Manly 2014

Manly, 1 January 2014
It was 9 pm on New Year's Eve, when I finally arrived in Brisbane after a 28-hour-flight. Our plane seemed to have been the last one that landed that night, so there were hardly any queues at the customs clearance and I entered the arrival area in less than 20 minutes. My friends were waiting for me, waving their arms in a warm welcome. Soon we were on our way to their home, where we peacefully celebrated the end of the year. Ben had cooked a delicious light meal with lamb and salad, a real treat for the starving traveller. We finished the day by watching the splendid Sydney fireworks on TV. Afterwards we called it a night.

On New Year's Day I awoke to fabulous bird song. I have never heard anything alike before. Australian birds are mastersingers. As I stepped out into the garden bright green trees and a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds greeted me. The colour of the sky was different from Europe. A lighter blue. If you think of southern sea posters that look just a tiny bit kitschy, well that kitschy colours are truly mirroring the reality.

Susan and Ben had planned a jet-lag-programme, which consisted of little stroll along Moreton Bay and typical Australian burger barbecue in their garden in the warm summer afternoon. We drove to Manly for our little walk. Here I had my first encounters with the Australian bird life. My hosts patiently waited every few minutes, so that I could take photos.