As promised last time, I'd like to tell you about my time in Newcastle and my job search there.

As I already reported, the Balmain Backpacker Hostel was in a miserable state. Nevertheless, I decided to stay there for another night because I was heading to Newcastle the next day for a detailed recruitment test with a software agency. The second reason for spending another night in that dump was that I knew what to expect in the test. I wanted to use the remaining time to prepare rather than look for better accommodation. Finally, I had to pay for three nights anyway, as that was the minimum stay at the hostel.

Since I didn't sleep any better during the second night in that disgusting Balmain Backpacker Hostel, I made sure to leave early in the morning and actually managed to catch an earlier train to Newcastle. I had already roughly looked at the area around Sydney on a map before.

I had assumed that I would be traveling through urban or at least semi-urban areas for the entire 2.5-hour journey. Not at all! After what felt like just 15 minutes, the city suddenly disappeared, and beautiful forested hills appeared. Shortly after, water appeared too, creating a fjord-like landscape. Some of the houses that appeared here and there were definitely only accessible by boat and, according to a fellow traveler, had extremely affordable rents.

When I arrived in Newcastle, I made my way to the recruitment test. It took over five hours and was actually quite fun. There were nice functions to program. I didn't quite finish everything, but what I did deliver was well thought out and even better implemented. I'm really quite proud of my work. The company ended up offering me the job. The contract would be for the full six months, starting at the end of November. However, I asked for some time to think about it, as six months is actually a bit too long for me. Otherwise, I would be working through the entire Australian summer and traveling during their winter. Plus, I had an interview at ProductReview.com.au in Sydney the following Monday.

So I decided to treat myself to a nice weekend in Newcastle and think about my possible work scenarios. Since I had already seen from Europe that the quality of hostels in Australia left something to be desired, I decided to play it safe this time. I booked my weekend accommodation through the YHA website. YHA is the Australian version of the German Youth Hostel Association. With them, you can be sure of getting a certain level of quality. That was indeed the case in Newcastle. The youth hostel (YHA Newcastle Beach) is only 200 meters from the beach and apparently many decades old. Nevertheless, the hostel was in good condition. There were smaller lounges throughout, some even with fireplaces. The main common room strongly reminded me of a traditional pub I once visited in rural western Ireland. Everywhere there were large comfortable sofas with small tables that just screamed: "Get a beer, sit down, and relax."

On Saturday, I didn't venture far from the hostel. In the morning, I climbed the nearest hill to get an overview of the area.

The path there led along the beach, which was very beautiful and relatively empty. As soon as the path led away from the beach, there were quite annoying flies around me. I quickly realized that away from the sea and its breeze, there were many, many flies, and I can tell you, they are endlessly irritating. So I made sure to get back to the hostel and spent the rest of the day calling family and friends.

On Sunday, I had initially planned to go whale watching, but that would have required getting up earlier. I simply wasn't in the mood for that and slept in. I decided to walk along the beach in front of the hostel in the other direction and perhaps go to the lighthouse. While wandering around, I stumbled upon a Trucker Festival with hundreds of Australian trucks. I promptly remembered that my dad had given me the task of photographing trucks during my trip. Now I had the opportunity. I took so many photos that my assignment is now more than fulfilled. I should mention that my dad's favorite is DAF. I even managed to get him brochures of the Australian variant.

In the evening, I returned to Sydney. I had already used the reservation service in Newcastle and had reserved a bed at the YHA near the main train station in Sydney. The train journey back to Sydney was really impressive again. There was so much to see, but the train was moving too quickly to really take it all in. Someday I'll explore the area at a more leisurely pace.

I'll tell you how my job search continued next time.