Journey to the Gold Coast: We're Finally Here!

First of all, sorry that it took so long for me to write another post. I didn't have WiFi until I got at Naoka's. Once I got there though, I was so jetlagged I went straight to bed. So right now (we're going on a road trip, so once again no WiFi) I am writing a not so small paragraph about the past three days.

The start.
The fith period at school had ended and it was lunch break. Imogen and I said everyone at school goodbye, because we were leaving right after the break to do a last check to see if we packed everything we needed. I went to the hockeyclub as well to say goodbye to my hockey team.
It was finally 5:30 pm and we were leaving for Schiphol. Marleen, Stephanie and Paulien were coming with me to say goodbye. Daphne and Indira were joining Imogen to Schiphol. At the airport we met up with Imogen (and everyone who was with her). We took many pictures and then we went to the check-in desk. It took a lot longer than expected because there was a problem with the system so they weren't able to scan Imogen's passport. Everything worked out though and we got our tickets. We were a little bit late beacuse of the check in thing, so we said our final good-byes (I almost cried but we managed to keep it dry). We went to the gate and could board straight away. Once we sat down in our seats, the first thing Imogen and I said to eachother was: "this adventure has now officially started!"

On the plane.
It only took us half an hour to get to Heathrow Airport, London. When we got there, we ckecked in for both our flights with China Southern Airlines; the first one from London to Guangzhou and the second one from Guangzhou to Brisbane. This time the check in went very well. Once we were waiting for our flight to start boarding, we found a charging point and we sat down for about an hour. When we found out our flight was boarding, we were very late already and we were almost too late... We did make it though, and the flight was quite nice. The plane food wasn't too bad and I did get a little bit of sleep so I wasn't incredibly exhausted when we got to Guangzhou. Guangzhou is by the way the worst airport I've ever been to. First of all there was no WiFi, and the smell was so bad. It was a mixture of A LOT OF cigarette smoke and the smell of frying oil of chinese food. My nose still hurts a bit from inhaling those fumes! Anyways, there was one nice thing over there, which was a portable USB charger! It was a baggage trolly which had a small screen on it and a USB port to charge phones, I-Pads etc. After two hours at Guangzhou Airport, we finally boarded our last flight to Brisbane. This flight was a little bit less pleasant than the previous ones. The food wasn't all too good and I didn't get any sleep. Also, this flight took longer than I expected.

Brisbane.
When we got to Brisbane, the first thing that struck me was the heat and the humidity of the air. When we entered the airport, we collected our suitcases and then we went on to the exit. When the doors opened, we immediately saw Naoka and Kona standing there with big signs. We said hi to everyone. It was really nice to see my and Imogen's exchange sisters. Then, I went to Robina Town Centre with Naoka and her dad, which is the main shopping area. It was so different from dutch cities and shopping areas. It was a big shopping mall with several normal and fast food restaurants, a couple of banks and many shops. Instead of a very big, stretched out area with different streets with shops which we have in the Netherlands. After our stop at the mall we went on to the small town closest to were Naoka lives. It is called Murwillumbah, but I haven't seen much of it yet. It was raining (I believe that Imogen and I have brought the rain with us...) so we decided to stay inside the car. I also got to meet Naoka's family. Her siblings are quite a bit older than she is so they all live on their own. In the evening I was so tired I could barely stay awake. I did went to bed in the evening (Australian time) so I'm almost rid of my jetlag.

Today; Friday 24th of January.
Right now we (Naoka, her dad, her stepmother and me) are on a road trip headed for a place near Rockhampton and Gladstone (which is further north of Brisbane). From there, we will go by boat to Lady Musgrave Island where we will spend the coming three days.

The biggest differences.
Obviously the climate is totally different, it is summer here right now. Also, the distances are remarkably bigger. In Holland it takes you 20 minutes to go from one city to the next. Here, it took us 20 minutes to get from one side of Brisbane to the other. Also, because of the overload of space, there are so many woods, and for example big suger cane fields (we saw those yesterday). The typical Australian accent is something which stands out as well. It is really cool, but sometimes hard to understand as well. Not only the accent of people, but their lifestyles are very different. On Holland many people are really uptight and tense, here everyone is relaxed and 'going with the flow'. It is a nice admosphere to be in, and I can definately get used to it!

I will talk to you guys later, and will upload this post first thing when I can connect to WiFi.

Loulotte