Cyhoeddwyd: 14.01.2018
For our 2nd Helpx accommodation, we took public transportation from Brisbane to Tinbeerwah on January 2nd, which took about 3 hours.
At the bus stop, we were picked up by our host (Kathy) in her car. She and her husband (Steve) live on a very large property in a house with their dog. The dog's name was Bacci and he was a 2-year-old Labrador who unfortunately was sick during our stay. Their three children have already moved out, so they had plenty of space in their house.
From the beginning, we got along well with our hosts and on the first evening we discussed the tasks that we would be doing (mainly in the garden). We had to work 3.5 hours every day (without a day off) and we could schedule our work time freely. So on the 2nd day, we decided to work a little more every day or sometimes even twice as much so that we could have a day off from time to time. The work in the garden was exhausting and from around 10 o'clock, the heat in the sun was almost unbearable on some days. Therefore, we had to get up early most of the time in order to finish work early. Among other things, we dug up trees, weeded, dug holes for planting new trees, repainted tables and chairs for the terrace, etc. Since the property was so large (about 5 hectares), there was always something to do. Our hosts prepared dinner every evening and always made sure that there was enough food for us to eat (we prepared our own breakfast and lunch). Additionally, they offered to give us a ride in their car whenever they had to go somewhere, so we were able to use the free transfer from time to time.
On our 2nd day, Kathy took us to Noosa National Park (she works there 1-2 times a month as a volunteer helper at the tourist information center). We spent the entire afternoon at the national park, on the beach, and on the shopping street in the center. The national park has beautiful beaches, a few rock pools to cool off (see photos), and a nice view of the ocean. There were many Australians present at that time, as it was school holidays and Australians like to spend their vacations here.
Every Wednesday and Saturday, there is a very large market in Eumundi. We visited it on Saturday. We were there very early, before 7 o'clock, and had breakfast at the market, among other things. The market is really worth seeing, but you should arrive early. We drove back home at 9 o'clock, as it became very crowded and quite hot from that time on.
We also cycled to nearby towns such as Cooroy, Tewantin, and Noosaville. In Noosaville, we could swim in the Noosa River. There were some shady spots and it wasn't as crowded as the beach.
Kathy and Steve took us to the Lookout Point in Tinbeerwah one evening. We were there for the sunset. From there, you have a great 360-degree view of the entire surrounding region. On another day, they took us to Coolum Beach for a few hours in the morning. It's a very nice beach with great waves. From the Lookout Point, we were able to observe turtles in the water that day.
In our accommodation, we were lucky to see kangaroos hopping through the garden for breakfast and at dusk on two days. Additionally, almost every day we saw cockatoos or parrots on the terrace and in the garden.
We really enjoyed the two weeks and had a great time, despite the work ;). On January 17th, we returned to the Gold Coast.
Here we will be staying in the Airbnb accommodation again for another 1.5 weeks, where we were a few weeks ago.