Door 18

Sorry guys, this entry is coming with a delay, but I have a good excuse, I (Clara) was in the hospital again... XD but everything is healed again before the wedding.

On October 25th, Sean and Lynette are coming to visit us for the first time. Sean met her on Tinder, she is Indo-Australian but speaks pretty good German, she spent a year on a working holiday in Germany and her ex-boyfriend is German. Conveniently, the two of them are coming with Lynette's car, so they are less dependent on us. Ellie and Josep have been here since the afternoon, we have a few beers and play pool. The two of them sleep on the sofa in the living room, our roommates are very relaxed about it. Unfortunately, we have to get up at 7 am on Saturday, but before that, we (slightly hungover) go to the market in Yandina, which Julie always raves about. We buy some fruits and vegetables, I regret not having enough time to explore the tempting second-hand clothing offer. We finish around 1 pm and meet up with Sean and Lynette. Our landlord James kindly offered that they can sleep in his room, so we all had our privacy ^^ We drive to Coolum to a water park with slides and an inflatable water obstacle course. At first, it feels almost impossible to get through it without any accidents, but the fears fade away and eventually, I dare to try the slides too - after Matze sneakily pushed me down the first one. Later, we go to Noosa National Park, find a somewhat comfortable rock and enjoy the sunset and refreshing beer. For dinner, we have potato wedges and grilled food at our place. Unfortunately, Lynette has to go home the next morning after a delicious pancake breakfast on our terrace to attend her teacher preparation tasks. I enjoy the coolness of our pool and read, in the afternoon I finally go back to yoga. The atmosphere is great and the group is small and intimate. The work week goes by unexpectedly calmly, we finish quite early every day. The temperatures reach new record highs, we sweat and sweat. Josep and Ellie sweeten our daily routine and are always open to spend evenings together, we cook liver (a complete success) at Josep's place and enjoy the hospitality of his landlord. On November 1st, we go to Brisbane again, back to the Airbnb on Kent St where we stayed for the first time on my birthday. Since Friday was a long day at work and we arrived late, we don't have the energy to do anything. On Saturday morning, I go jogging to Southbank and meet Sean and Lynette there for open-air yoga. After that, Matze and I take a walk through Brisbane's street art district and enjoy the cloudy sky. Later in the afternoon, we meet up with Sean at a brewery, cook and play games. Before leaving, we cool off in the newly discovered public pool in Southbank. The next week is Josep's farewell and it is difficult for both of us and also for our colleagues, especially Ellie. On one last shared evening at her place, she cooks delicious pasta with tomatoes from work and mixes espresso martinis. At night, we go for a naked swim in the sea, just a 5-minute walk away. One afternoon, after being sent home from work quite early (the massive bushfires are affecting the purchasing power and blocking some roads, so there aren't many orders), we hike up Mount Cooroy. The mountain is basically right in front of our doorstep, but the steep ascent is not child's play, especially the rocky terrain during the descent (typical for us in the late twilight) is tricky. But we master it and from the summit, we admire another sunset that passes by too quickly. The sky looks deep orange due to the fires and firefighting helicopters fly by repeatedly. In our second-to-last week in the shared apartment, we get 2 new roommates, one of them four-legged, big, hairy, and black. Brigitte and her Rottweiler Beast are very pleasant and sociable companions, although I rarely have the pool to myself since then, but that's okay, you gladly share it with such a lovely creature.