Day 16 - Work and Life in Cooroy

Cooroy, our new home, is a small town, or rather a village, 2 hours north of Brisbane. Our apartment was located at the southern end on Crystal Street (you can also click on 'Map' at the top for an overview). The place had a supermarket, various second-hand shops, workshops, a library, a brewery, and even a German bakery, all within walking distance, so perfect for us. We really liked the shared living this time. The roommates, Julie from France, Vie from New Caledonia, and Natascha and her cousin Lukas from Serbia, were super nice and the house was awesome. The workplace was a 15-minute drive away in North Arm and easy to reach via the highway. Clara felt comfortable working with the other women on the assembly line, so I let her take the job (unfortunately, there was only one spot available) and went back to picking. After all, it was better than strawberries. I also joined the assembly line at least 2 days a week (due to many orders), and on Wednesdays, Clara was in the greenhouse as there was free packaging there. Our work usually started at 6:30 am and ended around 3 pm. So we had plenty of time in the afternoons and on weekends to do things. The area is quite hilly, so there are many small waterfalls that we visited one by one. Unfortunately, Australia is currently experiencing the worst drought in a long time, so many of the falls didn't have much water. However, the nature and hikes were still beautiful. And then there was the ocean, which was only a half-hour drive away. Thursdays were movie nights with Bianca's friends, and approximately every other weekend, we drove to Brisbane. When Natascha and her cousin, two of our roommates, moved into their own house after about two weeks, that's when the real luxury began. We moved out of James' room and into their old room, the former garage. It was just under 20m^2 and had a bathroom right next to it, which we had to ourselves. The room even had its own balcony door leading to the front terrace where our car was parked. While the two were moving out, we were in Brisbane, going out to celebrate after all the work and going hiking with Sean again. This time, our destination was the 'Cedar Creek Falls' south of Brisbane. Beautiful, with several large pools for swimming and even falling water, despite the drought. On Friday, October 4th, Sean came to visit us in Cooroy. There is a train connection, and it takes about 2 hours from Brisbane, so he could easily finish work and come to us. I picked him up shortly after 8 am at the train station, and he was amazed by our apartment. He was totally impressed by how big and great it was, considering how little we paid for it. On Saturday morning, we met up with Elli, our colleague, for outdoor yoga, and afterwards, we showed Sean Coolum Beach. After a delicious breakfast, we lost track of the girls and went to the beach where they were supposed to wait for us, but we couldn't find them. When they didn't respond to our messages either, we decided to make ourselves comfortable and have a beer. Eventually, Clara contacted us and told us where we could pick them up. So we did, and we drove to the 'Gheerulla Falls', northwest of Mapleton. There wasn't much water falling there either, but when we climbed up the rocks, we had a breathtaking view of the forest and the rock formations of cooled lava flowing down the mountain, with many smaller and larger pools of water. In preparation for Fraser Island, I had long wanted to experience driving on sand. However, for most areas on the east coast, you need a permit for this, except for Rainbow Beach. Sunday was the perfect opportunity. We set off in the morning and reached Rainbow Beach after about 2 hours and a stop at a flea market in Gympie. We put the car in 4-wheel-drive mode with all differentials locked, lowered the tire pressure to about 1.3 bar, and off we went. It was a really funny feeling as the car swayed back and forth in the tracks of other cars, but we made good progress. We stopped at a sand dune, climbed up, and slid down with our bodyboard; so much fun. Then a quick dip in the water and it was time to head back home. Sean had to catch his train. I took him to the station, and the week of my birthday began...