Gold Coast & Helpx Experience

As mentioned in the previous post, we flew to the Gold Coast and booked an Airbnb accommodation there for 4 nights. Our hosts Trevor & Dianne had a beautiful house in Clear Island Waters right by the water. They welcomed us so warmly and we immediately felt at home. We ate together, went shopping together, and had conversations about everything under the sun. They were the best Airbnb hosts you could imagine and we immediately decided to come back and stay there again for a few more days.

One afternoon, we went to the beach and the Oasis Shopping Center by bus. Right around the corner from our accommodation, there was a nice little cafe called Goji Bar, and Jenny just had to try an Acai Bowl (granola with fresh fruit, coconut soft ice cream, M&M's, and raspberry sauce). Delicious 😋!!! Other than that, we spent most of our time at or in the pool of the accommodation.

On December 20th, we continued to our first Helpx accommodation. On the website: www.helpx.com, you can find various offers worldwide to help out in households and gardens for a few hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation. We deliberately chose this option to save some money and to get more in touch with locals. It's hard to put into words how much we regretted this decision and what we experienced during that time. However, we will try to give you a small insight into the events of the last few days. On Wednesday evening, we were picked up by our Helpx host Deborah (61 years old) and her dog Yhe-She at the bus stop of The Pines Shopping Center. At that time, it was planned that we would stay for an estimated 2-3 weeks.

Up until then, we knew from the Helpx ad and SMS messages from her that she lived with her dog in a very large house, and we were supposed to work 4 hours, 5 days a week in exchange for food and accommodation. Additionally, she would be leaving the house from December 23rd to 27th to spend Christmas with her family, and we were supposed to take care of the dog during that time.

What awaited us:

- a dirty, huge house in Elanora with a view of the Gold Coast. The house was actually beautiful, but it just needed a lot more care.

- two other roommates (Oceana & Grant) and an employee of Deborah (the host works from home), as well as a cat locked in the 2nd bathroom

- a lazy host who probably has never cleaned anything in her own house and can't really cook (except for her dog). We were supposed to cook for her daily, and on the first day, she served us frozen lasagna from Aldi. She constantly monitored us everywhere in the house. Additionally, she wanted us to accompany her on every dog walk to learn how to walk the dog (we already had/have several dogs ourselves). The dog doesn't go out in the rain or on wet ground, and he allegedly goes completely crazy during thunderstorms, etc. An exhausting process. We were supposed to write a shopping list for the next few days (when she wouldn't be there) for the supermarket. In the supermarket, she filled the shopping cart with things she thought we might need, but it wasn't fast enough for her. She also always called us "come kids" when she wanted to leave. We are 26 & 30 years old...! In general, she was a woman with two faces. Exaggerated, falsely friendly at times, and then a fury at other times. Jenny got really angry with her on the 2nd evening, accusing us of not doing our job right (it was about walking the dog...) and let out some steam for 10 minutes. After that, it was clear that we wouldn't stay longer than a week here.

What's the deal with the cat in the bathroom? One of the roommates (Oceana) brought the cat when she moved in. However, since the other roommate (Grant) has an allergic reaction to cat hair, the cat was secretly introduced and locked in the bathroom for days. Oceana was an eerie person. She looked like a mix between Cruella de Vil, Gollum, and the evil witch from Snow White. This person had recently moved in as an "emergency case," completely emaciated, supposedly a physiotherapist, and inclined towards esotericism. She would sneak around the house silently like a ghost, and when she wasn't watching therapy videos on YouTube (from about 7 am to 9 pm every day!), she would suddenly appear next to someone in a creepy manner. We figured out on the first day that she was responsible for monitoring us when our host left us alone in the house.

Grant, the other roommate, was said to be a bad person, at least that's what we were told by the two women. We were supposed to stay away from him... Two days later, we happened to start a conversation with him, and that was the best thing that could have happened to us. Grant was just as "normal" as we were and offered to have us come to the restaurant where he works for dinner on Christmas Eve (The Collective, Palm Beach). From that point on, we had an ally in the madhouse. Christmas Eve at the restaurant was really great. We happened to meet a German couple who also came from Thomas' hometown area, and we had a great evening together.

In the end of his shift, Grant took us home and explained that he didn't feel comfortable in the house and therefore hardly left his room. From that point on, we spent the best hours of the week with him. On December 25th, he took us to the beach and let us try stand-up paddleboarding in Currumbin Creek with his board. The following days, we ate together, went to cafes, and were more than happy to leave the house from time to time.

On Wednesday before our departure, Grant offered to drive us to the train station the next day. After deciding at the beginning of our stay to leave this place as soon as possible, we had already booked a hostel in Brisbane for New Year's Eve.

On December 27th, around noon, we were able to hastily leave the house. Grant had already moved out the day before and kindly picked us up in his car. Neither Deborah nor Oceana were home at that time, and it really felt like a prison break. Thanks again to Grant!!!! Without him, it would have been the (so far) worst week of our entire trip, and that definitely had nothing to do with the work we did in the house.