122.-132. Day 15.01 - 25.01. Haycorp Electrical / Northern Beaches

Tuesday 15.01.

My first day of work at the construction site, 102 Bower Street Manly. I worked there with Joseph, Kenny, and another colleague. It is a 5-story house with 6 apartments, the top one costing $10 million. I installed downlights with Kenny and the day went by relatively quickly. Electrically, everything is similar: 240V, single-phase or three-phase system, flat cables instead of the NYM used in Germany, color code for L1, L2, L3 is red, white, blue.

Technically, I had no problems. However, the pace of work was new to me. I was too fast because, as everyone says, Australians take it easy. We weren't wasting time, on the contrary, we were productive, but there was also a lot of small talk. So I had to get used to taking short breaks between tasks and relax. There are no parking spaces at the construction site, and if you don't have a resident parking permit, you have to check or move your car every 2 hours to avoid an expensive fine. In the afternoon, I went for a swim to cool off and then drove back to the lookout.

Then Felipe and Empria came by and took me to the Palm Beach lighthouse. We hiked up the mountain and marveled at the beautiful sunset behind the mountains. Back at the car, there was a small incident. I left my coffee press somewhere before New Year's Eve, so I got a new one. And what happened was, it fell out of the trunk after using it once and broke. WHAT A BUMMER!! I drove back to the lookout and went to sleep.

Wednesday 16.01.

When the factory siren blared early in the morning....! That's how it used to be. Down Under, everything is a bit more relaxed. I got up at 5:30, drove to Manly without coffee, and started working. Tested some cables, cut some recesses for LED spots on the stairs, and that was basically it. Joseph wasn't at the construction site in the afternoon, so we took it easy. But even with the boss, it's pretty relaxed. No comparison to German work ethic and pressure. After work, I went to the lookout, went surfing and cooling off at the nearby beach, and in the evening, I met up with Pete and some friends for a few beers. There was also a schnitzel, and after dinner, one of us (drink driving) drove us all to their place for a house party. In a party hut in the middle of the village, everyone was stoned and drunk, all around 40 years old, and it was just fun. I said goodbye because too much bong and weed smoke, and too much beer doesn't go well with getting up early. P.s. of course, I didn't smoke weed ;) It was very crazy, but also very fun. On the way to the car, I saw a large spider right in the middle of the road.

Thursday - Friday 17.-18.01.

I was working both days and cooling off in the water in the afternoon. On Friday, I went surfing again at Bilgola Beach. In the evening, a group of teenagers with older companions came to the lookout. I met Moh and Alexa there and they explained to me the reason. They are all followers of the Bahá'í faith, and the children all come from troubled families. I was invited to dinner and even though I had already eaten, I accepted the offer. After sunset, everyone prayed and sang together, and it was a very beautiful feeling and experience to be part of the group. Especially singing (even though they were songs from a foreign belief) brought me great joy.

Saturday 19.01.

In the morning, I went to Jude's to work again. We got a lot done, and after 10 hours of work, we had a beer to end the day.

In the evening, I treated myself to a nice chicken box at KFC and talked to my parents on the phone.

Sunday 20.01.

I had breakfast at a playground and then went shopping. At Autobarn, I bought a new phone holder and mirror adapter for María, because the older car models don't have a curved mirror, so you see even less of the blind spot. I went surfing a bit in the afternoon and enjoyed the day off. In the afternoon, I noticed a lot of bulky waste on the streets, to put it mildly, a whole lot.

And as I found out, that's the usual practice in the district, to leave all the bulky waste on the roadside once a year, which will then be collected. For me, it was like a treasure hunt, as I rummaged through several piles and found quite useful things. At a small market, a 0.5L glass caught my eye, Hacker-Pschorr. Of course, I couldn't resist, so I had the right drinking vessel now.

Monday - Friday 21.-25.01.

I worked every day and enjoyed the view of Manly and the adjacent Shelly Beach at lunchtime.

On Monday, I bought a new surfboard in the evening on Gumtree for $20 because I threw away my old one, which was difficult to surf with.

During the week, I usually went surfing after work, including Friday. I was at Avalon Beach, and I was amazed. So many surfers in the water, I really respected that and didn't want to get in their way with my mediocre surfing skills.