having a glass of red wine in a bar or a hot chocolate (probably the best I have had so far and I have had a few).
One last thing. Last Tuesday morning I went to another beach than usual. The waves were a lot faster than what I had surfed before and they appeared to be massive. As a matter of fact, they were not that big, but big enough. And I am proud to say that I did not catch a single wave unless getting totally thrown around in the water counts. Anyway, I was sitting in the line-up all by myself and there they were, not even 10 metres away from me, four dolphins playing in the waves. That was the moment when I realized why I had to leave Berlin that Friday morning. This was such a peaceful and touching moment – nothing like I had experienced before.
I would like to conclude this first report with the following quote:
‘The world is a book. He who never travels will only get to read one page of it.’
ALOHA.
Sydney
This is a summary of what I have experienced ever since I left Berlin on 26 August. It was a rather grey and miserable day. After having said ‘Good-bye’ to my parents, Antje took me to the airport. On the way to the airport for the first time I had serious doubts whether to fly to Australia or not. I was really close to have Antje turn the car around. I was really close to giving up this dream of mine. I think, at that moment it really hit me that by wanting to pursue my own dream I had to hurt the ones I love the most. But maybe it was also that I was afraid of my own courage to make this dream come true. Maybe I was afraid that I could fail fulfilling my dream which was/is to live in Australia and to learn how to ride waves properly. As you all know, I did leave. I guess in the end I wanted to see where this was going to go.
So, after having been flown around almost the whole world and having been awake for more than 36 hours I arrived safe and sound in Australia, Sydney. It was 7 am when I checked into my room and did, what I should better not have done: I crashed and slept for solid 8 hours which at first glance seems a reasonable thing to do. But it turned out that it was not. For the next 10 days I was fighting to get to sleep; with little success. My sleeping pattern was all over the place. It was three o’clock in the afternoon when I woke up. The next thing I wanted to do was to have a shower. So I undid the zipper of the top-pocket of my backpack to grab my washing kit realizing an all too familiar smell, shower gel. The lid of my shower gel had become loose and left a real mess. And to make things even worse approximately 25 of my precious film rolls were affected…Pointer: film rolls and shower gel should never be in the same place. Anyway, after the shower I decided to have a little wonder through the streets of SYD. Overall first impression, no judgement: a metropolis reminding me of San Francisco, Seattle and New York City.
My next few days in SYD are dedicated to the beaches: Manly Beach, Bondi Beach, the Northern Sydney beaches and Coogee Beach. The variety and different facets of the Sydney beaches are amazing and I did not feel like being in a big city. I have put pictures of some of the beaches on website too. The rest of my Sydney experience could best be described with one word: sightseeing. However, there was one experience which was not ‘touristy’ at all. After a night with no sleep I ventured out to find a non-Starbucks Coffee place for breakfast. As a matter of fact I was looking for another coffee place when I was drawn into this tiny and very small but very busy Italian coffee shop on Victory St. called the ‘Cappuccino Strip’ (see picture). It was 7.15 in the morning. Business men and women, young professionals and even a family were sitting on the pavement on little wooden stools as there was so little space inside and having their ‘morningly’ coffee and a chat before a day full of work. The fact that these people were actually engaging in conversations at that time of the day in a busy city as Sydney was remarkable.
When I was not visiting sights or laying flat on the floor to take pictures (wannabe photographers are weird after all) I spent my time in local coffee places reading Paulo Coelho’s latest publication ‘The Zahir’. For those of you who did like the Alchemist, this is a definite must. And for those of you who have not read the book or have not heard of him, give it a shot.
Byron Bay
After having spent almost a week in SYD, I moved further north, 800km to be precise. After a 15 hour bus journey 3 of which I spent in a gas station as the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere, I arrived in Byron Bay. And this is where I have settled to live for the next 10 weeks or so. It is the ideal combination of plenty of surfing, nice bars, cafés and good shopping. The night life is not bad either. But those who really know me will appreciate that this is not what made me stay. It was actually the feeling in my stomach when I arrived here which told me that this was the place to make my dream come true and to unwind from the last three years full of hectic, stress and too little breaks.
On 14 September I moved in with an Italian mother and her seven-year old daughter and a Brazilian mother and her nine-year old son. And it seems that a 19 year old Student from Brazil is moving in with us next week. I have got a small room to myself which has all I need and will allow me to resume my translational work. My daily routine is that in the morning I normally go surfing for 2-3 hours. When I get back I make lunch. Then it’s normally time to do some work and later in the afternoon I either go to the gym, for a run or take my camera. When I return it is normally dinner time and after that: This is none of your business. I was only kidding; it is watching DVDs, reading books, having a glass of red wine in a bar or a hot chocolate (probably the best I have had so far and I have had a few).
One last thing. Last Tuesday morning I went to another beach than usual. The waves were a lot faster than what I had surfed before and they appeared to be massive. As a matter of fact, they were not that big, but big enough. And I am proud to say that I did not catch a single wave unless getting totally thrown around in the water counts. Anyway, I was sitting in the line-up all by myself and there they were, not even 10 metres away from me, four dolphins playing in the waves. That was the moment when I realized why I had to leave Berlin that Friday morning. This was such a peaceful and touching moment – nothing like I had experienced before.
I would like to conclude this first report with the following quote:
‘The world is a book. He who never travels will only get to read one page of it.’
ALOHA.
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