This feels like a really overdue update, but I guess it's really only been 9 days or something since my last one! It's probably to do with the lack of contact I've had with the outside world again last week, but I should be used to that from Cambodia! I think the week also seemed longer than it was because so much stuff was crammed into it and there always seemed to be something happening (although frustratingly little sometimes!)
Another thing that makes it seem like such a long time since the last one is that I kept remembering that I'd not told you all a rather important part of my last night in Sydney in my last post (sad, I know!) I actually didn't just go straight back to my hostel for food and Braveheart after my chips and beer. When I got back to Sydney, I then walked across Harbour Bridge and back, taking plenty more photos along the way! But there's not really much to say about that, other than that it happened, I got some amazing photos (some of the best of my trip so far) and it was knackering after such a long day already! So I'll get straight onto talking about my farm course.
I got picked up from Sydney Base Hostel at 10.30am (I think) with no real trouble, actually managing to dive into a book shop on the way and pick up a new book (The Life of Pi), as I'd just finished the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and couldn't handle the thought of a week with no book if I'd have anything like as much time for reading as I did in Cambodia! The first thing I was told though, by Pheobe (the girl picking us up, who works on the course after doing it herself a few months ago) was that I look like 'a very strange human being' and that I scared her slightly; which made me think a) this could be a long week and b) I'm not going to like this girl much! She did get more tolerable as the week went on though, and she was alright by the end (possibly because she actually thought I was about the most normal person there by then!) She explained it was partly my bouncy walk and partly the fact I was wearing my Wednesday shirt, sponsored by the Children's Hospital, which obviously has a picture of Pudsey Bear on the front; she just didn't bother taking in the fact it was a sports shirt, not just a random Pudsey Bear shirt! The drive was otherwise boring and uneventful, taking about 6 hours to get out to the course, near Koonabarabran in New South Wales.
We then had barely any introduction to the surroundings etc., except for Pheobe telling us on the bus the rules for 'beer cricket' (every time you're handed an alcoholic beverage, you have to shout 'not out' before someone appeals with 'howzat', or you down it, although this game didn't get played once in the week!) and the 'game of life' (if you say the word 'mine', or 'mein' for the 9 Germans on the course, out of 12 of us, with any meaning, you had to immediately stop what you're doing and do 10 push ups), which got played far too much! Craig (the guy whose farm it is and who runs the course) told us that the only other rule for that night was that we weren't allowed to be seen without a beer in our hands! Which suited me fine, but is quite an expensive rule at $2 per can, especially when we were told that about the only money we'd need for the week was enough for the pub on Wednesday night! But it definitely made for a fun night, sitting around the campfire, playing drinking games and asking questions that some of the others felt were slightly too personal, Craig and Pheobe having one-track-minds when it comes to sex!
Monday morning was pretty easy to cope with with a hangover, except for the extreme cold (which was horrible every morning, hungover or not!) as we just had a talk from Craig about what the course would be like, then went into town with Pheobe to get some essential stuff (boots, gloves and hats for those that didn't have suitable ones) and set up bank accounts, although it turned out to be a bank holiday, so I couldn't set up an Aussie account annoyingly, so I've spent more money in card fees than I should have. I won't bother going into detail about every day, but it was mostly quite fun work - motorbike riding, horse riding, quad riding, sheep/cattle mustering and fence building took up most of the week, being about the most common/important skills to have on farms in the Outback. I did learn one or two things: I'm pretty shite at fence-building (digging holes for the posts, straining wires tight and tieing them together) and I crumble more under pressure than I thought (Craig was very harsh with his criticism sometimes and put a lot of pressure on everyone). Other things, I knew alread: I'm also shite at motorbike riding, but I'm decent on a quad and particularly good on horseback - Craig said on Friday evening that I'd restored his faith in male horse riders, being about the first good male rider he's had on the course in at least a few months, probably more!
The rest of the week after Sunday night though, saw a massive dive in the sociability of most of the other people on the course in the evenings - with half the people barely even sitting out with us, never mind staying out drinking. Which annoyed Pheobe and Craig no end - although, having talked to some of the others (all of whom I got on with), I think it's partly the fact of money (I hardly drank anything Monday night or Tuesday until I'd definitely sorted a job) and partly the German culture that prevented most of them (9 of the 12 people on the course being German!) from really being comfortable drinking etc. around their employers/teachers or whatever Pheobe and Craig classed as! Whenever those two weren't around though, everyone was much less quiet and more fun to hang around with.
I was disappointed on Tuesday night when I rang the employer they'd set up for me, as it sounded like a cool job, but the guy turned me down, I think because I didn't have enough experience. The job was mostly mustering on horseback, camping out for weeks at a time (Brokeback Mountain style, but hopefully without the gay love affair) and yard building. So he asked first whether I could ride horses - with which I was obviously able to big myself up, having ridden for over 15 years - but then went on to ask: did I have experience in fence building, welding or joinery and did I own a vehicle, all of which were basically no. So he said that for now it was a no but that, if he changed his mind, he would definitely let OutBackPackers (the company that run the course) know by the end of the week. Half an hour after I told Craig though, he'd already been on the phone to another potential employer and I talked to them and bagged myself the job, which is looking after racehorses at a professional stables just outside Brisbane (Steele Ryan Racing, if anyone wants to Google them). Not entirely sure when I'll start yet, as I've got to wait for the criminal record check to come through, but it should be late this week/early next week, by which time I hope to have bought a car and sorted out somewhere a bit closer to live (at the moment, I'm staying in Bunk Hostel in Brisbane, which is great and very good value, but too much for somewhere to live!)
I'll leave this post here though, as I'm quickly running out of pre-paid time on the internet (it takes me unnecessary amounts of time and effort to write these!) I'll probably update again sometime in the next few days to talk about Brisbane and my searches for a car/houseshare.
Until then, goodbye again,
Andy.
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