My Month With Momma

February was the greatest month of my travels yet. 

Mostly because I had the greatest travelling companion, but also because we got to see more of the off-the-beaten-track places. And Australia has a lot of those!!

Warning: this will be a long one! There is a LOT to talk about, but I’ll break it up with lots of pictures, just to make it easier reading (and to make you jealous).

Monday 1^st February: Melbourne. The Reunion.

There was a long and complicated issue with Mom’s phone which meant that we weren’t able to get in touch with each other after she left England. After a lot of panicking from both of us, she finally managed to send me an email from my email account as she was bringing my laptop to me. We were finally reunited at Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, and what a reunion it was! We were giggling and hugging for so long, and neither of us knew where to begin. It had been almost 8 whole months since we saw each other. 

We headed up to our 32^nd floor apartment arm in arm like, well like long lost family, and cracked open the bubbly which we drank on the balcony. I can’t describe how good it feels to see your oldest friend after so much time has passed.

Tuesday 2^nd and Wednesday 3^rd February: Melbourne. The Laid Back City.

We spent 2 days exploring the city, and marvelling at the street art and the laid back vibe in Melbourne. There are so many quirky places with sculptures and colours everywhere. Lots of vegetarian places to eat too, I have been sorely missing good veggie food!

Thursday 4^th February: Melbourne – Lorne. The Adventure Begins.

After a tortuous walk, almost an hour with our backpacks weighing us down, we picked up our campervan, a Spaceship called Draco. He was old and more than a little bit dated, but he never broke down on us – even though the battery clicked throughout the night and we didn’t think he would start up every morning.

We headed out of town towards the Great Ocean Road, and made our first stop in Torquay, home of the Australian National Surfing Museum. Of course I dragged Mom in!

Stopped off at Bells Beach, one of the most famous surf spots in Australia, where many world famous surfers have made their mark. And then on to the Great Ocean Road, where the road hugs the cliff side and every corner brings a new breathtaking view.

Stopped for the evening in Lorne, a pretty little quiet town on the ocean. 

Friday 5^th February: Lorne – Rosebud, Mornington Peninsular. The Night Of The Black Swans.

Spent a gorgeous morning at Lorne Foreshore. Walking along the pier we spotted a giant Manta Ray gliding through the water just underneath us.

And we made the heart wrenching decision not to continue on the Great Ocean Road. There just wasn’t time, and we were travelling away from our final destination in Brisbane. It was very hard to peel ourselves away, but that’s a trip for next time! We stopped at Teddy’s lookout for one final view before turning back.

Stopped off at Erskine Falls, a stunning walk through the forest to a waterfall that looked as though it should have been in Lord of the Rings. It would have been a hundred times more magical if there hadn’t been another dozen people there, but you gotta take what you can get. Things got real when we saw a big snake sunning himself on the rocks.

Caught the Searoad Ferry from Queenscliffe to Sorento and skipped out a good couple of hundred miles. Pulled into a little campsite on Rosebud Foreshore, and parked about 10 metres from the beach. When we got out onto the beach we discovered dozens of black swans grazing in the shallow water as the tide was out. It was magical. Mom set up our camp table and chairs while I went and picked up an Indian takeaway from the town. Delicious food with a spectacular view – won’t forget that one in a hurry!

  

Saturday 6^th February: Rosebud – Ventnor, Phillip Island, The Penguin Parade.

Thousands of Little Penguins live on Phillip Island. They spend their days in the ocean and at sunset they return to their burrows in the sand dunes. And there’s a spot at Summerland Beach where you can go and watch them. They are such funny little things! They come out of the water one by one and hide in the seaweed at the shoreline, waiting until there is a crowd of them. And then suddenly one makes a break for it and starts waddling up the beach, with the others following and jostling to stay in the pack. It was amazing, especially walking along the boardwalk between the dunes and seeing them all chilling outside of their burrows, calling to one another. They might be small, but they are loud!!

You are not allowed to take photos, but you can see them here http://www.penguins.org.au

Sunday 7^th February: Ventnor – Wilson’s Promontory. Into The Wild.

First we explored The Nobbies, a rock formation with a giant blowhole at the tip of Phillip Island, keeping our eyes peeled for penguins. Saw a big fluffy baby curled up in his burrow, but all the others were out hunting.

  

Then a 123km drive to Wilson’s Promontory National Park. Driving down through the forest was so beautiful! Signposts for beaches and lookouts every hundred meters and no other vehicles to mar the view. Until we got to Tidal River. More people at the campsite, but it was big and spread out and we picked a secluded spot by the river. Explored Squeaky Beach; the onyx in the sand makes it squeak beneath your feet as you walk.

Tidal River ran through the beach, and the sand was flanked by gigantic perfectly round boulders. It was surreal.

Sleeping out in the bush, you get a lot of visitors. We saw a lot of birds, cockatoos, parrots, lorakeets, and we saw our first wombat. While we were sitting drinking a glass of wine as night was beginning to fall he just ambled out of the bush, wandered in circles for a while, grazing on the grass, and then headed straight towards us. Not disturbed by our presence at all, he came within touching distance as he had a good ol’ scratch against the open door of the van.

Monday 8^th February: Wilson’s Promontry – Eden. The Day We Almost Ran Out Of Petrol In The Middle Of Nowhere.

The next morning as we were breakfasting beside the river a familiar face  wandered over the bridge towards us. The water was incredibly beautiful, stained a reddish brown from the tannins of all the teatree.

A long drive to Eden. 750km. We were headed to Jervis Bay, a further 300km, but the drive really took it out of us.

We stopped for lunch beside a river at Lakes Entrance, another beautiful place – surprised? Mom got to see her first pelican and we spotted some darters too; thanks to the guidebook of Australian birds we picked up in Wilson’s Prom. Mom also thinks she saw a small croc crossing the road, and I wouldn’t be surprised, we drove through the middle of 3 or 4 adjoining National Parks. The biggest one was Croajingolong, stretching miles and miles. There were no signs when we entered saying ‘No petrol station for 100 miles’, so we cruised in to small town station on fumes and celebrated with icecreams and the promise we would never let the gas go below half a tank again!

Tuesday 9^th February: Eden – Husskison, Jervis Bay. The Night That Wasn’t In Booderee.

Another long journey, 317km today. We were headed for Booderee National Park but we got there after the park had closed and didn’t want to get a fine parking up without approval. So we headed further north to Huskisson, a small town further round the bay. Checked into our first holiday park, and it was pretty horrendous. Caravans parked up within meters of each other on bare concrete, no space, no greenery. We were spoilt in the National Parks, and came back to civilisation with a bump.

Wednesday 10^th February: Booderee National Park. Back To The Wilderness.

We parked up in our little slice of heaven and met our new neighbours, Momma and Joey. They were very curious, and would come within meters of us. Momma even stuck her head right into my momma’s while she was sat at the table behind the van.

 

Thursday 11^th February: Booderee. Lazy Days in Paradise.

Spent the day relaxing on a gorgeous empty beach. We didn’t see a single person for hours at a time.

Friday 12^th February: Booderee – Richmond, Sydney. A Busy Ol’ Day.

 An early start to drive to Sydney. I gave Mom the grand tour, taking her through the streets, Hyde Park, down to Circular Quay, caught the ferry across to Luna Park and walked back over the Harbour Bridge. By that time we were done, and we’d seen enough of Sydney. After visiting Melbourne and loving it so much, I can’t understand why I spent so much time in Sydney! While Melbourne is very laid back and relaxed, Sydney is always on the go with people rushing everywhere. It feels unwelcoming and hurried. And far too busy.

Saturday 13^th February: Blue Mountains. Note To Self, Avoid Tourist Attractions.

The Blue Mountains are an incredibly beautiful, scenic wonderland. And unfortunately for us we decided to go to the Skyworld area. More unfortunately. We went on a weekend. There are 3 attractions; the world’s steepest train, a cable car, and a skywalk. Which all sound great, until you factor in the que. There were thousands of tourists there, and we had to que for minimum of 30 minutes for each ‘ride’. The rides themselves were fantastic – I can now say I have gone down a mountainside at a 50degree angle, walked across a glass floor over a huge canyon, and ridden a cable car through some of the most stunning forest in the world. I can also say I wasted a lot of my day listening to overly loud conversations, being pushed and knocked into, and standing around getting more and more frustrated.

The quieter areas produced a much nicer experience. We even saw the Superb Lyrebird!

Sunday 14^th February: Richond, Sydney – Port Stephens. The Day That Sort Of Wasn’t.

After an early start we tried to stop in Newcastle for breakfast. Driving through on the Greyhound bus, I’d seen Newcastle to be a beautiful ocean side town. Turns out I was wrong. We drove 25km out of our way to find skysrapers and traffic. Very disappointing.

Carried on and finally arrived in Port Stephens, and this WAS a pretty little ocean town. We spent our Valentines Date Night with fish and chips on the beach, looking out for dolphins, but we didn’t see any, just a beautiful sunset.

Monday 15^th February: Port Stephens. Jill Day.

Today’s incredible day was courtesy of Darling Aunty Jill. We decided we needed a bit of cheering up after yesterday’s slightly disappointing day, so decided to utilise the $ my wonderful aunt sent me. And boy was it worth it!

We boarded a catamaran yacht and spent an hour sailing through dolphin infested waters. The boat had a netting at the front that you could lie in, so you got within meters of them. They rode the waves at the bow, and swam underneath the boat, jumping out of the water and playing around. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Then we arrived at Cabbage Tree Island. Well, near it. The island is a protected reserve for seabirds, including little penguins, and it is forbidden to set foot on the island, or to anchor within 12meters. Put on snorkels and fins and dived in – or in Mom’s case, eased in slowly. And what a feast for the eyes!!!! As a sea eagle soared overhead I saw so many different types of fish, with such intense colours. I saw a Wollongong Shark, a Flathead, and even a Sting Ray. I got handed a Sea Urchin, which is possibly the most interesting creature I have ever seen. Each of it’s spines move independently, and it can shuffle them and walk along. Underneath it has a huge gaping purplish mouth, but no eyes I could see.

Sailing back, we both had a chance to steer the yacht and I got to help the helm jibe. Would definitely love to do some more sailing!

In the afternoon we went to the Jervis Bay Golf Course and met Kangeroo Phil. He took us off in a little golf buggy (Uncle Dave would be proud) and drove us around the course, which was swarming with kangaroos. The golf course has been cut from the forest, and in doing so created ‘Kangaroo Heaven’. They love to lie in the bunkers and flick the sand over themselves to keep the March Flies away. It was very surreal. Phil gave us lots of information about them, about the research that is going on and how they breed – there is a great situation with The Alpha Male and Number 4. The Alpha fights his way to glory and gets to mate with all the females. But recent data has shown that there are a lot of joeys fathered by another male. Not the 2^nd or 3^rd, but Number 4, a relatively weedy, weak ‘roo. It seems that while the Alpha is fighting off Number 2 and 3, his closest competitors, Number 4 sneaks in and mates with the females! Sneaky!

Tuesday 16^th February: Port Stephens – Crescent Heads. A Long Long Drive.

On the road bright and early for a very long, monotonous drive towards Crescent Head. Stopped in Port Macquarie for lunch and a nice stroll along the colourful break wall. Then spent the afternoon dozing on the beach in Port Stephens. It’s very tiring all the sun and driving…

Wednesday 17^th February: Crescent Heads – Nambucca Head. The Veggie Burger Dream.

Spent another wonderful morning walking along a beach, then sitting and watching the surfers. Had an incredible veggie burger for lunch – I know this isn’t exciting to most people but an amazing veggie burger is hard to find,  and this one was a chia patty with curry leaf daal and yogurt!

Then drove just a short way to Nambucca Head, which is – you guessed it – ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL PLACE!

Thursday 18^th February: Nambucca Head – Lennox Head. Walking In The Sky.

Headed off to Lennox Head today, but our first stop was Dorrigo National Park. Walked out along the skywalk which leads to a lookout over the rainforest canopy. Walked through the trails as quietly a we could, hoping to see a koala or somebody else exciting. We spotted a Red Necked Paramelon, a small wallaby like creature with a face a bit like a mouse. And a giant lizard which we think is called a Lace Monitor, if the signs mean anything.

Friday 19^th February: Lennox Head – Byron Bay. Tea Tree And A Perfect Town.

Started the day with a swim in Ainsworth Lake, which our van looked out over. It is stained with the tea tree tannins. The water feels so soft and it’s great for your skin.

And then to Byron Bay. What a great place, just my kinda town. Small, but not too small. Full of surfers, surf shops and cool cafes and bars. The beaches have great waves, though they are pretty busy as Byron is ‘the place to be’. So I thought I’d get my bearings with a swim before going out tomorrow.

Saturday 20^th February: Byron Bay. Too Many Steps.

Booked in to a sea turtle and dolphin kayaking trip, but it a cancelled because the waves were quite choppy. =( So instead he hiked up to Cape Byron lighthouse. I counted 506 steps, though I think there were more. The best time to go is at sunrise, but we didn’t quite make that. Instead we got there for coffee time – Mom loved having coffee in a different incredible location each day, and this one was no let down with views over the cliffs and down to the beaches and Byron below. It is the most easterly point in Australia.

In the afternoon I hit the surf at The Pass. It’s a great wave that peels around the headland and you can ride for a long time, maybe 20 seconds, all the way from the point down to the white water. It’s busy though, so you’ve got to be good at manoeuvring around people.

Bundaberg rum and coke, and a spritzer on the beach as the sun went down, and we got quite silly, giggy with excitement from such a great few weeks.

Sunday 21^st February: Byron Bay – Alexandra Headland. Back To The Sunshine Coast.

After a horrendous coffee stop in Surfer’s Paradise – high rise buildings, heavy traffic and a 20minute wait for a cup of coffee is nobody’s paradise – we arrived at Alexandra Headland in the Sunshine Coast, home of the wonderful Saffron, Ian and Sofia.

After a delicious lunch out on the back deck we headed out to a rainforest boardwalk and completely coincidently bumped into Uncle Tony sat on a bench reading his book. We walked up to the waterfall, and Lindi joined us too, before we headed back to the house for dinner. Sofia and her boyfriend Dan joined us too for a really lovely family meal.

And then we watched The Walk, a film about Frenchman Philipp Petit and his dream to walk a high wire between the Twin Towers. It was incredible – if you get the chance, watch it!

Monday 22^nd February: Alexandra Headland - Brisbane. Lost In Brisbane.

Best way to start the day? Boogie boarding at 6:30am. And breakfast and hot chocolate at the Surf Club.

And then we drove back to Brisbane to return Draco, our old, but (relatively) reliable camprvan. Had an air b’n’b booked for the last few nights, so headed there first so we didn’t have to carry our bags back into town on public transport. That was the most horrendous journey EVER. I think we both almost cried Brisbane is full of ring roads and one way streets. And a map doesn’t show that. And it doesn’t show street names either. So when the phone with googlemaps died we were suddenly stuck and lost in the idle of Brisbane. After finding a shopping mall and a plug socket and writing down directions, we finally arrived at a lovely ground floor flat in a lush garden with palms and banana plants and vines.

Tuesday 23^rd – Friday 26^th February. Brisbane. The Last Days.

Spent our last few days exploring Brisbane. It’s a good town, with beautiful botanic gardens, a river snaking through the town and a fantastic area called the Southbank. In the Southbank there are beaches and pools in the street and a 1km arbour covered with bougainvillea. We hired bikes and cycled around the city, rode around on the free city hopper ferry and ate icecream made from liquid nitrogen.

 And after 3 days of trying, we finaly made it to the top of Mount Koot-tha!

On the 26^th I headed to the airport with Mom and we had breakfast together before she headed to her plane and I headed to my bus, onto the next adventure. Though how it will compare with the one we just had…

I’m very sad. I miss you a lot Mom =(

Back to the CBD

The new year has started well, but there's been big changes. Again. 

Our lovely house in Epping lost Annie and Brita in December, and this week we also said goodbye to Alex and Kai. They picked up a campervan and headed off into the wild for a 3 month adventure. So then there were 3.

And then there was 1, or 5, as 'backpacker' became real. (turns out you can't stay in one place for long, who knew?!) Will and Marcus are planning to stay in Sydney for longer, while I am leaving on Feb 1st, so they were looking into other accommodation - 3 people in a house that previously held 7 (plus 3 more German boys and 3 Malaysian women over New Year) was not going to work. After a scouting mission they came back having paid a deposit and with 5 days until they moved. A very nice long term hostel type house, minimum 3 months, so I'm out. 

Cue panic and freak out.

Wasn't ready to say goodbye to the boys yet. And even more, wasn't ready to find somewhere else to live. But I wasn't going to stay there by myself. AND our Landlord told us a family of 4 was going to move in on the same day they were moving out. So that would have been weird!! Started hunting in between very long days at work and finally found somewhere that looked decent back in the CBD - exactly where I was trying to stay away from!

So we packed up and cleared out. The hardest part was leaving my poor broken backpack. I brought it my first year of uni and love it so much. But the zip had broken and I couldn't actually use it anymore. RIP backpack =[

I'm going to miss our adopted cat, Billi, and the view from our indoor/outdoor patio area. We spent many great evenings out on the back deck talking, drinking and having a laugh.

I'm not going to miss the little (GIANT) friend Marcus found when moving his things!

While I didn't want to move back to the city, it is good to be nearer to where things are going on. Epping was a 40 minute train away, and once you are there you are surrounded by suburbia. Giant palatial mansions with nothing in between. But I now live a lot closer to work, so that saves time and train fares. And there's things going on everywhere. I am in Sydney for Sydney Festival, my work friends are nearby, there's places to wander and sit in the sunshine, and my hostel has a pool.

I now live in the YHA at Railway Square. And the coolest part about that is not the great included breakfast, or even the sun deck, but the fact my room is a converted train carriage!!! It's very well insulated so it's very quiet inside - except the humm of the much needed air con - but from the shower you can hear "The next train to arrive on Platform 1 goes to ..." 

I'm spending long, hot days working at Luna Park and coming home to make plans. In less than 2 weeks I will be meeting my beautiful momma in Melbourne, we will be picking up our campervan and driving the coastal road to Brisbane. Heading West first to drive the Great Ocean Road of course. There are so many beautiful places out there it is hard to figure out which are the most essential!

Christmas in the least Christmassy country

Christmas in Australia is just strange! There was no snow, no cold weather, no wooly scarves and hats and gloves. Instead there were short shorts (some massively too short!) and sunglasses. But I covered the walls with wrapping paper and played Christmas songs at deafening volume. We did lots of Christmas baking. Our first gingerbread house attempt turned into the dilapidated gingerbread barn, but the second came out pretty well and got smothered in icing and smarties. Will also made a raspberry meringue roulade for Christmas Dinner desert.

Although, Christmas dinner this year was nothing like normal. Forget nut roasts (or turkey!) and cranberry sauce, in fact forget the actual date; I am outnumbered by German and part Swedish housemates. So my Christmas dinner was on Christmas Eve! And as it was led by our resident Swede he cooked up a festive feast of meatballs (for the record Quorn mince does not roll into balls easily!!), potato gratin and vegetables. I fought to get a bit of Britain in there, and eventually he let me make some roast potatoes and parsnips and some gravy. We got some other friends over and had a delicious 2 course meal - we only have so many pans/hobs/oven space.

And then Secret Santa and Dumper-Truck-Driver-Santa delivered gifts. Dumper Truck Santa was dumping loads from a games warehouse and returned with Just Dance t-shirts, sunnies and mini boom boxes. 

Dump Truck Santa was also my Secret Santa, and I got a mini longboard! 

Christmas Day was spent in true Australian Backpacker fashion; On Bondi Beach!

 We caught up with other friends, and the rest of Australia it seemed. But there was still space to do a bit of acroyoga and lots of diving through the heaviest waves I've ever been in.

Bunny and I are having a GREAT time! He loves the beach, our house, and the coolest job in town. Luna Park is a lot of fun. I operate a ride called The Rotor, which is an old school ride, designed like a washing machine drum. The drum spins around and the centrifugal forces push people back against the wall and holds them in the air as the floor drops out. I also work in Coney Island, the 1930s Fun House with giant slides, spinning barrel tunnels, a mirror maze, a spinning floor, wonky walkways and moving walkways.

 I was working on New Year's Eve, until 2am. It was over 18s only, and most of them got very drunk so it was a really funny night, even if they didn't listen to any of the safety information. I told them, they didn't listen, not my fault if they die! Grown ups have far more fun than the kids do, maybe because they don't get chance to be silly every day.

I got to see the insane fireworks display off the Sydney Harbour Bridge. People que-d for hours to get a spot on the waterfront to watch them from. My housemates went the the botanical gardens at 11am to find a 6hour long que to get in!! And people were camping overnight. But I just stopped working at 11:55pm, hopped upstairs to the balcony and got paid to watch the display. Bonus!

And the freakiest part of the night by far was meeting up with Matt Woodfield, a guy I went to high school in Market Bosworth with. And even stranger, his girlfriend, who he met while travelling, is a girl I was friends with at uni in Plymouth!! And because that wasn't enough, on my train home I sat opposite Rich Ball, another guy I was at High School with! He'd also been at Luna Park, but completely separately from Matt! It's a small world out there!!

What's been going on..

I have decorated our house for Christmas! Hello kitchen roll Christmas Wreath! We also have the top of a Christmas tree that is propped up on a chair in the bay window, so I'd say we're in full festive spirit.

When you don't have TV or internet, you have to make do with what you can find. So we've had some very interesting evening entertainment...

We have an oven!! It's very old and very rubbish and is either insanely hot or cold, but it is an oven none the less. So I made cookies =] We have a slight obsession with cookies and cream ice cream (as in we eat half a tub every night, not even bothering with bowls) and hot, freshly baked cookies makes it so much better!! It also makes the house smell much better than the usual boy smell!

A gardener came and cut back our garden. It was an overgrown jungle that we were afraid to set foot in for fear of snakes and spiders. Now we can see it is huge, with different levels, a big washing line, a patio area and even a herb garden and vegetable beds. We also discovered this 'little' fellow.

I've been doing more acro yoga, this time on a very crowded Bondi Beach. Yep, even in December the sky is this colour and even the breeze is hot.

 And the best part...
After a ridiculously long interview process and auditions, I have a job at Luna Park, the iconic theme park down on the water at Sydney Harbour. It's an incredible place to be, looking out on the harbour bridge and the opera house, with boats sailing past. I am a rides operator, so it's my job to check the rides first thing, ensure guests are strapped in properly, start and stop the rides.

The park was first opened in the 1930s, and it has retained all of it's classic charm. All the original artwork and a lot of the rides remain. While it has been done up and reopened after a massive fire burnt the place down in the 70s, it's still very old school.

Today was my second day and I had a man fall down a 40ft slide while attempting to get into his mat. And then, I managed to break an entire ride ! My supervisor who was checking I knew what I was doing asked me to turn it off. I did. But then we couldn't turn it back on. Oops.

Epic in Epping

It's all change again!


I quit my blueberry picking job. It was hard work that I stupidly started doing in the hottest part of the year. But mostly I quit because it was a pay-to-work situation. I was paid $7.50 per bucket of blueberries, then I had to pay $26 rent per night, and $5 each day for the bus to the farm and back. With tax, I was just about floating, but I definitely wasn't saving anything for the big adventures I want to have. So I decided to leave Coff's Harbour and head back to the friends I'd left in Sydney.


I went back to Bayside Conference Centre for a few nights, until WE GOT EVICTED! It turns out our landlady did not get government authorisation for us to live there, and a 'lovely' neighbour over the road decided the best use of his time was to photograph people coming and going and forward it to the council.


So I was very nearly homeless. But I was saved. By a beautiful house in Epping. It's a suburb about 40minutes out of Sydney, with good public transport links and a shopping plaza with an incredible food court about 10 minutes walk away. It is a 3 bedroom house - though we turned the 2nd lounge into another bedroom) with a big garden, and I share it with 2 English guys, Marcus and Will (though he is half Swedish so doesn't completely count as English), 2 German guys and 2 German girls.


Our landlady at Bayside is a property agent for this place and she said we could take anything from the Conference Centre. Will very helpfully drives a dumper truck, so we loaded his van with beds, sofas, chairs, back packs and kitchen equipment and made our way to our new home. Over here if people don't want something they leave it outside on the street for people to take if they want it. We got a table, some speakers and a great corner sofa that had been only slightly mauled by a dog. For the first night we had no electricity so we were walking around with head torches, a bit like camping in your own home.


It's a very nice neighbourhood with big houses, and I'm not sure what they thought about 7 young people using a dumper truck to move in with some slightly bizarre office furniture, a semi-destroyed sofa (now patched up with duct tape), lots of back packs and a spear gun*.

* Will's job requires him to pick up things from construction sites and private businesses and homes. He's always picking up interesting things, chairs, stereo system, and the latest acquisition is a spear-fishing spear gun.

Blueberry Picking

I headed north from Sydney, along the Pacific Highway up the East Coast. I stayed in Port Maquerie for a few days with a great friend from uni, Toya. She is a doctor in the ER and now works out here because the conditions are so much better then in England. She has a beautiful apartment less than a minutes walk from the harbour that she shares with 2 other doctors. Toya and her friends indulged me in a life of luxury, with my own room and big double bed, a jet ferry ride where we saw dolphins up close,  movies on tap (including the new Bond film which was mostly emotionless and bland), copious amounts of tea and incredible bunches, and Toya's delicious pak choi soup!

And then I travelled onwards to Coffs Harbour. Staying at the Hoey Moey on the beach,  I walked straight into a job on day 1 as a blueberry picker at Ravinder and Davinder's farm in Bonville. It's a pretty simple job - you pick the berries off the bush and put them in your bucket, and then you do the same thing again and again and again, and if there's time you do it again! It is hot, backbreaking work in serious heat. It is generally +30° and is usually 32-34 by 8 or 9 am. I start at 6am and go until 2 or 3:30 in the afternoon. Today it got up to 38°C which was pretty horrendous, but we have had days up in the 40s. Sometimes you can get a good line of bushes where all of the fruit hangs in bunches on the outside; then you can do 10 or 11 buckets - once I even got 15, but usually all the berries like to hide right in the middle so you have to stick your whole upper body into the bush. You get scratched and cut and I've lost count of the amount of splinters I have.

A word to the wise! ALWAYS WASH YOUR FRUIT!! We like to sweat all over it!

Things I Have Learned As A Blueberry Picker
1) It is hard work!!
2) It pays REALLY badly!!
3) The best moment ever is when you go to pick one berry,  move the leaves and see there is a whole bunch of big juicy ones!
4) The worst is when you bend down and the top layer of berries fall out of your bucket.
5) Correction, the worst is when a full bucket randomly decides to tip itself over.
6) Berries often hang in pairs, and after a while it does start to feel like you are just pulling multiple tree testicals...

7) There's a lot of time to actually listen to the lyrics in your music. Some songs really mean completely different things that you always thought. And some are really profound. 'The wisdom's in the trees not the glass windows' is rather apt when you have your face in a tree!

8) French rap is very bizarre.

9) Almost as bizarre as German musicals.

10) Blueberry wars are the best way to get through the day.

11) Blueberry juice stains skin for a long time.

12) The best thing to do to cool off after work is dive straight into the ocean.

Today was pretty cool. On the journey home, our boss and bus driver stopped off to buy us a 48 crate of beer! Beer on the beach before diving head first into the waves - not such a bad way to live.