On to the next thing

We’ve both been working hard for the last month. I have been packing oranges while Sebastian has been building a giant shade house to grow plants in an aquaculture format. I’m still not quite sure what that means. So far what I have figured out is that the plants grow in fertilised water with no soil, but I can’t get my mind around that futuristic technology. What I do know is that he’s been doing some back breaking heavy lifting, lying on his back and bolting things above his head for hours on end, painting with tar (if you wondered, no, it doesn’t ever come off the bed sheets!) and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Meanwhile I have been surrounded by huge hot machines and sweating out my entire body weight. I’ve mostly been grading oranges for either juice or fruit, and packing fruit by hand. Hand packing is a lot of fun (!) where you get covered in the wax they spray on the fruit, and stickers which don’t stay stuck.

We’ve lived in a great little place called Myalbangera Outstation which is a big share house. There’s a lot of people there we love. My girlfriends, Jana and Hannah, Tim, Jana’s boyfriend (he and Seb have a bit of a bromance!) Andy from Essex, and our little brood of kittens. There’s 10 teeny ones, with 2 mommas who share feeding and cleaning duties; it’s really quite remarkable. One mother will stay with the kittens while the other goes off and does her own thing, then they switch places. They are wild cats so live in the lavender bushes near the deck. I love coming home from work and having a cuddle as the sun sets.

It’s getting really hot again – we’re reaching mid to high 30s most days. It’s pretty humid too. And that means bugs. Thousands of them. The little black thunderbugs are nothing compared to the buggers we get here. They are small enough to slip through the flyscreen on the windows, and the gaps between the door, and they head to the light in their millions. The kitchen gets it worst, as we’re cooking you find bugs on your plate before you can dish up, your drink is never safe, and you’re more likely than ever to throw your whole meal on the floor as you swing it around trying to get the bugs away from you. It’s great. Really.

So it’s getting warmer, work has finished, it’s almost Christmas, and that means only one thing. MY MOMMA IS ON HER WAY! Well technically she leaves the UK the day after tomorrow, but she will be with me the day after that. And I cannot wait! It’s definitely not enough to see your best friend once a year.

It’s going to be a crazy ride, where she gets to meet Sebastian, and his parents! And they get to meet me for the first time. And my mom. I’ll let you know how it all goes down…