Lena on a trip across Australia – A travel report

That is why I only applied for apprenticeships for industrial management assistant positions at my three favourite companies. Bilstein & Siekermann^® made me a great apprenticeship offer to complete the training, which I accepted. I started my apprenticeship in September 2015 and successfully completed it in June 2018,

but I hadn't forgotten my idea of a long trip to Australia after finishing my apprenticeship. 

In a planning meeting – just before the end of the apprenticeship – I started thinking about it again. I wanted to realise my dream of going to Australia, despite continuing to work at Bilstein & Siekermann^®, and asked Ms Ubl for two months’ unpaid leave. After she had spoken to the directors and my head of department, I was able to make my wish a reality. 

I would like to thank my supervisors and colleagues from the work preparation department, especially Anna Wald, a 2nd year apprentice, who shouldered a large part of my work so that I could go on my Australian adventure. I was able to stay for two months Down Under from the beginning of October to the beginning of December 2018 largely by taking unpaid leave. I financed the trip myself. 

I finally set off in October. I first went to Thailand on my own and spent a week in Bangkok. I got a tremendous amount of impressions from Thailand in this short time, and I learned lots about the culture, religion and lifestyle – it is definitely a country I'd like to visit again. 

From Bangkok, I flew to my main destination, Australia, and landed in Melbourne. From here, I rented a campervan and travelled along the Ocean Road from the south up the entire east coast passing Sydney, Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef, to Cairns in the north. I travelled a total of 7,216 kilometres in my campervan. 

In the morning, at breakfast, I used my mobile phone, maps and brochures to look for interesting destinations and find a camping site for the evening. I usually drove for a few hours in the morning. I often walked through national parks or stopped at beautiful beaches, bays and waterfalls. In the afternoon, having arrived at a camping site, I cooked and ate and relaxed in the evening. Of course I often met other travellers, but we went our separate ways the next day. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the locals themselves. They seemed very happy with us tourists and backpackers. The Australians were very helpful and open-minded. I did not experience any unfriendliness at all. 

There’s nothing I regret or would have changed about my plans because this road trip was the only way for me to travel and get to know this huge country. Being on my own and travelling alone was a very positive experience. It not only strengthens your character and you pick up the language very quickly, I’ve never been as independent and flexible as I was then. 

All in all, I had no negative experiences or anything that went wrong during my journey, such as breakdowns, theft, illness or boredom. On the contrary, I felt amazing and after the eventful days, I slept better than ever before in my campervan. 

Now that I am back in Germany and at work, I'm still overwhelmed by the many impressions and things I was able to experience. However, for the moment, my desire to travel to far-flung countries has been satisfied and I'm happy to be back home in the Eifel region.