Auf Wiedersehen Melonenfarm!

Our last month on the farm arrived. The first two large fields were harvested and the halfway point of the season was reached. It was starting to get cooler and the sun took longer to rise in the morning, autumn was approaching. After all the different types of honeydew and Galia melons, it was now time for watermelons. Delicious but incredibly difficult to pick. You have to be very careful with them as they are prone to breaking easily. Fortunately, we didn't have too many fields of them on the farm... At the end of February, it was time for us to head towards Perth again. Monday was a public holiday, so we had some time for the good things in life. Clara had organized a fantastic Airbnb for us, not far from the center, close to everything we wanted to see, especially the party in the evening. After unpacking and having a cold beer or two, we went into town where there was a cool light show set up with everything from informative to trippy. After that, we got some food as it was already quite late. When that was done, I decided to get in touch with Magnus (my godson) as it was his birthday after all. However, he didn't stay up for long and I was transferred to his mom and lost track of time a bit. When I returned around quarter to eleven, Clara was already on her way to dreamland and I was a little out of it too. So no more party, just bed. We're getting old, slowly but surely. When Clara woke up in the morning, she didn't try to force me to get up (thankfully!) and went on her way to an organic store that she wanted to check out. She was totally excited, bought a few things, and finally kicked me out of bed. Despite the bad weather, we had a lot to do. We drove to Swan Valley and visited a small farmers market and then an art gallery. The gallery was cool, the artist was a German named Thomas Maurer and he makes 'movable' three-dimensional paintings - flex on aluminum. The illusion of movement is created when you walk past the artworks and the differently polished surfaces reflect the light. Depicted rivers start to flow, circles start to rotate. On the way back to the city, the rain finally stopped and we took a walk through the historic district of Guildford. 'Very nice, BUT I'M HUNGRY NOW!!!' - I was finally at my wit's end. It was almost 4 p.m. and we still hadn't eaten anything, enough is enough. We made ourselves comfortable in a park, Clara made scrambled eggs and slowly my humanity and good mood returned. Our last trip before heading home on that day took us closer to the coast. We had decided to finally get ourselves a laptop so that we could watch a movie together, edit documents, save photos, and, above all, write our blog posts.

Unfortunately, not much exciting happened at work, so let's move on to the following weekend. This time we only had Sunday, as usual, so we just drove to 'neighboring' Dwellingup. The first stop was Caraholly Orchard, a small farm where they grow everything that can be cultivated in this climate. Pretty cool actually, with a small Sunday market offering boxes full of selected items, eggs, honey, or loose items to choose from. We packed a collection box and took advantage of the wonderful weather for a walk through the town and to a cidery. The cidery was really cool. Located on the outskirts of town and surrounded by apple trees, they produced their own cider, really delicious, with seating under the trees in the garden and even permission to pick apples to take home.

The next week was Douglas and Nikolina's last. We spent as much time as possible with them, as we had grown very fond of them in a short time. Saturday was the day of their departure. Steven and his girlfriend Cici took them to Perth while we made our way to a bush party that we had been looking forward to for weeks. Half of the farm was there and we had a lot of fun. The last two weeks on the farm were quite uneventful. We sorted out a lot of rubbish to make room for our new, much more comfortable camping chairs, tried not to get stung by easily irritable bees while working in the watermelon fields, and I made an effort to work properly on my tractor to avoid being fired prematurely. On our last weekend, we met again with a South African couple we had met while camping a few weeks earlier for dinner and drinks.

On Thursday, March 25th, around half past eight in the morning, the time had finally come. We didn't have any melons to harvest in a field. I had made myself comfortable at the edge of the field in the shade (which I wasn't actually allowed to do, as I was always supposed to wait behind the other tractor with the engine running) and waited for something to happen when Isaac, our boss, came. He told me I could go home, as he didn't need me anymore. I confirmed with a smile on my face and made my way home. Clara - at first a little angry, but then happy - she was just as fed up with the farm's operations. She wanted to leave on the same day, so I started packing. She was also done for the day during lunch break, and in the evening, with dusk approaching, we left the farm. We found a small, not entirely legal camping site just before Dwellingup and enjoyed the tranquility that we rarely had on the farm. The next morning, we headed to Lane Poole Reserve south of Dwellingup. We made a delicious breakfast and went hiking. After two-thirds of the trail, we met a young family with whom we had a nice conversation, and when we returned to the car, Clara jumped into the water again to cool off. It was almost dark again when we left the reserve. We spent the night in an Airbnb near Rockingham, owned by a super nice older lady, slept like babies, and set off to the city in the morning. Clara had something very special planned for me. Flyboarding... It didn't work out back then in Geraldton because of the wind, but this time everything looked good. We arrived at the beach, the guy at the water sports station explained a few things to me, and then it started. I had the flyboard (basically a skateboard with jets attached to the bottom) strapped to my feet, a life jacket, and a helmet for safety, and then he towed me out into deeper water with his jet ski. There I was supposed to 'stand' in the water and keep my legs straight and balanced. He accelerated and the jet ski pumped water through its nozzles into a hose that was connected to the nozzles on my board. The first attempts were pretty unsuccessful, but after a few minutes, I got the hang of it and before I knew it, he accelerated and effortlessly pushed me 5-6 meters high, where I circled around the jet ski. After a few smaller crashes and improving control, I then flew in zigzags in front of the jet ski towards a buoy. And that was it, unfortunately. We returned to the beach where Clara was eagerly waiting for me. We had a little breakfast in the park and explored the city a bit, I got a haircut, and then we went to Perth to Karen and Dee's place. In the morning, we were a bit pressed for time, as always when we want to go somewhere. We made it just in time and headed to Fremantle to catch the ferry to Rottnest Island. We parked the car in a paid, fenced parking lot right at the ferry dock and off we went. 40 minutes later, we were on the island and picked up our bicycles from the rental shop. The island isn't big and motorized vehicles are prohibited here except for business traffic. After checking the bikes and adjusting the helmets correctly, we set off for the northern tip of the island. We hiked to a small lookout point where we could observe sea lions and seals. A few seals were sunbathing on the rocks off the coast, and a group of 7-8 animals was playing directly below us in the water, really cute. I then walked back to the bikes while Clara couldn't tear herself away just yet. But her wait was rewarded. Another group of dolphins passed by, having fun in the waves off the coast. We walked along another path to another lookout point and learned about the island's animals and vegetation from the signs along the way. I also got lucky because there was a group of dolphins swimming here too. Snorkeling was next on the agenda, as the island has some reefs and almost tropical waters due to a current that brings warm water down from the equator. We made ourselves comfortable on the beach in the shade of a rock. Masks on and into the water! There wasn't much to see (compared to truly tropical waters), but back on the beach, we were curiously watched by the island's large lizards. One of them was even bold enough to lick me and later climb on top of me. It was already early afternoon, and with Clara's delicious pasta salad that she had prepared in the morning, we enjoyed our meal. Strengthened, we set off for the second half of our island tour. We found another snorkeling spot and later came across old military defenses from World War II. These are scattered all over the island and were built to protect the port of Perth and Fremantle from a feared Japanese invasion. The former barracks of the military engineers and artillery, as well as the mess buildings, are now used as a hostel and youth center for school trips and were our destination for the day. We had booked a room and were lucky that the manager brought us the key to our room, which we were supposed to pick up during the day. With dusk falling, the island came to life. The quokkas, small marsupials that look like giant rats hopping on their hind legs, crawled out of their hiding places and went in search of food. After a short time, they were everywhere, they had no fear of humans. In the morning, we drove to the island's village to get something delicious for breakfast. Then we went to the center of the island, where the last intact fortification with a cannon and everything stood. Due to a technical problem, they didn't have electricity there, so they couldn't do the guided tour in the tunnels under the fortification. But it was free. And in the end, the guide still took us, armed with a flashlight, into part of the tunnel system. It was already afternoon and we didn't have much time left until the ferry departure. With a little detour to snorkel in the north of the island, we returned to the town, returned the bikes, and boarded the ferry. Last time in Perth and then off to the south - that was the plan.

Back on the mainland, we walked to our car. I had a strange feeling that I can't describe exactly, but when I saw our car, I didn't give it any further thought. I wanted to unlock the passenger door and wondered why it didn't work when Clara asked me what I had done with the fridge. Surprised, I looked at the back seat and immediately realized that there was no fridge there. The strange feeling turned into certainty. I wasn't even surprised, just worried about what else was missing. Fortunately, the lock on the driver's side still worked and we looked around and discovered that the laptop and the monitor for the rearview camera were also gone. I tried to calm Clara down a bit and called the police. I would have liked a little more interest from the officer, but she took the report and told me we could go home now. It was no longer in our hands.

We started the car, which fortunately still seemed to have all the important parts, and made our way to the Airbnb that I had booked weeks ago. We felt comfortable in the small separate cottage behind the main house, with a nice view of the lovingly landscaped garden. We had bought some groceries for cooking and breakfast, it didn't make sense to buy too many perishable items since we didn't have a fridge for the time being. The next day, we met up with Dee and Karen for an 'Escape Room Game', where the goal was to solve several puzzles within an hour. Clues were hidden everywhere in the room, and in case you were stuck for a while, you could ask the staff for an extra hint. We did pretty well, each of us had good individual approaches. We asked for help once, and after 47 minutes, we completed our challenge. Afterwards, we went to a karaoke bar where we met some friends of Karen and Dee, and Matze sang an impressive version of 'Barbie Girl' into the microphone, and for the first time in a long time, I felt stage fright. After enjoying ourselves on the dance floor to slow songs, we made our way to Karen and Dee's house. The farewell from Perth the next morning felt very strange, but we were also excited for new adventures. We stayed overnight at a campsite in Busselton, it was already quite crowded as the Easter holidays were approaching. Our next destination was our new 'family'. Not far away, on the way to the house, the forest became increasingly green and dense. Here, every resident had their own piece of paradise in the midst of nature, and Belinda's family even had a small man-made swimming pond with a sun deck. The highlight for me personally was the garden with its numerous exotic fruits such as tamarillos, strawberry guavas, and passion fruits. After a brief introduction and settling into our own cottage with its own bathroom, kitchen, and fireplace, we helped with organizing some things and cleaning. In the evening, we all sat at the table together and prayed before eating, an activity that I only knew from a period of my childhood, but I gladly participated. We felt comfortable in the presence of Belinda and Steve, their children Candy and Rachel, and toddler Naomi greeted us without hesitation. It often happened during dinner together that we noticed interesting words or peculiarities of each other's nationality, such as Australians using their index finger to represent the number one, then adding the middle finger for two, and the ring finger for three, with the thumb joining last. Dear ones, when you read this, could you please try it out and let us know how you do it? Personally, we start with the thumb and then add the other fingers, but for four, we fold the thumb. We're curious about your results!

While I worked a lot in the garden, Matze mostly helped Steve with his projects, such as cementing and repairing a pizza oven, the inflow of the swimming pond, building a small bridge and pillars for spanning the deck with a sunshade. I could hardly tear myself away from work, I enjoyed it so much and felt valued and useful, quite different from the melon farm. In our free time, we visited some breweries and wineries located in idyllic surroundings. One of our favorites is definitely the 'Cheeky Monkey' where Matze even got to meet the brewer briefly. The beaches here are not as wide and sandy as in Perth, there are cliffs and sandstone overhangs, remnants of a time when this part of Australia collided with Greater India. It's a strange thought when you look at the world map today. These geological events are also the reason why the Margaret River region has some very impressive limestone caves. It's good that we also go hiking in our free time and that the work can be quite physical because Belinda's house is overflowing with food. A large part of it comes from their own garden, and there's always pastry from the bakery in Dunsborough, where Belinda goes to collect the 'leftovers' at closing time that would otherwise end up in the trash, which is dumped into a hole in the ground. Unfortunately, this is quite common in Australia, the recycling system is in need of improvement, and organic waste is hardly separated anywhere. Belinda is very careful about waste separation, most people would probably find it excessive, but I really appreciate her concern for the planet. Coffee grounds, cotton clothing, and paper go into one of the worm farms in the garden, thin plastic bags and packaging, as well as cling film, are taken to supermarkets. I didn't even know there was a collection point for that, I've never met anyone who does it. Margaret River is very popular among surfers, there is even a bay called 'Surfers Point', the waves are quite far out, and the reef, which is fairly close to the surface, can cause serious injuries if you fall in an unfortunate way. Therefore, most of the people who try here already have some experience, and it's fun to watch them surf. Not far from there is a spot where some stones in the water form natural pools where children and those who are not so adrenaline enthusiasts can cool off. The section that follows impresses with waves that crash almost directly onto the beach, the power of the waves is very strong, and I watch with fascination and palpitations as two boys bravely catch the waves that form a tunnel when they tip over, rushing through it without being thrown onto the sand like most others, including me. After a few particularly rough waves, I decide to take a swim in a river arm that was calm and peaceful and separated from the sea by a sandbank. I didn't feel like breaking anything again ^^ Almost everyone in Belinda's family is a fan of surfing, two of the girls do ballet, and their two eldest sons have already moved out. Since 2013, they have had backpackers staying with them, some have lived with them several times, which I can understand. Belinda is delighted by how precisely I complete her tasks and how lovingly I care for her plants. She also wants to organize a plant sale in the future, so I also help with repotting and sowing. I also like the fact that I don't have to cook after my time on the farm, where I did it every day. I think I've never eaten as much fruit and vegetables in my life as at Belinda's. Matze suggested making cider given the abundance of apples, and Belinda and Steve loved the idea. He explained his approach to them, and although he wasn't entirely convinced of this choice, it also worked with Belinda's baking yeast instead of proper cider yeast. In the end, we ended up with 6 liters of cider. When we said goodbye to Perth on April 22nd for 1 week, I already felt a sense of separation because while it was time to move on, it was difficult for me. I had settled in well with Belinda and her family, and I would also miss their cat Coco when I sat on the sofa in the evenings. On the other hand, the farewell from cat hair and house dust won't hurt Matze's health, but he has also grown fond of this place.