the last night in australia was pretty good. we spent it w/our good friend from california that we met on magnetic island, taylor in fremantle w.a. (is that a confusing sentence? it makes sense to me anyway)
we spent the night catching up, jaming on guitars, talking about life and where our soceities values lie (general backpacker talk) and sneaking in booze into the hostel made for a great night.
the next day we were finally taking off back to the northern hemisphere, the long flight waited there patiently for us to arrive. nothing crazy to report except for the usual knife-in-the-brain-pain that comes with flying for me. landing in malaysia just for a few hours then off to amsterdam.
our host squim (of the roel & squim magnetic island duo) treated us like royalty. great house to stay, food, drinks, old and new friends to hang and chat with, sight-seeing all the touristy stuff, couldn t have asked for a better time there... well ...
the first time i almost flip over the bike , one might think one would learn the first time, but insted we all laughed. i now believe that i am accident prone. those of you that have known me more than a few months pretty much know i cant make it a year without being injured.
yeah this is what i looked like for my first day in europe.
i know it looks like i got a tooth ache but because of the beard we couldnt find where the blood was dripping from my face later found out it was a giant lump\gash in my chin
there's some better pictures that squim took that im waiting for (thats nanny another dutchie from magnetic island)
chop goes the mo
had a little bit of a bicycle accident, where my face and arm met the pavement and the bike tryed to ride me (ended up on top of me while i was lying face down on the paved bike path). i still think bike riding is bar none the best way to get around. and whats the old saying "why do we fall? so we can learn to pick ourselves up again"
seeing the amount of bicycles/scooters/motorbikes there is incredible. apparently outnumbering people 3to1. at train stations theres 1000 bikes where 100 cars would usually fit. bikes roads everywhere there are car roads. bikes with front and rear trailers, speed-babys, tandems, taxis, electric, motorized bicycles, all shapes and sizes everyones got a bike fat, fit, tall, small, everyone. coming from bunbury where no-one was quite sure what this thing on two wheels and no motor was and trying to hunt them with the front of their front cow herding bumpers on their cars was quite the contrast.
aside from the bike culture and bike tours around which was definately the highlight of holland, we got to see an old windmill inside and out, an old castle forttress, mardurodam which is miniature holland, sort of a tulip field, ww2 barracks, amsterdam cafes and usual red light district tourist attractions.
it all seemed a little like too short a time though, and once we met up with roel when his flight from sydney came in on friday, we knew we would soon be back on the plane later that evening to fly out.
ah yes the north sea dankevell(north atlantic ocean)
did you know australia was originally named new holland?
the sea was calm as the day grew light. the journey to hamburg germany started easy enough arranged though a carpool website (modern hitchhiking). we travelled on two different ferries to take the shortest route there with a german builder named ingo. as an appreation gesture for travelling with him he gave us some chantrelle mushrooms and blueberry jam, the same things we've been collecting and eating for the last few weeks.
we stayed with mikaela's friends karl and birte for the first few days and explored the inner city. hamburg has alot of character show though the architecture and mostly tastful graffiti. different independant clothing and 'junk' shops lined the quaint neibourhoods, and the harbour was a work of modernism with beautiful ships disprised thoughout.
after our stay w/miki's friends i got ahold of some distant relatives that were near by and stayed on the outskirts of hamburg nearby in a place called neugraben. there we were closer to apple orchards and forrest walks but still within the city tram limits. i got to meet my great uncle jurgen and wife roma and had a nice time chatting over some coffee and cake. 
then off to their son andy's to stay for the remainer of the time. he took us out to a small town not far away where modern homes haven't laid destruction upon traditional buildings.
had a great time all in all, and soon enough we had to stick our thumbs out into the internet to catch a ride back. stopped for a couple hours in copenhagen denmark and finally got our hamburgers.
