Our last days in Bowen

After our last working day on Sunday, we stayed in Bowen for 2 more days. They were both beautiful and a bit annoying. Let's start with the beautiful part: On Monday, as mentioned in the last entry, we went to Rose Bay. It connects to Kings Beach and there we had lunch under a coconut palm tree. It was absolutely beautiful. There was a gentle breeze, the water was blue, we could see mountains on the horizon, and our picnic was delicious :)

Afterwards, we went to Rose Bay to try out our snorkeling gear. Unfortunately, it was a bit windy and the water was not very clear. But we still managed to try it out and saw a few fish. They looked quite ordinary and the only other things we saw were sand, rocks with seashells, and coral growth. So we got out of the water and lay down under the shade of a coconut palm tree again. Andi wanted to meditate (try out a few things from the book) and I wanted to read. But I was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep. Alina, Jaci, Elena, and Ylva then woke us up when they arrived. We wanted to do something together and they first came to the beach to meet us and discuss plans. But it was so cozy there and we were all a bit lazy, so we just stayed there. We played Skipbo together (it's really funny how many people know this game) and chatted. Actually, the 4 of them were already planning to leave Bowen on Monday and move on, but then Alan called them on Sunday evening and asked if they wanted to work at the Cornshed because some people had been fired. They were excited about the money they could earn there and said yes. But after the tour buses were canceled and all plans were changed, Alan called on Monday morning and said they couldn't work after all. Great. At least he realized that it was a pretty stupid move on his part, so the 4 of them could stay one more night in their house for free. Since they were still there, they invited us to spend the night in their backyard. So we parked our car by the house, slept in the car, but used their kitchen and toilet. That way we could have a free night's stay and didn't have to find another campground. We just had to make sure that Alan or anyone else didn't catch us, but since no one else lived in their house and no one had a reason to pass by the house because no one was working anymore, we thought it would work.

Shortly before sunset, we left Rose Bay and drove to a parking lot near the sea, where Elena and Ylva wanted to do a little photo shoot with their campervan against the backdrop of the setting sun. After that, we went shopping quickly and went back to the house. Andi and I then made a delicious pasta with pumpkin sauce because Woolworth had pumpkin on sale for only $1 per kg. But I don't know which type of pumpkin it was. With milk and cheese, it made a tasty sauce. After dinner, we sat together comfortably and eventually went to bed.

The next day, Andi woke me up and said, "Wake up, Alan was just here and went crazy at us. Come upstairs and we'll tell you everything." And still half asleep, I said, "Oh man, seriously?" When I went up to the house, the others told me everything. At around 7am, Andi had to go to the bathroom and just as he was going up the outside stairs, Alan apparently drove by, saw our car (even though it wasn't parked obviously), and lost it. He stormed into the house, ran through it, threw all 4 girls out of bed, and yelled at them what was going on, that someone was in the bathroom, and that only 4 people were allowed to live there, etc. The 4 of them were quite perplexed at first about this monster that woke them up from their sleep and tried to explain that we weren't sleeping in the house and so on, but Alan shot down all attempts at explanation, said that they wouldn't get their $60 deposit for the house key back if Andi and I didn't come to him again and pay the usual overnight price ($60 for 2 people), and then stormed off again. I couldn't believe what this guy was doing. I mean, first of all, everyone was sleeping when he came, secondly, they were all girls and he just burst into their house and rooms, and thirdly, he seriously said, "You don't think!" when Jaci started an explanation with "I think..." So rude. Granted, it was his house and we weren't exactly there legally, but he could have explained it all a bit more calmly. And I also thought it was outrageous that we were supposed to pay the full $60 even though we were sleeping in our own car. The morning was definitely ruined. But the other 4 were really nice and wanted to contribute something in addition to the $60 because they felt partly responsible and the night was free for them anyway. So we divided the $60 by 6 and each pitched in $10. So kind. They gave the money to Alan when they checked out, Andi and I had absolutely no desire to encounter him again. Apparently, it worked out that way and we didn't hear anything more from him.

After the morning excitement, we wanted to do something calm and went to the harbor to take a look around. There was a small visitor center and we asked again about snorkeling. We read on a sign that Murray Bay is also supposed to be very beautiful, and the info lady confirmed it. She also reassured us about jellyfish. So we went to Murray Bay to snorkel again. The way there was quite hidden and then we had to walk a short distance because we had to go around private properties. There was no one at the bay and it was totally idyllic. Due to the current tide, we didn't have to go far into the water to see beautiful stones and some smaller fish. But suddenly my arm started to burn in a weird way, and a little later my foot started to burn too. Then Andi appeared and said he had just seen a jellyfish. We checked again, but didn't see anything. Those creatures are really hard to spot. In any case, a jellyfish would explain the burning sensation and we somehow didn't feel like snorkeling anymore. The jellyfish that touched me was apparently harmless, but who knows if there are more dangerous ones swimming around. So that was the second fail of the day.

After snorkeling, we set off on our way north. We both just wanted to get out of Bowen, somehow we were in a really bad mood because of everything. Pretty stupid. But the drive was nice and after 3 hours we arrived there.

You can read about our experiences in Townsville in the next blog entry. Here's a list of the aftermath and effects of our tomato picking farm work:

1. The pesticides really irritate the skin. You don't notice it at first, but in the second week and even after the work is done, my wrists and lower arms were SO itchy! Those are the areas that come into the most contact with the plants when the long-sleeved shirt rides up or touches the completely dirty shirt. Andi had thousands of tiny bumps on his arms and knees/thighs that were also itchy. Fortunately, I didn't have that. Now Andi's skin is peeling on his wrists and previously on his knees, like after a sunburn. It looks eerie.

2. Even almost a week after we finished working, we still have loads of tomatoes left and we're making a salsa out of them so they don't go bad.

3. I'm a tan-white tan-zebra. Thanks to the shorts and closed shoes, both my feet and the tops of my thighs are white. The rest of my thighs got very tan because the sun always shone on them – until I bought leggings. Now I have a nice border just below my knees, so my lower legs are the tannest part of my legs at the moment. Thanks to the long shirt, I managed to not look too much like a zebra on top. Still, it's a bit annoying and now Andi and I are constantly trying to tan our feet. But it's not so easy :D

4. For the second week of work, we received a net wage of $399, so we became $1160 richer (minus $440 for 2 weeks' hostel = $720) because of the work. Yippee, at least we made a bit of money ;) But you also have to consider that we stayed in a great apartment with our own room and a double bed for two weeks. Others have a quadruple room in a run-down house and still pay $220 per week because everyone pays the same amount. So we actually got pretty lucky :D