Ned Kelly and Nature Watch

My local pub is an old hide out of Ned Kellys!
Ned Kelly is a famous Australian outlaw from the 1800's who fought the law!
"Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded killer, while others consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class."
At one point, he was the most wanted man in Australia. It was a time when the Irish were persecuted by the Anglo Australians and after a number of unfair arrests and time in prison, Ned rebelled! To summarise, there was a shoot out at one point and he shot the officers. He became a wanted man on the run. 
But he had a lot of sympathisers who supported his cause and would let him hide out in their homes and pubs. 
And The Vine, situated about 400 yards down the road, was a sympathiser! I went in on Saturday and they showed me the basement where he would hang out with the Kelly gang.

Proof!

The Vine: Room downstairs where Ned Kelly would drink

His 'Wanted' poster

Lovely Luisa by the hide out piano

Other discoveries: It's been insanely hot up here in North East Victoria. We were up to 36 degrees yesterday and it's heading that way again for Thursday. Hot weather means the bugs get bigger. I experienced the 'European' wasp yesterday. It was the size of my index finger. I screamed and ran. 
Another time I did this was today when I met a blue tongue lizard. 

And Australian TV and ads are still atrocious. 

Caravan Clubbing in Wangaratta

Well, things have changed here in the fight for my 2^nd Year Visa. Obama has been re-elected and I now live on a caravan park in North East Victoria, an hour away from the New South Wales border, three hours from Melbourne. Two totally connected events.

I am working for a vine grafting company in the King Valley, living in Wangaratta. The locals tell me to just refer to it as ‘Wang’, but that has too many phallic connotations and I just can’t do it.

Prospects Sheep Farm

I loved the sheep breeding farm, but they had another wwoofer arriving so I had to move on. I became rather attached to the two little lambs I had to bottle feed. I just got this overwhelming sense of joy whenever I had to see them and they made me laugh. Now this could be a symptom of working alone all day for 4 weeks straight, but they just brought a highlight to my day. I even named them after my friends.

But sadly, I had to leave them. I still miss them, but understand now that they aren't 7 days old any more, are probably big, burly and mental. 

Feeding time!

Little Clodagh and James

Clodagh gets her head stuck..

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat lamb again though.

Cider Farm

Anyway, my next farm was a cider farm in Daylesford.

I want to be honest about that experience, but I don’t want to drag too much negativity into my blog. So, I have completed the following summary:

Rollin' in my ride, 'Cider 2'

This dog might look peaceful, but that is not always the case..

Stable and Arena, where I stayed

Amusing/ Positive points:

•      There were two other wwoofers on the farm – company at last! We laughed as we worked and plan to catch up again once I've finished the farming.
•        My accommodation was a room upstairs in the stables! Like Jesus! When you look out the bedroom window, you looked straight onto the arena. I have been a party in a similar (well, to be honest, nicer) set up in The Netherlands, but didn't realise it was common practice.
•        I got to drive a huge 1987 bronze Mercedes Benz, complete with sheep skin seat covers. The number plate was ‘Cider 2’. It was right out of ‘Only Fools and Horses’.

Not so amusing points/ discoveries:

•        If people are not happy and open to meeting new people, they should not be woofing hosts. Some people are just plain nuts.
•        Unhappy horses bang their heads and hooves against the walls at night. Constantly. This echoes and wakes you up when you have a room in a stable.
•        I hate St Bernard Dogs. The colossal size, conjunctivitis, drool, the leaning, the smell. Living with two plus two smaller dogs was a… let’s just say a ‘tricky’ experience.

Anne-Marie and Bonny in Melbourne

I did manage to escape to the city a few times while I was there for birthdays and a visitor from England! A good friend of mine from back home came to visit and we spent 2 glorious days in the city, eating by the river and checking out the sites. She recently had a baby who is absolutely gorgeous. I felt like I’d almost lost a vital organ when I had to leave them and return to the cider farm.

Anne-Marie, Bonny and Me at Flinders Street Station

Me and Bonny!

Anne Marie and Bonny, Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Well, I stayed for nearly 3 weeks and did have some visitors and good laughs, but it was getting to a point where I felt I’d been there long enough. Luckily my fellow wwoofer Frank had a number for someone who was looking for people to work on a vineyard. So here I am!

Milawa

I work in Milawa, a tiny village in the gourmet King Valley region.

At first I was staying in the caravan park there. As it is a vineyard region, all the cabins are named after wines. I was in ‘Moscato’ (a wine that has become a regular tipple in the last year!), next door to ‘Merlot’ and ‘Cienna’. ‘Chardonnay Drive’ is just down the road!

Milawa is gorgeous, with rolling hills and Mount Buffalo as a distant backdrop. At night, as we are so far away from any town, the night sky is bright and twinkling as the stars are so vivid. Everyone is friendly and open their arms to help you. Most of them are over 60, but that’s fine! I’ve shared pizza with some of the residents at the caravan park and had a great old laugh.

Cross Roads at Milawa

My cabin in Milawa, 'Moscato'

It is quite remote though. There are no horses so you can’t even call it a one-horse town. On recommendation from a few people, I am now living in a caravan park in the local town, Wangaratta. I guess the only experience I've ever had of people living in caravan parks was from ‘Home and Away’. I didn't realise it was actually a popular Australian accommodation option. While I've spotted a few mullets, so far there have been no ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’. And I haven't had a sniff of the infamous 'Caravan Club' that Jay from 'The Inbetweeners' boasts about. Fingers crossed though, I still have 4 weeks left..  

Wangaratta is a simple but nice town. The whole region is just full of good wine and food. Myself and a Tasmanian couple working for the company checked out the local pub on Saturday night. We chatted to the locals, played some bingo game called Keno and chatted to a rather hairy man called Daniel who would rather spend his money on beer than get his hair cut.

My cabin was a bit grotty when I first rocked up, but it’s now more like home as I've decorated the walls with prints, photos and fairy lights. I am cooking loads of nice dinners and and listening to really interesting podcasts. It might be that I can see the end in sight and my next stop is time off for Christmas, but I am enjoying myself here.

My job is working in the owners garage and cutting buds off vine branches, a vital part in the vine grafting operation. It is repetitive work, but I work with a delightful woman called Jill (co-owner) and a boxer called Samson. He is a 10 month old puppy who likes to eat anything he can find.

As we work, we listen to the radio and whatever CDs she can find in the house, ranging from the Mama Mia soundtrack, Linkin Park, Susan Boyle, Nirvana Unplugged and a collection of recordings from Gregorian Monks covering New Order.

Myself and Samson at work

Yesterday Jill came back from running errands in town with a large great rock. But it wasn’t a rock, it was a tortoise she had found in the road that was going to be hit by a truck if he wasn’t rescued soon. So we put him in a basin, resting high on a tractor front so he was out of Sams way (like I said, I work in a garage and it is crammed full of stuff!). We heard some Tupperware fall over sometime later but thought nothing of it.

It wasn’t Tupperware though, the tortoise had woken up and attempted to walk home. Not realising he was on a tractor. We found him 10 mins after his fall on his back.

At this point, I had to Google, ‘How to check a tortoise is alive’. Works out, you just need to poke the feet and if they wiggle, he’s alive. Thankfully the feet wiggled and on the way home from work, we released him back into the river.

Rescued Tommy the tortoise

Samson the 10 month old boxer puppy, chewing a dog shaped slipper known as 'Grandma'

Marry that with a frog that Sam found (and was about to eat) and a camel that lives in a field on the drive home, my ‘Australia Nature Watch’ is alive and kicking!

So I have been away from Manchester for almost 11 months. I really am getting more pangs of home sickness but it's only 2 years of my life so I am pursuing life in Australia. I need the sunshine!

It’s nearly Christmas, which hasn't hit home yet as it is 28 degrees. I heard ‘Last Christmas’ in the supermarket the other day and it felt wrong. WRONG. But I’ll embrace it. I am going to Sydney to spend Christmas with Tor, a friend from Manchester and I can’t bloody wait. At some point I am going to sit on a beach and sing ‘Fairy-tale of New York’ with a Santa hat on and it will be brilliant. Maybe slightly drunk, but brilliant.

That’s all for now. One more month and I’ll have submitted my visa application.. In the meantime, if anyone fancies a day in ‘Wang’ *coughs*, let me know! 

Wwoofing around Victoria

TODAY I WAS ATTACKED BY A CHICKEN! I was just checking the coop by the stables to see if they had any pellets left and suddenly I felt this feathery thing throwing itself at my back. I screamed turned around and went to scare it with my leg (I had no other weaponry available at the time) and he went to attack my leg. Cheeky basterd. I then grabbed a stick and the battle was on! He attacked the stick! I just about batted him away with enough time to get food into the feeder, but lo and behold, once I was out of sight, the sheep all came and ate it up. In your face my feathery nemesis! I fed you again and I may be obliged to feed you, but this war isn't over..

Thing is, I had been warned about grumpy chook. The owners actually leave his pen open in case a fox fancies coming along and eating him, which initially made me feel sorry for him, but my sympathy has now gone.

Mad Basterd Chickens

Why am I surrounded by livestock? In order to get my 2^nd Year Visa in Australia, I have to complete 88 day of specific work in a designated rural area. So, I ‘wwoof’.

‘Wwoof’, you ask? Well, I’m glad you asked!

I am a Willing Worker On an Organic Farm. Or, to abbreviate, a ‘wwoofer’.

It is an organisation that was started in England that is all about exchange – “WWOOF is a series of host properties you can visit and exchange your culture while volunteering to work for your food and accommodation”.

I work 7-8 hours a day, I stay with genuine Aussie farmers, learn about agriculture and the work qualifies towards my 2^nd Year Visa. Everyone’s a winner! It’s a really great way to get out of the city and really see the country.

Wirreanda Farm

The amount of time you spend on each farm varies, but so far I am doing about 2 weeks per farm. The plan is to ‘farm hop’ my way around Victoria so that I can see more of the state and meet more people.

I am currently about 1hr North East of Melbourne. The first farm I worked on was near Woodend, owned by Alice and Bruce.

Wirreanda Farm House - used to be the local primary school

Bruce is a fantastic photographer and Alice is a life coach who specialises in empathy and helping people to understand their passions and paths in life.

Bruce was an interesting character. Bear in mind, their farm was my first wwoofing experience. I arrived to the unknown (Woodend) and as he picked me up from the station, he told me we were off to the local supermarket to buy a chicken so we could have a candle lit dinner.

I nervously laughed it off. He brought it up again. It was that awkward moment of ‘Is he being serious or do I just not get his sense of humour? Is this an Aussie thing? Is this a wwoofer thing and I just missed out that paragraph of the book?!’

But no, it’s just Bruces flirty sense of humour. Apart from a few awkward comments over the dinner table, (‘So, how many boyfriends have you had?’) it was fine and it was just traveller paranoia. That said, the time when we went Kangaroo spotting started a bit awkward when I walked to the ute and he was peeing in the front garden, ‘Sorry Lela! Mind you, it’s not like you haven’t seen a man’s c*ck before!’. *CRINGE*

Farmr Bruce in the ute, Kangaroo spotting

But I digress, they were such a lovely couple and we laughed lots. Their farm is very organic, the majority of what is eaten is from the veggie patch and it’s all very organic, with limited amounts of sugar and wheat. The farm was like ‘Little House on The Prairie’ meets Granny Donlon (minus the crankiness..!), meets my Aunt Phil and Uncle Derek in New Zealand, with a splash of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ for good measure. It was stunning, really peaceful.

Kitchen, Wirreanda

Making a salad from the veggie patch

..There were moments however, at night where my active imagination would start up. It was so dark once the sun went down, with no one around for at least half a kilometre. Walking to get firewood, I’d start wondering if I was in the beginning of a horror film. I’d been given a false sense of security and any moment I was going to be dragged to a barn where some farm yard crazies would all be wearing white sheets and sacrificing a chicken.

Anyway.. needless to say, that didn’t happen. Things I achieved include: Driving a ute, wielding a chainsaw, restoring the overgrown blackberry and raspberry greenhouse, building a bonfire, learning about the benefits of pine needles in plant growth, planting strawberries, mowing, mulching, weeding, harvesting.. it’s an endless list. And the crazy thing is (and I say this with earnest) is that I’m quite good at it.

Repairing the blackberry house.. half done..

Finished!

After two weeks, I moved onto Prospect farm, where I currently reside. It is a beautiful old estate farm, the 2^nd oldest building in the Kyneton Township. They breed pure East Fresian Sheep.

Prospects Farm House

My accommodation

To say the least, the farm life and work is very differently to Bruce and Alice. Nereda and Peter have 2 daughters, Izzy and Genvieve as well as loads of animals: Sheep, horses, chickens (‘chooks!’), cattle, 3 dogs and 2 cats. I wanted to learn more about working with animals and it’s been a great experience.

Before I came here, I wasn’t entirely sure was a ‘prolapsed uwe’ was. Sadly, I understand the definition. Where before I was hesitant going near dogs, I can now confidently hoist a dog (or lamb!) away if it’s being a pest.

The majority of my work is with the sheep - I feed lambs in the morning and help moving sheep to paddocks etc.

Lambs!

Chicks!

Nereda, John the horse masseuse and Mandy the pony

I can honestly say the lambs are insanely cute. A little bit stupid, but that makes them even cuter. We had 3 born this week and I had to hand feed two of them their milk today. While one had their bottle, the other was looking for an udder to drink from under my knee. As a ticklish person, it was hilarious.

New lambs!

I muck out the horses stables in the morning. The farm has three ponies and two horses, who all get a visit from the horse masseuse once a week (who knew?!). I can confirm, nothing has changed, horses still produce a large amount of shite.

I also work with the chickens and help with the veggie patch. The chickens, as you may gather, can be a bit problematic. Well… there was a slight issue when I collected the eggs the other day. One of the coops really needed to be cleaned and chicken poop is great for growing veggies, so I was gathering as much as I could when I found some eggs I’d failed to collect earlier. The chickens were going mental but I thought they were just arsey because I’d moved them to their outdoor area.

Unfortunately, the eggs I collected weren’t eggs for eating and I nearly killed 6 chicks who were due to hatch. I felt AWFUL.

But Nereda found the eggs on time and a day later four new chicks successfully hatched, so not all is lost! I keep apologizing to the hens, but I don't think they’ll ever look at me quite the same.. Maybe it’s from watching too many Disney films as a child but I feel like they all swear about me whenever I approach the coops. I like to think they have Liverpodlian and Brummy accents.

As you might be able to gather, there is a LOT of time for thinking when you work in the countryside and only have the opportunity to get out about once a week. I’m grateful to anyone who calls with news of the outside world..

At first, all this space to think was driving me mad but I think I am getting used to it now *fingers crossed*. The last nine months have been a bit mental so the sudden slower pace was a shock to the system. Makes me appreciate the fact you should always keep in touch with people when they first encounter a new chapter away from the known as it can be a bit daunting.

So far I haven’t been on a farm with an extra wwoofers apart from myself, which makes me miss my friends even more, but they aren’t too far and I am allowed the odd day off. I returned for the Grand Final of the AFL (Aussie rules – LOVE IT!). I was in my local Aussie pub with my friend Sally. There was a sausage sizzle and some actor from Home & Away sat behind us. All I needed was a hat with corks, a fosters and a kangaroo and I could have been in a tourist brochure.

The family I am staying with are fantastic too. Nereda is straight to the point and we laugh lots, and myself and the daughters were singing ‘Glee’ the other night so I know we’re going to be friends (..even after I accidentally killed their chicks..).

There is other news from the months before farming, but I might write about that in smaller chunks in the next few weeks (I have enough bloody time!). I am going to try and blog more as there are very silly things that take place on a farm which the world needs to hear about!

Miss you all, send me your news!

Melbourne Living

Well, now I have a job and house and am all settled and that, I've mainly been working and then enjoying my weekends. So kind of how I was when I was living in Manchester, only I'm still in a new city so exploring is still exciting. So while I haven’t got a lot of news, there have been a few things to report about.

Melbourne skyline

Natural (non) Disasters

WE HAD AN EARTHQUAKE! At 8.54pm on 19^th June 2012. I was watching ‘Steel Magnolias’ and practising my southern drawl (“God Damn!”).

 The house vaguely shook. I thought it was either a train or my housemate Alex building more furniture for his room. But then I got a text telling me, "EARTHQUAKE!".

I can confirm, 30mins later, it had made absolutely no difference to my life what so ever. As it was so minor and the news (being trashy news) were exaggerating the reality, there were some very amusing comments on twitter, such as:

-       “My thoughts go out to the Melbourne Jenga Society”

-       “My prayers go out to the shampoo bottles in the chemists”

-       “We need to organise a benefit concert – AC/DC can play, ‘Shook Me All Night Long’ #muppetfest”

New Home

My house is great. I am in a good area of Melbs called Clifton Hill. However, there is an anonymous animal who likes to jump around on the roof in morning, making lot of noise. When I asked my housemates about it, she described it as ‘pigeons dancing’. It is more like the sound of a gorilla getting on its knee and doing a running slide across the roof, much like boys at a wedding.

The Scarlet Pimp

I have my own transport! I bought a red town bike with a basket on the front and 3 gears, affectionately known as the Scarlet Pimp. She’s had a service and I have started a weekly tradition of cycling to The Victoria Markets on a Sunday, buying food. I LOVE HER! When it gets a bit warmer, I’ll cycle to work.

The Scarlet Pimp

Trendy Fitzroy

Hosier Lane

Central CBD

Continuous Exploring

Lentils as Anything: This place is hippy dippy do – fantastic social set up. It is a volunteering cooperative where you donate how much you think your meal is worth.

Myself and another Brit living over here, Paul, decided to check it out on a Monday night. I felt like I would have red paint thrown on me for wearing a leather jacket and Paul felt a bit out of place wearing his corporate looking suit from work, but no one threw lentils at us and the food was great. It was in the old Abbotsford convent where I went to the outdoor cinema.

Mountain Goat Brewery: As described in the name, a local brewery that open up their warehouse as a bar on Wednesday and Friday. They put in old couches, serve pizza and play great music. Awesome spot. Awesome beer.

Der Raum: Unique award winning cocktail bar. It’s very Melbourne- there isn't a sign on the outside, the name of the bar is written in small lettering in the corner of a chalk board. You need to ring on the door to get in. The cocktails are pricey but well worth it. I had ‘The Cocktail Formerly Known as a Pina Colada’ with a lavender and vanilla base and a hot white chocolate mousse top. Clodagh ordered one with peppers known as ‘The Pharmacist’- it arrived on a tray with a glass medicine jar, a plastic syringe and a small white soluble tablet. You had to put the contents of the syringe into the jar and crush the tablet into it, then shake it altogether.

We downgraded for the next bar and went to the Great Britain, where they serve a beer call ‘Piss’ (..so you can drink a pint of piss) and there was a band playing music dressed entirely in silver. Myself and Brian wanted them to sing ‘Rocket Man’. Sadly they did not do requests.

Another cool gig venue is The Workers Club in Fitzroy. My colleague, the very talented Kathryn Rollins was paying her first Melbourne gig there a few weekends ago so myself and Helena from work went to support her. She has a very soulful voice. WOW!

We then continued onto Little Creatures Microbrewery dining hall. I’d recommend the pork belly. And the bright ale.

Starter cocktail 

The 'Pharmacy' cocktail that tasted like red pepper 

Happiness Now, if you were in Manchester and you wandered past a bar with the door slightly open and a red light upstairs, unless you were looking for a lady of the night for services rendered, you generally wouldn’t pop in. However, in Melbourne this means there is a bar (without the suggested lady of the night). It had won a number of awards for its design. Red, with lots of weird shaped things dangling from the ceiling, soviet shapes cut into the red wooden dividers and plush red cushions. Our friendly barman later informed us it was inspired by a womb. Yes, a womb.

Pellegrinis It’s knows as a ‘Melbourne Institution’ - The first espresso bar to open in the city in the 1950s. You walk in and it’s like you’ve stepped into the 1950s. The pictures on the wall, the rotund Italian staff, the décor – I felt like we were in somewhere Tony Soprano or Al Capone were meeting up with his boys to talk ‘business’. There are no menus or faff about customer service, you choose what you want from the board and it get’s shoved under your nose in less than 10 mins. I of course lapsed into ridiculous gangster accents within 5 mins.

The Corner Hotel - Band of Skulls were in Melbourne a few weeks ago and I booked the tickets to see them ages ago. I actually thought they were someone else when I initially booked, but I love them now. The venue is another ‘Melbourne Institution’, quite small with great acoustics (latter phrase shows that 5 years of hanging out with sound engineers pays off).

NGV Iain Potter Centre – It took me long enough but I finally got around to doing one of my favourite things: checking out the art gallery. The National Gallery of Victoria has beautiful Aboriginal contemporary art. Each piece has a description about the origins of the painting from the Aboriginal culture and it is fascinating.

Aboriginal Art, NGV 

Aboriginal Art, NGV

Ozzy Rules Matches (“AFL! AFL!”)

I have been to 2 Ozzy Rules (AFL) matches!

The first was just the final 2 quarters of Essenden vs. Richmond Tigers at the MCG stadium, which is one of the main stadiums in Melbourne where the game is played.

We managed to blag our way in! Although I didn’t really understand what was going on, the atmosphere was electric and I really enjoyed it.

MCG, Essendon vs Richmond Tigers

St Kilda vs Collingwood

Last night I went to St Kilda vs. Collingwood with my friends George and Mark, who are both newbies to Melbourne. We had great seats in the Collingwood members area and I made sure to check the rules of the game this time. It was cracking and hearing the fans shout insults had us in stiches. Far too graphic for me to put in my blog, but suffice to say some of them were not very ladylike or child friendly.

According to Sally, James and a few others I am supposed to be a Carlton fan, which I am well up for, but have yet to see them in action live.

The St Kilda Short Film Festival is an annual festival of both local and international short films. It was set in this gorgeous old fashioned art deco theatre called ‘The Astor’. I went to the comedy section on a Friday night  and laughed my arse off. There was a film about a possessive teddy bear, a corrupt phallic shaped priest, aliens and that guy from ‘The Castle’.

Sunday Roast

The hunt for a Sunday Roast in Melbourne is on. The first place I attempted was with Paul and two of his friends- we went to The Commoner in Fitzroy. It was gorgeous food, but just wasn’t the meaty too-much-food-on-your-plate Sunday dinner that we were seeking. There is pub grub at The Quiet Man in Flemington (where they serve stew in a bread bowl – boom!). While it was tasty, it isn’t a Sunday roast. The hunt goes on.. Apparently they do Yorkshire puddings on a Sunday at the Meat Market on the river, but I have yet to try it out..

The hunt for a Sunday roast with Cat

Vietnamese in Richmond

Other culinary delights that Melbourne has to offer include Vietnamese food on Victoria Road. Every shop for the first kilometre or so sells Vietnamese food, clothing and various bits and bobs. It’s great to snoop on a Saturday afternoon. There are these amazing French Vietnamese inspired bakeries, Pho (very tasty soup) and Vietnamese coffee, which is very strong, but tastes a bit like tiramisu in a shot. I felt high as kite afterwards and wanted to do handstands and cartwheels down the street. I can’t do handstands or cartwheels (yeah, I was that weird kid in the playground with very little gymnastic coordination) so that would have been tricky.

Vietnamese Coffee in Richond

Cat Dillon comes to stay

The lovely Cat (who I know from being on stage with in Manchester - *Jazz Hands!*) was over from Sydney for the bank holiday weekend. I was officially broken after she left.

What a weekend! She arrived and after a confusing car journey, fish and chips we found ourselves in 303 Bar in Northcote watching a Balkan brass band. This then turned into a night of live music at The Rainbow bar and then dancing to The Smiths at The Rochester (a bit like South in Mancunia).

Cat on AC/DC Lane

Cat makes me laugh non stop. We talk utter gibberish with each other and it’s exactly what you need. She has this great energy! We explored the city on the Circle Line tram, an old wooden tram that does – yes, a CIRCLE of the city. There were drinks in the bar that is set in the middle of the Yarra river, gin in Cookies, dinner at Dumplings Bitch and a lot of quotes from ‘Gavin and Stacey’.

Cat and me, with a picture of Bex, who would usually explore cities with us but is back in Manc with a baby!

Me and Cat by the Yarra River

 We were supposed to finish off the weekend with a trip to buy cheese at the market, a Sunday dinner and a film. Well, that plan changed drastically when we went off for dinner in ‘The Quiet Man’. A group of us were having a few drinks, which then turned to a few more drinks when we met up with James and his mates. As we are on the other side of the world, the matches were on a 1.00am and 4.00am. We went bar jumping around some of Melbournes saddest casinos and Irish pubs (Note: there is NOTHING golden about 'The Golden Nugget Casino') – laughing all the way.

Name Game at The Quiet Man

Name Game with Clodagh and Cat

Myself and Cat finally arrived home at 8am the next morning and drunkenly ate all the cheese we had bought at the market. ALL of it. I awoke to a pile of crumbs in the middle of the floor in my room. It was a very amusing night..

Christmas in July

So, at home in the Northern Hemisphere, once our 3 week summer is over and the nights start getting darker and colder, you get the sparkle in the air of festivities. That autumn to winter period means Bonfire night, Halloween, Christmas and New Year.

 In the Southern Hemisphere, not so much. It gets cold, and on some occasions you can sit outside by an outdoor heater, but there’s no Christmas lights, mince pies or German Markets. You don’t have umpteen work parties with mistletoe and 50 year old Barry from the finance department dancing to ‘My Humps’ with gusto.

So, to try and add a bit of  northern hemisphere normality to the cold nights, a tradition of ‘Christmas In July’ has emerged in Australia.

Paul, me and Clodagh

Feast!

Home made Christmas Crackers

Sharon & Ritchie

James and his cauliflower puree

I organised one last weekend. 15 people came by with a dish and we enjoyed the delights of Christmas music, Christmas jumpers, Kris Cringle (for under $5 – there were some gems!) crackers, pigs in blankets, gorgeous turkey, roast potatoes, roast beef, sprouts, Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower puree, brownies…

Plating up

Kris Kringle

Tashtastic

Tashtastic

Balloon animals. It started innocently..

 

Great shot!

My angel of a house mate who helped me clear up!

There was a plate and fork shortage but it’s amazing how people will make do when there’s food on the line. And after hearing my crazy neighbour scream down the phone the next morning for 30mins, I'm glad I didn’t go next door and ask to borrow any!

Highlights include (apart from the food..) fake tashes, rude balloon animals, charades, random phrases yelled from 50 Shades of Grey and festive jokes. For me it was perfect because the friends I adore I Melbourne, some of whom have never met all mixed so well and just totally made the night.

Work

My job as a program coordinator is getting busier and more exciting. The competition I am working on, Business Icon, had the first part of the program known as The 48-hour Challenge launched 3 weeks ago. University Students were given just 48 hours to raise as much money as possible for a micro finance charity called Opportunity International. Opportunity International want to assist people from developing communities worldwide by helping them break out of the poverty cycle through micro finance loans. They are an amazing charity and you should check out their hard work - http://www.opportunity.org.au/

Anyway, the students were given 48 hours, a fundraising page and nothing else but their networks, imagination and innovation. We had some amazing ideas from the students, and I could go on about them here, but the one that has stuck in my mind is a team called T Minus 48. They thought about the idea of poverty being trapped in a box. So, they locked themselves in a room like a box, put up a webcam and appealed to people online to donate money. The more money they received, the more things they were entitled to, for example, food! It was so creative- they started to entertain each other by acting out films, talking directly to the camera, doing the Macarena (!) and all sorts. Members of the team have gone through to the final in September that kicks of Tuesday 6^th.

Next Step

September is not far off. I have a lot to do in work in the next 6 weeks in preparation for the competition and in preparation for what I am going to do next.

I want to stay in Australia for another year. I love it here and despite a few  teething problems and missing my friends and family like crazy, I feel like there’s more I can get out of this experience before going back to England.

To be entitled to a 2^nd year visa in Australia, I have to complete 88 days of designated work in an agricultural area. This may mean leaving Melbourne, which I don’t really want to do, but needs must and it’s something I wouldn’t have thought of dong anyway, so I am going to embrace the challenge! Who knows, this time in 4 months I could be a total expert in the art of asparagus farming?! I am looking at going to north Victoria, rural Western Australia or Tasmania. Or anywhere that will take me and let me complete 3 months work so I can stay!

There are a few things before I become a farm hand though – I am off down the Great Ocean Road with Clodagh (“Girls on tour! Girls on tour!”). The current plan is to drive down the coast over 2 – 3 days, spend a night in Adelaide and fly back to Melbourne the next day. We are still debating getting a camper van or car. Can’t bloody wait!

Then the weekend after I am off to Sydney to catch up with all the great people I know there and welcome a good friend to Australia. Tor, who is a fellow Walk The Plank alumni, I moving out to Oz. While we worked together she would always be in the office to my left, and I would just turn my head and ‘vocalise’ to her about life. We’d sing cheesey 90’s tunes and generally have a ball. Not havng her to my left 5 days has had some serious withdrawal symptoms, but in 2 weeks we shall be reunited by the Opera House. Again, I can’t bloody wait!

So that’s my news from this side of the world for the moment. Maybe it’s being away from home, maybe it’s the fact that 30 is just around the corner, but sometimes it feels like this Australia is this place I have gone to experience every emotion – great and not so great. There are things I am missing at home: Ross and Bex have had a gorgeous baby boy, Dennis and Elke had a wee baby girl, my good friend Natalie’s wedding in September; she will be a beautiful bride and I am gutted to miss the wedding, but I am still loving it here and I can’t wait to see how the next few months pan out.