Australia, the promised land?

2 and half months they travelled by untouched nature in a van, remade in a camper. In 2 and half months they drove 11,000 kilometres in the eastern part of Australia, and meet animals you see only in ZOO. "The kangaroos, koalas, and emus are everywhere. Kangaroos are in Australia as common as here sparrows. There are several species of different sizes of kangaroos, the smallest are as big as rats and the red on is a size of a human," still extremely impressed explains Miha. One morning he went running and one emu join him. Then he saw a whole flock of these huge birds, "which were, of course, faster. At 50 degrees Celsius it is difficult to run fast," almost apologetic says Miha. Australia is a wonderful destination for ornithologist, since there round 800 bird species of all possible colours and size can be found. Typical of many birds is very unusual size that exceeds our perception of the bird; a typical example is emu. "Parrots are ubiquitous, also cockatoos and the kookaburra, a bird, which is a kind of symbol of Australia and it sings like it laughs aggressively. You can hear the birds that make sounds like a cat. In short, fauna is present everywhere," explains Miha. When it comes to animals, we cannot avoid the question: what is with poisonous animal species? We’ve all seen the documentaries on National Geographic about the most deadly animals and Australia was always mentioned. 10 most poisonous animals are to be found on this continent. Even though they spent most of the time in nature, Miha and Polona saw 'only' one deadly spider and a snake. "But the truth is that we did not provoke by roaming in bushes," they point out. 

"Australia is a specific destination, as it is really huge, and things a traveller would like to see are scattered all over the continent. Moreover, 90 per cent of the land is a desert, or semi-desert. Populated is the East Coast, while most of the land is uninhabited," explains Miha. As the distance between cities and villages are huge, here comes to the problem: transport. "You have to have your own transportation, as you can't rely on public transport. Buses run, let's say a week or not at all. You can use local airports, but then you skip interesting city. So, the first option for us was to rent a car, the other was to simply buy a vehicle. We decided for the latter and bought a van that was remade in a small camper, where we slept," says Miha. For him, Australia always represented a continent with a huge open space, nature and nothing else. He has never been fascinated by the big cities; the natural beauty always dragged Miha’s attention. And that he found on the other side of the world. "You sit in a car, drive 500 kilometres and there is nothing else but nature. This is hard to imagine, because Europe is from the Australian point of view, one big city. As soon as you get out of the coastal region, where the population is dense, the distance between the villages increases to 200 kilometers."

It is also interesting how Australians spend their days at the beach. They have thousands of miles of wonderful places where the sea touches the land, but there are no swimmers to be found. "On the South Shore the water is extremely cold, and on the East Shore the species of deadly jellyfish live. Therefore, the Australians do not go to the beach to sunbathe, swim or read a book, like we. For them the beach is a place, where surfers ride the waves and where they prepare excellent picnic," explain Miha and Polona. 

It is true that they only travelled across the Australia, but they talked with many people, even the Slovenes and Croats that live there for a long time. They have created a family and home there and would not come back. The words those people are: "Australia is the promised paradise." Polona continues, that "quality of life is incomparably better than in Slovenia. Salaries are there unimaginably higher. Of course, the standard is higher too, but in relation to the wages, not that much. Seasonal and transitional work may is well paid. We met a lot of people who have worked both in Australia and in New Zealand and they were all unified: If you work, you work in Australia. If you have a chance for a visa, of course."

It's hard to take the first step; whether it is a step to decide for a longer trip, step to change your life into one big trip or to leave the comfortable, familiar, home environment and move anywhere in the country. Most of us hesitated, when it came to such big decisions, but like everyone that made the first step, say like Polona: "Just decide and go. I was so god in finding excuses. When you're a student, you're thinking: what if I miss these lectures? Oh, what about the exam period? There are so many concerns… instead of just going somewhere warm in January. Before I went on this eight months long trip, I thought that everything will change, one year I’m not going to see family, friends… It was difficult for me, even though I've always wanted to go. It was a big turning point. But now, when I look back, I just can't believe that I’ve complicated things so much. It is difficult to hit the road, but once you do that, then there is no longer a problem." She adds that for the second time running there would be no hesitation. Simply, she would just pack up and leave.

"There are million reasons. The question is, why not. I just can't imagine what kind of a person I would be if I didn’t travel. You can watch TV or listen to the testimonials, but when you actually experience other cultures, you broaden your horizons and understand yourself more. The best investment you can do with your money is to go somewhere," says Polona. Miha adds that on journeys you see that there is nowhere as it is at home. "You're out of the family environment, where you grew up and where you were learned, that it is the way it is. And you believe that. Then you go halfway around the world and see that everything is completely different. Memorized values somehow collapse and you gather them again, but this time in your own judgement. You clean up the clutter, because we are very spoiled. Even when it comes to food and accommodation. When you're on the road, you’re sometimes hungry, sometimes you have to eat food you don't like or spend the night in the cold, the wind, among ants... We lived in a van 2.5 months and when we finished the journey in Australia, any room with four walls, a roof and a bed was amazing luxury for us," Miha says.