Friday 28.12.
After breakfast, we said goodbye to everyone and drove to Port Macquarie. The beach promenade is really beautiful, as almost all stones there are painted with quotes, stories, and souvenirs.
Port Macquarie In the afternoon, we jumped into the water, which was ice-cold. With the additional wind, it was not particularly pleasant. Therefore, we decided to continue driving and stopped at a parking lot next to a golf course, which was advertised as a free camping area.
Relaxing in the hammock Saturday 29.12.
I woke up before Carina and saw over 100 kangaroos on the golf course. Apparently, they like the grass. Most of them were chased away by the sprinklers.
Many kangaroos in the morning We continued our journey to Nelson Bay. On the way there, Carina was driving and I received a call from Amanda. She informed us that she won't be in Sydney over New Year's, so her apartment is available for us to stay for several days. I was amazed! Wow, such luck for us, a luxury apartment in Sydney, over New Year's, for free!! Can it get any better? Her text messages afterwards blew both of us away, and we screamed in the car. Quote: 'Key at the concierge. Beer in the fridge. Don't forget the pool on the 21st floor. Have fun my sweetheart!' What openness from such a lovely woman, whom I only met once 1.5 years ago in the stadium of FC Liverpool in England. Unbelievable!
So, back to the story. In Nelson Bay, we inquired about a dolphin tour but decided against it. We hiked up Tomaree Mountain and enjoyed a breathtaking view of the landscape below. Naturally, we took some photos.
Port Stephens Head Beautiful view Enjoying the view I bought myself a Christmas present at a 4WD Superstore, a small foldable solar panel. Afterwards, we continued to Avoca Beach because Carina had been messaging with Daniel, the Brazilian guy, and we could stay with them. However, they were still on their way, and there was no campsite there, so we slept in the car on some residential street. I video called my sister, brother-in-law, nephews, and nieces and then went to bed.
Sunday 30.12.
Breakfast in Avoca In the morning, we drove to Daniel's house and were warmly welcomed. Daniel is married and has a little daughter, Luna. Matt, a Frenchman, also lives in the house with his two sons part of the time, as he is divorced. So, English, Portuguese, and French are spoken in the house, what a multicultural house in the middle of Umina, a town on the Central Coast. We went swimming at the beach, drank beer, and had a lot of fun.
We agreed with Daniel that María could park in front of their house over New Year's, which was very convenient for us to avoid the expensive parking lots in Sydney. In the afternoon, we packed our backpacks and took the train for about 1.5 hours to North Sydney, and from there it was only a 15-minute walk to Amanda's apartment. 211 Skye Apartments When we received the key from the concierge, we were amazed when we entered the apartment. JACKPOT, I would say. We also visited the rooftop infinity pool and enjoyed the view. In the evening, we took the ferry to the city, had a cozy dinner, and accidentally ordered 2 burgers, which easily disappeared in my stomach. Harbour Bridge and Opera House Delicious burger We met up with two Brazilians whom Carina knew from Melbourne and went out partying. On the way to the bar, we coincidentally ran into Irina, a friend of Carina's from Wörth near Landshut, whom we wanted to meet on New Year's Day anyway. So, the five of us went to the bar, had a few beers, and had a great evening. On the way back home, we took a taxi because neither of us wanted to walk too far, and we were looking forward to our cozy bed.