On the coast

The day today was the 2nd of February, and we were still a bit tired from our Blue Mountains adventure. So it was going to be a quiet day! After breakfast, we headed to a service station with a shower where we could freshen up. Then we drove an hour to Wollongong, a coastal town south of Sydney, where we originally planned to go to the library. Unfortunately, there were free parking spaces only in a car park with a height restriction of 2m, which was too low for our car. So we just had a quick lunch of noodles, did some shopping at Woolies, and then drove to a library in the suburb of Warrawong, where we could park for free outside. According to the locals we met in Sydney, Wollongong is known for its beautiful beaches, and we could have had a nice day at the beach. But unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and it was a bit too cold for us.

In the library, we spent 2 hours sorting out our blog and pictures, and at 5:00 pm, we headed over to the cinema. It was located in a building opposite the library, so we didn't even have to drive there. The movie we watched was "Moana", known as "Vaiana" in the German version. It was such a beautiful film, and I highly recommend it! I still listen to the soundtrack of the film and often get earworms from it :D By the way, the cinema was cool because it was like a luxury cinema. Each seat was a wide, comfortable chair, and you could raise the footrest so that you were lying in front of the screen. And all for the regular price of around 12$ with a student discount. In Germany, you would already pay 25 euros for something like that!

At 7:00 pm, the movie was over, and we drove to a rest area where we spiced up our dinner of leftover wraps with newly bought chicken. We also had a round of instant noodles that we received as a gift a few weeks ago from a church lady at another rest area. After blogging a bit and talking to our parents on the phone, we went to bed.

The next morning, we set our alarm for 8:00 am, and during breakfast, I made a phone call (Andi did it yesterday), and Andi did some push-ups. A little workout in between is also important, and Andi has decided to do a little something every day to not neglect his body.

When we were finished, we drove to Kiama, a small coastal town known for its lighthouse and blowhole. The lighthouse was nothing special, and unfortunately, today was also a nice day with little wind, so there were no big waves causing the blowhole to spray water. Sometimes you just need some wind!

After a quick visit to the visitor centre, we went back to the library and used the fast wifi there. At 5:30 pm, we drove back to the rest area, or rather to the rest area on the other side of the road this time, because now we were coming from the south, and the rest area where we spent the night before was only accessible from the north. It is called a North Bound Rest Area, while the one we were at now was a South Bound Rest Area. We quite liked the surroundings because there was a nice view of hills and fields, and before we made dinner, we played a few rounds of swimming. For dinner, we came up with something new again and made a stew with lentils, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, garlic, and diced tomatoes. It tasted surprisingly delicious, even though Andi jokingly complained about the meatless and vegan dish beforehand. He's just a man and needs his meat ;)

The night at the rest area was quite good, even though we had a visit from a huge spider at one point, and we saw its underside from inside the car window. I was a little scared to get out for a toilet break after that!

The next morning, right after breakfast, we drove to the Kiama Library and arrived there at exactly 9:30 am when it opened. I had to work on the blog again because yesterday I had uploaded 80 pictures, and the draft with all the pictures suddenly disappeared. It was sooo annoying! Especially because this is not the first time that something went wrong on this platform. But now I have uploaded so many entries here that it's not worth switching anymore.

For lunch, we went to the Little Blowhole in Kiama, and this hole in the rock was a lot more spectacular than the big one we visited the day before. A few waves came in just right, and we witnessed 2 or 3 pretty big eruptions. It looked really cool!

In the afternoon, we headed to Jervis Bay, stopping in Nowra at a discount chemist along the way to get some antiallergy tablets and eye drops. The doctor from Sydney called me and said that the bacterial test was negative, so there were no bacteria that the eye drops he prescribed would work on. On the one hand, it's good news, but on the other hand, we still don't know why my eyes are constantly red. I'm really tired of not being able to wear contact lenses anymore! So now I'm trying the allergy stuff and hoping it will improve. The doctor didn't have any other ideas.

I'll tell you about what we experienced around the beautiful Jervis Bay in the next entry :)