From Gold Coast to workplace

The Gold Coast was really nice, fine sand, blue sea, but no shade. We visited Miami Beach, which offers a great view of the CBD or downtown. The remaining two days we spent at the pool, in the cinema and at the shopping center, so we were very typical tourists. I bought a towel poncho. Super practical!
On the campsite, we had neighbors from Amsterdam one day, the Dutch accent in English is so funny, the two retirees were doing a similar trip to ours and also stopped in Ballarat and on the Great Ocean Road, etc.

After thoroughly enjoying ourselves at the Gold Coast, we drove as far as we could the next day and reached Warialda as an intermediate destination. Originally, we planned to go to Moree to admire the surroundings and cotton fields. But 42°C ruined our plans, as an Englishman in the parking lot reported. Instead, we drove to Inverell - the 'Sapphire City'. Here, there are many opportunities to search for sapphires, and the chance of finding small stones is not too low.

Similar to Ballarat, the residents turned it into a hobby. We decided to go to the transport museum, which exhibits very old cars owned by the locals.

Tom was very enthusiastic about old Bentleys and Rolls Royces. There was also a doll exhibition in the exhibition hall - very creepy mostly!

Afterwards, we drove towards Mount Kaputar, which we had heard good things about. We stayed - or at least tried to - behind a gas station in Narrabri, where we were allowed to use the shower for free. We had chosen a spot at the edge of the forest, but it was incredibly hot! We could only fall asleep around 2 am and were constantly woken up and harassed by mosquitoes - mozzies. We eventually woke up at 7:30 am as it was already about 35 degrees.
Instead of hiking, we went to the swimming pool in Gunnedah, where we met two Australians who had worked as teachers for refugees in Egypt in recent years. The two invited us to stay overnight and made us a great dinner. So, for once, we had a real bed and a fan in the room!

The next day, we drove to Hunter Valley, where we wanted to visit the Hunter Valley Gardens, which are highly recommended on the internet. We stayed at a campground in Cessnock and planned to go to the gardens in the evening, as there is a special Christmas lights display 🎄🎆 However, rain and storms were forecasted, so we were not sure if it would open and postponed it to the next day. Since we even had a freezer in the camping ground - a rare luxury - we made fish fingers for dinner, a nice change from pasta and fried rice.

The next morning was exciting. After breakfast at around 10:30 am, Tom couldn't find the e-reader anymore. We searched the entire car twice, unpacked and packed everything again, looked in the kitchen, in the toilet, but the reader was nowhere to be found. We even wrote notes with a 'missing' poster. A bit frustrated, we lay down by the pool and started looking on the internet for what was available on eBay.
Later, I was sitting in front of the car when a couple passed by and greeted me. Then the man looked at me oddly and asked, 'Germany?' - We met Germans again, who also come from Torgau. The Saxons have found each other again :D
After Tom and I jumped around on a kind of trampoline/jumping pillow for a while, we talked a little more with the couple.

Suddenly, Tom said he knew where the tablet was. He saw it on the car roof. After having searched everything, we hadn't even looked at the roof. That's not necessarily at eye level for me, but really. Sometimes we can be a little 'clumsy'.
That evening, we finally went to the Hunter Valley Gardens, and again, it was uncertain if it would open as it kept raining. Finally, they opened half an hour late. The waiting time was sweetened by a greeter who sang for us - very high-pitched, it almost shattered glass. The gardens were beautifully lit, with different themed sections such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Advent Calendar, Candyland, and so on. Unfortunately, not all the lights were on, and we don't know why exactly. That was really a shame, considering that the entrance fee was $28, which is not exactly cheap.

During our time at the campground, we received a temporary rejection for the flower farm, which we considered a relatively secure workplace. So, we searched the internet for other jobs. We applied as babysitters and farm workers. It is relatively difficult to find a babysitting job for two people, but we found one. However, only $150 per person would have been earned as pocket money, even though food and accommodation were included, so there was not much opportunity to save enough money for South America.

Therefore, we continued with our travel plan and went to Newcastle, which is only 35 km away from Cessnock. Shortly after arriving, we received the rejection for the nanny job, as we would only be satisfied with $450 for the both of us per week (the ad stated $300 - we thought it was per person). It is understandable that with 6 children, this would not be affordable, so another couple was given preference.
Therefore, we confirmed our acceptance of the blueberry farm, which had already sent us an offer. Since spending Christmas with an Australian family would also be interesting, we wanted to wait to make the decision.

We will start at the blueberry farm on Friday, which is why we only briefly visited the harbor in Newcastle and then headed towards Tabulam - basically the way we came a few days ago, back north.

So, we are excited to see how the blueberry picking will go.

Next stop: Tabulam