પ્રકાશિત: 09.12.2019
For my 1st overnight stay, I stop in Yamba, where I booked a room in a dormitory. The people are very open-minded, I immediately find someone to play table tennis and cook with. The next morning, I enjoy the fresh sea air during a walk to the lighthouse, then I continue driving. In the evening, I arrive in Macksville, where it is very easy to have a conversation with the friendly locals at the local restaurant (which is the only place to eat after 8:30 pm). I sleep surprisingly well alone in the rooftop tent, and the setup and takedown work well. I'm independent! When I'm already back on the highway in the morning, the cruise control keeps failing, and the car sounds different than usual. After stopping at a gas station, it doesn't want to start anymore, so I am towed to the nearest workshop in Kempsey. Desperate, I call Matze at work, but he can't really help me either. I have to bite the bullet and go through this alone. But since I definitely want to be in Sydney on the weekend, I simply leave the car, which can take several days to repair, behind and take the train from Kempsey to Sydney. On the same day I left with Maddy, Matze moved from the sharehouse to a hostel. He saved money and had more company. I sleep there for 1 night, in the morning we move to an Airbnb, and I continue my work for Uber. Unfortunately, problems arise with the owner of the newly renovated house; she doesn't actually want anyone living there during the design phase. So, we start searching again. This city is really starting to get on my nerves; obviously, it doesn't want me anymore, even though I've already turned my back on it once... We find a place to stay not far away in Redfern, carry all our stuff a little further without a car, and hope that everything will go smoothly for the last few days. I have already sold my bike and rented an electric bike for the last few days. Matze is working at the construction site... The week starts well, then another blow to the face: my Uber account is blocked. The facial recognition, which is sometimes required during the ride, doubts my identity, and my account is blocked. I file a complaint, but it doesn't have any effect. I start walking home and realize that I have locked myself out. The landlord has the spare key, but she won't be back until the end of our departure. I try to slide open the window, to open the door lock with a card.. nothing works. I happen to ask a couple who also lives in the complex for help, and I enter the apartment through one of the bedrooms from the backyard. For the rest of the week, I am unemployed and therefore restless and dissatisfied. When the day of departure finally comes, a weight is lifted off my shoulders.