Australia

so u know the story. go on tour, spend a lot of money, end up with no money, time to work!
thought alice would be the perfect place.
its a small town and although pretty there is really nothing to do so no temptation to spend money!
got a job in a hostel chnaging beds, cleaning kichen, vaccaming and toliets(lovely!!!)
met some lovely backpackers-nice hearing peoples stories from around the world and places taht they ahve visted!
but for the minority of backpackers this is for u.
please b nice- strip yr bed,
do yr dishes
and most important- please PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
do not block public toliets with toliet roll and sanitory towels. ( think of the poor bugger that has to unblock it!!!)
so alice has been a good a place as any to ahve some thinking time about what to do next.
have booked a flight to perth for next tues-yee ha!!!
its another city i know but have hopes it will be better than melbourne. also looking at tours that go both down the west coast to espance and up to broome. if anyone has advice on places that i should definetly visit along the way please let me know!

so next i was headed from adeliade through some of the most remote regions of australia. this for me was hwta i was really lookig forwad to-outback australia.
some of the highlights included- William Creek. Population 8 people, flies 1 million! have never been so thnakfuul for a fly net!!!
a very strange "town" in the middle of nowwhere! the William Creek pub had a lot of character with very friendly staff. for a fee of 2 dollors u could leave yr stamp on the pub- as a result there were hundreds articules such as bank cards, driving licences, photos,bras, pants and passports left from all over the world! (leaving the last one on the list may have been done in a drunken haze!)
Coober Peddy-not what i expected. i thought(call me stupid!!) that u wouldnt be able to see this underground town from above ground. that there would be a litle trap door to climb down into the hostel!
but it was still a fastinating place- the church and tour of an underground house a must! also looked for opal and no luck!!!
Kings Cayon- the first part of this walk-heartattack hill-they call it that for a reason!!!!! but worth the climb -especially with the waterhole at the end.
Ayers Rock- this was the pinnacle of the journery i guess. i was hopeing that it wasnt just going to be a hyped up place full of tourists with camaras.
wierd, beautiful, enhanting, alien like.
thats the way i would describe the rock. seeing the rock change from orange too a deep red at sunset was beautiful.
equally camping out under the stars in swags and being awoken by the suns rays over and witnising this over the rock made all the flies, dust and hot journ on a bus more than worth it.
was so gutted when this part of the trip ended-met some lovely people, had some laughs and saw some amzing sights along the way.
being in the middle of nothingness really does make u realize how insignificent u really are. thats strangely a comforting thought as it makes u re evaluate alot and hopefuly for me it will make me worry far less about things i have no control about.
sounds corny but i really do feel taht this part of the trip was a real jounery that has changed me and that i will remember forever.

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!!!!

oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god-did i say taht already?!
i cant desribe to u how emotional today was!
so i had spent teh week laughing about skydiving-winding up the family-saying i was going to jump alone (i jumped tandem-u think i wnat responsibility over pulling the cord!?)
but when it came to it i was actually .. well... bricking it!!!!
so i met my instructer who reasssued me taht teher was nothing to worry about and taht we were only climbing 14,000 feet, we would be freefalling over the ocean and he went through the intsructions. arms accross my chest at first, kneel at teh door of the plane and when he signalled just fall out-yeah-easy-really!!!!!!!
and i did what i usually do in those sitautions-didnt really listen but pretended that i did!
i was jumping in an area called Wollongong-which was 2 hrs east of sydney, over a gorgeous beach. the conditions couldnt have been better- the sun was amazing,the sea an amazing aquamarine colour.
as we ascended over the ocean i literally felt my head would explode with the scenery!
the instructer pointed a mini camara in my face and asked me how i was feeling-oh u know, fine i mean jumping out of a plane may be normal for u luv but jumping out of bed hard enough for me these days!
then it was time-one, two, three....
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, f@!!!!!!@@@@@@@@%%%%%%%%%%%%%**************k!
rushing through the air, the water below me.. am going to die!!!!!
then the paracute opened and we drifted over the ocean - i got to control the reins!!! i did a few spins!!
this is WHY i came to auz!!!!
then time for landing, the sand rushing to my feet, then solid ground.
how do i feel!
i want to do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in an attempt to get into the christmas spirit, i decided taht i needed to go to see a carol service-and what better place to go than the opera house! also a good excuse to put a dress on considering i have lived in my walking boots, vest tops and combats for teh last 7 weeks!!!
and the opera house didnt disappoint. the location couldnt be more perfect- it was beautiful. the harbour at night is a mix of music, lights, every nationaity under the sun and the atmosphere was buzzing!!!
the opera singers had amazing voices-very famous aussie singers that i obviously didnt know! we did the typical dumb tourist thing and took photos- a scary old woman told us off!!!
i couldnt resist joining in and singing silent night( i think everyone around me now have to see a psychtarist for psychological disturbance!)
anyone who was anyone was there-even father christmas himself- and yes i did have a photo with him-i have evidence-he exists!!!!!!!!!!!
it is going to be very wierd being away from home, family, friends this year -i am looking forward to bondi beach (well u have to rite?) and new years eve on teh harbour but am going to miss home like crazy. cold dark evenings, christmas dinner, vicor of dipley!!!
want to wish everyone who is reading this family, friends, other travellers -past, presenta nd future
merry christmas and have a happy, healthy safe and lucky new year
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx