Paddling into the Black Mirror World

Hello friends of life and good times!

I'm apologizing for the delayed blog post, but as a compensation I have some good pictures from our

40 km canoe trip on the Upper Noosa River :)

Dom here had been wanting a new canoe for years (his old one got stolen!) and last Tuesday, we looked up second hand canoes on Gumtree (something like ebay), just for fun - and there was one very cheap beautiful canoe for sale, just a few km away from us and in very good condition - and even in my favourite colour red! There was no big fuss about it - we called the seller, and 15 minutes later we were at his place, loading the red canoe on the roof rack of Dom's car.

So fast it goes!

We dubbed the red canoe "Gombar" - that is an aboriginal word from the Gubbi Gubbi tribe - the tribe that is native to the Sunshine Coast area here. With boyish pride Dom painted the name on the bow, together with a watchful eye, to make it look a bit like the canoe in the book about Native Americans/ Indians which we are reading at the moment :D

Of course, once  we had the canoe, there was no stopping us in planning another camping trip - but this time travelling on water instead of on roads, and with our own paddeling arm power instead of a motor!

The destination was soon clear: The Noosa Everglades in the Great Sandy National Park up north, near Noosaville.

The plan: launch the canoe on Lake Cootharaba, paddle across the lake and into the mouth of the Upper Noosa River, and then onwards until we had enough, find a pretty campspot and spend the night there, and paddle back on the next day.

So off we went! The first time I sat in a canoe for me!

The whole area is just sandy and swampy, with lots of melaluca trees, 

paperbark trees, massive smooth and shiny ghost gums, cyprus pines and heaps of reeds. The river flows so slow that one can hardly see the water movement, and it is pitch black and still like a perfect mirror. 

 Can you imagine how beautiful and peaceful it is? I stared at these ever-changing, yet always kind of the same looking banks for hours on end and never got sick of the serenity and beauty of the place.

Usually it's really quiet there - if there are no german tourists giggling and splashing their paddles...

Evening paddle

 In the sunlit bush itself there were not many big animals - no kangaroos or koalas, because it's all so wet and swampy. Just birds, all kinds of birds, feral pigs (we saw just the tracks) and goanna. One was at home in the big gumtree just next to our campsite.

I left my arty fingerprints on Gombar the canoe as well

After a few gallivanting bushwalks, a pasta dinner, a night under starry clear skies, a warm kaba and a cold swim in the river on the next morning, we packed up and meandered downstream again.

Just in time to watch the sun set over the lake and spill the most amazing colours all over sky and water.

"Over there, near that beaver lodge!"

"Can you show me se weyy to ze ooshen? Ze ooshen!"

"Wouldn't you call this meeaaaaandering?"

"Bullsharks!"

Sighhh......

And now... because you can never have enough photos of the cutest little hardcore purrer in the world! 

Platypus

Don't believe what I saw!

A platypus! (zu Deutsch: ein Schnabeltier)

 I was hopping from rock to rock in a riverbed in Conondale National Park, and not for a second I thought that I would maybe see a platypus because they are renowned for being so very shy (and mostly nocturnal). Most Australians have never seen one in the great outdoors! And yet - there I spotted one, just a few metres away, just for one second or something, a small brown furry thing with a flat tail, paddling behind a sheltering log.

In the very first nano sec I thought it's a beaver because of the flat tail (and probably because we're just reading a book about beaver), but then I reminded myself that I'm in Australia and that it must have been a real wild live platypus I just saw. Lucky :)

Dom and me had been planning to dive into a bush camping trip since weeks already, and this week we finally went, out west into a big chunk of untapped rainforest which is called Conondale National Park.
Really, I don't have to go on an tell you how beautiful it is out there, you can see the pictures and get an idea

rolling hills stretching out to the horizon, densely wooded with

little crispy cold creeks in the valleys 

(that was before he fell into the creek - again :D )

and calm deep green ponds and waterholes  - in summer it would be a perfect haven to swim in, but now that it's Queensland winter we didn't really feel like jumping in

rocky gorges with waterfalls in the sunshine

... and the stony riverbeds where the platypus live! 

Can you hear the water murmuring and rippling and the leaves rustling and whispering, and the warm rocks under bare feet in the sun, and the icy coolness of the crystal clear creek water in shadowy spots, and how your feet and legs tickle when you wade out because of your stimulated blood circulation, and how earthy-mossy-woody a rotten half overgrown log smells when you sit on it..

then you go and set up camp in some remote clearing next to a dirt road, probably going nowhere, in a remote spot in this remote big rainforest

Onions, eggs, tomatoes and rice, chocolate, guitars by the fireside, cosy sleeping bags and bright twinkling stars, just you and me and a cuppa tea :)

...and in the morning: one of Dom's dreaded migraine attacks :( So we made ourselves scarce as fast as we could. Happy hippies in the forest adventure - to be continued next week.

great view on Obi Obi valley

What else is new - ah ja!

SCHLAND OOOOH SCHLAND!!!!
OEELOELOELOELOELOEEEE DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND ES IST FUSSBAL WM!!!

Da waer ich ja keine Deutsche wenn ich nicht wenigstens zu WM Zeiten vor dem Fernseher sitzen wuerde und bei jedem Tor all die Aussies um mich rum wissen lassen wuerde, dass wirs halt in Sachen Fussball einfach drauf haben....! MUELLERRR!!!

:))) Aber oh, ich vermisse den schwarz rot goldenen Fussball Rummel! Denn hier hab ich keine farbverschmierten Backen, keine Fangesaenge in der Muttersprache, kein Rudelgucken, keine Autokorsos. Die Australier sind wenns um Fussbal geht einfach LANGWEILIG! Kein Wunder, die sind ja auch so schlecht. Spaetestens wenn die Gruppenphase rum ist, muss ich mir hier ein paar Deutsche suchen, die um 5 Uhr morgens mit mir aufstehen und sich voller Enthusiasmus vor den Fernseher hocken, um das beste Team der Welt anzufeuern.

Und Kitty? She's growing! But still just too sweet to be real, isn't she

On another sunset walk to Point Cartwright, we found dozens of little fish that had been washed on the sand... some of them were still alive and after admiring their silver-blueish beauty, we chucked them back into the waves.

That's how some more cool shots of Doofus Dom were taken 

 Damn damn damn that's a nice beard!

And well... sunset time on the Point is always a source of great photos.

Never boring for me!

Right now I feel just like a leaf on a breeze

who knows where it's blowin

who knows where it's goin?

I find myself somewhere I never thought I'd be

I'm going round in circles

thinking about you and me.

How do I explain it when I don't know what to say

What do I do now? So much has changed.

Nothing I have ever known has made me feel this way

Nothing I have ever seen has made me wanna stay

Here I am, ready for you

I'm torn and I'm falling, I hear my home calling

Hey, I've never felt something so strong

It's like nothing I've ever known.

You're the one I'm looking for

You're the one I need

You're the one that gives me a reason to believe

Following a star has lead to where you are

It feels so strong now

this can't be wrong now.

Nothing I have ever known has made me feel this way

Nothing I have ever seen has made me wanna stay

Here I am, ready for you

I'm torn and I'm falling, I hear my home calling

Hey, I've never felt something so strong

It's like nothing I've ever known.

Right now I feel just like a leaf on a breeze

who knows where it's blowin

and who knows where I'm goin?

#hashtag ponyhugs#

What a great video! Passenger sang this on Bluesfest, too, asking his audience to turn off their smartphone cameras for just one song :))))

So he is doing cool and exciting stuff as always, and what about me?

I can't believe that it is already Friday again what means that another week has slipped by, although it felt so much shorter.

Where did the time go? Not only just now, but in general?

Just one year ago I was at Rock am Ring, then the Colour Festival, then Southside, in the midst of it all preparing my big leave, with all the Bus Cracker Baking sessions in between and all the other stuff... I can't believe this was one whole year ago! And good Lord, soon I will be freakin' 21... I just got used to the feeling of being 20...

I feel like singing Jack Johnson's line Slow down everyone, you're moving too fast.... 

So what we did was going for a nice muddy walk in the Mooloolah River National Park

Dom playing Indian, with mud war paint on his cheeks and a "spear"... and mud in his beard! I wonder how it got there?

Unexpectedly, the stereotypical Australian Teenager left her natural environment of shops and electronical devices to follow these hippies into the muddy wilderness where, in UG boots and without makeup, she was a bit out of place and lost. :D But so a sweet corny Daughter-Daddy-picture came to existance

 Sundew

We also went up Mount Mee to visit Iain and his 10 or more French backpackers that are currently staying at his place - what a great evening :)
Without intending to be self praising I think that this is one of the best things I did in the last time - getting Iain into workaway! So much love :D

 Dom's new dreadlock

 - will be my birthday present :3

 and always a purring source of chaos and cuteness - Kiddikid!

Yes, I think I spend too much time with this little cutie... because actually she is Kiwani's kitten and I am just a stray backpacker who got stuck, but will eventually leave! This will not happen without tears or with attempts to smuggle "my" kitty away in my backpack... Let's not think about it yet :)

You're so sweet to me

when you beat me in double solitaire

You're so sweet to me

in a world that's not always fair

Oh I can't keep it in, I can't keep it in, I've gotta let it out.
I've got to show the world, world's got to see, see all the love
love that's in me.

No, I can't keep it in, I can't keep it in, I've gotta let it out.
I've gotta show the world, world's got to know,
know of the love, love that lies low, so

Why can't you say, If you know, then why can't you say.
You've got too much deceit, deceit kills the light,
light needs to shine, I said shine light , shine light.

Love, That's no way to live your life,
you allow too much to go by, and that won't do.
No, lover. I want to have you here by my side
Now don't you run, don't you hide, while I'm with you.

I can't keep it in, I can't keep it in, I've gotta let it out.
I've got to show the world, world's got to see, see all the love
love that's in me. 

I said, why walk alone, why worry when it's
warm over here. 

You've got so much to say, say what you mean,
mean what you're thinking, and think anything. Why not?
Now why why why not?

Olive moments

Fear is dark but my love is a lantern

Shining up like coins in a fountain

Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain

Where the grass don't grow

There's a sad old sea but my love is an island

Wild and free like the hills and the highlands

It's a breeze that brings me back to dry land

Where the flowers grow

Love is a baby born

And love is the last unicorn

And love is the only song I'll sing

Well hate is a poison, love is a remedy

Singing out like the sweetest of melodies

Hope is a ghost in the deepest of memories

Stronger than ten of me, fear is the enemy

In the dark and it creeps like a shark

In the coldest sea, the deepest part

Hope is the beat in the oldest heart

Hand in a hand, love in a star

Love is a fireside

Born on the coldest of nights

And love is the only song I'll sing

And love is the truest of words

And love is the last winter bird

And love is the only song I'll sing

Oh I'll sing

Til I can't sing no more

Oh I'll sing

Until my throat is sore

Wow, another stunning song by Passenger. So pumped to hear his new album :)

_________________________________________________________________

So this week we had a few Olive Moments!

Olive Moments... 

you know, moments of intense flavour that make the sun shine brighter and the air taste sweeter and little butterflies flying around you .... 

that feeling when you are absolutely loving the taste and smell of olives, 

it's like your tastebuds go like OH YEAH! when you eat them, 

and then you have some and you squeeze 

them with your teeth 

and it's just so goooood...

If you pay attention, you can find little Olive Moments everywhere... so this week I kept my eyes open to capture the Olive Moments...

:D :D :D

May I introduce, Kiwani, Dom's 16-year-old daughter.

My boss Alison has an injured hand at the moment and is not able to work, so she has nothing else to do than taking surprise pictures of me.

But apart from this, Alison is a quite groovy boss... we call her "mum" ... and sometimes she throws pieces of chocolate at me....  :)

Less groovy are things about my strawberry work... I was told that I could work in the packing shed, for the whole season - what would have brought me lots of money and the complete 88 days of "specified work" that I need to get the 2nd year visa for Australia.  

But last week, after 3 days of strawberry packing, they sacked me!
Of course I make mistakes and am pretty slow as a beginner, especially compared to girls who did it for several seasons already - expecting me to be a master after three days practicing only? Did I really have a chance?

WELL ANYWAY.

I'll find another way to get my 88 days and some more money, there's still plenty of time.

Meanwhile let me show you the probably best picture of Dom ever taken, be prepared -

Puzzling?

It's upside down; the white background is actually the ceiling; he's doing some domestic acrobatics on a horizontal bar. And yes, he is wearing shorts :D

That picture caused definitely my Olive Moment of the day!

Buddina is pretty as always and the Sunshine Coast "winter" still means wakig up with sunrays in your face and drinking your morning Kaba in bikitop and shorts on the terrace

And somewhere on the side of a road I met a horsesome four-legged girl

Let's end it with a beautiful sunset picture and a wonderful song that is right now stuck in my head and coming out of my mouth - more or less off key...

I know you know me well enough 
To know I’m lucky to have you 

But oh it’s just the little things 
The words that I should tell you 
All the time 
Like you’re so sweet to me 
When you beat me 
In double solitaire 
You’re so sweet to me 
In a world that’s not always fair 

We could watch it from the clouds 
We can’t stop it anyhow 
It’s not ours

The more love that you feel 
The more your little heart will ache 
Love is the only thing that carries on 
It’s the only thing this world can’t take 
This love is ours 
This love is ours 

Oh you’re such a pretty thing 
I’ll take you and I’ll make you 
All mine