Putting down roots

My birthday was approaching, and fortunately, I was relieved of the question of how and where I wanted to celebrate: Wizzards of Kingston's 'Spring Campout' was on, and right in the middle, my birthday fell on Sunday. Most of our roommates had plans, and Pooven didn't want a weekend full of techno music, but our roommate Shannen joined us to camp together. We also knew that our Doofmama Katja, Harmony, Megan (from Matze's trade school), and our newest festival buddy Jasper would be there. I was happy to camp in a small group. You meet people at festivals so quickly when you're willing... Besides, our work as helpers (for free admission tickets) guaranteed us some nice conversations. Right next to us camped two couples who were very outgoing, and we chatted with them for a while on the first night. We took it easy on Saturday, and by the afternoon, we had our 4-hour shift. Actually, we were assigned to monitor the sanitary facilities, but since one of the two volunteers for entrance/ticket control didn't show up, I sat by the entrance to the grounds while Matze took the first inspection round. To be honest, the toilets were the cleanest I had ever seen at a festival, but that was surely because they had flushing toilets and adequate lighting. We didn't even have to clean, just restock toilet paper and report any 'issues' via the radios we were given. My co-worker and I had a good chat, and the shift passed quickly. We could hardly wait to join Shannen for some fun. When midnight struck, and I could officially celebrate my birthday, Harmony came over with some of her friends, and Katja found me in the crowd to congratulate me. It was only Shannen's second techno festival, but she was beaming like a honey cake horse, which made me very happy. The next day, we relaxed and danced (there was also a stage with live music) for a while in and around the pool. There, I chatted further with our camp neighbors and was immediately invited to a house party at the end of the month. Lauren was Australian and referred to herself as the group's mom, and her boyfriend Marko was from Spain. Likewise Pili, whose boyfriend Steph came from Belgium. The four of them radiated such a pleasant warmth that I was pretty sure we had gained some great new friends. The following weekend, we met up with Pooven at the Gold Coast to explore the Coombabah Lake Conservation Park. I had read on Google that you could often see koalas there. We weren't disappointed: just a few hundred meters from the parking lot, a mother climbed up a small tree with her baby, only 3-4 meters off the ground. We were all amazed. Later, we even saw a koala drowsing a little further off the path. Additionally, the reserve had numerous kangaroos and a variety of bird species to offer. Clearly a true insider tip; most people in Brisbane had never heard of it. Afterwards, we visited the Hota Museum and had lunch at 'Blossoming Lotus', where there was a super cheap and delicious buffet. Later, we continued south, where there was a sculpture festival at Currumbin Beach. The artworks stood right in the sand or along the promenade behind the dunes. There was no entry fee. There were funny, socially critical, and abstract works. What a beautiful day 😍 Because, of course, our everyday life doesn’t look as exciting and adventurous anymore as it did when we were backpackers. At the same time, it's great to be able to maintain long-term friendships and have such a beautiful and comfortable home. Steph and Pili's house party was amazing; both had so many international friends, and we had a great conversation with two German girls, Franzi and Miriam. I was quite jealous of the palm-lined pool and, of course, went for a swim. Nuggett, Lauren's very excited bull terrier, loved that someone played ball with him; all the people just sitting around visibly frustrated him. The second weekend in October marked the joint birthday celebration of Matze, Shannen, and their buddy Tom. Shannen had ordered a 'peanut bomb' from my workplace, and Matze had brewed an amazing cider that guests could pour themselves directly from the barrel. Since we had announced it as a costume party, there were some very extravagant outfits, and we danced well. We also set up a ping pong table and a floodlight, and it was relentlessly played Chinese. I started to meet up more regularly with a group I had met at Steph's and Pili's party on Wednesdays after work for beers and chatting. On November 15th, we went with Steph, Pili, and Harmony's crew to a small festival at Tamborine. Unlike regular outdoor festivals, the dance floor was inside a community hall. We really liked the music; however, there was no air conditioning in the building, and the sweat was literally dripping from the walls. While relaxing in the camp, we got to know our friends' friends better, and at a stall with gems, I found an extraordinary dream catcher with woven fluorite (fluorspar) and a beautiful pendant with pink fossilized corals, a perfect Christmas gift for mom. I just had to wait another 4 weeks, then she would be here 😊 A few days after the festival, Lea arrived in Brisbane and stayed in our guest room. On Wednesday after my work at the market, the three of us met Harmony for dinner at Netherworld. After a feast of burgers, we played 'Stone Age', which we often played on Tuesdays in Christchurch, triggering a flood of memories. How lovely it was to see people again whom you had met while traveling. The weekend after Lea's arrival, we went with her to the Gold Coast and enjoyed the sea view from Burleigh Heads. In the afternoon, we met with Emily and Rob, our super nice housemates from our time in Queenstown. The two of them had now settled down in Rob's homeland, unfortunately in Adelaide, which is several days' drive away from Brisbane. They wanted to marry in a few months; hence they were checking out a potential venue. We picked them up after their visit and went for a walk in Coombabah. Especially Em, who regularly saw koalas but rarely kangaroos, was over the moon about the many marsupials, most of which grazed peacefully and had many joeys (young ones). We ate again at Blossoming Lotus and then returned to Brisbane; the next morning, we would set off on our road trip. As almost expected, when you have no energy left to pack late at night, we took until noon to finish everything. We didn't head straight to the Bunya Mountains as initially planned but first stayed overnight at the 'Crows Nest National Park', which we had visited a few years ago. Other than us, no other people were seen on the campsite; however, we discovered in the twilight not just one but an entire family of 'Tawny Frogmouths', owls with unusually bushy eyebrows that, with their gray-black color, often blend in so well with eucalyptus trees that they are incredibly hard to spot. We slept peacefully and climbed the winding riverbed the next morning until we found a good spot for a nude swim (unfortunately still illegal and very frowned upon in Australia in 2025, especially in Queensland). We also sunbathed a bit, but luckily the sun was not too harsh. When we returned on the path, we realized that from one of the viewpoints, there would have definitely been the best view of our outstretched limbs. Oops. When we finally arrived at the Bunya Mountains around noon, we first set up our camp and had a bite to eat. While I was looking for something in the car, something landed close to my head, and I was quite startled; it was just a dazzling King Parrot, obviously hoping for a snack. We hiked through the pleasantly shaded 'Bunya' pine forest, where there were also many strangler figs and other subtropical trees. Unfortunately, there were also many ticks, which all stuck to Lea's pant legs. Despite being the first in our group most of the time, I didn't find any on my bare legs. Matze, who was also in shorts, had a few, but not nearly as many as Lea. Perhaps because of his slightly hairier legs...? The next morning, we already said goodbye to the Bunya Mountains, but not before watching the peacefully grazing wallabies, which are so typical for the national park. We stopped in Chinchilla, which lies 300 kilometers inland from Brisbane and can thus be considered the gateway to the 'Outback'. After some shopping and thrift store browsing, we continued north and spent the night at an idyllic free campsite in Wandoan. Originally, I had suggested driving to the Carnarvon Gorge National Park, but the weather forecast for the second day of our planned stay there looked so bad that I was worried that the only access road would become impassable, and we would be stuck. Instead, we cut our route short and visited the 'Expedition National Park' instead. We had never been there; there are only national park campsites, no fancy caravan parks. Just as we drove into the national park, we spotted a group of emus, which excited us greatly. Arriving at camp, we enjoyed the birds singing and the absence of any city or road noises; we were completely alone. After a hike to a stunning viewpoint over the surrounding sandstone cliffs, we descended to the bottom of the gorge. Back at camp, the sun was already quite low and was casting its golden rays through the eucalyptus forest, a beautiful spectacle. Later in the evening on the way to the bathroom, Lea and I spotted a Greater Glider; I had read that they were here, but who would have thought we would actually see one! The next afternoon, it rained; however, we were already on the move again. We even had quite nice weather when we visited 'Cania Gorge'. We had already been there twice; the sandstone caves, which the Aboriginals used as refuge and rest stops for thousands of years, were definitely worth seeing. We also saw some cute wallabies rummaging in the foliage among the various climbing plants for food – occasionally, they even eat beetles and other small animals! We continued to push towards the coast and arrived at 'Kondalilla National Park' via some unpaved forest roads. It must have poured on the Sunshine Coast in the last 24 hours; some roads were closed, and debris was everywhere along the roads. We would have liked to see the now surely massive Kondalilla Falls; swimming was, of course, not possible in the upper pool at the falls as the water would have swept one down the fall. Parts of the hiking trail were underwater; small waterfalls ran directly over the path from the slopes. One of the bridges was half underwater; we crawled along the terrain and hoped the bridge wouldn’t spontaneously collapse. Not for the faint-hearted! Upon arriving in Maleny, the weather had calmed down a bit, and we booked an overnight stay on the showgrounds, close to the 'Obi Obi' creek, where with some luck one could see platypuses. And indeed, we saw one come to the surface in the evening light after waiting not even 30 seconds. What luck! The next morning, I called Germany while strolling on the riverside back to the viewpoint. After the phone call, I noticed that a small flying fox, which I had already spotted yesterday, was still hanging alone far from the colony on a small bush and whining woefully. So low-hanging and all alone, it was an easy target for cats or pythons... unless it had already perished from starvation beforehand. I decided to take action and called the local wildlife rescue service. Just 10 minutes later, an older couple showed up with a cat transport basket. Getting to the baby flying fox proved to be more challenging than it initially appeared; the slope down to the water was steep and incredibly slippery due to the heavy rain. Once we reached the unfortunate animal, the man put on a leather glove and tried to encourage the creature to grab onto that instead of the branch. Then it, along with the glove, went into the carrying basket. During the operation, we kept an eye on the flying fox colony across the way. Unfortunately, none of the animals were concerned about what we were doing with their colony member, and it had to be assumed that the parent animals were dead. Now the little flying fox would be raised by humans with a bottle until it was strong enough to be released back into the wild. With a good feeling that I had done the right thing, I enjoyed the trip to Mary Cairncross Reserve and the subsequent drive to Noosa, where we snagged a camping spot at 'Noosa Habitat'. When we had lived on the Sunshine Coast for the first time, it was still under construction; we had heard about it several times but had never visited. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, but we had enough distance from our neighbors, and several kangaroo families grazed right next to us. Lea and I enjoyed a little cool-off in the lake. I regretted not bringing my stand-up paddleboard; the water was beautifully clear, but even after a hundred meters, it was still not even knee-deep. The campsite had its own brewery, which we tested after dinner. We spent most of the next day in Noosa National Park. We saw turtles and sea eagles; the weather was pleasantly mild, not too hot. In the afternoon, we checked into our Airbnb in Cooroy. The little house-like cabin was very cozy, and we fell asleep to the chirping of cicadas. Since the adjacent forest was swampy, there were unfortunately also a lot of mosquitoes. The next day, we took it easy and enjoyed the pool of our Airbnb. In the afternoon, we then visited the beach in Cooroy and tried our hand at bodyboarding. The next morning, we sadly had to leave our lovely place again; we climbed Mount Cooroy and enjoyed the panoramic view from the summit. In the afternoon, we unfortunately had to return to Brisbane because I had to work the next morning. Over the weekend, we went to a techno party with Lea, and our housemates Joshy and Liv joined us. It would have been nice for my taste if it had been a bit fuller and the music a bit harder, but overall, it was a very pleasant evening. When we stepped into the mild night air around 2 AM, Lea seemed to have more energy than Matze and I combined. A few days later, Lea then departed; she had landed a job as a cook on Magnetic Island. This would even count as farm work for a subsequent visa since the island is classified as rural. We dropped her off in the early afternoon at her night train; I did feel a bit down as I had had little company of a feminine person who shares similar interests in recent years. However, the rest of the day we spent in very good company: Italian friends of our festival acquaintances Pili and Steph organized a pizza Christmas picnic, where everyone brought their individual toppings, and the Italians provided hand-kneaded dough and baked the self-topped pizza in a stone oven. It rained intermittently, but we had a roof over our heads and enjoyed pleasantly cooler temperatures. In the following days, we didn't plan much as my mom's arrival was approaching, and I wanted to tidy up the garden before we would be on the move a lot again. I picked her up at the airport on December 18 in the morning; Brisbane welcomed her with pouring rain and a classic summer thunderstorm. After a relaxed morning, I decided to show mom one of our neighboring districts on a walk, where particularly beautiful houses in 'Queenslander' style stood, and all the plants were in full bloom. In November/December, the lilac 'Jacarandas' always bloom here, immediately followed by the 'Christmas Trees' that showcase a red floral dress. Mom and I had just arrived at the very impressive old cemetery in Dutton Park when the storm caught up with us, and all the floodgates opened. We sought shelter under the roof of a bus stop and decided to go to a brewery and chat a bit. The sultriness of the midday had completely dissipated due to the storm, and since we had gotten a bit wet, the high-speed running fans in the outside area made us shiver... it was still much colder inside due to the air conditioning. Mom found it hardly bearable; while I'm not a huge fan of being cooled down like this either, I have probably gotten somewhat used to it over the past few years. The next day, I had to work, but in the evening, Katja stopped by. She had met my mom during her first visit to Australia; back then, we had spent a few days at Katja’s guest room. It felt good to also be able to host. We enjoyed a good drop and a home-cooked dinner. The next morning, Mom and I were picked up at 8:30 AM by Pooven. We set off on the Border Track, which a few friends had told me about. Since it wasn't a loop and you didn't want to walk the 22 kilometers back and forth, we left Pooven's car in Binna Burra overnight, and Matze would drive to O’Reilleys after work, to the endpoint of the hike. For sleeping, we agreed on a safari tent that offered sturdy walls and real beds, so we wouldn't have to set everything up in the evening. I was already aware that a 10 AM start for the hike was quite late. But I had no idea what awaited us... After just a few hundred meters, we spotted a snake sunbathing in the otherwise fairly shady forest right in the middle of the path – a red-bellied black snake, of course, venomous. After that, we slowed down our pace to avoid accidents. Our tempo was further decreased by the masses of leeches that leaped at us as if they hadn't seen people in weeks. Pooven and I took it with a bit of humor, but mom was increasingly panicking. Admittedly, I know that there is an increased occurrence of these clingy bloodsuckers after a lot of rain, but I had never experienced anything like this before. At a viewpoint, I nearly came unawarely too close to another venomous snake that was curled up sleeping right at the edge. Of course, we also had more relaxing animal encounters; we saw and heard numerous birds, including the 'Catbird' and the 'Rufous Fantail'. When we reached the last viewpoint, the sun was already quite low. A few months earlier, I had picnicked at this very viewpoint with some people; back then, we had hiked a loop from O’Reilleys, along numerous waterfalls. Instead of following the last kilometers of the Border Track, I suggested taking the waterfall trail, which was also somewhat of a shortcut... when you leave aside the altitude meters. Initially, the path went slightly downhill, and the first waterfall presented itself in spectacular splendor. We even got to see an animal that only exists in this corner of Australia: the 'Lamington Crayfish', a blue freshwater crayfish named after the national park. It (or she?) sat right on the rather narrow path and didn't appear particularly impressed that we were trying to walk past it. Fully upright and with raised pincers, it took some threatening steps in our direction. There was no way to get around; the path was too steep and slippery on both sides. Bravely, I grabbed a stick, which I held as a sort of shield between me and the crayfish. Impressed by this encounter, we continued our hike, but our euphoric mood waned just a few minutes later: the otherwise very idyllic and easily passable spots where you had to cross at the tops or bottoms of waterfalls were completely underwater due to the heavy rain that had evidently fallen in the last few days. We fought our way through cold, quickly flowing knee-deep water, again and again. The twilight light had since turned into almost complete darkness; with so much water everywhere, it was practically impossible at some places to discern the path anymore. The last crossing was particularly bad; to this day, I get goosebumps thinking about it. My phone's battery had by now given up, and I hadn’t packed headlamps in my optimistic mindset. Luckily, mom had, but the battery was slowly but surely dying too. Except for the several meters of hip-deep water, there was only one spot that offered a passage: a sort of trench through which the water masses flowed, only to tumble down over a fall a few meters further. How deep that fall was, it was impossible to check under the light conditions, but definitely deep enough to break some bones. So, slipping or falling in the water had to be avoided at all costs. I inspected our side and finally found a spot that didn’t seem too slippery. With a massive heartbeat, I took a bit of a running start and jumped. I didn’t slip at all upon landing and felt that I hadn’t landed all that close. With a somewhat forced optimistic expression, I turned to my two companions. Mom looked quite pale even in the dim light. Pooven jumped too, and I was very grateful that he reached out for mom; my hands were so sweaty that I had no confidence I could stabilize her upon landing – it was unfortunately too far to reach her from the other side. As he leaned over the water, I briefly saw a light fall; after a moment of shock, it dawned on me that while Pooven was still standing next to me unharmed, his phone had fallen out of his pocket. By the time I had processed what had happened, it was probably already long gone at the foot of the falls. Just a second later, mom landed, and the pressure on my throat eased a little. 'I'm sorry about your phone,' I said to Pooven, as I naturally felt responsible; I had suggested this 'shortcut.' He just shrugged; what happened had happened. At least we were fine for now. After another half an hour, with now only one light source, we reached civilization and had reception again. It was shortly before 9 PM. Matze was also running very late; he had just made it to the final stretch of our camp. Since the access code for our accommodation was in a text message on Pooven's phone, we first had to find a staff member. Fortunately, most of them lived on-site, as there was no town within less than an hour's drive. A whole group was just having dinner, and after a brief explanation, we received partly slightly amused to shocked reactions and also the code. After a somewhat hurriedly prepared dinner and some glasses of Matze's homebrew, our spirits slowly returned. The next morning, the three of us hikers still felt a bit worn out, but we were very pleased with the feathered visitors on our little private terrace. Several King Parrots and some Crimson Rosellas were perched on the balustrade. Since they were obviously often fed by people, we could get relatively close to them. We took a pretty relaxed walk to the 'Morans Falls', a route without daring river crossings or leeches. In the afternoon, we strengthened ourselves in Canungra, where mom and I then stayed and strolled around while the boys picked up Pooven's car. In the next two days, unfortunately, my 2-3 leech bite wounds swelled up extremely; I had an elephant foot. Mom insisted that I go to the doctor, but I was quite sure it was just some kind of allergic reaction and not sepsis or an infection, so I applied various ointments and waited. I went to work for the next few days; in the afternoons we did something together. On the 23rd, we drove to swim at the gravel pit in Daisy Hill; it was good that the midday heat had eased a bit. On Christmas Eve, we played card games with Pooven and traditionally ate potato salad and sausages (yes, it works vegan too). The time for baking cookies had become a bit tight, and mom also understood that we weren’t getting into the Christmas spirit with over 30 degrees. The next afternoon, Shannen's mother and sister Regan arrived, and we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner together. Shannen had put a lot of effort into convincing her mom with vegan Christmas dishes since she is unfortunately quite closed-minded and generally picky. Luckily, my mom is much more easygoing. On the 26th, we set off in the morning to Toowoomba; after a hike through some hip-high grass and quite a few altitude meters, we strolled through the city. Mom admired the historical buildings in Art Deco style, like the old cinema, several museums, and churches. We stayed overnight in a free camp in Leyburn, idyllically situated by the river among majestic eucalyptus. While setting up, we were musically accompanied by a flock of cockatoos, and a kangaroo family grazed by the restroom block. The next day, we continued our journey and explored the Kwiambal National Park, where we passed the afternoon heat in the bottom of a canyon in the water. Mom needed a bit of time to warm up to it, and it probably didn't help that the water had some green algae on the edges (the water inspector in her came through) and there were some thigh-sized fish. In the evening, we had just finished a game of Wizard when a storm rolled in. Mom retreated into the car and seemed visibly tense; I cooked dinner, seemingly unimpressed (I do have some fear of storms, but I was more concerned about being hit by a branch than by a lightning strike) in the shelter of our awning. The next morning, the temperatures were considerably more pleasant, and we had managed to get through the night dry, even Matze, who had slept in his tent on the grass. I went on a walk with mom while Matze packed up our camp. We found a nice spot to refresh ourselves in the river; as the previous day, we had the beautiful nature all to ourselves. We continued our journey and made a stop at 'Rocky Creek', where there was a geologically interesting river section. For millions of years, a glacier had accumulated a variety of different stones, which were now all pressed up and smooth-polished by the river. The water was pleasantly cool, and there were even a few small falls to lean against for a nice back massage. Suddenly, I spotted a black snake in the grass and excitedly waved mom over. A moment later, the snake suddenly glided into the water and swam vigorously upstream, right toward us. Even though I knew it wasn't out to harm us, I retreated, not wanting it to rest on my rock and feel threatened by my presence. Unfortunately, I lost sight of it and mom didn’t get to see it. The fact that snakes are such good swimmers didn’t sit well with her. In the afternoon, we drove the winding road up to Mount Kaputar National Park; I had been worried that it would be closed, as bushfire danger had officially risen to the second-highest level since the day before. Unlike Brisbane, there hadn’t been a drop of rain in the areas we had passed through in the last two days. After we had set up camp, we set out for an afternoon hike. The temperatures were significantly more pleasant due to the altitude. We enjoyed fantastic views and saw a huge kangaroo alpha. At night, it thundered again, thankfully without a major storm. The next day, we walked a round along the plateau and enjoyed a sunny picnic with a view of grazing kangaroos. Another storm was brewing; we only dared to step with a slightly uneasy feeling to the last steps to the summit of Kaputar. The view of the ominous clouds and a forested mountain panorama rewarded us for our courage. Mount Kaputar is now definitely one of my favorite national parks; the flora and fauna are rare and beautiful due to its special climate. The next day, we drove east on a four-wheel drive track and strolled through Barraba, a small sleepy nest with numerous wall murals and cute shops. However, we could only look at them from the outside as almost everything in the village was closed until after New Year. In the evening, we reached Tamworth, which hosts Australia's largest 'country' music festival every year. I had booked us an Airbnb for New Year's Eve so we could have a nice meal, not be bitten by mosquitoes, and, if we felt like it, go out for some party. We dined in a delicious Chinese restaurant, albeit with the air conditioning set a bit too cold - wisely, we had packed cardigans. Later, we played cards and watched the live broadcast of the fireworks in Sydney; a Robbie Williams performance from his Australian tour was also broadcast at the same time. However, we were not particularly tempted by a pub visit... Two days later, we arrived at Effie, Rob, and his son Zeph's place. I was excited to see the ferrets again. Mom struggled a bit with her teeth, so she preferred to snuggle with the two cats. We helped Effie as much as we could in two days and enjoyed her delicious homemade meals. Mom was very impressed by the numerous eclectic artworks that Effie created. I found it hard to say goodbye again; Effie was such a good soul. Incredible how much of her energy, time, and savings she dedicated to the welfare of animals. I wished she didn't live a 7-hour drive away. After visiting the Ellenborough Falls, we headed to Kempsey, where I had stranded six years ago because the fuel pump of the Pajero had given out. Unlike back then, I enjoyed the time this time and found that there were some good second-hand stores and nice graffiti in this town. We slept at the showgrounds campsite, which felt quite secure - Kempsey has one of the highest crime rates in all of Australia. The next day, we headed to the sea and visited the Hat Head National Park (translated 'Hat Head National Park'; who came up with that name?!). During a beautiful coastal hike, we saw turtles, kangaroos, and even a snake. We continued on to the Woolgoolga Brewery, where we enjoyed the mild afternoon sun with some good cold drinks. We overnighted at the Corindi Reserve Campsite, setting up our night’s shelter wind-protected between tea trees and eucalyptus. The only disadvantage of this swamp vegetation was a very healthy mosquito population. The next day, we had a bit of a shorter drive ahead of us; this time, we had to use the sand driving abilities of our car to reach the campsite. The 'Station Creek Campground' was located a few hundred meters from the beach in a picturesque little forest, a stream bordered by mangroves attracted numerous birds (and of course, mosquitoes). Although, naturally, many people were out and about because of the school holidays like everywhere along the coast, we had our peace and no immediate neighbors. We took a small beach walk, and Matze and I swam across the river mouth to the 'Red Rocks', a striking red rock formation made of red quartz and other iron-bearing rocks. Mom wasn’t too keen on the whole thing; she set up at the beach instead and watched a bird colony. Unfortunately, the rock was in 1841 the place where a group of Aboriginals, hunted by a mounted settler patrol, were driven over the cliff to their death. Sadly, such events occurred far too frequently in the 19th century; often, there were massacres under the pretense that the Aboriginals had stolen cattle or simply entered lands that did not 'belong' to them. We, in our arrogance as settlers, grabbed lands only to punish the actual inhabitants for following their nomadic lifestyle and traditions or resorting to eating a cow due to food shortages created by deforestation and other settlers' activities. Thankfully, these historical events are now viewed much more critically, and schools talk about it as well. Many places in Europe have also regained the names used by the Aboriginals - for example, 'Meanjin' for Brisbane, which in the Aboriginal language means 'Place of the Blue Water Lilies'.

For the next morning, I had set an alarm; I wanted to see the sunrise on the beach. Mom joined as well; apart from us, there was only a photographer on the beach. To photograph the reflection of the orange-lit clouds, I waded through the river where it flowed into the sea. I pointed out a stingray to mom, who was buried in the sand. Unfortunately, that demotivated her from joining. Around noon, we arrived in Grafton, where all the Jacaranda trees showcased their purple dresses. We visited a cute art gallery and strolled through some shops. In the afternoon, we visited Iluka, which has one of the last coastal rainforests in Australia. Shielded by dunes, rainforest giants and strangler figs rise. Surrounding forests had already been cleared for housing or leveled for mining, and it wasn't until 1986 that the area was placed under protection. It was pleasantly cool in the forest, and the sound of the waves accompanied us steadily on our hike. Unfortunately, mom had been experiencing ankle pain since we had gone bodyboarding 3 days ago and having twisted her foot on the same day. The swelling didn't seem to worsen but didn’t get any better either, and she didn’t want to see a doctor. Therefore, we had to keep our walking tours a bit shorter. In the evening, we reached our accommodation in Suffolk Park, a few kilometers south of Byron Bay. Our host Andrew, originally from India, warmly welcomed us, and since his wife Jackie was traveling, he offered us her room, so we wouldn’t have to set up an extra bed and had more privacy. I was thrilled at how mom chatted alone with Andrew on the terrace in the evenings; when I was there, I was often brought in as a dictionary, and conversations flowed less smoothly. After two weeks in Australia, she had become significantly more confident linguistically. Our trip to Byron the next day went well; there were, of course, some lovely stores, and we had lunch at a delicious vegan restaurant where you could create your own plate at the buffet. It rained intermittently, but that didn’t stop us from walking to the lighthouse. From up there, the view of the rays and turtles foraging for food among the rocks at the foot of the steep cliffs was fantastic. After another overnight stay, we headed back to Brisbane the next afternoon, and a vegan market was due where I worked. Mom rested a bit at our home. The next day, I visited an exhibition with mom, where you could admire many historical neon tube signs that used to hang in many pubs and stores here. After a brief tour along historical sites in Brisbane, we had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants and relaxed in the Roma Street Parklands afterward. The next morning, my temporary house and dog-sitting began, just a 15-minute drive from our house. 'Houdini', a greyhound, was a bit more cat-like than dog-like in character, well-behaved and visibly uninterested in other dogs on walks. Dog-mom Nikki was aware that I had to work one of the days and had no issues with visitors and even overnight guests. So mom came over on the first day, and we relaxed for a while on the very comfortable chairs, treating Houdini to extensive petting. The next day we took a trip to Logan and visited the art gallery and, in the afternoon, the Koala Center in Daisy Hill, where mom was very happy to finally see koalas. Just a few meters away, as they were sitting on artificial 'trees' where fresh eucalyptus branches had been hung. The three koalas living in the enclosed area have injuries or illnesses (chlamydia is common among koalas and often leads to blindness and deformities) and cannot, therefore, be released back into the wild (yet). The visitor center is a public facility, not a private zoo, and does not charge admission; moreover, you are not allowed to hold the koalas in your arms, as some zoos offer for a lot of money. Koalas are not cuddle toys and do not enjoy contact with humans.

Unfortunately, the day of farewell has come; mom had to return to Germany, and I had to work again. For two days, I continued sleeping in my dog-sitting apartment; I felt a bit lonely, especially in the evenings. Houdini cheered me up, and Nikki was overly grateful when she returned and said she’d like to hire me again in the future.