Jan 2007

god its been a hard few weeks here whcih is the reaosn whyi havent updated the blog in a while!!
have finished at the garlic farm(am sad to say!) oh my god it has to be the worst job taht i have ever had! its noyt just smelling of garlic but it the way that u are treated at teh factory. u are not a person, but a number. a dog that is told to WORK, WORK, WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was hard actually adjusting to that- also to being the only person there taht could speak english! u canm imagine the hous went quick! then i ahd a job at a farm pickingplums which was really good and know i work at a grape farm.
i have nevr been so hot in all my life. 44 degree heat. every single muscle in yr body aching! fingers cut. u think u cant pick anymore grapes buit as it is paid by what u pcik u have no choice! have i put anyone off?
no its not all bad-i prmoise! u get to work outside. u go home feeling tired but tired because u have worked hard. there is no computer or office in sight. its away from every single piece of modern technology u can think off.
yeah my time here-strange really. enjoyed it as have met some great people. seen the country. drank gon!(the cheapest most vile wine i ahve ever tasted!!)
but am looking forward to the next part of my adventure. tasmania. begining of march for 11 days. then a tour that goes from melbourne to alice springs. cant wait to visit Coober Peedy(a town where epoepl live underground because it gets to hot)
so yeah when any fellow fruitpickers think that they cant possibly work for any longer just think of the reaosn why u came here. what u have left behind and what u want to achieve.
honestly it does motivate u to work-most of the time!!!!

so its jan the 3rd. i feel all sluggish from heavy few weeks in sydney drinking and living in the city.
am so looking forward to leaving!
am heading on a bus to Mildura which is on the NSW/Vict border.
am out to find my fortune(yeah rite!) fruitpciking!
17 hrs later i arrive and glad to get of the bus. pass thro Canberra and stop for an hr. please do not spend anytime at this place as i was bored after that!
arrive at the working hostel Oasis Backpackers-so strange to be out of the city. there is feield upon field of vines and lots of farms dotted around.
before i even settle in i find out that i am peeling garlic- teh one thing i did not wnat to do! but i think hey give it a go.
its actually not that bad-i mean the smell u get used too, and its inside a warehouse because when i say taht its hot here-i mena that it is hot!
also the other backpackers at the hostel are really nice and from all over the world.
this is my fifth day now and i am starting to settle in.
Milduara is actually a really pretty town and its so nice to be in the countryside.
so yeah its a milion miles away from Sydney-the nightclubs, fastfood resturants, clothes shoping!
but i strangely like it-even if i smell like garlic!!!!!!!!!!!!

can't believe that its New Years day and this time last night I was waiting for the second set of fireworks at the Harbour Bridge!
Sydney at New Years-what can i say? Amazing!
we had set out to get our spot at 11am and what a spot!
a perfect view of the bridge and what a gorgeous day! i think it was through a joined grioup effort taht we kept the forecasted rainclouds away.
the hours leading up to the first set of fireworks at 9apm actually went quite quick- spent the hous talking, playing games, talking to fellow travellers and ok, well, yes i did induldge in a few glasses of wine but hey its new years day!
the atmosphere was electric and as we approached 9pm the excitement started growing.
the first set wnet of with a bang(sorry for the pun) but hey, this was just the warm up act. as the sun went down the bridge looked even more magnificent. AS 12pm approached everyone rose to tehir feet-this is what we had bene waiting for for the last 12 hours! then the countdown, 5,4,3,2,1......
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The fireworks were breathtaking-every single colour u could think off- and there was a giant lite up image of a coathanger on the bridge.
in every direction the sky was lite up. I started singing OLd Langs Eye, then realised i didnt actually know teh words as usually teher is a family member tehat is with me that sings it for me! but hey i gave it a go!
what a day, what an evening!
a New Years i will always remember and also it finalised the end of my first part of travelling in Australia. an amazing and scary first part. am so looking forward now to moving on to the next part and experiencing a whole different side of auz- Mildura-fruitpicking,country hot, a million miles away from the fast moving, bright lights of sydney.
wish me pwb lwc!!!