Off to the land down under :D: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Cockroaches, Brass Monkies and Richard Branson

So I left you with me having a pretty tough week, it was, it can be an amazing thing for you to feel set with everything seeming to be ok and going ok then all of a sudden just collapse. But that is how life goes, it is like a continuous adjustment. But for now, things seem to be starting to pick up again. Been relatively careful with money, and now moving to another part of Australia to start work on a job that I came here to do. Seems that losing my truck job was a good thing, as I came to Australia to work on cattle stations, and now it seems I am finally going to do it, yay :D

In Perth, I normally stay at the YHA, such a nice hostel, very clean with great facilities, but it is about $32 per night which is quite a lot. So as I was meeting a friend (Meike) who was staying at the Old Swan Barracks, I'd thought I would stay there too. Wow, 43*c high humidity, 8 bed dorm and NO AIRCON, only one swivelling fan (that didn't reach me). First night was tough, barely got any sleep, you just sweat and sweat, no one used bed covers as just too dam hot. Next night, managed to swipe a fan from behind the bar, so it was a lot more comfortable, except it rained. Up goes the humidity, and then, as the windows were open, in crawl 4 cockroaches that start flying round. Was funny, I had just got to sleep then all I hear is girls screaming and guys jumping around trying to beat these, what seemed to be indestructible, cockroaches with books and shoes. The books won! Oh yea, and mosquitoes love me, and my skins hates them, got like 14 bites in my first night alone, ITCHY!!!

Got to meet a few people I worked with in Esperance during harvest, don't know if you remember me talking about the Estonians. So we went to my favourite pub in Perth called the Brass Monkey as they do my favourite drink, especially in hot weather, Vodka slush puppy, yum yum. Cheap too, only $8. You have to remember, a pint of lager varies from $8-$10 per pint, not cheap! But this was last night, and so I didn't stay out long. Not really in the socialising mood at the moment to be honest, just want to get to work and focus my mind on working.

A guy in the dorm I was staying in had a mountain of books, he had been living there for 5 weeks. I noticed he had Richard Branson's Autobiography, I am a fan of RB and how he has achieved so much, so this guy was nice enough to let me borrow it. Anyone who knows me, knows that I dont read books, I can barely read an FHM from front to back, I just loose concentration too quickly. Not read a book completely since, well, I dont know, secondary school I suppose, not even sure if I read one then. Dam my lack of concentration! On page 90 out of 630, lets see how far I get on this book, dont expect too much, lol.

So now I am sitting in departures, waiting for my plane to Melbourne where I start to explore another bit of Australia. I did a quick Google map so you can see where I have been (including where I am going today). In the 4 months I have been here, I have already been what seems all the way around this country, but neigh, I have a lot more to see :D

Catch you all later x

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Lame!

Right I know it has been a while since I last posted, but past few weeks have sucked!

So although I am earning $25ph at this job, which is a dam good wage for a backpacker, problem is I am barely doing any hours. Over the past 6 weeks I have been here, I have averaged 28 hours a week, which is rubbish!! And as I had to pay a lot for truck lessons and my test (which I passed, yay), and send money home to pay my loan, it didnt really leave me with any money to go out, so I have been either walking around or just sitting in my caravan.

With my laptop being the only source of entertainment (except the 3 channels on my tv), my hard drive crashed. Great. So, I have spent the past couple weeks trying to get Linux running off an external hard drive and recover my data. Although I have a backup at back in Guernsey, I dont have a back up of all my aussie photos. Thankfully, I have managed to recover a lot, phew.

If you don't know already, as I know how quickly word spreads in Guernsey, me and Claire are no longer together. Not really going to go in to it, but it has been tough, as basically she was the only person I spoke to on a regular basis, especially as with this job I work on my own and live on my own.

And to top it all off, I get fired. Hooray..... remembering I drive 20 tonne 8 wheeled trucks around rough paddocks and through bushland, surprisingly enough I hit a small tree stump that punctured my tyre. A replacement costs $1000. With that and the fact I am barely doing any hours, Robbie (my boss) decides I am just not worth having around. Which is nice, as I spent half of the money he gave me on truck lessons. But hey, what can I do, Im casual labour. My last day is tomorrow (Thurs 24th), then getting a bus back to Perth on Sat, where I hope to meet up with a few mates I have made over here.

Good news, finally lol, I have a new job, yay :D Moving to South Australia to a town near Melbourne called Mount Gambier. Another cattle station, doing mustering, tractor work, fencing, drafting and general station work. Wage isnt too bad, $15ph, but he guaranteed that I will be doing plenty of hours. Good thing I guess. Anyhoo, time to pack, i'm getting good at it :D

Thursday, February 3, 2011

3 months down under

I can't believe it has been 3 months already, how has that happened!! I'm sure you are all missing me, well, you better ;) It has been an amazing 3 months with so many good times, and some bad, but so far it has been pretty great. Herding and running away from angry cattle, nights out partying with Karel, learning to surf, traveling around WA by bus seeing all the wonderful towns and sights, going to Australia Zoo, buying my first set of thongs, exploring the outback by buggy 400km from the nearest town on my own, driving massive machinery, sheep farming.......... The list can go on and on, but basically I am having a great time trying things that I COULD NEVER do in Guernsey!

I made a list when I have started this blog:

Loose A LOT of weight and get in to mega good shape
Explore as much as possible
Have a dam good time!
Dive the great barrier reef
Learn to ride a horse (Need to complete number 1 first)
Go on a Minjin Swing (google it)

Now although I havn't actually managed many of them yet, except losing a bit of weight and having a good time, I will complete them all. Although, I have a couple of additions that i'd really like to do also:

Work/Volunteer at Australia Zoo for 2 weeks
Not develop an Australian accent (realised I really don't want to sound like that, no offence)
Visit New Zealand, if only for a week or two.

So I have a lot to do, but I need money first....... hmm.....tricky. The job I am in is going really well, get on great with the boss and pays well, but as I am not working with anyone and live in a shed, does get a tad lonely. But anyway, this is only until mid May, and thats when I will be heading of to Cairns to start doing all the fun stuff I'd like to do. Good thing is, a few of the people I did my Cowboy training course with will be there, and hope to do some of this stuff with them also.

I have made some good friends also here in Oz. I keep regularly in touch with the guys from my training course, also Karel and Ova from my last job harvesting. Hopefully there will be a time soon that I'll be able to see them again.

Lastly, just want to note that today I have missed Guernsey a lot, with Claire and all my friends and family there sometimes it can be hard. Every place I stay whether it is a hostel, house or caravan, my Guernsey flag is flying high with pride!

Love you all x