The Aussie scout

At least I didn't bring my Scout uniform all this way for nothing. And they're feeding me... three hot meals a day!

Skogsröj 2005

Here i am somewhere on the west coast of Sweden... In Lysestrand to be precise, 100km north of Göteborg. I'm at the Scout jamboree! Currently in a canvas office at midnight, trying to think of anything I can do to help my colleagues on the Camp Newspaper which they are currently writing in Swedish!! Not a lot i can do there to help... German and English only get you so far. It's incredible, 3,500 Scouts on this nature reserve next to a fjord. The weather is just the worst!!

But the food is great and the people are soooooo friendly and so damn fluent in English. I tried to do a good job as the Aussie contingent when they called out 'Australia!' but as I'm the only one here, it wasn't so easy. But there is one Aussie flag flying alongside all the other countries' flags just because I am here. 'Kissing Point Rover Crew' needs way too much explanation though. Why can't we just call ourselves 1st Central Turramurra?

German hip hop

Yesterday we went to Stuttgart to see a rock concert! What's even better, we travelled there in a Volkswagen 9-seater van!

The music was a bit of a mix between German hip-hop and all out rock. The headlining band "Die Fantastischen Vier" (the fantastic four) were rapping back in the early 90s, and made it through unscathed to still be cool today! The bands were awesome and it really makes me wonder what the Germans see in American music to make it so popular on the radio?


Only two problems with the concert... They made us throw out our water bottles on entry so we were all very thirsty all day! I then had to pay €4.50 for one drink. The same drink at the supermarket would cost about 30 cents! And also it was just a little bit dusty as you can see with our footwear fashions. Those peoples' thongs (or flip flops if you're not Australian) were all various bright colours before yesterday. But my white sneakers made it through yet again...

If you want to see what you're missing out on in German hip hop, click here and at the bottom of the page there's a list of Fanta-4 film clips to watch!

This week's installment of the story of Stephanie

<--- Hi everyone!
It's nearly time for me to head off on my big summer trip. One more week and I'm more or less on the road til mid-October!

But will Stephanie defeat the evil bureaucrats and get her passport back in time before Amsterdam? Will she overcome the odds and get well before she has to spend 3 months in tents and hostel bunk beds? Will she recover any of the money from her stolen camera through travel insurance? And will she pass her Italian exam and UTS research assignment?

Stay tuned to see what happens next!

Bodensee

The 8th century castle at Meersburg on Lake Constance (the Bodensee). One of very few German towns with no rail connection - you have to catch the ferry across the lake, very pleasant on a sunny summer's day in southern Germany.

The thermal baths in Ueberlingen. We jumped into Lake Constance (VERY cold) then ran back into the 33 degree pool!