It’s the small things I like about Australia. People greeting the driver when they get on the bus - and saying thanks when getting off. And that’s in a city of more than a million people. Or how you can go swimming at the beach and only minutes later you can run up to the jetty for some shark spotting - nice country.

Racing through the streets of Adelaide in 30+° weather, a pack of international cycling professionals.

Having a couple of very quiet days in Adelaide. [caption id=“attachment_3950” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Morialta Conservation Park[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3951” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Henley Beach South[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3952” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Residential Area[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3953” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Small Shopping Street[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3954” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] Aussie Tennis Legend Lleyton Hewitt playing Fernando Verdasco[/caption]

It’s been 4 years, 7 months and 24 days since I left Australia in May 2011. The closest I got ever since was when flying over the red continent on my way from Auckland to Singapore a year later. The taxi ride from the airport yesterday was an array of flashbacks. The distinct vegetation, the streets, the cars and the shops all brought back memories. They were all good memories and I realised what a rich and fulfilled year the time in Australia had been.

Walking through a street in Southeast Asia, I always find myself reminded how impossible it is to adequately describe the experience with words and pictures. Neither can transport the sounds and smells, the movement and the atmosphere. While a video will still fall far short of really showing what it’s like, it does give a slightly deeper impression. Hence here it goes, five minutes in the streets of a small town in the Shan state.

According to common folklore, baby Jesus was born some 2000 years ago. Considering how Christianity has brought two millennia of terror and suffering onto the world, why not celebrate the anniversary with a little bloodshed. Stage free for cock-fighting in the village down the road. Just as on the Philippines, the cocks have a single blade tied to one of their feet. Betting is a big thing and from what I’ve gathered, one can either simply bet on a winner or on how many cuts the loser will suffer.

The area north-west of Tabanan is hardly developed at all in terms of tourism infrastructure. Which is perfect for me and also a stark contrast to pretty much all of south Bali. Up here, there is about one bed-and-breakfast per village. The one we are staying at has a total of four rooms, so locals really don’t see a lot of westerners. Some of them are keen to take pictures with my friend and me - whether it’s because we are about two heads taller than them or simply because we are foreigners, I don’t know.

25th of December 2010 I spent at a waterfall in the Blue Mountains. Five years later it’s one on Bali. The property we are staying at is green, to say the least.I like the outdoors bathroom a lot.

Moved to a place 1.5h west of Ubud. Close to no tourists around here, just a couple of local villages. Very nice and relaxing.

It is surprising how many people get up in the middle of the night to climb a volcano. My friend and I were two of them. After a 2:00am pick up, we were delivered to the bottom of Mount Batur at 4:00 sharp. With two hours to go until sunrise, we set out on the climb up to the 1,700m peak. It was a reasonably easy hike with a 700m ascend stretched over almost 2h of walking.