Just Chillin’ - Gold Coast Style

This little chapter, this little week is being recapped without notes. Because, who takes notes during chill time?! The Gold Coast is definitely a good place to learn to lean back, stop and smell the roses, just plain ol’ chill again. To us, it became the place we regenerated, relaxed and prepared for the next step of the way.

And what do you do after working your butt off, then sleeping in soggy tents and driving all day and then finally having a room and a bed? Stay in it! The first morning was gray and rainy and we were thankful for it. Because then at least there are is no guilt for wasting a beautiful day by sleeping in and hanging in bed for a few more hours.

The sun did eventually come out and so did we. From our hilltop home, we walked down to the “lake” which is actually salt/brackish water and connected to the ocean. There was even a sign warning about stingrays, jellyfish and sharks. 

A walk along the salty lake. 

It was the first time in a long time we just took a walk. A walk along a salty lake in suburbia. A unfamiliar mixture of pigeons, bush turkeys (some of the ugliest birds I have ever seen!), colorful parrots, cockatoos and seagulls accompanied us. 

Sure, I knew white parrots always hang out in pine trees.

There were baby puffer fish and other marine life playing along the egdes of the lake. All in all, a beautiful walk that ended in the little shopping center of Elanora. On the way back, I got a call from Tangalooma Resort, asking if they could conduct a short interview over the phone. I stuttered my way through it and that was that. Two days later we had a job.

In the late afternoon we headed down to the beach – just because we could. The sun was setting slowly and it left just enough time for Mo to jump in the water and play in the waves and for me to attempt my first little yoga session in over 3 months. Short and sweet, but it hurt so good.

Me. Tanned. Happy.

Us. Tanned (- all is relative). Happy.

Mo heading in for a dip.

Back to square one. It hurt so good.

The next day was gorgeous and we headed up to Mermaid Beach to visit Emily, a friend from Berlin who had moved here a year ago. Her cute little apartment had a cute little pool, which we made use of – all day long! Just seeing a familiar face, catching up and reminiscing was so refreshing somehow. And the water was just perfect to distract us from how sunburned we were getting.

Later in the afternoon our hunger drove us out of the pool and to the Fish and Chips shop. Three big portions in one big box, devoured while sitting on a windy beach watching kids boogie board and try not to be dragged this way and that by the waves and currents. We got stalked and squawked at by seagulls and in turn stalked and gawked at lifeguards ;)

There is nothing better than fish and chips on the beach. 

There is nothing worse than trying to light a cigarette on a very windy day.

And because the day had been so nice, we let the good times transition into darkness, sitting by the pool talking. We ended up spending the night and only headed home the next day for a short nap, a change of clothes and mental preparation for what was in store for us that evening.

More beach pictures.

A night out in Surfers Paradise! I always have to grin about the creativity of the names of places along the Gold Coast – Surfers Paradise, Mermaid Beach, Miami, Palm Beach… Anyways, after meeting Nadia and having a few drinks at the apartment, we hopped in a cab and drove straight into the Miami of Australia. Surfers Paradise is lines with highrise-hotels, plastic surgery clinics and institutions that suck the money out of your wallet (casinos, malls, arcades, clubs…). It was still raining, so the streets weren’t quite as full as usually, according to our party-proofed friends.

We started out night in Club Liv, where ladies could buy a large pink plastic cup for 10$ and refill said cup with longdrinks all night. Not bad, considering one will usually cost you at least 7,50AU$. So us ladies did that, while Mo ordered a glass of water, which, after I drank it, kept on magically refilling itself throughout the time we were there. The club itself reminded me of those clubs in Berlin which you have to shackle, gag and intoxicate me to be able to drag me into. Bouncy music (bad electronic remixes of every chart song imaginable), bouncy people (girls in anything extremely short with the highest of heels) and bouncy bouncers (no kidding, there was 1 security person for every 5 guests in there). But we were reminded again and again, we were only here for the drinks and the “real” club is much better.

We left after enough drinks had been consumed, played with a bouncy ball for a while and then moved on to Else Where. As the name says, this club is from somewhere other than Surfers Paradise. I could swear the owner is from Melbourne or had been to Europe by the vibe it was giving off. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many hipsters gathered in one place in Australia (which is about as many as you see in 10mins walking around Berlin). The music was good, the people were down to earth and, aside form the aggressively power-tripping orderlies, the rest of the night was stellar. We danced till we dropped. Literally, because after Emily and Nadia decided to drop to the floor and roll behind this curtain thing, we got kicked out. But it was around 4am, so we didn’t really mind.

The party continued back at Emily’s, but what happens at the after-party, stays at the after-party. Haha, I will only divulge that it involved penguins and an ear candle.

A night out in Surfers. This arm belonged to the zombie I woke up next to. 

Our first real hangover-day since we left Germany was spent rolling off Emily’s couch, into the car and into our bed (with a short pit-stop at KFC). It was once again (or still) rainy and gray and perfect.

The next day we decided, it was time to start preparing for our new job. This included having to shop for a uniform – black dress pants, white business shirt, black shoes and a watch. And where does one go when on a budget? Kmart! We spent over 3h getting together those outfits, only to have to get into the car and drive to another Kmart afterwards.

Drained and shopped out, we spent the evening with Julie and Alana and some friends of theirs on a hilltop in Burleigh overlooking the Gold Coast. What a view – waves crashing beneath you, stretches of white beaches and illuminated high rises along the horizon. And the food was amazing!

And although we had found almost everything, there’s always last minute stuff you think of. So the next day we went back to the shops to get that done. Then it was time to start packing and organizing. This was then interrupted by the sudden urge to head down to the beach. Again, we fought the current, lazed around in the shallows, watched lifeguards pull people in on their jet-skis and lay glowing in the light of the setting sun.

That sky.

Happy feet.

Shadow play.

My sunny boy. One of the last pictures before the haircut and shave.

Just chillin'.

Monday was Australia Day! Or Straya Day, as it is announced and pronounced. We spent it quite un-Australian - instead of getting drunk on a beach, we stayed in to do our RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) online. We needed it to be able to serve alcohol at Tangalooma. Questions upon questions about rules and regulations, unduly intoxicated, disorderly, minors and indigenous.  And by the time we were done, it was gray and rainy.

Tuesday, was our last day of freedom and civilization. We had brunch with Emily and a little swim at the beach. While I’m more of a beach bum or like to float around or swim in the ocean, Mo needs action and the waves on that day were just right. They became inseparable – Mo and the waves – for quite some time there.

After that there were more last minute things to do… We had many last minutes. A haircut and shopping for munchies and tobacco later, we spent the evening packing and sorting through what to bring and what to leave in the car. What do you bring to a resort you’re going to work and live in? What do you bring to somewhere they call a “remote” location? Seeing as it is only a ferry ride away from Brisbane – the only thing that made it remote to us is the 24$ round trip we’d have to pay to get to there and back – we kept it minimal. Exciting exciting! You have no idea, how many times we asked ourselves… So what is it going to be like? It's always fun to be in that situation – a bit of nerves mixed with excitement, a bit of daydreaming mixed with a bit of hope and fear. How frequent does that feeling come up as you grow older and settle into routines? Well, I think that is and always will be up to you.

Roadtrippin’ – Rest Areas from Ayr to Nimbin and Other Miscellaneous Fun

Day 1: Ayr to Clairview

Distance: 430km

All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go…. And though we really and truly were ready to go, saying goodbye to Manbulloo was nonetheless sadder than I thought it would be. Last time around, we drove off whooping and cheering, this time around I remember saying over and over again “This is kinda sad.”. Though the further away we drove from the packing shed, the easier it got.

Our route heading south on the Bruce Highway took us through mostly farmland. As a kid, I remember that long drives though the countryside of Germany were always made more fun by playing car games. One particularly, that I now see as the root of my habit of constantly looking out the window trying to spot wildlife on drives. It is quite simple – whoever calls animals along the roadside first, wins. Back then, we played for a few Pfennings and horses were worth more than cows. Driving through the countryside of Northern Queensland, I would have been a millionaire in no time flat. Cows and horses everywhere. Seemed like every second house we passed had horses in their front yard. That awakened the pre-teen-horse-crazy-girl in me, who just wouldn’t shut up about wanting to move here so I could have a horse in my front yard.

Whatever wasn’t farmland, was lush green hills. The landscape is really quite beautiful, especially after a bit of rain here and there.

The drive itself was fine and since it was already after lunch when we finally left Ayr, we knew we wouldn’t get too far. However, having left the Northern Territory and Outback for the much more populated East Coast, there were suddenly much less rest areas noted in our trusty Camp 7. So we just kept on going till there was.

We arrived in Clairview after nightfall. We turned off the highway and drove a few kilometers back in the direction we had just come from. The strange little town is like a strip of houses squeezed in between the highway and (as we found out the next morning) the ocean.

Another difference to our previous roadtrip, no rest area was empty. Also in Clairview, we squeezed our car and tent in between a caravan and a campervan out of which an angry dog barked at us all the way through setting up the tent.

What followed was to go down in our travel history as the WORST NIGHT EVER. We tried getting comfortable and readjusting from aircon room and double bed to slightly cramped tent on rest area. The setting up and the heat our piece of junk car was emanating left us hot and sweaty. But after reading a few pages and settling in, we did at some point fall asleep… Only to wake up minutes later because a road train decided to pull up onto a patch nearby – and it was loud! To make things worse, this road train must have been transporting good that needed cooling, because all night long, the chainsaw-like sound of the automated generator turned on and off. What we also didn’t see before setting up, was the train tracks along the highway. All day long, not a train in sight and all through the night, every two hours or so, a mile-long train thunders by, causing us to jolt upright in the tent and watch the seemingly endless wagons roll.

To make matters even more uncomfortable, some secret mosquito-sized entrance in our tent must have been discovered and leaked to the entire mozzie population of Clairview. We got eaten alive. Our feet, pressed against the net of the tent, were mangled – and many of you might know what a mosquito bite on your toe feels like, but try every single toe, plus in between them, plus every other patch of skin on your feet – AGONY! Our bodies were equally mangled – bites on my forehead and lip made me feel like I had just received botox and whatever-they-squirt-into-the-lips. At some point, both wide awake, we turned on the flashlight and found an army of big fat mozzies dotting the ceiling of our tent. We let out our anger and now it looks like a massacre took place in there.

Mozzies dead. Itchiness meditated away. Sleep? Nope. I felt the first drops in my face and thought – Ahhhh, how refreshing! I must have lain there, enjoying the slight drizzle for 15mins or so, before realizing that it wasn’t going to stop. Mo woke up and braved the now classified as light rain shower. He threw the rain cover for the tent over us and climbed back in. We listened to the drops get heavier and watched as the walls of our tent started sweating and the first drops seep through. We saved our gadgets and important stuff into to the car and let exhaustion take us away into a short but sweet hour or two of sleep.

Day 2: Clairview to Gympie

Distance: 700km

We woke up to a gray morning. We woke up wet. We woke up floating in a little lake that had gathered in our tent, soaking pretty much everything in it. Luckily that only meant us, our clothes and the bedding.

Stepping out of the tent, we were greeted with a beautiful view of the ocean, a little beach and a patch of mangroves, only a few meters away from our site. Also, the towns community center and playground were right next door. That meant, at least we had a bathroom for the morning. Walking back, I found a sign about Clairview, stating that the waters around there are a dugong sanctuary. How cool is that? So while Mo packed up, trying to soak up as much water from our tent and drying our mattress, I kept my eyes peeled on the ocean in hopes of spotting a dugong (and made breakfast).

As stressful and uncomfortable as the night and that morning were, we realized that we have definitely arrived in “travel-mode”, when even that didn’t really phase us. No sleep, tons of bites, a bag of soggy sheets and clothes? Whatever. Nothing you can do about it but fix it as best you can – have an excuse to splurge on real coffee, use up half a tube of anti-itch cream and hope the sun comes out sometime during the day.

Mangroves. Dungong Sanctuary. Location of our worst night ever. 

Mo wringing out our sheets. 

The drive that day was rather uneventful. After a sparse breakfast, we were hungry and since we had said we were going to treat ourselves after that night, we stopped at the next McDonald's and had more breakfast.

The next stop was at a quite spacious rest area, that we chose solely because the sun had decided to come out. So we opened all doors and hung our wet stuff on the doors, while a group of boy scouts had their lunch at the picnic table next to us. In a stroke of unforeseen luck, we found out there were showers on the rest area! Refreshed and dry, we were just about to continue on down the road when… the car wouldn’t start. And it started pouring. Great. Remember when I said we would at some point regret not having fixed our starter motor? Well, sitting under the roof of a picnic table, waiting for the rain to stop so we could ask someone for a jump-start was that moment.

That did eventually happen though and after not too long a wait.

Driving in Australia is different. Not only because of the straight and empty roads (though they are definitely fuller on the east coast), but also because of the wide array of signs that line the highway. Most of them warn you about falling asleep behind the wheel (which in itself is already an indicator about how stressful driving is in this country haha). “Survive this Drive” or “Rest and Revive” or “Tired Drivers Die” become that shaking finger of reprimand and reminder that accompany you on your road trip. Also, here in Queensland, they play trivia games with you. Where they ask a question and then answer it a kilometer later or so. “What is the coldest town in Queensland?” … “Stanthorpe”! I actually knew that one (highlight of my evening), because we had worked there four years ago and I remember someone telling me.

Also, all the signs warning you about wildlife that just might cross the road in certain areas – Kangaroos being the most frequent of course. Again, being on the east coast is quite different though. Hardly any road-kill, and despite more signs, less wildlife. I got quite excited when I saw some signs for koalas and close by Brisbane, even wild horses. But no matter how hard I concentrated on the tree tops zipping by or looked as deeply into the woods as I could – very strenuous on the eyes at some point – no koalas, no wild horses. All lies, these signs ;)

One of the most beautiful sunsets accompanied our search for dinner through Maryborough, a charming town and birthplace of P.L. Travers, the author and creator of Mary Poppins. The notes I take for this blog read: “Grumpy Mo – Pizza – Happy Mo”. So instead of elaborating on that story, I’ll just let that speak for itself ;)

Our drive for the day ended on a green and grassy rest area outside Gympie. It was a treat to set up our tent on real and really soft grass. And it felt so good to just sleep.

Day 3: Gympie to Nimbin

Distance: 350km

After a pretty good night of sleep, only moderate mosquito attacks on our feet (meaning only two rude awakenings), we found we had parked in a quite beautiful spot under some tall eucalyptus trees. The crows squawked us awake and we took our time, slowly learning that in fact we were not in a hurry for the first time in months. 

Camping under Eucalyptus trees in Gympie.

Breakfast was made in the shade of a picnic table and enjoyed while being entertained (or pestered) by a stinky old man. He might have been a good guy, but he was kind of smelly and was talking about how Europe should get rid of the Euro again and many other (un)interesting beliefs of his. Oh well, one of the joys of traveling is the people you meet along the way, right?

Love this sign posted at the Rest Area in Gympie. Kinda made me hungry...

Being pretty close to our destination (though not 100% sure about what our destination was actually going to be), we found ourselves with the question: “So, what do we want to do?” After months of work and the few days off we had had, used to do as little as possible, it was a bit overwhelming to try and answer that question. Free time – what is that? We tried to make it easier by first looking at “What can we do?” – but soon noticed that that was even more overwhelming. So we decided on just driving first.

We took the scenic route along the Sunshine Coast, which turned out to be quite beautiful and quite the mistake. It was Sunday, still school holidays and a very sunny day indeed. So every little town, every beach access parking lot, every street leading to a beach access parking lot was full. It was so crowded and lively, we experienced such a culture shock that we never got our of the car (also because we couldn’t find parking and were afraid our car wouldn’t start again). Also, all of a sudden, people were rich, tanned and beautiful. Buff surfer boys and skinny surfer girls all over the place! Compared to the rough, tough and portly people in the towns that we had lived and worked in… we were on a different planet!

Back on the highway – 4 lanes on each side, barriers, lights – we spontaneously decided to take a detour to Nimbin and spend the night in the hills of New South Wales. We had been to the little hippie town before and it felt like the right place to unwind. The drive into the hills is so beautiful – serpentine roads up and around hills, juicy green everywhere, secluded homes nestled between wood and meadow and butterflies everywhere. Sometimes, it feels a bit like the south of Germany… And then all of a sudden there’s a fire-tree in bloom or giant (and I mean ginormous) bamboo in front of you.

Nimbin on a Sunday is lively. Colorful stalls selling arts, crafts, jewelry and homemade clothes. Colorful people walking, sitting, lying around.

The colorful street of Nimbin. Hippie haven. 

We set up camp in the one and only caravan park and found a secluded spot under some palm trees. We walked around town (which is up and down one street), popped into some of the shops and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in the public pool, catching the last rays of sunlight and letting our bodies float. After 3,5 months of working a physically demanding job, being weightless felt unbelievable.

We cooked some real food and had a cool and comfy night in the tent. Now that is relaxation right there.

Setting up to relax.

Day 4: Gold Coast

Distance: Not mentionable

The cool gray morning allowed us to sleep in and once again, we took our time getting up and packing up. Slowly but surely, we were learning to just chill. I must have been a bit too chill during breakfast though, because I managed to tip over my fresh cup of tea, which then leaked through the table and onto my leg – OUCH! Thank god we had been to lazy to let the water really boil. Still, as ordered by my paramedic boyfriend, I stood with my leg under running cold water for half an hour.

The drive back to the coast was just as beautiful as the drive in. That countryside will forever stay with me, there’s just that special something about it. Kind of like driving up to Baguio.

We had been to the Gold Coast before, but never really hung out there. I was so happy and grateful, when Alana and Julie, girls I met during a Tao Expedition in Palawan in 2013, invited us to come stay with them. Their house up on a hill, with a view of a lake and the ocean (double whammy!), is gorgeous and the room we got to stay in so comfortable. So. Damn. Lucky. Having friends all over the world is just so cool.

The view from Alana and Julie's driveway. What more could you ask for? 

Despite a few menacing looking clouds, we headed down to the beach for a quick swim. Wind whipped the fine white, squeaky sand onto our bodies and the waves and currents pushed and pulled us around in the shallows for a while. Good fun. Until I dove under a wave and got whacked in my face by a jellyfish. At least I think it was. All I knew, was that it felt like a jellyfish gave me a shiner.

Just before the rain, we headed home.

But I could already tell why the lifestyle here is so attractive. There’s just something about being able to just drive to the beach, jump in and chill before/after work, on weekends/days, basically anytime…

Gray and windy. But it's the beach! Finally!

BREAKING NEWS!

Though this is chronologically not in order, I just have to squeeze it in – We have a new job! By Wednesday, we will be part of the Food and Beverage department of the Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island by Brisbane. We were interviewed on the phone, just received our instructions on how to get to the island and now we have just a few days to get everything in order. Woohooo!

New Year, Same Old Mangoes… And, This Is The End

Happy New Year everyone! I am only a bit over two weeks late… And though I have had a day off in that time, typing was not on the list of things I wanted/was able to do. Even now, my fingers are hobbling, more than flying, across the keyboard. But let me start at the beginning…of the new year.

New Years Eve

We spent the last day of 2014 working. What else. Mangoes show no mercy, not even on a day usually spent sleeping as long as possible and preparing for an epic (or so one hopes) night. Instead, we worked 11h and then dragged ourselves into the supermarket to get some last minute groceries to tie us over for the one day off the next day. So there we were, with frozen yogurt pops in our trunk, and the car won’t start. Great. New Years Eve. 8:30pm, shortly before closing time. Dead battery (or rickety starter motor as it turns out). One other car left in the parking lot… And lucky for us, it belonged to a friendly guy WITH jumper leads!

The rest of the evening was spent on the couch in our pajamas with a bottle of sparkling rose watching (Guardians of the Galaxy and) the embarrassingly dreadful live coverage of the Sydney Harbour fireworks. Mind you, the fireworks themselves were beautiful – even gave me goosebumps just watching them on the screen – but the annoyingly giddy and drunk TV presenters vj-ing the event were barely watchable.

Midnight came and went. Our glasses clinked, the obligatory kiss at midnight happened and in the distance, somewhere in Ayr, three little firecrackers exploded. And then all was still again.

I could barely keep my eyes open, Mo started skyping with late afternoon Berlin and at some point in the wee hours of the morning (yes, we actually made it to 3am or something like that), our New Years Eve ended.

The next day we were lazy. I woke up with a massive headache (and I don’t think the half glass of sparking rose had anything to do with it) and Mo with a tiny hangover – somehow not quite fair. I stayed in pajamas all day – as is ususally the case on the 1st January – don’t want to be breaking any traditions here. And we took a leisurely drive to Townsville to pick up Rachel from the airport (which we found after driving through and across the city a few times).

KFC, jumpstarting our car in the KFC parking lots and movies on the couch ended our first day in the year.

Work, Work, Work

From the 2^nd of January till the end of the season on the 10^th we spent 8am-8pm in the shed, sometimes a little more, hardly ever less. Over 110h in those 9 days.

Needless to say, I have no exciting stories about that period. Highlights of some random evenings during that time include: having time to cut my nails and do laundry (not on the same evening though, of course). We were to tired to stand, sit, think or converse most evenings and mornings. Zombies with automated reflexes to cook, eat, prep food for the next day, shower, fall into bed – crawl out of bed, eat, drive to work. Work. We were understaffed and could have definitely used at least 2-3 more people in the VHT during that time. The way it was going, I was pretty sure we’d finish the season with a bang – the bang being me hitting the pavement in exhaustion.

But we made it! We packed all them mangoes and sent them off to China and Korea and the last day of the season was such a relief.

More Work – Days In Which I Learned To Hate Cleaning

We had one full free to day to enjoy our fabulous house, pack up our belongings and say goodbye (to the house that is). The next morning we moved onto the farm. Into a green container. Into a quaint room right smack behind the shed. 

We had offered to help out in cleaning up the shed and so we did. I’m not going to say I regret staying to help in general, but damn did I wish we hadn’t while we sat, hunched over, on top of the mango machine removing stickers and scrubbing out hundreds of cups for 8h straight. Or when we got to scrub every single roller along the post-pack line. There are many MANY rollers. I was more exhausted after 7-8h of cleaning, than on any of those 12h workdays before. And those who know me know that cleaning is actually not one of my pet peeves. I actually quite enjoy it. Well, not anymore. (At least, not packing sheds).

Yesterday was our last day and I would not have made it any longer. I got more mosquito bites yesterday than during the entire season. I was sore and tied, my hands waterlogged and falling apart from all the cleaning liquids, turpentine and scouring pads. At some point, I was bitten by a mosquito, hit my finger while scrubbing a roller and bumped my head on the bar above me in such comical slapstick succession, that I wanted to laugh, cry and cuss at the same time (you can probably imagine which of those three blurted out of me in that moment). We finished off by having to rinse bins and crates with a high pressure cleaner. So my final day with Manbulloo was ended sopping wet from head to toe, with a lump on the back of my head and a million and one mosquito bites.

But at least our days were short and we had a few hours in the evenings to enjoy the beautiful sunsets, illuminating the mountains (- the type of mountains that look huge and far away but are actually not that huge and not that far away). Flocks of many different birds live around the swampy areas and sugar cane fields surrounding the shed, so watch them fly over us in big V-formations and gather in the trees or on the fields. Every evening it was a different spot. Kind of like they chose to have their parties in different areas each night. A few wallabies hopped around here too during sunset. Definitely a more picturesque home than in town.

And then, just when you started enjoying the closeness of nature, the mosquitoes came out and ate you alive.  

Rooooadtrip! As I type, Mo is packing up the car, as we have spontaneously decided to hit the road today instead of tomorrow. We wanted to fix our car, but first of all, it starts without problem and secondly, we were quoted another 400$ by a mechanic that looked younger than us and not really interested. Anyways, it’s not like we’re in the bush anymore. (Just wait, we’re going to regret this move at some point in the next days).

Now we head south… What exactly we’re going to do, we don’t know. We want to visit Emily and lie on a beach.

And there actually just might be another job lined up... but more on that when it actually happens.

So, 3,5 months of mangoes to start off our second year here in Australia. Thanks for reading and sticking through the season with us. Time for something new…