Dolphin Marine Sanctury in Coffs Harbour on 27th June

Hello there,
I know it has been very long since I last updated my blog. I am very sorry for that. But no I have a whole day in town and should be able to catch up on everything that happened during the last months.

When I stayed in Coffs Harbpur for four days I visited the dolphin park around the corner and had some incredible adventures. The first time in my life I touched a dolphin and was kissed by one! Same woth the cute seals, and I also got the chance to hand feed them and to play little games with them.
Unfortunately the animals had just small pools where they lived in, but I promised myself not to go in such a waterpark again. Once in my life I wanted to see dolphins from very close but that`s enough. I kind of had a really guilty feeling supporting parks that keep their animals in small pools.
But I still had a lot of fun and got some awesome pictures I wanna show you.

The rest of the days I went to the beach tried to do some surfing and body boarding which didn't work out as good as I hoped :D Furthermore I met some nice guys, Jonas from Germany and Kevin from France and we three did some konoeing and stand-up paddeling at the creek which was a lot of fun, but also very cold.

Koala hospital in Port Macquarie on 23rd June

On Thursday morning I went for a scenic costal walk in Port Macquarie and then went to the koala hospital. It was something like a dream com true, because I was so close to those cute little things..
It is the only koala hospital in the world. They give shelter to koalas who got run over by a car, bitten by a dog or who fell from trees, just to give you an example. Most of the koalas suffered from clamydia which is really dangerous for them, but luckily it is cureable. Other ones have a broken bone or problems with their eye.. Those injuries can lead to life long disability of the koalas, because if they just have one good leg or are blind they are not able to climb at trees or escpae predators..
But most koalas can be released in the wild again.
When I was there, there weren`t many koalas, which is a good thing, even though I just saw 7 koalas.
I think about adopting a koala, which only costs $55 a year (36€). You should check out the website. Unfortunately the hospital doesn`t get financial support from the government therefore they are happy for every donation.

http://www.koalahospital.org.au/

Manly beach 22nd June

Last Wednesday Anna, Kim, Julia, Jana and me did a three hours hike from Manly beach to the old quarantine zone of Sydney. It was really nice weather, perfect for hiking and we girls a a lot to talk about.
Jana and I were in the same room in Wake Up hostel for 3 days and we became freinds over this short time. She is a 25 years old girl from Flensburg who just finished her master studies. She is now travelling around the world and luckily we met each other during her stay in Sydney. We will meet in Byron Bay at the end of this week again and I `m really looking forward to it.

The hike in Manly wasn`t so spectacular but we had some really nice views at the city skyline and could breath the fresh air of the sea.
I just put up some photos so you can see by yourselfs.

Blue Mountains 21st June

One week ago I went on a day trip to the famous blue mountains.

I went there with Anna, Julius, Nele and Alice who I met on Facebook. It was quite spontanious but we all wan2ted to spend a day in the blue mountains without paying too much for a guided tour.

Once we arrived at the entry of the national park we went into the visitor center and a nice man told us where we have to go. 

First we had a look at the impressing waterfalls and did a half an hour hike to get a better view.

Our next stop were the three sisters, probably the most famous rocks/ mountains of the blue mountains. Unfortunately it was extremly windy and only 8°C warm. That`s why we only stayed there maybe half an hour. Even taking photos turned out to be difficult..

Then we went to the botanic gardens and had a little walk in there. It was nice but we should have been there in summer time because now there are now colorful flowers. :(

At last we made a quick stop at a café and tried the famous apple pie of the blue mountains area. Actually it wasn`t as tasty as I expected but it was alright. I would say I would have made a better one..

At the end of the day I was really tired and I fell asleep that moment my head touched the pillow.

Basecamp in Port Stephens, Nelson Bay 15th - 16th June

On Wednesday (15th June) me and my group hopped on a bus which brought us to Port Stephens, a cute little village belonging to Nelson Bay. After about 3.5h of driving we arrived at the Melaleuca Backpackers hostel. We were welcomed by the owner Michelle, a really nice lady and she explained us whats important druing our stay here and which animals could be harmful to us (not that we saw any of those, but just in case).
We slept in little wooden huts and the bathrooms were just a little walk away. It wasn't unusual that you saw the kangaroo Josy on your way through the camp.
In the evening we had pizza for everyone and after some funny drinking games we all went to the beach, which was just a 5 min walk away. Dan and the boys made bonfire and we had a few drinks, listened to the waves and looked up in the sky to see the millions of stars.

The next morning we woke up befor 6am because we wanted to see the sunrise at the beach. There I took this beautiful photo which is the background of this blog. It was freezing outside and I was glad that I took this not so nice fleece jacket with me :D
After a quick breakfast we went off to the next adventure. This time it was sand boarding. The owners of the hostel drove us to the huge sand dunes in 4WLs and that was pretty spectacular cruising through the sand.
Once we arrived everybody got a sand board and the game was on. Who could slide the longest distance? I tried really hard, but unfortunately I just got in second place. After a while they gave us boards that were a lot more faster than the normal ones and we tried out to slide down the dunes with 10 people holding onto the other person`s ankle. It almost worked out, but sadly we didn`t take a photo of it.
After teo hours we hopped on the 4WLs again and drove down to the beach were we did a pipi race. Pipis are little animals, similar to mussels. The hide in the sand and it took a few minutes to find a big race pipi. We stood in a circle and dropped the pipi on the sand. After a little while they started digging in the sand and the one that dissapeared first one. This time I won.

Bevor lunch we went on a little hike to a grat lookout point. the hike wasn`t that spectacular but the view from the top was. I saw whales for the first time in my life! But they were quite far away that`s why I just took a photo of the tale.

In the afternoon we had some freetime and Muna and me just chilled in the camp and played with Josy.

For dinner we had a great and delicious bbq and after that a guy came over who rescues reptiles. He brought some animals and we were able to touch them and let them sit on our arms.
At 11pm we watched the game England vs, Wales but I just watched the first half and then went to bed because I was really tired from that adventures day.

The next morning we went on a dolphin watching cruise. We saw a lot of wild dolphins but I dind`t take really good pictures. Just got a photo of the tail.. At the boat there was a net where you can sit or climb in while the boat was swimming through the sea. I got as close as three meters to the dolphins.It actually really hurt my feet to stand in the net but it was worth the pain.