#18 The Australian Amsterdam
Buga: 18.01.2019
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Due to Meykel's injury, we had to postpone the hike planned for the next day. So we drove to Byron Bay. A truly beautiful little town known for its great surfing and diving conditions and its lighthouse. In addition, the easternmost point of the Australian mainland is located near the lighthouse. The water there is so clear that we could watch rays and dolphins. Apparently you can also see whales between June and November. The town center itself is very touristy, but it invites you to stroll and linger. The next day we drove to Tintenbar (about 30 minutes from Byron Bay). There are the so-called Killen Falls. We have seen quite a few waterfalls in Australia, but the Killen Falls were the first ones where you can swim at the end. In addition, you can also get behind the waterfall with dry feet. That was especially good for Meykel, who still could not get water on his wound. It was a bit stupid that only Annika could go into the water and Meykel had to watch from the outside, so we drove on again after a short time. It is really worth making a detour to Killen Falls if you are nearby. You can easily spend a whole day there. You have to bring your own food, because there is nothing to buy on site and only untouched nature. Since we always have our complete household with us in our car "Karl", we don't have to think about such things. This is one of the few advantages that backpackers have. We never have to think about what we have to pack for a day trip. Bathing suits? Sunscreen? How much food? We don't have to worry about that, we always have everything with us. After the Killen Falls we made our way to Nimbin. Better known as the "Australian Amsterdam". Only 450 inhabitants live there, but the village is nationally known for its reputation. In 1973 the "Aquarius Festival" took place there, which attracted hippies, students, partygoers and followers of various subcultures. After the event, many of them stayed in Nimbin to lead an alternative lifestyle. In 1979, for example, the residents managed to stop the deforestation of the rainforest. In addition to tourism, alternative healing methods and renewable energies are among the most important economic sectors. In a few minutes you can walk from one end of the village to the other, occasionally smelling the sweet scent of marijuana. We were often asked: "Do you need something to smoke?" which we politely declined. Although there is a police station, transactions are made on the street. The police here apparently turn a blind eye (or both). The residents of Nimbin and their homes are also somewhat "special". Many hippies, people who obviously live in their own world and colorful caravans make up the cityscape. We spent two days there. In addition to small cafes, second-hand shops and Woodstock-like stores, there is also a candle factory and a free swimming pool that we visited. Next we headed to the "Tropical Fruit World" in Duranbah. A large farm that grows, sells and researches various exotic fruits. You cannot explore the huge area on your own. You have to take a tour, which costs $ 47 (about € 29) per person. But you also get a lot for it. The tour starts with a fruit tasting. Unfortunately, I have already forgotten the names of many of the exotic fruits that are presented there. Interesting facts are also told about each fruit. Then you go through the farm with a tractor, with lots of information being conveyed by the tour guide. In between, we stopped to taste fresh bananas and macadamias (directly from the tree). Then we went by boat to an island where the farm animals are. You can feed geese, sheep, cows, emus, kangaroos and many other animals. In the nearby lake we saw koi, turtles and even an eel. Then we went back to the entrance with the tractor, where we stocked up on some exotic fruits. Our conclusion: the tour was very interesting, but unfortunately a bit overpriced. Now we are on our way to Home Hill (just before Townsville), where our next job awaits us. However, it is not really a real job, but rather free accommodation and entertaining dogs in return. We landed a job as a house and dog sitter on the "aussiehousesitters" website. That means we take care of the house while the owners are on vacation and take the dogs for a walk. The registration on the site costs $ 89, but since we now live for free for 2 weeks, it has already paid off. You don't get paid, but we finally sleep in a real bed again, in a real house with a pool. After 1.5 weeks of camping, we are also looking forward to a fully equipped kitchen, always hot showers and continuous Wi-Fi. In the future, we hope to get more jobs like this. The only disadvantage is that you have to tailor your route to the jobs. For us, that means driving 1000 km and missing some sights that we then have to drive back to. On our way to Townsville, we involuntarily take a blind eight-legged passenger with us. We have been in Australia for over 4 months now and have only seen a slightly larger spider. For the first time, Meykel saw "Speedy" when he wanted to park at the Fruit World. She ran quickly over the windshield when Meykel stalled the car in shock. We searched for Speedy to drive her away, but we couldn't find her on our car anywhere. So we thought she must have crawled into the bushes. But 200 km later we found her again on our bonnet. And she quickly hid again. We don't know if Speedy is still on board and hope to never see her again. >>> Follow me on Instagram for more information: annikatailor 
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