Hugo Vaes

A year in Sydney Australia Hugo Vaes

Two people plan to steal a box from his former employer. A young Dutch backpacker, Julia Meier, travels to Australia for a year of travel experience and adventure. She gets involved in a weird but exciting adventure. It all starts when she meets Robby Henson. He was a successful hostel owner, but he lost it all, thanks to his ex-wife. He is broke and needs help. He finds in Julia a perfect victim. She has no idea what his plans are. He promises a job, although she isn't allowed to work or study in Australia. She arrived in Sydney on a double six months' visa what doesn't allow her to work. Thanks to her new friend Robby, she will break that rule. Two people, a Briton and an Aussie woman, plan to steal a mysterious box from a man, they both know. He is a friend of her ex. They plan, they steal and disappear with the mysterious box. Julia meet through Robby a couple of men, who will become her friends and lover. Jonathan, Anton and Konrad all know Robby and his dark past. They all warn her to be careful with the man, she thinks is a cool man. He is good in telling interesting stories, but he is also good in stealing money. She has no idea what he's doing, till it is too late. He finds ways to get access to her money. He uses a simple trick. He claims he fell and nearly broke his lower back and leg in an uncovered hole on a dreadful day in April. He sues the council, who was responsible for not covering the hole. He needs money and uses Julia. She gives him reluctantly money for his court case. He uses her again when they both have enough of living in a hostel, the Bondi Lodge. They rent a flat. It is Julia, who pays for it, but Robby, who claims the place. By the end of her year in Australia, she learns the truth about her friend. She cannot walk away from him without a fight. Two days before she flies to Malaysia, he demands her passport, her money and her flight ticket. She refuses. He steals her luggage, she cannot leave the country. Julia reports him and manages to leave the country. He has one more fight with her in the city of Sydney. She stays in the hotel, where she stayed before on her arrival a year ago. She reports Robby for a second time after he attacks her. She flies out of Sydney with a shaved head and plenty of bruises. Robby knows he underestimated her. She was the first woman who beat him. This story is based on a true event. The author travelled between December 1999 and June 2001 in Australia and Southeast Asia.