The last day

Good day!

Now we have been in Pitcairn for a week, and it is time to look the direction of home. In our stay we have been sightseeing both on land and at sea, we have gotten to know a great bunch of people, tried to be a part of a different culture and had a lot of fun.

Now there is only one thing left to do. Something that makes sure we will remember how special this week has been, the symbol of this stay, what we show of when we get home… the souvenir!

We end up buying a glass of Pitcairn honey and a bunch of stamps. Stamps are their biggest source of income, even though they only sell them to passing ships and the few tourists that come by.

Good bye, Pitcairn, or maybe see you late, you never know we might run out of stamps.

Torunn

Country Gals

Howdy folks!

The last couple of days we have been living like real Pitcairn gals. We have joined a fishing trip and helped with the agriculture. Hanna has mostly helped with the animal care, while I joined the harvest of the sweet potatoes. To be honest I am a little bit afraid of most animals, especially the goats and the chickens witch are about what they have here. 

These people produce pretty much all of their food by themselves, so while we have stayed here we have eaten a lot of fish, goat and poultry, yumiii!

It is fantasic how a country this small can provide it self, there is almost no import or eksport, this does kind of take the country back in time, there is no tv-signals here and only one phone. This does not mean that their living conditions are bad, just that they are different than the rest of the world and that it's hard to put it into numbers like HDI. T

We have also gotten a better sight on the Pitcairn values. Christianity is the only religion here, and they have strict moral codes, especially for things like dancing and drinking of alcohol.

Everyone is very open and friendly to the tourists, they even opens their homes for them because there are no hotels here, so while we are here we get to live in one of the families guest rooms.

This is my room here in Pitcairn, my dream room!

Torunn

The mutiny on Bounty

Greetings people of the world!

The last days we have been shown around, and I dear to claim that I have seen every inch of this island twice already, but it is a part of the charm, I can only imagine how it must be to live here.

We haven’t only gotten a tour on shore, but also of shore, because the pitcarn islands consist of four islands, even though only one of them are inhabited. 

We took the boat from the only bay on the island, Bounty Bay, which brings us to the interesting history behind the name.

The inhabitants are descendants of the sailors from the famous munity on Bounty. They sailed to this island and set fire to their ship, and then they were stuck. They made a community that at the start were troubled with bloody fights about how to rule the community. At the end it was only one man left standing among 10 women and 20 children.

 Now the capital and well the only city is named after him John Adams, the capital is called Adamstown.

The sailors from Bounty were British, and this country is one of the last remaining once in the British colony. This is way they speak English here, even though it might be a little old fashioned. 
Here is their flag, the symbol represents the munity while the britsh flag symbolises that they are a part of the brithish colony.

Torunn

Pitcairn

Hi peeps!

After some crazy days in the city we have arrived at our next destination, were we most likely will get somewhat more quiet (though not uneventful) days. We are now in the world’s smallest country, Pitcairn. It is like a miniature, pocket sized little island, it is only 4,7 square kilometers big, and there are less than 50 citizens. And yes, it is real!

And if you don’t understand how “teenie weenie” this is, let me set it in perspective. 

This island is not just small, it I s also the most isolated inhabited place on earth; this is the real –where no one could believe that anyone could live-. It is located in the middle of the Pacific ocean. To get here we took a plane from Sydney to Tahiti, were we continued to Mangareva, before we took a boat for 30 hours to this little island.

We chose to visit Pitcairn to experience something completely different than we have ever been close to before.Hopefully this will be as exciting as we believe it will be, because then it is going to get insane!

Torunn

Bye bye Australia

G`day!

We are leaving Australia soon.

We have started to pack our bags, but it is not the end of this trip. You know what, Australia is more than kangaroos, barbeque, country music and the great barrier reef. We have seen the people in Australia, and they have showed us their culture. From amzing architecture to the social conditions in the country. While Torunn is excited about the next travel destination, I am a bit sad we are leaving Australia. We will spend our last Australian dollars on some "chokkie and lollies"  before leaving. 

Since we got here  the only language we have heard is English, except from some tourists talking German. Australian English is different from British and American English, they have their own accent. It is strange how the language English has become the international language of communication . If it hadn`t exist, I am not sure how we would have been able to communicate with each other. It is strange how one language is so important. Maybe everyone will be talking English after many years. I don`t think so. Every country takes care of their own language and I don`t think they will let go of it. Each language is a huge part of the culture of each country. A language creates cohesion in a community.I think the arrangement with English as a communication language and a main language for several countries will last. It is very fascinating to think of how people from different countries have learned the same language and is able to communicate using the English language.

We will write soon! 

HANNA

Sources:
http://www.destination360.com/australia-south-pacific/australia/shopping
http://nuvustudio.org/fall-11/chocolate/

Hamilton Island and the reef

Hi mates!

When we landed at Hamilton Island`s airport the sun was shining and it was really hot. I think one of the biggest differences between Norway and Australia is the seasons. The spring in Australia begins in September and lasts to December. The following season is summer. When the snow falls in Norway the sun fries everyone in Australia. This is the first time either one of us has been here, so it was quite a change.

After we landed we went to the palm bungalows where we stayed for the night. Hamilton Island is filled with luxury, and we have already seen a lot. We went to the wildlife park, were we saw koalas and the famous Australian kangaroos. Actually we hadn’t seen kangaroos before we got to the park. We have seen signs along the road with pictures of kangaroos everywhere, but no real kangaroos. We enjoyed the day there, and we were lucky to get on a boat trip to see  the reef.

The one thing we have been really scared of when we thought of Australia is the fact that sharks live in Australia. Recently Torunn read an article about several shark attacks in Australia; People who have been attacked at normal beaches. The beaches is protected by shark nets, but isn`t it more we can do to keep the sharks far away from the beaches?

The reef is amazing, and we didn`t see any sharks. It contains thousands of different colored fish. It is a big part of the culture in Australia. The Australian culture is really interesting. When we think of Australia`s culture we think of country music, kangaroos, barbeque, animal programs, outdoor life and so on. Even though the people in Australia enjoy all sorts of music like the rest of the world, Australia is famous for their country music. We have been to several country shows at some small diners.
We actually saw Keith Urban at the Sydney airport, and we were a bit starstrucked. He is a famous country music singer and one of his best songs is "somebody like you"

Once upon a time there was two girls travelling in Australia, and they learned a lot from the trip. Now the adventure in Australia is soon over.

We`ll update you on the rest of the story soon!
HANNA

Sources:
http://www.hotel.com.au/Whitsundays/Hamilton-Island---Palm-Bungalows-2-hotels.asp
http://www.outtraveler.com/continents.asp?k=KEYAustralia
http://www.outtraveler.com/continents.asp?k=KEYAustralia

Life in Sydney

      Hello!

The last couple of days we have had so much fun and experienced a lot. The following days after we arrived in Sydney we have visited Bondi beach, the Sydney opera house and the Sydney Aquarium. We have driven over the famous Harbour Bridge, and spent the evenings in the streets of Sydney. Sydney is actually the most populous city in Australia.
The Bondi beach is really big and has perfect sand and perfect waves for surfing. We almost felt like we were on TV, because of the beautiful landscape and because a few TV-shows has been filmed here (Tv-shows like Home and away!).  We tried to surf, but surfing is really hard. At the Sydney aquarium we walked through something called the ocean tunnel. We saw fish from all over Australia swimming right above us, we have never experienced such a thing before and I have been to several aquariums around the world.
We have eaten a lot of barbeque since we got here; wherever we go there is a barbeque diner with big steaks and "mystery bags"(sausages). I think we will miss eating real australian barbeque when we get home.

In Australia everyone speeks English, but English was not Australia`s main language several years ago. Sydney is the oldest city in Australia. Australia has been a British colony, and it all started in Sydney. James Cook (A famous explorer from England) went to Sydney and declared Australia a British colony. It was named New South Wales. England decided to send British prisoners to Australia in 1787. After the discovery of gold in Australia more people from England immigrated to Australia. Then Australia got another language: English!
The aborigines and the Englishmen have had a lot of conflicts. The aborigines lost their land when the Englishmen arrived, and many of them died of illness. They have been discriminated. The world of today is improved, and equal rights are very important.
 The authority of Australia has apologized to the native people about the way they have been treated, but still there is a lot of discrimination of them and a lot of the aborigines are poor. Many of the aborigines are unemployed and some kids drop out of school. Statistics shows that most of the unemployed people in Australia is aborgines. Still, things have improved and it seems like the conditions are changing for the better. The authority of Australia hopes for a new start between the aborigines and the aussies

 Well it is a brand new day tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will fly to Hamilton Island and see the Great Barrier Reef (The trip takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.). We have enjoyed our last day in Sydney!


Good night!

HANNA

Sources:
http://whotalking.com/flickr/Australians
http://www.google.no/imgres?um=1&hl=no&biw=1441&bih=642&tbm=isch&tbnid=zHG4hsNycBXGkM:&imgrefurl=http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/Australia/Sydney/Harbour/index.html&docid=ge82fZm9GQo2JM&imgurl=http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/Australia/Sydney/Harbour/SydneyHarbourBridge.jpg&w=980&h=700&ei=zJJ5UPiAOJGK4gTh74H4Ag&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=300&sig=116444532335160496812&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=183&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:86&tx=102&ty=49

http://www.cityknown.com/Cities/Attraction.aspx?AttractionID=232