It has been a while since I've posted anything so sorry for all the avid fans who are crying in desperation to hear the next chapter in the adventures of travels and beyond. I'm sure you've found other ways to amuse yourselves in my absence. So Australia is nice. It's full of Australians though. Never mind.
Flight from BKK to KL to OOL was uneventful. Never been so nervous before a flight before. It didn't help that every day I checked the news another plane somewhere had crashed. When I arrived in Coolangatta airport I got a taste of the overboard customs Australia are known for. They even cleaned my walking shoes! Brilliant. Coolangatta - what a stupid name. Australia is full of stupid names. I swear they just grab 3 or four consonants at random and roll a couple of dice to see how many vowels it needs. Whether you're headed up Yeerongpilli or Moorooka or Wooloowin (real places around Brisbane, check if you don't believe me) you get the feeling that naming places is a bit of a joke to Australians. A very unfunny joke. At the airport we met a man who desperately needed to get to Brisbane so took a taxi for an astronomical price, we told him we'd taxi share if we pay the same as we would if we took the train. It was pretty handy since we got there 2 hours earlier than we would have.
Brisbane is a nice city. It was incredibly sunny and felt like an English summer day. Being as it was winter gives some impression as to how different the weather patterns are over here! We constructed a plan of action: job, car, accomm. This changed to: accomm, job, car, which in turn changed to: job, accomm, train/bus. Eventually we stopped at around plan r1.v2.327a which was to get a train to Bundaberg, find accommodation, stick with it until we find work. After contemplating staying in Brisbane, heading south, heading north, heading inland, and just about every other possible scenario- we had a night out and drunkenly settled on Bundy.
So we got the train there and as we arrived at such a late hour... 7.30pm... nothing was open. It was upon arrival we realised that this town is a little backward and on a Tuesday night, with nothing open except for one hostel, we could be in for a bit of trouble. So we stayed a night in a place called Cell Block. An old converted prison, with a swimming pool. Everyone was absolutely wasted and it didn't take long for us to decide that we didn't want to stay here if we are trying to save money. So in the morning we walked over to another backpacker hostel, which sounded very encouraging the the work line. He told us that soon there's going to be too many jobs for the number of people staying there. This turned out to be a lie.
The hostel is nice enough but there's not a lot to do both there and in town. Things get pretty boring when you aren't working. It took 6 days before I got my first job. During that time I went out on standby a few nights. Going out on standby means waking up in the very early hours of the morning (usually around 3am) to wait until the buses arrive to take people to work. If a farm needs any extra people, or if people don't turn up for work, you get a job. It's freezing bloody cold in the evenings though! I didn't get my first job on standby but being out there does show your intentions and you're more likely to get a job before other people who don't go out. My first job was 2, 9 hour days lifting heavy planks of wood onto a tractor. The work was incredibly tough but at $17.60 an hour was very much worth it. You are so tired and worn out in the evenings that it doesn't matter that Bundy is so boring - you don't have the energy to do anything anyway.
A day off and then my second job, planting courgettes - they call them zucchinis over here. Much easier job but that only lasted one day. My third job was picking zuchhinis, which lasted 2 days and after that I was bucket boy for zucchinis. Bucket boy is a great job because picking is awful. There's not an awful lot to pick at the moment so you get more money being on an hourly rate. It's $2.50 per bucket or $17.60 per hour, so it works out good for me. I did 3 days of bucket boy but then they gave me 4 days off! Not very good seeing as the shifts are really short anyway so not earning very much if it's just 3 days a week.
I've met some great people at the hostel as well. It's crazy just how many backpackers are in Bundy, and funny just how much all the locals hate us! Most of them are on the doll and refuse to work, however some are known to start fights with backpackers. It's best just to stay the hell away from them. So it's been nearly a month since I came to Australia and I am yet to see any popular sights. The beach round here is nice though I've only been once, and I do get to play football here. I bought this laptop to give me a bit more entertainment, so hopefully I wont get too bored being here. I just hope the work picks up a bit.
I miss you all and hope that you are all doing well and that you have had an excellent summer! I'll try and write more frequently though I doubt I'll have much to say at this rate... working... not working... bored... having fun... etc. xx
