Once in a pink moon

I'm black as the night with a little bit of moonlight
shining from my center within

Good morning in Europe and Good evening in Australia, it's Friday and I'm back on the Sunny Coast, back from the Bluesfest and my first little roadtrip wth Laurie the car, back to work and choc chai blog fridays.

On April 15, there was a total lunar eclipse and in Dom's backyard, Chrissie, Dom and me stood marveling at the shadow of our earth passed slowly over the lightly pink coloured moon. It was actually the first time I ever saw a Blood Moon, although it's not so very rare. It was really beautiful and felt somehow special.
But maybe I just felt special because

Only once in a pink moon
I pack up all my things into my car and drive to Byron Bay for the Bluesfest
Where I am going to work and gain experience, where I am going to discover sooo many new awesome musicians, where I am hopefully going to meet shitloads of friendly fellow festival fans... and last but not least where I am going to see John Mayer and Passenger, Jake Bugg and Jack Johnson and John Butler with his band when they perform these much-loved music...

Of course I was in the bestest mood ever, flying down the Bruce Highway with John Mayer blasting from Laurie's speakers and a big BLUES taped across his rearwindow, all-german festival traditon. Of course fellow Bluesfest people honked at me!



Although I hate city driving, especially in Brisbane with all the toll tunnels and bidges, I made my way into the very heart of the City to pick up Steve from England - Steve, who saw my ad for car pooling to Bluesfest. Of course I was constantly lost, as always, this seems to be unavoidable for still smartphone resistants. With Dom's good old road atlas on my lap, it was proved that the old-fashioned ways still work -  oh wonderful, I made it in AND out of Brisbane without having to pay one toll fee.

Remarkable: There are about 700 volunteers at Bluesfest, and Steve and me, who randomly ended up driving there together, happen to be in the same working group - a group of 5 people among 700. Coincidence?!

Because we had time and it was hot, we turned off the highway at some random exit and, getting lost, found a beautiful spot for a swim called Tweed Heads. Oh that's Australia, seemingly you can just turn off ANYWHERE and you will discover a pretty or special spot!

Soon we were in Byron Bay, the home of the Bluesfest, I dropped off Steve and arrived at Nigel's and Lisa's pretty pretty house - here at night under a star-spangled sky with a slowly rising almost-full-moon -- too bad my camera is so bad

Nigel and Lisa are friends of Iain, and I got to know them last Valentines Day, when we all were invited to their re-wedding. Luckily for me, they live just 5 minutes away from where the Bluesfest is held, and so I could avoid buying a camping ticket and just park Laurie in their frontyard. :)))

On this first evening I also learned a very good game: three things

What did you enjoy today?
What did you learn today?
What were you good at toaday?

What a good way to look back on each day and share the good and funny stories with friends. I will try to play this game with myself every day before I shut my eyes, and in the chocchaiblogposts  I will do it as well, a very personal little look in my rearview, to share with you guys, whoever is reading it.
Thank you Nigel and Lisa!
(I don't have a photo of them :( )

But THEN... the next morning it was time for the Bluesfestaahh!

I signed on for my first shift of work in the tent that was reserved for the artist's catering. For my free access to the full five days of the festival, I would have to do five shifts of kitchenwork there, five hours long, one each day. The work itself was more fun than hard work (well if you compare it to frickin strawberry frickin planting...)

.... we did a lot of chopping and cutting vegies and washing dishes ("That's a Jack Johnson song!!") and other kitchenstuff like that..

... the chefs and other people in the kitchen were truly great guys to work for, friendly and funny, giving me that it is a quite amazing thing to prepare dips for John Mayer and chop Melons for Jack Johnson... and later polish the forks and plates thet might have used... :D :D

... my fellow volunteers were also quite enjoyable company...

... the food itself of course was adorable. These CAKES... hmmmyum...

... AND after all, working in a kitchen, you never walk away hungry... we could always have a bite of all those good things we prepared, well actually there were always so many leftovers...

And THE MUUUUUSIC.....
I saw some artists playing who I have been listening to for a long while, they were already part of my thoughts and feelings, part of the soundtrack to my life, and seeing them live, playing all of my favourite songs... *SOHAPPY*

But I also discovered music that I hadn't heard, talents that I hadn't known, and I'm so blown away by them that I definitely want to share their music with you! For those of you who are interested, I will dedicate an own post to them... sharethemusic!

During the day it was all nice and warm and sunny, best festival weather, but after sunset it got so cooooold... jumper and warm socks, please! Still I'm just not used to such chilly nights anymore, all too quick I got used to the mild Sunny Coast climate... so of course I caught a nice cold.

After the whole Bluesfest buzz was all over and after I had a nice little 12 hour sleep, the headache was kind of gone and I felt like I could go out and move on. I said Farewell to Lisa's and Nigel's warmly welcoming home and to all its very special and wonderful inhabitants, and left with a feeling that is so familiar ... being so full of gratitude and not knowing how to express it, having such a very strong urge to give something back for all the good things people do for me, but I just don't know how... what can I offer except for a smile, a hug, a bunch of thankfulness and the promise to return the favour if there will ever be a occasion coming up?
What would you do? I feel like a big big exclamationmark! "I can bake cheese crackers!" :D :D

_________________________________________________________


On the way to Lismore, where I wanted to catch up with the Sacred Seven, my Taiwanese strawberry planting friends, I discovered the "Open Air Cathedral"

and I must say I absolutely loved the idea and how the whole thing was put into reality! Isn't that just so cool and "right"??

If I'd marry somewhere, I'd marry in Mother Nature's great architect work, in the world's highest majestic cathedral under the open sky

The night with my friends and their new friends from Lismore was pretty fun, interesting and inspiring... all evening long we listened to a true Aussie with the strongest true Aussie accent, who told us thrilling stories about the life in the opal miner's towns far out west, in an isolation that people from densely populated Taiwan and Germany probably can't really imagine.... wanna goo there....

Next day: Nimbin again! I had been there in December with my lovely Strombear companions, but only for one day, and it was on the way home, so why not give it another look. The landscape around Nimbin is doubtless just utterly beautiful! What fun to cruise along the bumpy country roads, between lush green fields with cows, among the gumtrees... it's the north eastern New South Wales Hippie Hobbit Shire.

Nimbin itself... very special indeed, interesting and charming, but too touristy for me really. After half an hour of stolling around and not finding anything that would give me a moment I'd remember, I left. Maybe I just don't get the Nimbin-message, or maybe I just had had enough of shops and consumption and big crowds of people.

Walking around the Nimbin museum, I kept thinking you much you, JASMIN, would love this place...sooo much :D :D

I made my way back north not along the coast, but took a detour inland to drive through the Border Ranges National Park - on the border between NSW and Qld of course...

Well what to say, look at the pictures - This country. Just utterly beautiful.

I drove zig zagging around potholes and over narrow wooden bridges, I swam in a crispy clear river and stopped to let groups of free roaming friendly cows cross the road, I walked along little rainforest paths, among huge Moreton Bay Figs and I felt like Gimli the Dwarf in the elf forest Lothlorien.. "The dwarf breathes so loudly, we could shoot him in the dark" .... :D  
 I lived on apples and rainwater, I sang along to Jack Johnson, I stopped in the somewhere and lay in Laurie the car with my head out of the window, spotting shooting stars.

I love the shit out of Dom, Mau Mau and Buddina, but who wants to return from sucha trip?

...
 OK so what did I enjoy this week?
Are you frckn kidding me, I enjoyed the whole thing so much, and with John Mayer and Passenger and Jack Johnson concert on the list, it's impossible to pick one best moment!
 What did I learn?
I think I learned something about how to chop melons and stuff... :D :D
What was I good at?
Maybe at "finding my way through Brisbane" on the way south.... on the way north I wasn't very good at it anymore!!



I believe in the good things comin' comin' comin' comin'...
You got the keys!
You got the keys
but I never keep my door locked
You can always come right in
And if my arms are full you can bet your sweet ass
I will drop that shit right then
I might be busy (*aha aha ;) )
but I'll always have some time to surrender to your beauty
beauty, beauty....

Better together

Helloeu me mates

See here, I make a bold announcement that will put my self-discipline and self-organizing skills to the test once more: From now on I want to sit down every Friday with a choc chai tea and write a blogpost about what happened during the last week. Choc Blog Chai Friday... *eyebrowwave*

So today's Friday I'm in love and it's one of Dom's very nice days. He usually has nice days everyday, but from time to time he puts in a few very nice ones. So just now he spoiled me with a bowl of his inevitable coconut yoghurt with blueberries and raspberries.

Who is Dom?

Just a dude really.

A surfer and board builder, a guitarist and music fan, regular guest at any music event around the Sunny Coast, a cook, a earth house builder, a do-it-yourself mechanic, a hobby self-doctor,.... The "tall guy rockin'", how Travers described him. Whatever, he is the Aussie bloke who owns the house with the glass mosaics in Buddina, where I am living now.

I actually live in Laurie the car, but he is parked in Dom's driveway and I come inside to use all the pleasures of a solid house with power, water and obviously internet...  Quite a good thing to have such a base station when you're sticking around a place for a longer time. 

What I will do, because I have three jobs by now: selling food in the Shopping Center foodcourt, cleaning a hotel and working on a strawberry farm. I'm so happy to have this work! I will keep doing it until I feel rich enough and until the "normal" life of a working society member starts to be boring again.

For now, I love it. After almost one year of holiday and being a vagabond more or less bumming around, the ultimate freedom started to taste a bit less sweet. How great is it now for a change to come home from a long day of work, tired, aching and exhausted, but fulfilled, satisfied and crashing into bed with the feeling that you really ACHIEVED something today. Instead of going and going, the money comes, giving me an approving pat on the back. I can go and buy nice food and fuel and new car stereos without having to worry about every Dollar I spend.

Apart from the work, I have a my sweet little huge car to paint, 

dishes to wash, Bluesfest artists to hype, a guitar to play, a cat to cuddle and feed & books to read & friends to meet - so that's basically what I do all the time oh my god...

Keepin' meself busy!

It's just too good to come to a "home" after work and to find there one weird Aussie, and another goofy Aussie, and one hoggish Aussie cat, to give me hugs and talk to me.

... I tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together ..

The strawberry planting brothers and sisters

But it's all planted now

...the last hard days of strawberry planting...

What you people out there think we do - happily helping baby plants to grow

What our boss thinks we do - slowly slow lazy planting

 What we think we do - running along the rows planting and planting fast as maniacs



What we actually do - bending down all day until our backs are paining, we move like grandpas and grandmas and feel like we are almost dead.

Best planting partner for sure: Sue!

My favourite Taiwanese people!

Some are missing though

planting tool fight

Aehm, just now I don't know what to say anymore and I'm tired, so good night :)

Oh next Chai Friday I won't write because I will be at the BLLUUUEESSSSFEEESSSSTTT jiijaahaa!!!! :3 :3 :3

I really just don't stop being so freaking lucky, do I? :)))

My favourite game, my favourite falcon

Hey kids, let's play "strawberry planting"!

It's easy, everyone grabs a planting tool, you get together in teams of two or three and you get little tags with your teamnumber on it. When you hear the starting gun, you seize a bag full of baby strawberry plants, and run along the rows planting one cute baby plant in each hole in the plastic, as fast as you can! Whenever you finish a bag, run across the field to your supervisor and give him a tag!

The ones who emptied the most bags at the end of the day get the biggest money!

Rules:

Who is too slow or doesn't plant properly gets disqualified

No complaining about being covered in mud, that's part of the game

No complaining about water sprinklers raining on you

No moaning about back ache or future postural deformities

human upright walk gets trampled under foot, end of discussion.

Have fun!

May I introduce: Laurie the peregrine falcon!

Yes I know, he's not exactly the romantic hippie campervan that we all pictured myself in ...

This dream will stay alive in shape of VW bus cheese crackers, but reality held no van, but only a car for me.
Why not? That'll do! "I'm gonna make it mine"!

And he's gettin' painted annieway!

Some of my favourite Taiwanese people!

  In Montville, in a "German shop"

( - this is how Aussies see Germany?! - )

A photo of the magic waterhole near Kondalilla Falls in Rose-Cousins-Style

charming chef Blair!

For my Anna Blume

who left me to chase her own luck up north

You will always have the most special place in my heart, my farting flower!

<3

from your pupsing pony with love