Winter Ade - the parting doesn't really hurt us... finally pleasant temperatures for camping

On a rather changeable day, it was time to say goodbye to Adelaide. I wouldn't miss the potatoes for sure, but we had already felt very much at home in the apartment. The thought of living out of boxes and bags again didn't really appeal to me. But as it often happens, when we finally had everything in the car and were on our way to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, where I had booked us a nice AirBnb, anticipation set in. The AirBnb with a fireplace in the living room, central heating system, and even mattress heating made the cool temperatures outside more enjoyable, and so we spent the first evening cozy on the sofa and in the hot tub. The next morning, there was thick fog over the valley during my jogging route, the trees on the roadside looked like out of a fairytale forest, which was probably also because many of them were European. Some were still losing colorful leaves, while others were already blossoming, especially the peaches and almonds. A crazy sight... After a small cultural program visiting art galleries and walking through the neighboring town, we devoted ourselves to Matze's favorite activity: beer tasting. The first brewery had a nice but rather small selection, but we could look around the brewery. Particularly interesting was a manually operated bottle cap machine produced in Germany, which certainly had great collector value solely due to its age. The second brewery looked like a Western saloon, with an impressive swinging door and tap handles in the shape of cacti. There was a rich regular clientele of local craftsmen and mechanics, and of course, we attracted quite a bit of attention. There were not just one but a total of 5 brewers, each with their own recipes and flavors. This resulted in a wide selection, of which a surprisingly high percentage convinced us. Since the bartender was also one of the brewers, Matze could let off steam verbally. After 2 nights in a luxury bed, the first night in the tent felt a bit cold and uncomfortable, but we had found a nice quiet place where we could light a fire in the evenings. Otherwise, I would probably have frozen to my camping chair. The next day, the temperatures climbed above 20 degrees, perfect conditions for a short hike in Alligator Gorge. No idea who named it that, there are definitely no crocodiles there, and alligator sightings are even more unlikely, otherwise they would have swum all the way from South America. There were some spots where you had to skillfully balance over a few narrow and wobbly rocks to avoid getting wet. We spent the night not far from the national park on a hill, but thick fog and rain clouds hid the panoramic view of the sea most of the time. The next day, we passed one of the last towns before reaching Flinders Ranges National Park. We went for a hike and enjoyed the warm sun at the summit of Bluff Knoll. The surrounding mountain ranges looked unrealistically colorful due to their folding lines and different rocks, and the afternoon light enhanced the effect even more. We spent the night at Wilpena Pound Campground, and after the sweaty climb the day before, a shower was very much needed. The next morning, we set off early to climb the tallest peak in the national park, Queen Mary. There was a small section that made me a bit uneasy, but most of the time, I was able to enjoy the constantly changing environment without too much racing heart. In just 3.5 hours, we conquered the almost 10-kilometer hike to the summit. At only 1,189 meters, it's certainly incomparable to the Alps, but the view was worth it: in one direction, parallel jagged green mountain chains, and in the other, you could see the white salt flats around Lake Torrens in the shimmering hot air. After our tour, which covered a total of 23 kilometers, we were pretty exhausted and collapsed into our camping chairs in the evening. This night surprised us with mild temperatures, but the following nights were changeable. We spontaneously decided not to travel west via Coober Pedy and Mount Dare, as it would have been quite a detour towards Queensland. Instead, we visited the Gammon Ranges National Park, which was geologically similar to the Flinders Ranges but even more wild and isolated. There were a surprising number of springs, many of them sulphurous, and one even radioactive. I found it a bit creepy to see so many wallaby carcasses near the water, some of the skeletons had shriveled and mummified due to the dry air. In Arkaroola, where we spent our second night, we finally got to see the yellow-footed rock wallabies, which only occur in a few regions in both national parks. They are the cutest wallabies I have ever seen. The rangers of the resort and campground always scattered some pellets next to an artificially constructed stone pile at the same time in the evening, and the wallabies came. Two of the animals had babies, which occasionally peeked curiously out of the pouches, and one of them ate pellets in sync with its mother, a delightful sight! Speaking of food: My cooking skills would be seriously put to the test in the next few days, as we had become very accustomed to city life, where all our favorite foods - especially meat-free junk food, special types of soy milk, yogurt, and cheese - were always available somewhere. The small village shops we had passed since leaving Adelaide had little to offer, so our supplies dwindled day by day, and soon we were eating interesting flavor combinations like pickled gherkin, dried tomatoes, and mayonnaise/peanut butter instead of our usual gourmet sandwiches. Well, it's good to know what it's like when things are not so easy. After the very varied mountain landscapes, the next section of the route, which led us along the Strzelecki Track to Innamincka, seemed rather bleak. Apart from a drop in night temperatures, we also had to deal with strong gusts of wind that blew sand into every opening of our bodies and vehicles. Despite its inland location, Innamincka had surprisingly green surroundings, thanks to the Cooper Creek, which always had water. One of Australia's most famous surveyors, William John Wills, is buried not far from the town. He fell victim to malnutrition and had to be left behind by his exploration team. The local Aboriginal groups initially helped them to catch fish and offered their help in obtaining other food, but as in some other cases, the Europeans felt superior and responded dismissively and disinterestedly. While the surveyors made great achievements for their compatriots, most of them had little respect for the Indigenous people and their way of life. Innamincka is a small town near the river, and there used to be several hundred residents when camel caravans traveled through the Australian interior to trade, and the oil and gas deposits in the area were just discovered. Today, most of the workers in the giant gas field live in Moomba, 100 kilometers away from Innamincka, in on-site container accommodations and fly to their families every few weeks. Besides a small museum, a hotel with an attached petrol station, a small grocery store, and a pub, Innamincka is completely deserted, and there are no more residential houses. On August 25th, we crossed the border into Queensland. There was no border station like the ones we usually encountered in the western part of Australia immediately after crossing the border, so we drove on for a while. We had completed our registration and downloaded it in Innamincka, and just a few kilometers down the highway, there was no network again. Eventually, we saw a slow-moving white car with a flag like most mining vehicles had and strange lights coming towards us. It took a moment for me to realize that it was a border control vehicle. We stopped and showed our permit, but the very relaxed officer didn't even ask for our ID or driver's license, and he was also absolutely uninterested in the contents of our car. After the last 3 border crossings with goods restrictions and extensive identity checks, it was a great experience, almost like coming home. On the way east, there wasn't overly much variety, but our stay in Yowah was definitely a highlight for me. Despite its isolated location, the small town is lively, and the people are open and approachable. Most of them have been living in the area known for its special opal nuts for generations, and many of them even have their own mine. Opals are definitely one of the most interesting gemstone groups for me, the colors and patterns are extremely diverse due to the various water washouts before fossilization. Because Yowah, like a large part of the Queensland Outback, lies above the large underground basin of Australia, extremely hot water comes up from under the ground here, up to 60 degrees. Because the nights can still get chilly, the community maintains two public pools where you can spend as much time as you like for a few coins. We were lucky and had them all to ourselves, except for two frogs that suddenly jumped into the pool after dark to go about their evening wellness program. As we got closer to the coast, the nights became warmer, and I had less trouble with extreme dryness in my eyes and nose from the ubiquitous dust. The most beautiful place to stay was at Wallam Creek, where we were invited to the campfire of a lone traveler grandpa from New South Wales. During our lively conversation, I suddenly heard a rather loud rustling from the bushes that didn't sound like a possum. Curiously, I approached with the flashlight on my phone and found an impressively large echidna. It waddled along quite unperturbed until Matze got a bit too close in his attempt to take a good photo. The previously downward-pointing sharp spikes suddenly rose tremblingly, and the walk was interrupted until we withdrew. I had to resist the temptation to gently stroke the spikes. In St. George, nearly 500 kilometers west of Brisbane, we came across a pretty good winery, where I bought two bottles for my birthday celebration. The free tasting with a, in my estimation, no longer completely sober employee, who was a Dutch backpacker, definitely put us in a good mood. On August 31st, beautiful memories came back as we drove up Chris and Alicia's driveway and were curiously observed by the goats. How I had enjoyed the scenery and the company of all the animals back then, in December almost 2 years ago. And we never expected so much hospitality and generosity from this great family. Chris and Alicia hadn't changed much in appearance since our Christmas together, unfortunately, Chris's hearing had deteriorated even more, and he had started his own electrical business because his company had cut him back due to the poor order situation caused by Corona. However, their two children, Erin and Ben, had grown significantly, especially Ben, who hardly resembled his slightly chubby and Xbox fanatical ten-year-old version anymore. He played basketball quite successfully for two teams and was almost on eye level with his over 1.80-meter tall mother, and there was not a gram of excess fat visible on him. Erin looked much more feminine and had developed a much more energetic and less dramatic attitude. She invested most of her free time in riding lessons and competitions and spending time with her first boyfriend. Time flies! For my birthday the next day, I made a Russian zupfkuchen, which tasted even better than I had hoped. Alicia was quite stressed at work but cooked a delicious curry for dinner, and on the way home, she had bought me a really good vegan apple cake from Woolworths. I hadn't known about it until then, so I was doubly delighted. While Matze was busy expanding and repairing various fences in the following days, I took care of the plants and animals a lot. The latter group had experienced another yappy addition in the form of Nala, a companion for the still quite exhausting Dachshund Milo. From Milo's side, there seemed to be no sexual interest, rather food envy. She particularly liked to tear apart his collar and adored Yugi, the slightly older Staffordshire Bull Terrier bitch. Keeping an eye on all three of them while they wreaked havoc on the property was worse than herding a sack of fleas. That was one of the reasons why Chris had built a fenced area with an electric fence where the dogs could be left for a while so that we could do something useful in the living room. After the fence was finished and connected, there was initially great curiosity from Milo and Nala, but after the first encounter with the fence's special features, it became a morning battle to get them into the enclosure. I even got a shock when I reached for Nala's collar during one of her escape attempts back into the house because she pushed herself against the fence. Eventually, we adjusted our tactics and placed their breakfast in the enclosure, and after a few minutes of relentless ignorance, their insatiable appetite won. Besides our work, we relaxed a lot, I enjoyed the hot tub under the starry sky, and Matze took care of the car. One Sunday, we made a slightly longer trip to the south, to Mount Barney National Park. It was already too late in the day to climb the mountain itself, and I also didn't feel like experiencing excessive adrenaline rushes and near-death experiences. After all, the summit is the second highest in Queensland, and some sections are extremely steep and rocky. Instead, we hiked along a river, past increasingly rainforest-like vegetation, to a hidden waterfall. There we met two Australians and hiked back with them after enjoying the scenery and as it started to rain. We only had about a kilometer left when the otherwise quite dense cloud cover broke open and revealed the summit of Mount Barney, a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight. I reached for my bag to take a photo when I stopped in confusion: my hands reached into emptiness. I must have left the bag, which I had put down during my climbing action at the waterfall, there. I cursed and actually considered posting on the national park's Facebook page if anyone who would go there next would just pick up my phone and send it to me. My knee hurt from the mountainous asphalt jogging of the past days, and it would soon be dark. Matze surprised me by handing me his phone and jogging off. A bit unsure of how to pass the time now, I sat down by the roadside. After a few minutes, a trio passed by, handing me our car key. Matze had realized that he had put it in his pocket. We joined the group and had lively conversations; they had climbed the summit and found it doable but challenging. On the way, they had passed two men who were struggling quite a bit and had started after them. They exchanged numbers and advised the newcomers to turn back if in doubt. Despite a longer break at the summit, they hadn't seen them anymore, and there was no reception on the mountain or at the parking lot. However, when we reached the parking lot, the car of the two adventurous guys was still there, so they hadn't turned back. The more experienced group got worried as dusk was now approaching. It was decided that two of them would turn back with flashlights and walk back the path they had come up to Mount Barney to the point where the real climbing began. I decided to run towards Matze, and I hadn't even covered a kilometer when he jogged towards me. Matze jogging! I never thought I'd see that. And all because I was lost in thought. During the drive home, beautiful colors unfolded in the sky; we hadn't seen such intense orange and pink tones since the devastating wildfires in Noosa almost 2 years ago. The day before our departure, a certain melancholy mixed with my anticipation of seeing Sean and Lynette. We had decided to surprise them in the evening, as we didn't know if they might be working late on Friday. We obtained their address under the pretense of having ordered a package to Adelaide that was now being redirected somewhere else. Finding the right apartment turned out to be not that easy; it was an old Queensland-style house in the Highgate Hill neighborhood on stilts with three different entrance doors. At first, we knocked exactly at the two wrong ones and were a bit confusedly looked at, but we hesitated at the third one just to be on the safe side and listened. We grinned at each other when we heard Sean's unmistakable bass and shortly thereafter Lynette's laughter. We knocked on the door, and I felt so excited with anticipation that it took a moment for the door to open and reveal a narrow kitchen where Lynette was busy. Our friends looked as surprised as expected, and my underlying concern that we might ruin their long-planned cozy movie night as a couple seemed unfounded. After a tour of the apartment and a few alcoholic drinks, we were (as hoped) invited to make ourselves at home in the guest room. This included a lot of clutter and only a single bed and an extra mattress to lay on the floor, but that was alright for the beginning. I insisted on going out to eat - after all, my birthday had to be celebrated. In West End within walking distance, there was a good selection of vegan restaurants, and I chose "Nonna's Nightmare," an Italian-inspired restaurant. In addition to delicious dishes such as lasagna, gnocchi, and arrancini, there were also some hearty burgers to choose from. I absolutely didn't regret choosing the "chicken" burger, it was wonderfully crispy and tasted very convincing. The joy over my food was multiplied by the fact that our non-vegan or non-vegetarian friends were also big fans of the dishes. When I woke up the next morning with a slight hangover, I realized that the orgasmic food orgy had also affected my alcohol appetite, and I probably should have skipped the last glass of Lambrusco. I was a bit of an idiot to organize 3 job interviews for the morning because I wanted to work in the gastronomy as soon as possible. Since I suspected that I had been a bit too optimistic, I first went to the café that I considered the most attractive job-wise in terms of commute and working hours. After a conversation with the owner Yuni, who came from South Korea and had taken over the café not long ago, I was directly offered to start on Monday. I would probably only be needed 2-3 days a week in the mornings, but that was fine for now, and I could still look for a second job for a few evenings or afternoons.

On Saturday, September 11th, fresh and well-rested (at least I was), Sean and I relaxed a bit and caught up on everything that had happened since our last meeting. After Clara returned from her job interviews, we decided to go to the Brisbane River to try out Sean's new stand-up paddleboard. It was pretty cool, although you had to be careful not to fall into the river... there are bull sharks there, and they are slightly more aggressive sharks. Everything went well, and I even rescued a ball from a few boys, and then we headed home. Sunday was our (unplanned) big day. We walked to Southbank to go for a swim in the public pool. On the way, we passed the central vaccination center and spontaneously decided to see if we could get an appointment, as we had finally been eligible for a few days as well. We were lucky! The actual entrance attendant was about to send us home without an appointment, but her boss joined her and made an exception. After half an hour, we were already out, and then it was finally time to go swimming because it was getting warmer here every day. And then, just like that, our camping/hiking/beer-drinking/no-work-at-all time was over. While Clara applied to various restaurants, I went to Globe. Globe is a job placement agency for construction, where Sean also worked. We went together on Monday, I got everything explained, had to fill out a few online forms, and that was it. I did all of that on the same day, and on Tuesday, I was already in the system and received job offers. Fortunately, Sean and I wanted to work together, and luckily, we received an offer from a construction site just fifteen minutes from home later that same afternoon. And Clara was also lucky. In addition to the job with Yuni, there was also something for her for 2-3 days a week, in the evenings, at the City Winery. This is the oldest winery in the city and quite a fancy place. But the staff seems nice and very relaxed. Wednesday was the start of work for Sean and me. Our job was to clean up and tidy up a bit. There was plenty to do, so we were kept there for the next few days. On Friday after work, Clara and I quickly packed everything together and set off to a bush party. We arrived shortly after dark and looked for a camping spot. There was not a single spot on the property that was even remotely level, but with our three jacks, it worked out somewhat. The party already sounded pretty good, but we unpacked and set up first. Not much later, we were greeted by a German woman who had also helped at the entrance. Apart from Sean, she was the first German backpacker we had met in over half a year. Shortly afterwards, we also met Kurt, another German and our camp neighbor. With everything set up, we made our way to the dance floor, where an older lady was playing some really good tech house. Unfortunately, she finished quite soon, and her successor wasn't as good. We went back to the camp, chatted a bit with Kurt and Harmony, his Australian companion, and had dinner. Meanwhile, the DJ stumbled through our camp, and we immediately heard that she was also German. Katja, a teacher at a private school, a part-time DJ, and music producer, and a wonderful person with a northern German dialect that immediately brought back childhood memories. No Germans at all, and now suddenly three, including us, and all in one corner, what a coincidence. After dinner, the party picked up again, and we had a lot of fun; especially the last DJ of the evening, Dark Mode, was really amazing. The best techno I've heard in over 2 years in Australia! After the music stopped, we spent the rest of the night by the campfire. There we met Marco, who travels to bush parties and festivals with UV paints and beautifies people for free. One of the people he beautified was Kurt, who was admired by everyone on the dance floor after the artwork was finished. Marco is also German, refreshingly eccentric, and a barber by profession. He gave us two cool colorful mushroom chains made of a kind of burned clay. The next morning was a bit... challenging, but that's how it is after parties. Strong coffee and something to eat helped us get back on our feet, and nice conversations rounded off the weekend. We packed up, put the car back on all four wheels, exchanged contacts, and made our way home. On the way, we stopped at a small river and went swimming, which was a real joy at over 30 degrees. On Monday, Globe sent me somewhere else; I was supposed to help a guy demolish an old garden fence and build a new one. It was a pretty relaxed job, and it kept me busy for another three days. After that, I was sent back to Blackwatch, our previous construction site. They had already called Sean back on Tuesday. They realized that we were good and that they had too much to do in too short a time. On the last weekend in September, we visited a vegan food market in West End, where Clara bought a necklace at the stand of an animal sanctuary, and I treated myself to a selection of fudge cubes and caramel fudge spread. After sharing burgers, pide, and noodle casserole, Clara also got herself a massive piece of cookie & cream cake after she was already quite full and temporarily unable to move. Culinary-wise, it was definitely worth it.