Rockhampton (22-26 Dec 2018)

When Luisa and Helge were in Rockhampton, they stayed with a man they had met in Bowen. He offered them to stay at his place. His name is Clive. Luisa had asked him before if we could also spend our time there and Clive agreed immediately.

After the bus ride, we were picked up by Clive's stepdaughter. She had a sign with my name on it, so we recognized each other easily. Then we drove to Clive's place. Unfortunately, he had both legs operated on a week ago, so he couldn't pick us up himself. We were greeted with delicious crackers and an even more delicious dinner. We spent the evening chatting and sharing stories. The next day, we went to the famous 'Capricorn Caves,' and Clive's stepdaughter acted as our shuttle. She was really kind. We took a guided tour of the caves. It was unique. You can even get married there because the stones produce a unique resonance. The lights were turned off in the middle of the cave, candles were lit, and then 'Silent Night' was played. It gave us goosebumps. It felt a bit like being in a church, but more special because you're in an ancient cave. The acoustics were incredibly beautiful. After the caves, we went to a lookout point where we had a view over all of Rockhampton. Then we went back to Clive's place for lunch and to plan the rest of the day. Afterwards, we went to the beach with Clive's daughter (to Emu Park and Yeppoon). It was a scenic tourist route. The small towns were also very beautiful and well-maintained. Here, it's either very dilapidated or newly restored. Something in between is rare. In Yeppoon, we enjoyed a milkshake and then went back to Rockhampton. Since Clive and his family are going to Mackay for Christmas (north of Rockhampton, a three-hour drive away), they also showed us what to do to secure the house, etc. It feels a bit strange to be alone in a stranger's house, but they are so warm and kind here that it feels like we have known them for years. In the evening, we fed birds from the balcony. Clive started doing it at some point, and now birds keep coming to him and perching on his hand to be fed. These birds are as colorful as the ones we saw in Melbourne. But feeding them from our own hand was also a very beautiful experience. The next morning, we helped harvest the bananas in the garden. It was mega exciting for us. Clive has many banana trees and mandarin trees. He also grows beetroot, carrots, and spinach. Then it was time to say goodbye and live alone in his house. Ben and I spent the day visiting the zoo, where we could watch and even feed various animals. In the evening, which happened to be the 24th of December, we tried to create as much Christmas atmosphere as possible. My mother had given me candles and Christmas napkins, which we used as table decorations. There were also small decorative items in the gift from my grandmother and grandfather, which we placed on our dining table. Then we played Christmas music and ate very slowly to make the Christmas feeling last as long as possible. When the little candles had burned out, we started to unwrap the gifts sent by our parents. And behold, my mother had given me a Christmas fairy lights chain. The lights were turned off again, and the fairy lights gave us even more Christmas feeling. Thank you so much for the gifts. I think it would have been even sadder without them. When the gift-giving was over, we watched some TV and then went to bed. I'm really looking forward to Christmas next year. I missed the anticipation, going to church, the typical Christmas dinner, and especially my family so much. Luckily, I had saved a few spiced speculoos biscuits, which I ate so that I didn't go to bed completely without a delicious Christmas meal. We didn't have Wi-Fi, which wasn't very nice, especially during Christmas. But at least we weren't on our phones all the time.

The next morning, I received a call from my family. It was the best Christmas gift they could give me this year: to call. We talked for a good 10 minutes, and they also told me that I had won a newspaper competition. I had written an article because the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung always does a Christmas special with reports from around the world. And lo and behold, Marie and I both made it into the HAZ. Unbelievable! Christmas was officially celebrated in Australia on the 25th. This also meant that everything was closed. We enjoyed a free day, rested, cleaned, washed, repaired, tidied up, and took care of other errands. Then we went to bed quite early because we had to get up again at 2:30 AM to catch the bus to Agnes Water at 3:30 AM.