Me, the dogs and the ocean

So... here I am again... the world works differently here... time, climate, left-hand traffic, biorhythm, mentality, ...etc.,

The tropical heat cannot be compared to our climate and temperatures. You would think that there would be a cool breeze blowing by the sea, but unfortunately that is not the case. Especially since it usually hardly cools down during the day or at night, even after rain, and in 2-3 hours it feels like 33.*C again. There are ceiling fans in the house but no air conditioning🫠. It's unusually hot for the month, it's the beginning of fall and it should get cooler soon.

Yesterday I had a 2 hour one. Took a bus ride from Macksville to Coffs Harbor to the big shopping center to buy a coffee maker... The kind of thing that is in every camping equipment to make me an Australian espresso... A good coffee once a day, finally. .. after 5 days...

Speaking of bus travel: To get to the bus departure point, you first have to drive 40 minutes by car. Without a car you are lost here.

The public transport network is dirt cheap. The espresso pot was three times as expensive as ours. To give you an idea of life here, a few prices: small. House per month AU$ 2500 rent, ownership rural house with large property AU$ 1.2+ million, food more expensive than ours... health food store much more expensive than ours. Bananas, mango, papaya, melon... grows around the corner and I eat it fresh every morning... delicious!

The surroundings are very green and very hilly. The terrible forest fires years ago, which killed so many animals, started near here. There is currently no risk of forest fires because it has rained a lot here too.

Smaller ranchers with cattle farms (mainly Angus) in the surrounding area. Scotts Head, where I live, is a pretty and now, after the season (otherwise a surfer's paradise and overcrowded), very quiet place and, like every coastal town here, it is located on a rock or hill and you can walk or drive down into the bay to the beach. I can walk, it's about 300m.

The neighborhood is friendly and everyone likes to make small talk. Mostly older people live here and everything is very relaxed. Surfing starts at 7:30 a.m. before school! and in the evening before dinner. .... What a life...😅. The children are already so experienced and confident in dealing with the waves, which are all much higher than them, which is really impressive.

This morning I went to the beach alone with the dogs, Mila and Misty. Big waves, lots of surfers 🏄. Yesterday 2 standup paddlers went missing and were searched for by helicopter. They were later found alive.

No, I don't go into the water alone but only with experienced local people, no worries!

The dogs are so sweet, don't leave my side and obey my every word....🤔 well, and that with my dog phobia... It seems 'therapy included'...🫢😉