I'm doing this Diary style because otherwise I forget things. I'll try and post like once a month or something since I don't know when i'll be leaving here.
Get to Barcaldine after a 2 hour plane ride and a bus ride that was meant to be 17 hours turned into 21 due to breaking down twice. The birght side of this breaking down is that the second time it broke down it was at sunrise over the outback--brilliant. Also, on the way here we stopped in Blackall for a wee bit (it's a nearby town) where one of my friend's works. So I was able to catch up with him for a bit.
After getting in, met a the Dutch couple working here, as well as Sharon and one of her boys. Later on in the evening I met everyone ellse. Kelsey, a canadian leaving soon, a french guy named William, a couple of neighbors and Mick, Sharon's husband as well as their other son. Some interesting things had happened the night before that I was immediately introduced to. That pretty much provided masses of entertainment until bed around midnight.
Feb 10--Work Day 1
I'm headed to work the first time today! I saw the place yesterday and it's quite cute. Today is supposed ot be very slow so i'll work for a bit over lunch and then work the evening shift with Anna, the dutch girl and Kelsey, the Canadian. Here we go!
Feb 16--One week done
I've officially done one week of work. it's really not too bad. There are still some dishes I haven't made, but most are pretty esy to remember once you've done them once. I've been working with the Dutch guy who is actually a legit chef, so he does most the cooking anyway while I do drinks, fries, shakes, and whatever little things he doesn't have time for haha.
At first I was a bit skeptical of the place i was walking into. But, the family is nice and fun and i'm basically living on a tiny ranch. They have 40 horses, even though only 6 of them stay on the property. The couple who own the place did rodeos for years. Everyday after work (i worked mornings all week) i've gone out nd fed and watered the horses. Honestly, it's the best. I miss horses and riding. If nothing else, I a beyond happy with that. I've even gotten to ride a couple times! although i'm hoping to go for a longer ride sometime soon. Everyday is work for 7-8 hours and then home, take care of the animals and sit and chat/drink for the rest of the evening with dinner thrown somewhere in there. Being that its a small town, the family has been good about trying to take us to see new things (sheep shearing, killing, hunting wild boars etc) and people are always over visiting so we've gotten to know a fair few people. But, also becaue it is a small town, gossip runs awry sometimes. That's a bit unfortunate, but i think part of the deal when you live somewhere you know everyone.
my favorite horse McGee=]
baby chicks in their container on the table. Just hatched a few days ago!=]
Costa! The Great Dane=] Such a momma's boy.
Feb 23--Random
Ah so I missed a few days here and there, but here's the rundown of things that have happened.
1. Summer is their rany season here but they had gotten close to no rain. Last weeek it rained almost everyday and then one night it rained 3 inches in two hours. INSANE. (especially because there's a leak in the roof of my caravan--thank God for buckets.
2. The guys killed a lamb the other week and we've been having different types of lamb for dinner the past few days.--including a kidney and liver stew a few nights ago.
3.Watched beef and pork sausages get made at home the other day. It's a weird process involving taking the lining of guts from a sheep and saltingg it so it stays good, filling it with water and letting it sit a while to stretch it out again, then putting it over a small tube which then spits out the meat into it until the lining breaks and you tie it all up. Sounds disgusting, but the sausages were really good.
4. This isn't really a one time thing but we've been watching a lot of old cowboy movies becausue the faily loves them
5. Met an American girl from Kansas and her Irish bloke. They've come in the shop a few times and even left tips for my friend and I. The other night they told my boss to let me off work to have a beer with them haha like them so much=] There's also a Scottish bartender---who hates Aberdeen and Edinburgh and a German backpacker who hooked up with a guy from Barcaldine and just got back from 6 months in Germany with him. It's insane how many backpackers and foreigners are in such a small town.
6. Oh the rain flooded the creek--which means it also flooded onto the road and people passing through have been stuck here for a few days now. People are getting restless. The kids however had a ball swimming in the muddy water haha=]
7. FLIES SUCK. seriously. I do not understand why they come at you with such reckless abandon. In other countries you swat them they go away, here they keep coming until you go crazy. PERSISTENT. It's insane.
8. I've decided some of my favorite things about being here has been a) being able to run when it's cool because everywhere is flat so i don't tire out as easily--success! and b) having enough time every morning to do a proper quiet time. I haven't been able to goo to church here which is sad, but at least being able to pray and chat with God a bit everyday has been seriously making my days so much better. I forget how much easier it is to do quiet times when you have a schedule. I love it. I realize i'm repeating myself, but I am generally always shocked at what a difference a morning devotional can make in the rest of my day.
9. I'll make a final list of random things about australia at some point so you can read them all at once but here's a few others i've picked up on:
--butter breaad ALWAYS (sandwiches must have butter)
--they love beetroot on any burger or sandwich
--fries are like macca's fries, but chips are the thick fries you get
--chips are also potato chips (it's confusing)
--people LOVE sweet chilli sauce
--I have heard "Fair dinkum" and "my oath!" a gajillion times out here. Hilarious.
March 5
ughh feeling sick to my stomach today--no bueno. But, life hs been good. cafe is starting to pick up because the tourist season is slowly starting. I've been able to write a couple blog posts out for the future. So, it will be good to get those going. And, i'm headed to Blackall this Saturday for a mud run with a friend from Sydney and some of his friends. So that should be interesting.
I've been better about running since i've been here. Part of this is because the two boys want to come on runs with me so they have been making sure I go whether i want to or not. Still only doing about 2 miles max, but still better than the no miles i was doing before. Plus, today is Ash Wednesday and so I decided to give up sweets so i can get back in shape again. I tell you what, Australia destroys your waistline hahah.
The Dutch guy and I had an awesome time working today. I decided this is because we just know our roles in the cafe. He does all the grilling and meats for the most part, and I get everything else prepared---shakes, fries, coffees, and put the hamburger buns on the toaster. I also will help with putting everything on the burgers and whatnot so he can just put the meat on when he's done, if he doesn't have time to do that himself. Then we kind of split it from there. I'll prepare plates, take orders it works perfectly. We were laughing that in the busy lunch rush we had today we probably only said like 10 words to eachother. It's nice to be super efficient at that. But he and his gf are leaving soon, so that will be sad. Hopefully the new workers will be as good!
Outback life LOLZ.
March 11--TOUGH MUDDER RECAP
This past weekend I got to go to Blackall to do like a mini version of a tough mudder. It was AWESOME. Okay, to be honest, I was not in my best form due to a rather ridiculous night on Friday. So, that was unfortunate. But, I still had an awesome time and am definitely looking to do a real one at some point in the future--perhaps after a bit more training haaha. It was definitely tougher than i thought it would be. Other than that it was a great weekend of meeting new people and getting to see where my friend lives and works at the moment. So, totally worth it. Oh! And, while I had to ride a bus the hour to Blackall one of the gents on our team is from Barcy so he was able to give me a lift home instead of me waking up at 6am to catch a bus back. Again, SUCCESS.
BEFORE.
AFTER.
Otherwise, i'm realizing i have been hee for one month which is cool and weird at the same time. I'm hitting this odd inbetween where life has such routine to it that it feels very normal. It's nice to have that, but on rougher days I remember that I came here to travel and I can get really frustrated with the fact that I have to stick somewhere and keep working to make enough money to continue on. BUT, having said that, I knew this was part of the deal when I came here. So now i'm just praying I can make enough for the next leg of my journey. Whether that be here or a job elsewhere. We shall see!
ALSO SIDENOTE:
For everyone who has been awesome in their attempts to contact or skype me I apologize for extremely late or never returned calls/messages! I only get wifi about every other day or so, and not at all on the weekends so my skype sessions will have to stop until i leave Barcy. Sorry about that! LOVE YOU ALL MUCHO GRANDE!=]
