A week in Chevron Towers

Tuesday

Pool and Jacuzzi, vol 2. Wakey-wakey at 11ish. We have a brekky on the balcony, jump into togs (read: swimming costume), grab a towel and head off to the pool. It’s a wonderful day with a blue blue sky, apart from the wind that wants to blow us away. We find two free sun beds and lay down. Some guys take a ‘seat’ next to us, one of them reminds us of Lenny Kravitz (he has this great fluffy puffed up hair do as well!). The Jacuzzi dude is back, and lands right beside us, again! He observes us for a second, makes big eyes and asks ‘Where you girls in the pool yesterday?’ ‘Yeah, apparently!’ His name is Paul and he’s German!! Which I would’ve never guessed for his dark hair, brown eyes and rather good looks. But there are always some raisins in the cake :-) He tells us he was an exchange student in Sydney and is now up here for the Schoolies, although he keeps saying he had no idea what he was getting involved in. Fair enough. We believe him, ‘cause he’s the only one of the 6 guys that is actually older than 20 and prefers hanging out at the pool rather than spending time with the other blokes. Having had enough of the sun (it only takes half an hour and your butt is on fire), we occupy the Jacuzzi in the shades, but it’s no relief today. Much hotter than yesterday, it makes us run between the Jacuzzi and the outdoor swimming pool right behind it. Hot and cold.. Cold and hot. They say it’s good for your bloodstream. Hmm, maybe. After about 3 sessions, looking like two soaked kittens, we say good-bye to our pool mate Paul and head upstairs. He gives us his phone number and offers we could meet up for a barbie (read: bbq) later in the evening. Why not! C ya later!

It’s afternoon and Härmo, Anni, Henn and Krista come over to admire the view from our 4 ½ **** residence. Ann’s playing 2 Quick Start on her PC which brings back nice memories of home and the farewell party with friends (club Panoraam & the good old 90’s mega hits). I really miss them heaps, but it’s fun in here, so that makes amends for the homesickness. We meet Paul and his other German friend Jan (that resembles to Adam Sandler – hey, that makes already 2 famous doubles the same day! – and runs a surf club down on Palm Beach and a shuttle service to Byron Bay) at Coles at 7:30 pm. Gut! Doppelt gemoppelt! Although we are only 5 minutes late, it’s obviously too much for two punctual German guys (deutche pünktlichkeit!), so they give us a tinkle to see if we are on the way. ‘Give us a break, guys, we are already in the lift but it takes time to get down from this skyscraper.’ :-) We get some chicken in tomato n’ onion marinade, prawn sticks (specially prepared for a barbie), some fresh bread rolls, mushrooms, zucchini, and Oreo cookies (the local Domino). But there’s no alcohol whatsoever sold at the supermarkets (Coles or Woolies). That’s no problem as Paul’s apartment is loaded with everything :-) So we get a bottle of Bombora, Jamaican rum with a coconut flavor, vodka & soda, and other spirits to ‘top up’ the evening. And off we go to the wonderful pool and Jacuzzi complex on the 6th floor. It has got these barbie places on the side of the pool. I was pretty surprised to see how many people actually come down there in the evening to have dinner. We choose the on closest to the Jacuzzi. Of course! :-) Ah! We had a bet earlier with Paul about Absolut Vodka being Swedish or Finnish. I was 99% sure it would be Finnish, but it turns out I was wrong, so Paul wins the bet, and I gotta prepare the barbie. With the experience of the other night at the volunteer Christmas party, it’s a piece of cake to get a few slices of chicken cooked properly. Ann gives me a hand, ‘cause you know, we always work as a team :-) Loaded with all the goodies, we add the final touch to the barbie by spending half an hour in the 38-degree Jacuzzi. Awesome! Total relax 100%. I almost fall from my feet when I get back to my room. G’night mates, G’night Surfers! C ya tomorrow!