08.11.2024 - 13.11.2024

08.11.2024 – 11.11.2024:

From Friday to Sunday, Michael stayed with me. He was my roommate at the hostel in Cairns and lives four and a half hours away from Brisbane. On Friday, we went out for drinks at various bars. On Saturday, we went to Stradbroke Island and spent the whole day at the beach. When a few others and I were in the water, the lifeguards suddenly jumped up in a panic and sped off in their rescue boat. I looked back and thought someone needed help, but I didn't see anyone. All the beachgoers were looking in that direction, pulled out their phones, and started taking pictures. However, since I don't have any prescription in my diving goggles, I couldn't see anything in the distance. After a few seconds, the lifeguards returned and announced over the loudspeaker, “Don’t panic. These are just dolphins.” Suddenly, several dolphins jumped out of the water 30 meters away from me. It was wonderful to watch, as they were surfing the waves and it looked just beautiful. A stranger and I swam out to get closer, but unfortunately, the lifeguards whistled us back.
In the evening, we did nothing else except eat pizza at my place and then go to bed. The next morning, I was glad that Michael left again, as I finally had a few hours to myself. In the afternoon, Lina came and prepared burritos and a small picnic for me to celebrate my birthday. It was really delicious and also very nice, as we sat in my living room while outside there was a fierce storm with lots of thunder and lightning. Such things are wonderful when you're indoors.
Today, I got up early and went to work. John picked me up from the train station and told me that yesterday, lightning struck the tree next to his house.
Under the asphalt in his driveway, there are metal rods. Due to the electricity from the lightning, the metal rods were pulled so violently that they broke through the asphalt. His house had no electricity anymore, and unfortunately, his fridge, TV, router, and lights were completely destroyed. So it wasn't a good evening for him. However, today’s workday was relaxed since John somehow misplaced the keys to the truck, and we couldn't really work. Accordingly, we got some food and made a few quotes for the customers.

12.11.2024 – 13.11.2024

I packed all my things from the apartment and divided them into 2 piles.
1 pile with all the things I’ll leave with John and a pile with the things I need in Bali. I was somewhat shocked at how many things I suddenly have overall. I took 2 bags full of clothes, a laptop, groceries, etc. to John on 12.11, and yet my backpack was almost full with the things I’m taking to Bali. Our “workday” consisted only of waiting for the electrician to come for his electricity. After a few hours, I said I was tired of waiting and was going home, which was fine with John. I packed the rest and went to bed early because my Uber picks me up at 3:00 AM.