Board Game Madness and Other Summer Activities

Slowly, the temperatures began to rise, rarely dropping below 25 degrees during the day. On a particularly warm market day in early November, I met Lisa and Jonny, a super nice German couple who had just landed in Australia a few days earlier. Since I had the next day off—a Thursday—I suggested we go for a hike in the Gold Coast hinterland together. We hiked the 'Cream Track', which wound its way from the Gold Coast hinterland up to the Springbrook plateau. Afterwards, we went to eat at 'Doko Demo', one of my favorite restaurants in the area, and admired the sunset at the beach.

My friend Monica, who organized a picnic every month, had asked me if I could take care of her cat Cindy for 5 days while she was in New Zealand. She had adopted the tabby cat only 2 months ago from the shelter, so Cindy was still a bit shy. She slept most of the day and then raced around the apartment at night. I was so happy when Cindy jumped into my lap on the 3rd day while I was watching a movie in the living room. From then on, she wanted to show her affection at night as well or around 4 AM, purring loudly next to my head. The pool of the apartment complex, just 4 minutes away from work, and the joy of cuddling with the cat were definitely worth the nighttime disturbance. On November 20th, we flew to Sydney to spend a few days with Matze’s parents in the 'Blue Mountains'. They had already landed in Melbourne 12 days earlier, and I had planned a road trip with our highlights along the way. So far, they had really enjoyed Australia and even seen echidnas, wallabies, and kangaroos in the wild. On our arrival day, we got to Katoomba around noon, where Matze’s parents picked us up. The view was wonderfully clear and the temperatures were nearly 30 degrees, so we first went for a hike. Matze even jumped into a somewhat adventurously hidden rock pool completely naked, but despite the temperatures, I couldn’t bring myself to do it; the water was probably only 10 degrees warm! We also stopped at the 'Three Sisters', one of the most touristy viewpoints in the area. The weather forecast for the next two days did not look too good, and I didn’t want us to be there the next day only to see a white wall. In the evening, it became foggy, and we wrapped up warmly as we walked to the local brewery, accompanied by wind mixed with drizzle. Luckily, our Airbnb was quite centrally located, so we had a good selection of hikes with short travel times. The next morning, it drizzled as predicted, yet we still set out to 'Grand Canyon', which Matze and I had already visited in May 2019. The waterfalls had an impressive volume due to the rain, and nature was glowing in rich green tones. In the evening, we utilized the fireplace in our little house to make it cozy; luckily, Matze and Matthias knew what they were doing, as some of the wood was quite damp. The next day, we went on a hike to different viewpoints along the 'Grand Clifftop Walks', where the cloud cover frequently cleared, offering picture-perfect views. It was this change that made our hike very varied. The next day, the sun was shining again, and the temperatures climbed into the twenties. We hiked through the valley at the foot of the 'Three Sisters', spotting numerous birds, including black cockatoos and parrots. Matze’s parents even caught sight of a 'Brown Snake', one of the most venomous snakes in Australia. It was their first snake encounter! In the afternoon, we drove to Sydney to visit the first landing site of the first fleet under Captain 'Cook'. Then, it was off to the airport for Matze and me; Matze’s parents still had two more days to explore Sydney. When they arrived in Brisbane, we moved into the guest room so they could have a bigger bed and, above all, air conditioning. After Sydney's cool sea breeze, the tropical heat in Brisbane felt even more oppressive. To offer Matthias and Claudia some refreshment and a classic Australian experience, we headed to Fraser Island. The largest sand island in the world is a popular vacation destination, and we wanted to visit it before the start of the Australian summer holidays. On November 28th, we took the ferry from Rainbow Beach and first stayed inland, exploring some freshwater lakes and spent the night surrounded by gigantic eucalyptus trees, the 'Blackbutts', known for their massive black trunks, which you wouldn’t expect on a sand island. The following day, as we drove along the beach for a while, Matze’s father also took a turn at the wheel to enjoy this unusual driving experience. We saw some dingoes and cooled off in Eli Creek, a beautifully clear and cold river where many people floated down on inflatable mattresses. Just a few minutes after we stopped by the wreck of the 'SS Maheno' and had a look around, it began to pour; luckily, we still had a few kilometers to drive. After only 15 minutes, the sun was shining again. We had planned to stay on the west side of the island, where there were few waves and fewer roads, allowing us to see the sun dip into the sea. This process was almost underway when we had to cross a river to reach our secluded camping site, which was clearly not often approached from this side. Matze had walked across earlier to test the depth but had worried less about the black rocks on the opposite bank than about the somewhat sandy middle of the river mouth. For the first few meters, the car glided elegantly through the water, hit the other side of the riverbed, and promptly got stuck. Matze tried to reverse a bit, but not even that was possible. The 'rocks' were not hard stone at this point but extremely heavy, slippery mud that had practically sucked our car in. As it grew darker by the minute and the tide caused a steady rise in the river level, I ran the half-kilometer back to the last beach camp, where I fortunately found a group of teenagers with a suitable car willing to help us. Matze had meanwhile tied our traction mats under the tires to make it easier to pull out. After a few anxious seconds of pulling, the mud fortunately released us, and our rescuers were rewarded with some bottles of Matze’s home-brewed beer, allowing us to continue driving... in theory. The very windy path felt a bit off; a big cyclone the year before had caused massive coastal erosion, destroying some of the roads shown on Matze’s offline map. Thankfully, we made it without further beaching to our camp, where no lights were visible in sight. The next morning, we luckily found the path into the island interior without any problems and headed back to the east side and to the 'Champagne Pools'. Even as we descended the last steps, we saw some people fixated on the waves crashing rhythmically against the natural stone barrier. Dolphins surfed between the waves, clearly having fun with their activity, and always avoiding collisions with the rough rocks by what felt like mere inches. They were only about 10 to 20 meters away. What a lucky coincidence! The next day we returned to the mainland and spent a relaxing afternoon at Sunrise Beach bodyboarding and admiring surfers. Then I had to return to Brisbane due to massive illnesses among my coworkers; Matze and his parents stayed in the area for a few more days. On Saturday after work, I drove to the Kondalilla waterfalls and met Matze and his parents, then we drove together to Maleny. I had hoped we would spot platypuses from the observation platform at dusk, but unfortunately, we had no luck. I got up early the next morning and went for a walk, accompanied by the chatter of thousands of flying foxes and their adorable babies. I was just about to turn back when I spotted a platypus in a fairly open and sunny section of the river, which is rather unusual for these shy, crepuscular animals. Matze and his parents, who had set up our tents, joined me a few minutes later, and fortunately, the little creature stayed a bit longer so they could admire it as well. Matze and his father then drove to Mount Beerwah for a daring climbing expedition, while Claudia and I explored Montville and sat down at a cute garden café. After that, we went to an open-air sculpture exhibition that offered not only great artworks but also impressive views of the Glasshouse Mountains. Since the sun was still blazing well in the afternoon, we decided to make a stop at a reservoir before heading home. The next day, we met after my work at 'Whites Hill Reserve', one of the local hot spots for koala sightings. As hoped, we saw several, some of which were even awake and busy eating, which you could consider a lucky coincidence given their 18-22 hours of sleep. We also showed Claudia and Matthias another of our favorite spots, Daisy Hill. We got completely drenched on the last meters back to the car but otherwise had a lovely sunny afternoon. On December 11th, Matze drove the two of them to the airport in the morning, and as nice as it was to say goodbye to the not-so-comfortable guest room mattress and enjoy air-conditioned sleeping temperatures, it was sad to have to part ways. A few days later, we went for a picnic and walk at Whites Hill with Lisa, Jonny, and another German friend of theirs; all three had not yet seen koalas in the wild by then. It felt a bit strange to converse in German in a larger group. At work, Christmas cupcakes and cookies were diligently baked, but I had the day off on the 25th, and we met for a vegan picnic by the river. Our three newly made friends had unfortunately already gone to Noosa to work in a vacation apartment cleaning company; otherwise, they would surely have joined us. On December 27th, we went to the Gold Coast to celebrate our friend Aran’s birthday; we had a nice meal at a restaurant, and afterwards, the others relaxed at the beach while I had specifically brought my bodyboard to enjoy the waves. It wasn’t necessarily a hot day for December, but we don’t get to the beach that often, so I couldn’t let that fun slip away. Aran would have loved to come along, but he had suffered a spine and shoulder injury years ago and has to be very careful since. For a while, he had to use crutches, but now he could manage without them; however, he still had to avoid sudden twists, etc. We spent some more time in his nice apartment chatting before we unfortunately had to return to Brisbane; Matze still had vacation, but I had to go back to work. On the 30th, we organized an early New Year’s meeting with our board game group; we still had no concrete plans for New Year’s, but I had to be at work again on the morning of January 1st at 7 AM. Some of our friends had bought tickets for the 'Woodford' festival, one of the largest in Australia, where many indie bands, folk, and even rock bands performed; it lasted an entire week, and the tickets were correspondingly expensive. Others had decided to go to an electronic music festival, so hardly anyone stayed in Brisbane. After I got home from work on the 31st, we cozied up with a movie, having found a free party on Facebook; but when I finally mustered the energy to get off the couch around 8 PM, it started to rain, and the open-air event was canceled. So it seemed it would be a quiet New Year’s for us this year... I wasn’t even particularly envious of our techno group; the music at their camping event hadn’t been so special, and it rained quite a bit, making everything wet and muddy, and the temperatures had unexpectedly dropped. On January 19th, Phillip arrived in Australia with a buddy; I had met him during my solo trip in New Zealand. I showed the two of them some of my favorite spots around Brisbane, and we also took a day trip to the Glasshouse Mountains, where we climbed Mount Ngungun to enjoy the sunset. The guys had traveled through New Zealand for almost two weeks before, so there wasn’t much time for the stop in Brisbane. Since we met in 2018, Phillip had dreamed of returning to New Zealand; it was great that he could finally make that happen. Brisbane, with its stunning nighttime panoramic views, green city parks where almost every plant seemed to be blooming, and the exotic animals living so close to the city, pleased the two of them very much. We had a few little problems with our Corolla 'Brigitte'; the radiator had a leak, and we had to stop twice because I hadn’t filled up enough water before we set off. A few days later, Matze replaced the faulty radiator, and the driving around became more relaxed again. At the end of the month, we climbed Flinders Peak together with Pooven. It definitely paid off that I had already trained several times in the climbing gym with Franzi and Pooven; the slightly adventurous section before the summit only gave me a slightly higher pulse and no heart racing or sweating fears. Afterward, we rewarded ourselves with a picnic and delicious cold drinks; the temperatures had risen to 30 degrees, and we had to replenish the lost electrolytes. On January 29th, I met Gaston at Roma Street Parklands; we had met while working at the guesthouse in Queenstown and had gone out and swimming several times with Matze. He now lives and works in Airlie Beach, near the Whitsundays. Since it was considered a rural area, he could do the 88 days for his second visa in the kitchen; he said it was okay but his wish was to land a job in one of the mines inland, where the earnings are significantly better. It’s always nice to be able to see friends from your travels again; hopefully, we can meet up again sometime. After work, I met with Jaime several times over the next few weeks, who now lived in her own apartment just 5 minutes drive from my workplace 'Veganyumm'. Alternatively, I would take a detour to Enoggera Dam on the way home to cool off and enjoy some peace and nature. In March, we went on a hike in Springbrook National Park together with Alia and Malachi, a friendly New Zealand-French couple, and our Japanese friend Kaori. On the first day, we started comfortably around 9 AM and did a 15-kilometer loop; some sections were a bit muddy due to the rain the day before, but despite the somewhat sparse sunlight, we saw a snake and had a lot of fun. We stayed overnight in a small cabin; since the restaurant only had a very limited menu, we went grocery shopping and cooked ourselves. Of course, we also played card games until our eyes were tired from the somewhat sparse lantern light. The small wooden inn had a very nice upper floor with a library and even a stove, but unfortunately, it closed relatively early. Here in the national park, at 800 meters, the nighttime temperatures were significantly cooler than in Brisbane. The next morning, we set off a little earlier; we had about 8 kilometers more to hike than the day before. The weather looked somewhat friendlier, and we enjoyed the varied scenery and nice conversations.