Matt Down Under
Ruby developer, founder of choc media, bushwalker, MacGyver fan and hobby photographer, German citizen and Australian Permanent Resident.
In 2008 I moved from Germany to Australia, the best decision of my life. On this blog you can find stories and photos about hiking in Tasmania and on the mainland, travelling, and life in Australia — my journey from Working Holiday to Permanent Residency.
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Back from the Great South West Walk
About a week ago I finished the Great South West Walk. It was by far the greatest (and longest) walk I did so far in Australia and I’m extremely happy everything went so well.
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I found this video while researching and preparing for the Great South West Walk. Seeing how passionate people are about this walk really makes me look forward to it.
City vs. suburbs vs. countryside
It’s now five months since I moved into the sharehouse where I live at the moment, and five months since I started in my current job. I’d like to move to a different place sometime soon, but once again the main problem I have is too much choice with everything.
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From Vietnam to Germany to Malaysia to Melbourne
Long time no post here. I didn’t get lost hiking, I just took some time off to work on side projects and enjoy the quiet life. Here’s what happened over the last 12 months.
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Photos from my 6-day hiking trip in Pu Luong Nature Reserve in North Vietnam.
Yesterday I arrived in Hanoi, after a fantastic week in Hoi An where I met some great local people who made my stay very enjoyable. You may have seen in the news that Viet Nam experienced similar floods than Bangkok over the last days, and many people have died. I was in Hoi An when the old town got flooded after the water in the river rose 3m in just one day. My hotel was flooded too but I got away very lucky. It really amazed me how relaxed the locals dealt with the situation, organising boat tours around the flooded town, some even telling me I would be very lucky to witness the flood, it happens ‘only’ 2-3 times per year apparently.
I’ve added the first of probably a handful of photo albums about my trip to Viet Nam. This one is about Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), including a small tour to the Cu Chi Viet Cong tunnels and another trip on the Saigon river to the Mekong delta and My Tho.
Xin chào from Viet Nam
(Xin chào means hello). On Thursday I left Darwin, after several months, and flew to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Viet Nam where I’m going to spend four weeks traveling from South to North before heading to Germany over Christmas and New Year.
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13 things I will miss when I leave Darwin
Just so I don’t appear too negative (or too German?) after my last post about the 3 things in Darwin I won’t miss, here is a list of 13 things I will absolutely miss once I leave Darwin on Thursday.
