Soaring, flying - Newcastle, Bogey Hole, Coastal and Memorial Walk / 20.12. - 22.12.2018

Today we arrived in Newcastle at around 5am, and since we were right by a small cove at the bus stop, we decided to wait there until the sun rises, because we probably wouldn't be able to check in until around 12pm anyway.
Unfortunately, we couldn't see the sunrise because it was cloudy, but we listened to some calm songs while expressing some of our deep thoughts.
Once it became bright, we slowly made our way to the YHA Beachhostel and arrived there after a few minutes. The door was locked, which panicked us a bit, but luckily someone was already sitting outside and having breakfast at 6:30am and could tell us the entrance code. Inside, everything was pretty old, but in a good way, and beautifully decorated - together, it created a really great atmosphere. While waiting for the reception to finally open, we rested a bit on the really comfortable leather sofas and then, after a delicious breakfast, took the free bus into the city to do some shopping for the next few days.
Once we finally got to our rooms, we rested until evening because the bus ride had really worn us out, and then there was a free barbecue that we definitely couldn't miss.
That's where we also met some cool people, including 2 girls from our room named Caro and Chanti, a guy, and another girl.
Afterwards, we played some card games with them, and during our game, 2 funny Irish guys joined us, and together, we had some slightly escalating game sessions. We sat in the common area for at least 2 hours, and in the end, we were so tired that we fell asleep immediately.

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The next day, Chanti, Linni, and I borrowed surfboards from the hostel to test our surfing skills again at this beach, even though it was still really cold in the morning. However, the boards were too short and light for us beginners, and the waves were also going in all directions, so it turned out to be a short pastime, and we soon gave up.
After getting rid of all the saltwater and algae, we set off to the Bogey Hole, which is a naturally built saltwater pool in the rocks right next to the sea, which can be reached by stairs and offers a mega beautiful view from above. Especially with the wind today, the waves splashed against the walls, and we were all alone, which made it even more beautiful.
However, we didn't go swimming because we wanted to walk the Coastal Walk afterwards, so we would visit the Bogey Hole again tomorrow.
The coastal path initially went up a staircase, but we were rewarded with many great views, and it wasn't that long. At some point, we passed a cute wooden book box, which even had two parts of the Hunger Games series, so I took the first one with me on the way back because I wanted to read a real book again.
The Coastal Walk then turned into the Memorial Walk after a few kilometers, which is intended to commemorate World War 1 and even included a short soldier's memorial on the left and right.
After that, we walked back to the hostel, and we were a bit surprised when we entered our room because a girl from our Whitsunday tour had moved in today, which was quite a while ago. We talked to her for a while until we went down to the kitchen to cook dinner. Today, we had pasta, and while eating, we met a really cool solo traveler with a lot of wise life advice.

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On December 22nd, we made ourselves a really delicious fruit yogurt for breakfast because we finally wanted to win the battle against Jule and Michi. For that, we cut up apples, bananas, kiwis, and peaches, and added some berries, and we even had some cookies as the finishing touch. We also made ourselves some tea, and we went upstairs to the terrace to eat.

Then we went to the library here, as there are computers that you can use freely. There, I had to print out some documents regarding my upcoming flights to Alice Springs and Adelaide, and Linni created her resume for job hunting.
We also went to the Bogey Hole as planned, even though the weather was even stormier today. After taking some photos, we also went swimming this time, although I was initially a bit skeptical. But it was mega cool in the pool, and the water wasn't deep either. You could relax and float on the surface and let yourself drift (almost like flying) because of all the salt, and the big waves were a pleasant back massage. At some point, there was a light rain shower, but you couldn't tell whether it was seawater or rainwater. Some strange guys jumped from the rocks into the pool, which we found pretty stupid, but at least they didn't die.

But soon we went back again because we had to go to sleep early since our bus would leave for Sydney at 4:50 the next day - our last stop before we part ways and, in general, the last stop included in our bus pass.

Song of the day(s): "Nothing I've Ever Known" from the Spirit soundtrack because I recently dug up the song and we listened to it at 5:30am after the early bus ride, when it was slowly getting brighter, and I somehow felt the lyrics. Also, Spirit reminds me of home.