Today was mostly about getting things organized for my upcoming outback adventure. I woke up, went for a run in the park (there were Black Swans in the pond today!!! I watched them dip their long necks into the water looking for food. Sometimes, they'll dip half their body so I'll just see their bums and feet wagging above the surface). The cute pink Galah parrots were in their tree as well as the green parrots. Parrots make such shrieking squawking noises!
While I was on my way to the park for my run, I saw police officers milling around on the busy street. There was a minor fender bender car accident. Then I hear "screeeech....boom!". I turn around and see that another fender bender had just occurred right next to the first accident! I bet the driver was distracted by the first accident and braked, thus causing the car behind to run into it. The driver slowly kept driving to turn the corner. A policewoman chased after the car screaming, "Stop! Stop! You've got to Stop!". The driver signalled to the officer that she was just getting out of the way onto a quieter street. So the second car followed and they both stopped their cars in the side street. I continued onto the park for my run and when I came back, everyone was gone.
After my run, I did laundry and then went into the city to shop. Well, shop for essentials such as shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Because things will be more expensive in the outback.
I also went to the library to check my email (it's usually free but here I only paid $5.50 for a membership to use internet for 3 months). A woman who was also on the computers started to chat with me. People just do that here....I'm still trying to get used to strangers making conversation with me. It's not something that people do in bigger cities. But anyways, she seems to be looking for a job and is frustrated with her situation. She's British and she hates Perth. She's been here 25 years and has always disliked it. She had kids here and she really wants to move but feels stuck because she is so settled with a house and it's hard to move everything (Perth is soooo far from other cities....it's extrememly isolated from the rest of the country). So I asked her why she came. Her answer? For a man. She seems to regret it and she admits she should've checked it out first before agreeing. He's British too but wanted to come because there is so much land here compared to London and it's always sunny. I don't know if they're still together...I didn't dare ask. It doesn't seem so....she seemed bitter. I think she told me all this to warn me not to make the same mistake. I told her not to worry because I haven't moved here but only visiting. I like Perth for holiday but I don't see myself living here either. I told her she'd like Melbourne better.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Going to the Outback!!!!
This morning I received a call about a job in the outback! I am so excited I will be working at a pub in Mt. Magnet which is up in the middle of nowhere of Western Australia. This town of approximately 1000 was a significant gold mining town and there are many sheep stations nearby. It's 11hrs northeast of Perth by bus. My duties will include bar, kitchen, and cleaning. I hear the locals are friendly there and I am especially looking forward to a real Australian outback experience! Unfortunately, there will not be any cell phone service but hopefully there'll be internet.
I will be leaving in 3 days and the plan now is to work for 2 months. Of course, if I love it there then I will stay longer.
I just saw the movie Australia last night at the hostel (they were showing it for free) and it made me really want to go to the desert. Now I am! It is one long movie (3hrs) but a very good one....I recommend it. I tried watching it on the plane 3 weeks ago but fell asleep after 1 hr. I cannot watch long movies on flights. I'm glad I had another chance to see it. The next movie I want to see before I leave Perth is Samson and Delilah. It's an indie movie about 2 Aboriginal teenagers in the outback. I'm going to see that on Wednesday when it is cheapest.
I also ran in the park again. Yay.....I'm doing good with the exercise! Hopefully, I'll keep it up in the hot arid desert. Especially since I'll be eating poorly there (pub food). Then again, maybe I'll lose weight from all that working.
I'm soooo ready to work again! Yes!!!! I'm most excited about meeting the locals! :)
I will be leaving in 3 days and the plan now is to work for 2 months. Of course, if I love it there then I will stay longer.
I just saw the movie Australia last night at the hostel (they were showing it for free) and it made me really want to go to the desert. Now I am! It is one long movie (3hrs) but a very good one....I recommend it. I tried watching it on the plane 3 weeks ago but fell asleep after 1 hr. I cannot watch long movies on flights. I'm glad I had another chance to see it. The next movie I want to see before I leave Perth is Samson and Delilah. It's an indie movie about 2 Aboriginal teenagers in the outback. I'm going to see that on Wednesday when it is cheapest.
I also ran in the park again. Yay.....I'm doing good with the exercise! Hopefully, I'll keep it up in the hot arid desert. Especially since I'll be eating poorly there (pub food). Then again, maybe I'll lose weight from all that working.
I'm soooo ready to work again! Yes!!!! I'm most excited about meeting the locals! :)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Maccas Apple Pies
We call it Mickey D's, they call it Maccas. Whatever you call it, it's McDonald's. I got a $1 apple pie from McD's today and it was delicious! It's exactly the way I remembered it from childhood --- hot scrumptious apple cinnamon filling in a crispy deep fried outer crust. In today's health-conscious world, McD's pies in Canada are now baked and this greatly affects taste. (I don't know if they're baked in the US as well). The aussie apple pies are made with local Granny Smith apples cut into perfect little cubes. The crust is so bubbly in texture and crispy. I love crispy anything.
Running in the Park and the Group Mentality
I slept wonderfully last night since I had coffee-induced insomnia the previous night. It was so hard to wake up this morning but I managed to drag myself out of bed at around 10am. I didn't want to go for that run in the park but I forced myself. Once I stepped out into the bright sunny outdoors, my mood changed instantly. It was warm, sunny and not a cloud in the sky (Perth has the bluest cloudless skies I've ever seen). As I was running, I heard and saw birds around me. There are so many species and they are very colourful as well. There were parrots (red ones, green ones...) flying from one tree to the next as I ran along. It was as if they were running with me. Sometimes I will see Galahs...they are cute parrots with pink heads and grey bodies. They seem a bit dumb because when you approach them, they try to run away instead of flying off. But Galahs are soooo cute. It was weird seeing parrots flying free in the wild at first. I'm more used to it now but sometimes I still am taken aback by it all.
As I continued my run, I came across a row of narrow cages...like batting cages. They are cricket (the game, not the insect) practice cages!!! At the end of each one was a wicket too! (Those 3 little metal posts behind the batter). Further on, there was a huge footy field --- Australian Rules football has 4 posts at each end of the field (2 big ones in the middle and 2 smaller flanking the middle ones).
I've noticed from walking around that no matter where you are in the world or whichever city, people are all the same! I don't understand that "group" mentality. What is it about groups that make people so inconsiderate and unaware? They take up space on the sidewalk, walk slowly, and don't move out of the way when people are trying to pass. They also forget how to think independantly. When you pose a question to a group, they look at you blankly until one of them answers and the rest follow. Mathematically, the number of people in a group is inversely proportional to their total IQ level (ie. the more people, the dumber they get as a whole). My friend put it best when she quoted another friend of hers when she said that "the combined IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in that group". LOL
As I continued my run, I came across a row of narrow cages...like batting cages. They are cricket (the game, not the insect) practice cages!!! At the end of each one was a wicket too! (Those 3 little metal posts behind the batter). Further on, there was a huge footy field --- Australian Rules football has 4 posts at each end of the field (2 big ones in the middle and 2 smaller flanking the middle ones).
I've noticed from walking around that no matter where you are in the world or whichever city, people are all the same! I don't understand that "group" mentality. What is it about groups that make people so inconsiderate and unaware? They take up space on the sidewalk, walk slowly, and don't move out of the way when people are trying to pass. They also forget how to think independantly. When you pose a question to a group, they look at you blankly until one of them answers and the rest follow. Mathematically, the number of people in a group is inversely proportional to their total IQ level (ie. the more people, the dumber they get as a whole). My friend put it best when she quoted another friend of hers when she said that "the combined IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in that group". LOL
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tea (dinner) with a friend
On Monday May 4, I had a lovely time reading my book by the Swan River in the company of some ducks. Soon after I arrived, a group of brown ducks (which I've never seen before) landed and proceeded to munch on the grass around me. They stayed there the entire time and even napped when they got tired (birds sleep standing on one leg!).
Yesterday (May 5), I ran in the park and stretched in front of the peaceful pond. This pond has turtles, birds, ducks, Ibis (!!). I feel like I am in the middle of the country even though I am still in the city! It's so relaxing.....ahhhh. During the day, I wandered around the street mall area and made some funny observations. I love watching human psychology at work. There were 2 teenage girls wearing clothes way too tight for their bodies. Although both were tall and thin, they somehow managed to create major "muffin tops" from their too tight jeans. They also had on really tiny tight tank tops. I watched 2 male workers (in their 20's) turn their heads back to look at the girls. One of the guys sarcastically exclaimed under his breath, "surrrre....". Hahahaha.
In the evening, I met up with my friend Allison K. for supper! I was so happy to see her again before she flies back home. We went to an Irish Pub called Durty Nelly's and had Durty Burgers with chips (fries). We thought it would be fun to go there. Afterwards, we went to a cafe for dessert. Allison wanted to "share a dessert" so I agreed. Instead, she ordered 2 slices of the Tiramisu because what she meant was we were "sharing the cake" (not a slice). Sly one. I also had a flat white (espresso with cold milk).....boy, was that a mistake! I ended up not being able to go to sleep last night. I just laid in bed listening to my music. I must've fallen asleep early this morning because I woke up at 10am and I'm now quite tired.
Today is Wednesday, May 6 and I'm just taking it easy. I'm having a doggie connection day today. I passed an old man walkng his little dog this morning. The dog stopped to smell me and licked my leg before his owner pulled him away. Later on, a little white dog escaped his yard and followed me for a bit. I'm so tired from my coffee-induced insomnia last night. I think I'll go find a cheap secondhand bookstore since I'm almost finished reading my current book. I went into some bookstores yesterday and saw a Cantonese Phrasebook --- I could've used one of those when I was in HK!
Yesterday (May 5), I ran in the park and stretched in front of the peaceful pond. This pond has turtles, birds, ducks, Ibis (!!). I feel like I am in the middle of the country even though I am still in the city! It's so relaxing.....ahhhh. During the day, I wandered around the street mall area and made some funny observations. I love watching human psychology at work. There were 2 teenage girls wearing clothes way too tight for their bodies. Although both were tall and thin, they somehow managed to create major "muffin tops" from their too tight jeans. They also had on really tiny tight tank tops. I watched 2 male workers (in their 20's) turn their heads back to look at the girls. One of the guys sarcastically exclaimed under his breath, "surrrre....". Hahahaha.
In the evening, I met up with my friend Allison K. for supper! I was so happy to see her again before she flies back home. We went to an Irish Pub called Durty Nelly's and had Durty Burgers with chips (fries). We thought it would be fun to go there. Afterwards, we went to a cafe for dessert. Allison wanted to "share a dessert" so I agreed. Instead, she ordered 2 slices of the Tiramisu because what she meant was we were "sharing the cake" (not a slice). Sly one. I also had a flat white (espresso with cold milk).....boy, was that a mistake! I ended up not being able to go to sleep last night. I just laid in bed listening to my music. I must've fallen asleep early this morning because I woke up at 10am and I'm now quite tired.
Today is Wednesday, May 6 and I'm just taking it easy. I'm having a doggie connection day today. I passed an old man walkng his little dog this morning. The dog stopped to smell me and licked my leg before his owner pulled him away. Later on, a little white dog escaped his yard and followed me for a bit. I'm so tired from my coffee-induced insomnia last night. I think I'll go find a cheap secondhand bookstore since I'm almost finished reading my current book. I went into some bookstores yesterday and saw a Cantonese Phrasebook --- I could've used one of those when I was in HK!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Waiting for that call and relaxing
Yay! I've managed to catch up on my blog! Now I've updated up to the point where I can start being more detailed about my day-to-day activities.
So today is Monday (May 4) and I went to the job agency in the morning. The guy from the Wiluna pub never called back and the agency doesn't think he'll get anyone for the amount of time he requested. I'm relieved because I didn't want to go there. All I can do now is wait for another vacancy to pop up -- which can be today or tomorrow or the day after. The agency will let me know when they get a call. Hopefully, it will be before I have to decide whether to extend my hostel stay by a week or not (you get special prices by the week).
I'm so happy that I've found a way to feed myself frugally. Last night, I bought an avocado, fresh bread bun and a tomato for only $2! Using those items, I made a sandwich with the can of tuna I've been lugging around for months. I like to eat sandwiches for supper at the hostel instead of cooking (the hostel kitchens get sooo crowded). Plus, I don't have to clean as much. I don't like crowded areas. Other times, I will eat out. I've found a place that sells sushi rolls for $2 each in the evenings and an asian place that sells chicken and rice or noodles or whatever else combos for only $4 at good-sized portions. And not to forget the 50 cent soft serve ice cream cones at McD's. This is also a good way for me to eat less and lose the weight I've gained in Hong Kong!
I'm going to spend the rest of my day lying on the grass by the Swan River reading a book. The weather is spectacular today, as always! :)
So today is Monday (May 4) and I went to the job agency in the morning. The guy from the Wiluna pub never called back and the agency doesn't think he'll get anyone for the amount of time he requested. I'm relieved because I didn't want to go there. All I can do now is wait for another vacancy to pop up -- which can be today or tomorrow or the day after. The agency will let me know when they get a call. Hopefully, it will be before I have to decide whether to extend my hostel stay by a week or not (you get special prices by the week).
I'm so happy that I've found a way to feed myself frugally. Last night, I bought an avocado, fresh bread bun and a tomato for only $2! Using those items, I made a sandwich with the can of tuna I've been lugging around for months. I like to eat sandwiches for supper at the hostel instead of cooking (the hostel kitchens get sooo crowded). Plus, I don't have to clean as much. I don't like crowded areas. Other times, I will eat out. I've found a place that sells sushi rolls for $2 each in the evenings and an asian place that sells chicken and rice or noodles or whatever else combos for only $4 at good-sized portions. And not to forget the 50 cent soft serve ice cream cones at McD's. This is also a good way for me to eat less and lose the weight I've gained in Hong Kong!
I'm going to spend the rest of my day lying on the grass by the Swan River reading a book. The weather is spectacular today, as always! :)
Back in beautiful Oz, job hunting and enjoying Perth!
APRIL 27 - MAY 3
Alice and I caught the overnight flight back to Australia together -- to Perth. April 27 is a public holiday Monday (ANZAC day, which is like Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day). Once in Perth, we went our separate ways -- Alice driving south to her town of Kojonup and me onto Perth itself. Western Australia (WA) is on the west coast of Oz and less populated than the east. Perth is definitely slower in pace and people are extremely friendly. I was surprised at how very multicultural it is here too. It's great, I love Perth! The weather is beautiful, sunny, warm, bright open blue skies, abundant parks within walking distance, etc.
Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the world. It is so remote that Singapore and Indonesia are closer than Sydney or Melbourne! Once outside of Perth, there is vast emptiness and desert. There are towns scattered about this big state of Western Australia (WA takes up almost half of the continent), but they are far apart from each other.
The hostel I'm staying at is north of the city in the district of Leederville. There is a free bus that goes from the hostel to the CBD (Central Business District). The first 3 nights, I was in a triple room (3 beds) and I didn't have any roomates. I had a tv though! I had booked a 5-bed room but since there are so many unemployed backpackers, people are just staying and rooms are quite rare. So I was bumped up....not complaining. Then I extended my stay for 1 more week and all I could get was a 2-bed. That's ok...I now have 1 roomate from Italy and there is a tv (even though reception sucks).
On Tuesday (April 28), I went to the job placement agency to look for a country pub job. There are a lot of people looking and they had us put our names down on a list. Most people are looking for work in the city or farm jobs such as fruit picking. I'm interested in being a barmaid at a pub in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
I have been running in the park and eating quite well (and less). It feels good to be active again. I've also been walking a lot by going into the city and King's Park (which is larger than NYC's Central Park). King's Park is like walking into a forest and being surrounded by exotic birds chirping...plus, there are not too many people. Peth is awesome for it's perfect mix of real nature and city.
Two days later on Thursday (April 30), I got a call at 4:50pm from the job agency. There was a vacancy at a pub in northern WA which was 2 hrs away by plane. The town is Wiluna and it is literally in the outback....in the desert....isolated middle of nowhere. I ran to the office to find out more and talked to the owner on the phone. He wanted someone to stay 4 months but I could only promise 2 months at this time. He said he'd get back to us but he never did. That is fine with me because I am not too keen on this place anyhow.
On Saturday (May 2), I took the train to Fremantle. This is a town 30 min south of Perth and they have markets on the weekends. It was an ok market....I preferred Salamanca Market in Hobart (Tasmania). This market was smaller and it didn't have much handmade local stuff. There was also a lot of chinese merchants selling asian knick knacks. I'm not interested in that...I go to markets to buy local items!!!
On Sunday (May 3), I met up with Allison K. for brekkie! She arrived the night before and will be here for a few days. I wwoofed at her place in NSW when I first got to Oz. It was so nice to have a visitor and to catch up! It was nice to have an aussie breakfast again. I've been staying away from chinese food ever since I came back from Hong Kong.
Alice and I caught the overnight flight back to Australia together -- to Perth. April 27 is a public holiday Monday (ANZAC day, which is like Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day). Once in Perth, we went our separate ways -- Alice driving south to her town of Kojonup and me onto Perth itself. Western Australia (WA) is on the west coast of Oz and less populated than the east. Perth is definitely slower in pace and people are extremely friendly. I was surprised at how very multicultural it is here too. It's great, I love Perth! The weather is beautiful, sunny, warm, bright open blue skies, abundant parks within walking distance, etc.
Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the world. It is so remote that Singapore and Indonesia are closer than Sydney or Melbourne! Once outside of Perth, there is vast emptiness and desert. There are towns scattered about this big state of Western Australia (WA takes up almost half of the continent), but they are far apart from each other.
The hostel I'm staying at is north of the city in the district of Leederville. There is a free bus that goes from the hostel to the CBD (Central Business District). The first 3 nights, I was in a triple room (3 beds) and I didn't have any roomates. I had a tv though! I had booked a 5-bed room but since there are so many unemployed backpackers, people are just staying and rooms are quite rare. So I was bumped up....not complaining. Then I extended my stay for 1 more week and all I could get was a 2-bed. That's ok...I now have 1 roomate from Italy and there is a tv (even though reception sucks).
On Tuesday (April 28), I went to the job placement agency to look for a country pub job. There are a lot of people looking and they had us put our names down on a list. Most people are looking for work in the city or farm jobs such as fruit picking. I'm interested in being a barmaid at a pub in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
I have been running in the park and eating quite well (and less). It feels good to be active again. I've also been walking a lot by going into the city and King's Park (which is larger than NYC's Central Park). King's Park is like walking into a forest and being surrounded by exotic birds chirping...plus, there are not too many people. Peth is awesome for it's perfect mix of real nature and city.
Two days later on Thursday (April 30), I got a call at 4:50pm from the job agency. There was a vacancy at a pub in northern WA which was 2 hrs away by plane. The town is Wiluna and it is literally in the outback....in the desert....isolated middle of nowhere. I ran to the office to find out more and talked to the owner on the phone. He wanted someone to stay 4 months but I could only promise 2 months at this time. He said he'd get back to us but he never did. That is fine with me because I am not too keen on this place anyhow.
On Saturday (May 2), I took the train to Fremantle. This is a town 30 min south of Perth and they have markets on the weekends. It was an ok market....I preferred Salamanca Market in Hobart (Tasmania). This market was smaller and it didn't have much handmade local stuff. There was also a lot of chinese merchants selling asian knick knacks. I'm not interested in that...I go to markets to buy local items!!!
On Sunday (May 3), I met up with Allison K. for brekkie! She arrived the night before and will be here for a few days. I wwoofed at her place in NSW when I first got to Oz. It was so nice to have a visitor and to catch up! It was nice to have an aussie breakfast again. I've been staying away from chinese food ever since I came back from Hong Kong.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Melbourne ---> Hong Kong
My one night in Melbourne, I was in a room with 2 girls and an obnoxious british guy. He got kicked out at 4am in the morning (security was present) and he made a lot of fuss when he was gathering his belongings. He had such a fould mouth. Apparently, he got kicked out for trying to sneak in one of his buddies into the hostel.
APRIL 13 - 26
I went to Hong Kong for 2 weeks where I met family I have never met and to also meet up with my cousin Alice and her parents who were also visiting. All we did was eat eat eat!!!! If you're not hungry, you still eat. I had a lot of exotic things and I tried all of it. I love trying new things. I had roast goose (which tastes like duck but meatier), duck tongue, packaged duck heart (which my uncle loves but it smells and tastes like wet cat food!), abalone....
We went to the markets in HK where you can haggle with them for a lower price. We also went to Shenzhen in China to shop and get ultra cheap massages for 2 hrs ($40 CDN incl tip)! Another day we went to Macau...the Las Vegas of Asia but not as in-your-face. I didn't gamble but I saw the sights and ate a lot of free food samples from the shops.
My cousins took me to Ocean Park (amusement park with Pandas...real ones), Big Buddha statue, etc. There was 1 day when I went off to explore on my own. I went to the Hong Kong Museum of Medicine where the eastern and western medicines are compared. I also saw Kung Fu in Kowloon park --- 2 hrs of kung fu demos by students and teachers.
HK was a huge culture shock for me. It is smoggy, busy, crowded, chaotic. I was surprised at how screwed you are if you don't know catonese. I speak another dialect of chinese and english. English is useless if you are outside of the tourist areas (where my family lives). It was hard to navigate because I cannot read the characters and not many people know english (or my dialect). It is easy to navigate by subway but on the bus you could be screwed because all the buildings look the same! I am also very surprised by the lack of english proficiency considering this was a british colony not long ago!
APRIL 13 - 26
I went to Hong Kong for 2 weeks where I met family I have never met and to also meet up with my cousin Alice and her parents who were also visiting. All we did was eat eat eat!!!! If you're not hungry, you still eat. I had a lot of exotic things and I tried all of it. I love trying new things. I had roast goose (which tastes like duck but meatier), duck tongue, packaged duck heart (which my uncle loves but it smells and tastes like wet cat food!), abalone....
We went to the markets in HK where you can haggle with them for a lower price. We also went to Shenzhen in China to shop and get ultra cheap massages for 2 hrs ($40 CDN incl tip)! Another day we went to Macau...the Las Vegas of Asia but not as in-your-face. I didn't gamble but I saw the sights and ate a lot of free food samples from the shops.
My cousins took me to Ocean Park (amusement park with Pandas...real ones), Big Buddha statue, etc. There was 1 day when I went off to explore on my own. I went to the Hong Kong Museum of Medicine where the eastern and western medicines are compared. I also saw Kung Fu in Kowloon park --- 2 hrs of kung fu demos by students and teachers.
HK was a huge culture shock for me. It is smoggy, busy, crowded, chaotic. I was surprised at how screwed you are if you don't know catonese. I speak another dialect of chinese and english. English is useless if you are outside of the tourist areas (where my family lives). It was hard to navigate because I cannot read the characters and not many people know english (or my dialect). It is easy to navigate by subway but on the bus you could be screwed because all the buildings look the same! I am also very surprised by the lack of english proficiency considering this was a british colony not long ago!
Tasmania -- wombats, dogs, goats
FEBRUARY 23 - APRIL 12
From the port of Melbourne, I took the Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Tasmania. This is a 7-8 hr trip which I took overnight. You can book cabins or a recliner. I did the recliner and it was very comfy! This ferry is like a cruise ship complete with restaurants, bars, shops, theatre, live music, etc! It was nice. Tasmania is an island off the southern coast of mainland Australia. This state is very close to the Antarctic so it can get cold in winters. Tassie is also not very populated and has a very hippie feel.
I landed in Devonport and stayed in the accomodation above an Irish Pub. The next day, I took a bus to Sheffield where I would wwoof with Bronwyn. She is an amazing 78 yr old with a lot of energy! Bronwyn takes care of orphaned/injured native animals. When I was there, she had a baby wombat named Sleepy (2 months old). He was such a sweetie pie! He was such a sook...always seeking attention. Just like a puppy. I got to bottle feed the little guy. Other wwoofers was another Canadian (Hillary from Saskatchewan) and 2 British guys (Ben and Myles). We helped Bronwyn collected huge rocks and build a wall around her gardens so that kids in wheelchairs can access them. Bronwyn does heritage activities with handicapped and non-handicapped kids so that she can integrate all the kids. Bronwyn is also a marriage celebrant and she wants to marry people on her beautiful property at the base of Mt Roland. There are lots of wildlife around her house (which used to be a chapel)....including paddymelons (type of wallaby which is like a small kangaroo). I sewed red velvet pillow cushion covers for sitting using her antique Singer sewing machine! We participated in Steamfest, which is a weekend long festival where everyone shows off their steam engines and antiques. Our stall is about heritage and Bronwyn had an old wagon, butter churner, cheese presser, grain grinder, etc to display. We showed kids how to makes their own billies (tin can with a wire handle for boiling water and carrying things). One night, we went down to a neighbours house (who had other wwoofers) and we drummed all night together. What fun that was!
After Sheffield, I went to Launceston. I saw the Cataract Gorge and did the Boag's Brewery Tour. I saw how beer was made and I got to sample them afterwards with various cheeses! From Launceston, I took the bus to Hobart (southern Tasmania) on March 13 (which was Friday the 13th and I found a nickel on the ground!).
Steve Irwin Sea Shepherd ship was docked at the Hobart harbour for a few days. This is the ship that just returned from the Antarctic where they stopped Japanese whalers from killing whales. They had a free tour of the ship and what they do. This group uses extreme means to stop people from killing animals. It is named after Steve Irwin because it is said that he supported this group's efforts and he had wanted to visit but never had the chance.
In Hobart, I ate Indonesian food for the first time (tofu and veggie curry over white rice with peanuts and bit of peanut sauce). I also went to Salamanca Market which has hundreds of stalls where local people sell their creations (food, art, etc).
I went to wwoof with Jacqueline and David in Margate (near Hobart). They are a lovely couple with 3 gorgeous Golden Retrievers named Piper (the piggy), Bella (the adventurous one), and Brookie (the old softie). I painted and cooked vegetarian stuff (and baked banana breads). Jacqueline bought me a jar of vegemite because I'm the only one who eats it (which I still have). They took me around to nearby towns and sightseeing. Jacqueline makes different types of bound books as a hobby and she taught me how to make my own photo album! I also picked blackberries off the side of the road and pears from the neighbour's trees. I preserved the pears in jars and Jackie showed me how to make blackberry jam. I saw tadpoles in their pond and I also did gardening. I fed the dogs and took them on their walks up the hill. I also bathed them. The best part was the end of the day when I would relax on the couch with the dogs.
After Margate, I went farther south to Wattle Grove (near Cygnet) to wwoof on a goat farm. I learned how to milk a goat (I milked Pia and Natalie) and make various types of cheeses! Everything I had was goat....goat milk, cheese, etc. It became too much. But what an amazing experience! When I wasn't milking or making cheese, I went to watch a movie (Slumdog Millionaire) in Hobart one night. Afterwards, while I was walking on the street (around midnight), a young naked guy was running towards me. Ok, he had on undies so he wasn't totally naked. But he was so embarrassed that as he passed me, he said "I apologize for my nakedness!". How funny!
After the goat farm, I went back to Jackie and David's (and the dogs!). Jackie and I went to lectures on climate change given at the university. It was very interesting...there are some things that I never thought about. My next stops were Melbourne (1 day) then Hong Kong!
From the port of Melbourne, I took the Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Tasmania. This is a 7-8 hr trip which I took overnight. You can book cabins or a recliner. I did the recliner and it was very comfy! This ferry is like a cruise ship complete with restaurants, bars, shops, theatre, live music, etc! It was nice. Tasmania is an island off the southern coast of mainland Australia. This state is very close to the Antarctic so it can get cold in winters. Tassie is also not very populated and has a very hippie feel.
I landed in Devonport and stayed in the accomodation above an Irish Pub. The next day, I took a bus to Sheffield where I would wwoof with Bronwyn. She is an amazing 78 yr old with a lot of energy! Bronwyn takes care of orphaned/injured native animals. When I was there, she had a baby wombat named Sleepy (2 months old). He was such a sweetie pie! He was such a sook...always seeking attention. Just like a puppy. I got to bottle feed the little guy. Other wwoofers was another Canadian (Hillary from Saskatchewan) and 2 British guys (Ben and Myles). We helped Bronwyn collected huge rocks and build a wall around her gardens so that kids in wheelchairs can access them. Bronwyn does heritage activities with handicapped and non-handicapped kids so that she can integrate all the kids. Bronwyn is also a marriage celebrant and she wants to marry people on her beautiful property at the base of Mt Roland. There are lots of wildlife around her house (which used to be a chapel)....including paddymelons (type of wallaby which is like a small kangaroo). I sewed red velvet pillow cushion covers for sitting using her antique Singer sewing machine! We participated in Steamfest, which is a weekend long festival where everyone shows off their steam engines and antiques. Our stall is about heritage and Bronwyn had an old wagon, butter churner, cheese presser, grain grinder, etc to display. We showed kids how to makes their own billies (tin can with a wire handle for boiling water and carrying things). One night, we went down to a neighbours house (who had other wwoofers) and we drummed all night together. What fun that was!
After Sheffield, I went to Launceston. I saw the Cataract Gorge and did the Boag's Brewery Tour. I saw how beer was made and I got to sample them afterwards with various cheeses! From Launceston, I took the bus to Hobart (southern Tasmania) on March 13 (which was Friday the 13th and I found a nickel on the ground!).
Steve Irwin Sea Shepherd ship was docked at the Hobart harbour for a few days. This is the ship that just returned from the Antarctic where they stopped Japanese whalers from killing whales. They had a free tour of the ship and what they do. This group uses extreme means to stop people from killing animals. It is named after Steve Irwin because it is said that he supported this group's efforts and he had wanted to visit but never had the chance.
In Hobart, I ate Indonesian food for the first time (tofu and veggie curry over white rice with peanuts and bit of peanut sauce). I also went to Salamanca Market which has hundreds of stalls where local people sell their creations (food, art, etc).
I went to wwoof with Jacqueline and David in Margate (near Hobart). They are a lovely couple with 3 gorgeous Golden Retrievers named Piper (the piggy), Bella (the adventurous one), and Brookie (the old softie). I painted and cooked vegetarian stuff (and baked banana breads). Jacqueline bought me a jar of vegemite because I'm the only one who eats it (which I still have). They took me around to nearby towns and sightseeing. Jacqueline makes different types of bound books as a hobby and she taught me how to make my own photo album! I also picked blackberries off the side of the road and pears from the neighbour's trees. I preserved the pears in jars and Jackie showed me how to make blackberry jam. I saw tadpoles in their pond and I also did gardening. I fed the dogs and took them on their walks up the hill. I also bathed them. The best part was the end of the day when I would relax on the couch with the dogs.
After Margate, I went farther south to Wattle Grove (near Cygnet) to wwoof on a goat farm. I learned how to milk a goat (I milked Pia and Natalie) and make various types of cheeses! Everything I had was goat....goat milk, cheese, etc. It became too much. But what an amazing experience! When I wasn't milking or making cheese, I went to watch a movie (Slumdog Millionaire) in Hobart one night. Afterwards, while I was walking on the street (around midnight), a young naked guy was running towards me. Ok, he had on undies so he wasn't totally naked. But he was so embarrassed that as he passed me, he said "I apologize for my nakedness!". How funny!
After the goat farm, I went back to Jackie and David's (and the dogs!). Jackie and I went to lectures on climate change given at the university. It was very interesting...there are some things that I never thought about. My next stops were Melbourne (1 day) then Hong Kong!
KI, Adelaide and Melbourne
FEBRUARY 18 - 22
After I left Paul's Wildlife Sanctuary, I took a bus tour of Kangaroo Island. I also bumped into my 2 German roomates from Sydney at the Kingscote library! (The libraries have free internet). We went for coffee and caught up. What a small world!
While on the bus tour, I met a fellow Canadian from Victoria (Kylie). Funny again, I met her the next day on the ferry from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide (on the mainland)! Well, ok, KI is really a small place where everyone knows everyone. But anyways, Kylie and I decided to go for a last minute Haigh's chocolate factory tour in Adelaide. Haigh's is a high end chocolate and handmade.....it's no Cadbury's. You need reservations for this and we didn't have any. We waited around for approximately 2hrs hoping there'd be a cancellation. We were so lucky there was a cancellation for 2 spots!!! It was great! We got so many free chocolate samples. Mmmmm. We knew we were getting more when the tour guide whipped out her white gloves.
In Melbourne, I wen to the Victoria Market and had some "American Donuts". These are fried round things with red jelly centres....also coated with a bit of crystal sugar. Yum! Soooo good when hot!!!
I also went to the Koorie Aboriginal museum (these are the natives in the Victoria area).
After I left Paul's Wildlife Sanctuary, I took a bus tour of Kangaroo Island. I also bumped into my 2 German roomates from Sydney at the Kingscote library! (The libraries have free internet). We went for coffee and caught up. What a small world!
While on the bus tour, I met a fellow Canadian from Victoria (Kylie). Funny again, I met her the next day on the ferry from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide (on the mainland)! Well, ok, KI is really a small place where everyone knows everyone. But anyways, Kylie and I decided to go for a last minute Haigh's chocolate factory tour in Adelaide. Haigh's is a high end chocolate and handmade.....it's no Cadbury's. You need reservations for this and we didn't have any. We waited around for approximately 2hrs hoping there'd be a cancellation. We were so lucky there was a cancellation for 2 spots!!! It was great! We got so many free chocolate samples. Mmmmm. We knew we were getting more when the tour guide whipped out her white gloves.
In Melbourne, I wen to the Victoria Market and had some "American Donuts". These are fried round things with red jelly centres....also coated with a bit of crystal sugar. Yum! Soooo good when hot!!!
I also went to the Koorie Aboriginal museum (these are the natives in the Victoria area).
Time to Update my blog starting with Kangaroo Island!
Hi all, it's now May 2 and I'm in Perth (Western Australia). I have 3 months worth of stuff to update you guys on! I'll skim through everything and it won't be as detailed as my other posts since there's so much that went on.
JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 18
I was wwoofing at a wildlife sanctuary on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. This was while the wild bushfires were going on in Victoria (far away in another state). We were so isolated that we didn't even know there were fires. I wwoofed with 4 other backpackers (German, French, Brazilian) and we got our own beach house by the water. It was a very nice house with gorgeous sunsets and heaps of wild kangaroos hopping around. On our time off, we went down to the bay to fish. I caught a big flathead one night! It's a nice fish...yum. I also managed to float in the water...salt water is better than chlorine.
Our days started early (around 10-11am) and ended late. We were always busy. Paul owned a wildlife sanctuary and a farm as well. He has a wife and kid named Poppy, who's 5 yrs old. During the day, I would sometimes help with his wildlife tours for the tourists by setting the food for the animals. Other times, I'd feed the animals. He has emus (scary huge birds who turned out to be harmless), kangaroos, birds, chicks, alpaca, sheep, ponies, horses, etc. He had everything! I also mustered sheep --- they are nervous and dumb animals! They get so scared they'll run into a fence. I learned a lot about sheep psychology while mustering them. Another thing I did was pack wool into bags after Paul sheared them and separated the good from the bad wool. There was a lot of land on the property which needed fencing so I also helped dig holes for the fence poles. When I wasn't outside in the sun running after sheep and getting extremely dirty, I was inside babysitting Poppy. We'd play farm animals together or watch Madagascar 2. Or we'd go outside and jump on the trampoline.
All this work left little time for blogging and when I left Kangaroo Island 3 weeks later, I didn't have time to catch up. Until now....
JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 18
I was wwoofing at a wildlife sanctuary on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. This was while the wild bushfires were going on in Victoria (far away in another state). We were so isolated that we didn't even know there were fires. I wwoofed with 4 other backpackers (German, French, Brazilian) and we got our own beach house by the water. It was a very nice house with gorgeous sunsets and heaps of wild kangaroos hopping around. On our time off, we went down to the bay to fish. I caught a big flathead one night! It's a nice fish...yum. I also managed to float in the water...salt water is better than chlorine.
Our days started early (around 10-11am) and ended late. We were always busy. Paul owned a wildlife sanctuary and a farm as well. He has a wife and kid named Poppy, who's 5 yrs old. During the day, I would sometimes help with his wildlife tours for the tourists by setting the food for the animals. Other times, I'd feed the animals. He has emus (scary huge birds who turned out to be harmless), kangaroos, birds, chicks, alpaca, sheep, ponies, horses, etc. He had everything! I also mustered sheep --- they are nervous and dumb animals! They get so scared they'll run into a fence. I learned a lot about sheep psychology while mustering them. Another thing I did was pack wool into bags after Paul sheared them and separated the good from the bad wool. There was a lot of land on the property which needed fencing so I also helped dig holes for the fence poles. When I wasn't outside in the sun running after sheep and getting extremely dirty, I was inside babysitting Poppy. We'd play farm animals together or watch Madagascar 2. Or we'd go outside and jump on the trampoline.
All this work left little time for blogging and when I left Kangaroo Island 3 weeks later, I didn't have time to catch up. Until now....
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Kangaroo Island
We're in for a couple of hot hot days! I heard that it was about 47 C (45 C = 120 F approx.) in Adelaide yesterday and today will be around the same. The air-conditioning in the hostel broke down for a while but thankfully it was up again by the time it was bedtime. So I went out to get some dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It seemed to be an "authentic" Chinese restaurant since there were long strips of colourful paper with chinese writing of the specials on the wall. I ordered veggie spring rolls and the veggie fried rice which were good. I was happy the fried rice was not the kind that is drenched in brown soy sauce that you find in cheap fast food chinese restaurants. It looked "real", if that makes any sense.
This morning, I woke up at 4:30am so I could catch the 6:45am shuttle bus to the ferry (for Kangaroo Island). When I checked in at the bus station, I was given a red boarding pass for the shuttle and ferry. Once on the island, I took another shuttle bus to the main town of Kingscote (the bus driver had to stop off along the way to drop off stuff at the post office -- when you're in a small town, you tend to have to multitask). Two other wwoofers were on the same bus and we are now in the library using the free internet while we wait to be picked up (it's about noon and the temp is 43 C and still rising so the A/C'd library is great!). They are a German girl and a French guy. We are going to wwoof on Paul's Wildlife Sanctuary, I'm so excited!
This morning, I woke up at 4:30am so I could catch the 6:45am shuttle bus to the ferry (for Kangaroo Island). When I checked in at the bus station, I was given a red boarding pass for the shuttle and ferry. Once on the island, I took another shuttle bus to the main town of Kingscote (the bus driver had to stop off along the way to drop off stuff at the post office -- when you're in a small town, you tend to have to multitask). Two other wwoofers were on the same bus and we are now in the library using the free internet while we wait to be picked up (it's about noon and the temp is 43 C and still rising so the A/C'd library is great!). They are a German girl and a French guy. We are going to wwoof on Paul's Wildlife Sanctuary, I'm so excited!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Driest State on the Driest Continent
Mon Jan. 26 - This was Australia Day as well as Chinese New Year! I spent the day at my friend's friend's barbeque. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. This is what Aussies do....they welcome strangers and treat them like one of their own.
Tues Jan 27 - I went back to the centre of Melbourne to take the RSA course (Responsible Serving of Alcohol). Having this certificate allows you to work in establishments that serve alcohol. I paid $60 for a 3-hr course about the laws and how to deal with intoxicated customers. Then you do a test in the end and get your certificate the same day. I am now officially qualified to work in a bar in Australia!
After the course, I got some quick food and made my way to the bus station. My bus for Adelaide leaves at 8:15pm and arrives at its destination at 6am the next day. (Adelaide is 30 minutes behind Melbourne time). Although I booked with Greyhound, I went on another carrier. The bus was a Firefly bus and it was a double-decker. I was assigned a window seat on the lower level. In Australia, you have to check in at the desk so they can assign you a seat (unlike in North America where you go wherever you wish). There are also seat belts! the bus driver told us we had to because if the police come on board, they will fine you (the passenger) if you don't have the seat belt on. Secondly, it's better to have it on on case a kangaroo jumps out into the road. This happens quite frequently around dusk and dawn. At the beginning, we had the radio playing and then there was a movie. The movie was Bad Company, with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. It was ok. The seats had a lot of leg room too.
Wed Jan 28 - I arrived in Adelaide at 6am which was too early to check into a hostel. So I stayed in the bus station (nice and clean and safe) for a while. When I went outside around 9am, it was HOT!!! It turns out that today is a record high of 45.5 C (last time it was this it hot was the 1930's). Later, I heard from someone it was in the 50's. It's like an oven and thankfully a dry heat. South Australia (SA) is known as the driest state on the driest continent. How did I spend my day? Going to the SA Museum (which has the largest Aboriginal collection of artifacts in the world) and Migration Museum (which showed how exclusionary this country used to be). Both museums are free and air-conditioned! There are also 2 bus services (tram?) that go around the downtown for free. (Melbourne had a free tourist tram too). I also went to the mall to buy extra toiletries since I was warned that everything on Kangaroo Island (off of SA mainland) is more expensive since everything has to be imported. I'm heading off to Kangaroo Island tomorrow morning for my next wwoof at a wildlife sanctuary! I can't wait!
In the food court, I got 2 sushi rolls for under $5 and a MCd's ice cream cone for 50 cents. That was my cheap lunch.
Another way to keep cool is to go on the internet. I chatted with my German roomate from the hostel in Melbourne. She told me that the guy in the bunk above hers (the one I used to be in) came back with a girl and had loud sex. They were shaking the bed too. Ohhh, my poor roomate! That is against the rules and you get kicked out for that. But he checked out the next morning. That room has 2 sets of bunk beds (so normally 4 occupants). How rude. Ahhh, the adventures of hostel living!
Tues Jan 27 - I went back to the centre of Melbourne to take the RSA course (Responsible Serving of Alcohol). Having this certificate allows you to work in establishments that serve alcohol. I paid $60 for a 3-hr course about the laws and how to deal with intoxicated customers. Then you do a test in the end and get your certificate the same day. I am now officially qualified to work in a bar in Australia!
After the course, I got some quick food and made my way to the bus station. My bus for Adelaide leaves at 8:15pm and arrives at its destination at 6am the next day. (Adelaide is 30 minutes behind Melbourne time). Although I booked with Greyhound, I went on another carrier. The bus was a Firefly bus and it was a double-decker. I was assigned a window seat on the lower level. In Australia, you have to check in at the desk so they can assign you a seat (unlike in North America where you go wherever you wish). There are also seat belts! the bus driver told us we had to because if the police come on board, they will fine you (the passenger) if you don't have the seat belt on. Secondly, it's better to have it on on case a kangaroo jumps out into the road. This happens quite frequently around dusk and dawn. At the beginning, we had the radio playing and then there was a movie. The movie was Bad Company, with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. It was ok. The seats had a lot of leg room too.
Wed Jan 28 - I arrived in Adelaide at 6am which was too early to check into a hostel. So I stayed in the bus station (nice and clean and safe) for a while. When I went outside around 9am, it was HOT!!! It turns out that today is a record high of 45.5 C (last time it was this it hot was the 1930's). Later, I heard from someone it was in the 50's. It's like an oven and thankfully a dry heat. South Australia (SA) is known as the driest state on the driest continent. How did I spend my day? Going to the SA Museum (which has the largest Aboriginal collection of artifacts in the world) and Migration Museum (which showed how exclusionary this country used to be). Both museums are free and air-conditioned! There are also 2 bus services (tram?) that go around the downtown for free. (Melbourne had a free tourist tram too). I also went to the mall to buy extra toiletries since I was warned that everything on Kangaroo Island (off of SA mainland) is more expensive since everything has to be imported. I'm heading off to Kangaroo Island tomorrow morning for my next wwoof at a wildlife sanctuary! I can't wait!
In the food court, I got 2 sushi rolls for under $5 and a MCd's ice cream cone for 50 cents. That was my cheap lunch.
Another way to keep cool is to go on the internet. I chatted with my German roomate from the hostel in Melbourne. She told me that the guy in the bunk above hers (the one I used to be in) came back with a girl and had loud sex. They were shaking the bed too. Ohhh, my poor roomate! That is against the rules and you get kicked out for that. But he checked out the next morning. That room has 2 sets of bunk beds (so normally 4 occupants). How rude. Ahhh, the adventures of hostel living!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Good Foods All Around
Fri Jan 23 - I went to Lygon Street where the Italian restaurants are in Melbourne. I was told to go to Casa del Gelato for some yummy ice cream. I ordered 3 flavours: boysenberry, custard, and bacio bianco (white kiss = chocolate with hazelnuts which tasted like Ferrero Rocher). Other flavours included Nutella, watermelon, tiramisu, etc. There were also soy choices. I took my gelato to the park nearby (there are many scattered around) to eat my gelato. There was an asian lady talking on her cell phone and stopping every few minutes to scream at her kid. Her voice was so obnoxious. There were also 2 young women sitting on the bench nearby also eating their gelatos.
Sat Jan 24 - I went to Fitzeroy, a district east of centre Melbourne with my German roomate from the hostel. It is a hip place with lots of vintage second-hand shops and vegetarian restaurants. There was strip where it was all brand name outlets....New Balance, Nike, etc. Everything was on sale for about 50% off. We stopped off at a veggie restaurant called Vegie Bar where I ordered a lentil burger which tasted Indian because of the curry in it and my friend had the margarita pizza. So delicious! Afterwards, we went down the street to Juanita's pastry shop for some churros (spanish donuts with warm chocolate sauce for dipping) and coffee! Yum!
In the evening, I took the subway to the suburb of Richmond and met up with a friend. I hung out with some kiwis at the bar and then went to another place that had a live band. It was awesome!
Sun Jan 25 - My German roomate and I went to chinatown to look for some yum cha (sim sum). She had never seen yum cha before and she thought it was cool. Of course, I had to order the chicken feet - the look on her face was priceless. Afterwards, I took the train to the suburbs to meet up with my friend who I will stay with for 2 days before heading off to Adelaide (South Australia). My friend lives 5 min from the beach and we took a walk there after a delicious dinner of lasagna. Mmmmmm!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Why Melbourne is the BEST city in the world!
I never thought I would find a city to adore - there isn't anything that I hate about it (yet)! Ask anyone and they will tell you that I always find something wrong with a place. Melbourne is just incredible...I don't even know where to begin.
I arrived yesterday (Wed Jan 21) in the morning after an 8 hr bus ride from Canberra. I am staying at the Melbourne International Backpackers near all the action of the city centre. My 3 roomates are great (2 Germans and 1 french). I've noticed a lot of backpackers are young (early 20's or less sometimes) and from either France, Germany, or Korea. The Europeans typically go travelling the world between high school and university. We North Americans are behind in that respect. I wish I had known about this when I was younger but at least I'm doing it now! Anyways, I spent my first day by meeting up with a friend of a friend where we got some drinks at a nice bar by the Yarra River. We sat outside overlooking the river...next to the river was a path with cyclists and runners (and in the river were people rowing race boats -- sculling). After that, I grabbed some Indian vegetarian food and ate that in front of the beautiful State Library.
Today (Thurs Jan 22) I met up with a friend from elementary school! Wow, I would never have guessed that I would see her again after ~20 years in Australia! We walked through Victoria Market before settling on a place to have lunch. We had so much to catch up on over Japanese food.
After lunch, my friend went back to work and I wandered around some more. I went back to Victoria Market....that place is so HUGE that I didn't get to see everything. There were counters selling food from different countries --- french cheeses, polish sausages, etc. There was also seafood, breads, meats, wines, fruits and veggies, souvenirs, etc. The fruits and veggies were inexpensive and the prices tend to decrease rapidly as the day draws to an end. The vendors are so desperate to get rid of their produce that many were selling containers of strawberries for as low as 50 cents each! I bought mine a bit early so I ended up paying 2 for $2.
What else do I love and was surprised to see? FREE public toilets!!! The entrance looks like a New York City subway entrance with an ornamental green barred fence surrounding the steps leading down. Instead of a sign saying "subway" it either says "Ladies" or "Gents". I went down into one and at the bottom of the stairs there were 3 stalls to my left and 2 sinks in the back wall in front of me. There's also a bench to the right in case you're waiting for a friend or a stall. It was pretty clean and didn't smell much. These toilets are scattered all around the city. Amazing. I love it!
I love the multiculturalism in this city -- an perfect mixing of cultures and personalities in 1 place. There seem to be a good even ratio of asians, indians, europeans, aussies. There are also a mix of business people, athletes, punks, skateboarders, etc. Everyone is just co-exisitng in harmony. Even the police are light-hearted --- there were a bunch of police officers directing traffic at an intersection where the lights weren't working. They tried to yell out to a pedestrian to not cross but he ignored them and kept crossing. I was next to the 2 cops who let him go and they just laughed about it.
Because of the great mix of people, there are many types of cuisines to choose from. I am so overwhelmed! Vegetarian, Indian, Chinese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Italian, French, etc. The list just goes on and on and on....
I stumbled upon a small side street resembling a small alleyway (which looks very european). This is called Hardware Lane and along this little stretch were Italian and French restaurants. (There is an Italian district elsewhere which I plan to go to tomorrow).
Transportation is just excellent here too! Whatever modes of transport you can think of, it is here! Let me list them: tram, bus, metro (subway), horse carriages (ok, this one's touristy but it adds charm).
As I walked southwards toward the Yarra River, I passed by the city square. There I saw kids doing trapeze. Funny, all the kids were girls....girls are so much braver than boys. Hahaha. This was a trapeze company that teaches people trapeze. The students had to swing and try to grab the hands of the guy swinging on the other end.
Federation Square is a bigger square with steps going up --- it reminds me of Place-des-Arts in Montreal. With the Australian Open (tennis) being in Melbourne, Federation Square had been converted to "Tennis Square". There is a bigscreen showing the tennis matches and people gather around (sitting or lying down on the ground) to watch for free.
Walking down, I also passed by several musicians on the street. There were jazz musicians as well as a guy playing the bagpipes!
I walked along the Yarra River which splits the city into north and south sides. This stretch is long and has so much going on! On the north bank is that pricey nice bar I went to last night. On both banks are paths for pedestrians, cyclists and joggers. Palm trees line the south bank. The scullers in the river are students from the Melbourne university Boat Club who have their clubhouse further down on the south bank. Closeby is a skateboarder's paradise with graffiti art on the various ramps where teenagers practice jumps on bikes and skateboards. Sitting not too far on the grass were 2 groups of punk teens with dyed hair, piercings and dressed in black. I also saw 2 hippies at one point. There were old people walking around --- again, all types of people together and no one blinks an eye. Walking further down the river, there are BBQ stoves and picnic tables! People using them were: a group of asians, couples having a romantic wine dinner, and a group of aussies playing cricket using eskies (ice coolers) and trash cans as the wickets.
Finally, I ended up at the Botanical Garden and walked through that. There was a live children's performance with actors going on in the children's section. Scattered about are mini shacks where you can sit inside to rest your feet. Some people were just sitting on the benches or grass in front of the ponds with the ducks and black swans. There were 2 girls playing badminton.
When I got out of the Botanical Garden, I walked through more parks. I saw more joggers as well as a big group of young adults celebrating Australia Day early. Everyone was dressed in yellow and green; some wore the flag as capes. Some batting around a cricket bat.
I then walked up the north bank along the river. At the end I saw where the Australian Open is held. Through the trees I could see the courts. I also saw Batman Avenue....yes, Batman. (There was a guy with this last name).
What else is there here? Lots more culture in the form of live theatre, museums and art galleries!
To top it all off, with so much there is to offer you do not have to battle crowds to enjoy them! Everyone is so chill here.
I arrived yesterday (Wed Jan 21) in the morning after an 8 hr bus ride from Canberra. I am staying at the Melbourne International Backpackers near all the action of the city centre. My 3 roomates are great (2 Germans and 1 french). I've noticed a lot of backpackers are young (early 20's or less sometimes) and from either France, Germany, or Korea. The Europeans typically go travelling the world between high school and university. We North Americans are behind in that respect. I wish I had known about this when I was younger but at least I'm doing it now! Anyways, I spent my first day by meeting up with a friend of a friend where we got some drinks at a nice bar by the Yarra River. We sat outside overlooking the river...next to the river was a path with cyclists and runners (and in the river were people rowing race boats -- sculling). After that, I grabbed some Indian vegetarian food and ate that in front of the beautiful State Library.
Today (Thurs Jan 22) I met up with a friend from elementary school! Wow, I would never have guessed that I would see her again after ~20 years in Australia! We walked through Victoria Market before settling on a place to have lunch. We had so much to catch up on over Japanese food.
After lunch, my friend went back to work and I wandered around some more. I went back to Victoria Market....that place is so HUGE that I didn't get to see everything. There were counters selling food from different countries --- french cheeses, polish sausages, etc. There was also seafood, breads, meats, wines, fruits and veggies, souvenirs, etc. The fruits and veggies were inexpensive and the prices tend to decrease rapidly as the day draws to an end. The vendors are so desperate to get rid of their produce that many were selling containers of strawberries for as low as 50 cents each! I bought mine a bit early so I ended up paying 2 for $2.
What else do I love and was surprised to see? FREE public toilets!!! The entrance looks like a New York City subway entrance with an ornamental green barred fence surrounding the steps leading down. Instead of a sign saying "subway" it either says "Ladies" or "Gents". I went down into one and at the bottom of the stairs there were 3 stalls to my left and 2 sinks in the back wall in front of me. There's also a bench to the right in case you're waiting for a friend or a stall. It was pretty clean and didn't smell much. These toilets are scattered all around the city. Amazing. I love it!
I love the multiculturalism in this city -- an perfect mixing of cultures and personalities in 1 place. There seem to be a good even ratio of asians, indians, europeans, aussies. There are also a mix of business people, athletes, punks, skateboarders, etc. Everyone is just co-exisitng in harmony. Even the police are light-hearted --- there were a bunch of police officers directing traffic at an intersection where the lights weren't working. They tried to yell out to a pedestrian to not cross but he ignored them and kept crossing. I was next to the 2 cops who let him go and they just laughed about it.
Because of the great mix of people, there are many types of cuisines to choose from. I am so overwhelmed! Vegetarian, Indian, Chinese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Italian, French, etc. The list just goes on and on and on....
I stumbled upon a small side street resembling a small alleyway (which looks very european). This is called Hardware Lane and along this little stretch were Italian and French restaurants. (There is an Italian district elsewhere which I plan to go to tomorrow).
Transportation is just excellent here too! Whatever modes of transport you can think of, it is here! Let me list them: tram, bus, metro (subway), horse carriages (ok, this one's touristy but it adds charm).
As I walked southwards toward the Yarra River, I passed by the city square. There I saw kids doing trapeze. Funny, all the kids were girls....girls are so much braver than boys. Hahaha. This was a trapeze company that teaches people trapeze. The students had to swing and try to grab the hands of the guy swinging on the other end.
Federation Square is a bigger square with steps going up --- it reminds me of Place-des-Arts in Montreal. With the Australian Open (tennis) being in Melbourne, Federation Square had been converted to "Tennis Square". There is a bigscreen showing the tennis matches and people gather around (sitting or lying down on the ground) to watch for free.
Walking down, I also passed by several musicians on the street. There were jazz musicians as well as a guy playing the bagpipes!
I walked along the Yarra River which splits the city into north and south sides. This stretch is long and has so much going on! On the north bank is that pricey nice bar I went to last night. On both banks are paths for pedestrians, cyclists and joggers. Palm trees line the south bank. The scullers in the river are students from the Melbourne university Boat Club who have their clubhouse further down on the south bank. Closeby is a skateboarder's paradise with graffiti art on the various ramps where teenagers practice jumps on bikes and skateboards. Sitting not too far on the grass were 2 groups of punk teens with dyed hair, piercings and dressed in black. I also saw 2 hippies at one point. There were old people walking around --- again, all types of people together and no one blinks an eye. Walking further down the river, there are BBQ stoves and picnic tables! People using them were: a group of asians, couples having a romantic wine dinner, and a group of aussies playing cricket using eskies (ice coolers) and trash cans as the wickets.
Finally, I ended up at the Botanical Garden and walked through that. There was a live children's performance with actors going on in the children's section. Scattered about are mini shacks where you can sit inside to rest your feet. Some people were just sitting on the benches or grass in front of the ponds with the ducks and black swans. There were 2 girls playing badminton.
When I got out of the Botanical Garden, I walked through more parks. I saw more joggers as well as a big group of young adults celebrating Australia Day early. Everyone was dressed in yellow and green; some wore the flag as capes. Some batting around a cricket bat.
I then walked up the north bank along the river. At the end I saw where the Australian Open is held. Through the trees I could see the courts. I also saw Batman Avenue....yes, Batman. (There was a guy with this last name).
What else is there here? Lots more culture in the form of live theatre, museums and art galleries!
To top it all off, with so much there is to offer you do not have to battle crowds to enjoy them! Everyone is so chill here.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I'm in Melbourne!!!
I just got into Melbourne and I thought I'd check my email while I kill time to check into my hostel. I have some catching up to do!
Wed-Thurs, Jan. 14 - 15 - very hot days, did some newspaper and sawdust/woodchip work around garden as well as the banners.
Fri Jan 16 - finished laying the sawdust and continued on Rys' banner. We went to the Goulburn Club for dinner and live music. The band was pretty good and we listened to them while sitting out on the balcony. The band had to compete with some teenagers in the park across the street who were practicing their bagpipes. They were good. On our way home, we saw 2 roos next to the driveway! I only saw the shadow of one staring at us then saw 2 of them hopping away into the darkness. It was cool to finally see roos in the wild!
Sat Jan 17 - Allison and I were going into town to look for fruits to make jam and preserves when we stumbled on a cricket match in the park. Allison explained to me how the game works and I won't get into it here since I still don't understand all of it. But at least now I have more of an idea of what it is and it is not like baseball at all.
For dinner, Rys made kangaroo stirfry using the garden veggies. Mmmm, it was delicious! The roo meat tasted and looked like beef. Much better than the sausages!
Sun Jan 18 - I went to the poultry auction in the morning. I didn't realize how many different varieties of chickens and ducks there are! It was in a big garage type area with cages along the walls and in aisles. There were roosters crowing, chickens clucking, birds chirping. People crowd around and the auction begins. It's so noisy that you can easily end up buying the wrong thing! Rys bought a dozen Guinea Fowl eggs (they are weird looking small turkeys with white faces that look painted on. I think they look like theatre actors or the Phantom of the Opera). Then he accidently bought a brown female Mallard duck when he wanted another type of bird. Well, since I went with him to the auction, the duck was named after me! So now we have a duck named Nellie! The eggs were put under the Silkie chickens to hatch and Nellie was put into the yard with the other white ducks. Poor Nellie is having a hard time fitting in right now. It should take time. Allison and Rys want her to have babies since coloured babies are worth more than white ones.
Allison's coworker and his family came to visit. He has 3 adorable little children! They were having fun riding the scooter and mini motorbike around! Later in the evening, Manu the new wwoofer came.
Mon Jan 19 - I showed Manu around the farm and how to feed the animals. He is from France and wanted to practice his english. Then we weeded some of the garden.
Tues. Jan 20 - I shadowed Manu to make sure he was feeding the animals the right amount of food then we helped Allison rearrange the eggs under the 2 silkie chickens. They had 2 kinds of eggs beneath them and we wanted the silkie eggs under one and Guinea Fowl eggs under the other. After that, we helped her peel nectarines for preserves.
Sasha came over and she and Allison took me to town for lunch before taking me to the train station. The train broke down so I had to wait for replacement buses to take me to Canberra. I was supposed to leave at 2:50pm but ended up leaving at 4pm. Without fail, it stormed in Canberra! It always rains when I'm there! I killed time by having dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Happy's Restaurant. I ordered a fried dim sim (aussie invention of battered and fried meatball) and a combo chow mein. It was good.
I took the midnight bus (8hrs) to Melbourne and here I am! I can't wait to start my day and explore!
Wed-Thurs, Jan. 14 - 15 - very hot days, did some newspaper and sawdust/woodchip work around garden as well as the banners.
Fri Jan 16 - finished laying the sawdust and continued on Rys' banner. We went to the Goulburn Club for dinner and live music. The band was pretty good and we listened to them while sitting out on the balcony. The band had to compete with some teenagers in the park across the street who were practicing their bagpipes. They were good. On our way home, we saw 2 roos next to the driveway! I only saw the shadow of one staring at us then saw 2 of them hopping away into the darkness. It was cool to finally see roos in the wild!
Sat Jan 17 - Allison and I were going into town to look for fruits to make jam and preserves when we stumbled on a cricket match in the park. Allison explained to me how the game works and I won't get into it here since I still don't understand all of it. But at least now I have more of an idea of what it is and it is not like baseball at all.
For dinner, Rys made kangaroo stirfry using the garden veggies. Mmmm, it was delicious! The roo meat tasted and looked like beef. Much better than the sausages!
Sun Jan 18 - I went to the poultry auction in the morning. I didn't realize how many different varieties of chickens and ducks there are! It was in a big garage type area with cages along the walls and in aisles. There were roosters crowing, chickens clucking, birds chirping. People crowd around and the auction begins. It's so noisy that you can easily end up buying the wrong thing! Rys bought a dozen Guinea Fowl eggs (they are weird looking small turkeys with white faces that look painted on. I think they look like theatre actors or the Phantom of the Opera). Then he accidently bought a brown female Mallard duck when he wanted another type of bird. Well, since I went with him to the auction, the duck was named after me! So now we have a duck named Nellie! The eggs were put under the Silkie chickens to hatch and Nellie was put into the yard with the other white ducks. Poor Nellie is having a hard time fitting in right now. It should take time. Allison and Rys want her to have babies since coloured babies are worth more than white ones.
Allison's coworker and his family came to visit. He has 3 adorable little children! They were having fun riding the scooter and mini motorbike around! Later in the evening, Manu the new wwoofer came.
Mon Jan 19 - I showed Manu around the farm and how to feed the animals. He is from France and wanted to practice his english. Then we weeded some of the garden.
Tues. Jan 20 - I shadowed Manu to make sure he was feeding the animals the right amount of food then we helped Allison rearrange the eggs under the 2 silkie chickens. They had 2 kinds of eggs beneath them and we wanted the silkie eggs under one and Guinea Fowl eggs under the other. After that, we helped her peel nectarines for preserves.
Sasha came over and she and Allison took me to town for lunch before taking me to the train station. The train broke down so I had to wait for replacement buses to take me to Canberra. I was supposed to leave at 2:50pm but ended up leaving at 4pm. Without fail, it stormed in Canberra! It always rains when I'm there! I killed time by having dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Happy's Restaurant. I ordered a fried dim sim (aussie invention of battered and fried meatball) and a combo chow mein. It was good.
I took the midnight bus (8hrs) to Melbourne and here I am! I can't wait to start my day and explore!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
WIRES - Au Wildlife Rescue Organization
Mon Jan 12 - I made french canadian version shepherd's pie and everyone loved it! I was happy that everbody had seconds. I also picked some stuff from the garden for a salad (lettuce, marigold flower, radishes, parsley, chives, etc) and Rys made his salad dressing for it.
Allison thinks the muskovie duck died because Nicky the duck rooted her to death. Well, he was rooting her pretty hard the day before....so who knows? He was so sad he stayed by the body all day before Rys buried her. He still has 1 more girlfriend who's sitting on some eggs -- I guess she wasn't giving him any. Next week is the animal auction so we'll probably get another girlfriend for Nicky the duck.
I finished the horse banner!
Tues Jan 13 - I continued laying sawdust in the morning then started on the acorn banner (2 of 4) in the afternoon. In the evening, I went to visit a woman who worked for WIRES (volunteer organization that rescues injured wildlife and rehabilitates them). Jenny lived in an old stone church in Mummel district about 30 min away. I founf out that WIRES is different in each state but I could still take their 2 day course if I wanted. Volunteers are basically on call to rescue joeys who's moms were hit by cars or baby birds who fall out of trees. It's a big job to take care of a joey because they need different milk formulas as they age and require 2-4 hourly feedings when young. They are to be taken care of for about 12 months until they can be released. The money for the milk formulas come out of the pockets of the volunteer. Volunteers can choose which animals they take in, whether it be roos, snakes or birds. I cannot be a volunteer since I don't drive but I can take a course to learn. I might do that later on.
In the evening, Allison I watched an Aussie movie (on DVD) called Kenny which is not a documentary but was made to look like one. It's about this guy who works as a toilet plumber and a camera follows him around. It's funny....the ending was the best!
Allison thinks the muskovie duck died because Nicky the duck rooted her to death. Well, he was rooting her pretty hard the day before....so who knows? He was so sad he stayed by the body all day before Rys buried her. He still has 1 more girlfriend who's sitting on some eggs -- I guess she wasn't giving him any. Next week is the animal auction so we'll probably get another girlfriend for Nicky the duck.
I finished the horse banner!
Tues Jan 13 - I continued laying sawdust in the morning then started on the acorn banner (2 of 4) in the afternoon. In the evening, I went to visit a woman who worked for WIRES (volunteer organization that rescues injured wildlife and rehabilitates them). Jenny lived in an old stone church in Mummel district about 30 min away. I founf out that WIRES is different in each state but I could still take their 2 day course if I wanted. Volunteers are basically on call to rescue joeys who's moms were hit by cars or baby birds who fall out of trees. It's a big job to take care of a joey because they need different milk formulas as they age and require 2-4 hourly feedings when young. They are to be taken care of for about 12 months until they can be released. The money for the milk formulas come out of the pockets of the volunteer. Volunteers can choose which animals they take in, whether it be roos, snakes or birds. I cannot be a volunteer since I don't drive but I can take a course to learn. I might do that later on.
In the evening, Allison I watched an Aussie movie (on DVD) called Kenny which is not a documentary but was made to look like one. It's about this guy who works as a toilet plumber and a camera follows him around. It's funny....the ending was the best!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
1 More Week Until Melbourne!
I'm excited for Melbourne in 1 week...I'm leaving next Tuesday! Yay! Until then, I still have many adventures here on the farm...
Thurs Jan 8 - I finished the acorn banner I was making! One down, three more like it to go. Pat brought back a baby hare from the field today. He was removing Tussex weeds when he stepped on something and heard a squeal. The animal ran to the dam and nearly drowned when Pat rescued it and brought him home. Owen, Rys son, was excited and named the bunny "Pat". He put the baby hare in a cage with some food. However, the little hare had to be released back into the field that night because the 2 house cats were circling the cage like hungry sharks. Poor thing was frightened to death. We were told that the parents usually tell the baby to stay in one spot while they went to find food. Therefore, the parents would be back to look for their baby. That's another reason why the little hare had to be returned (in addition to being wild).
Fri Jan 9 - I went to Canberra for the day just to get away from the farm. I had breakfast at Veneziano Caffe and read a book. I ordered a spinach pie when the teenager working behind the counter told me that the spinach and feta sandwich with tomatoes and hardboiled egg was a better choice. So i took his advice and had a flat white (coffee) with that. Mmmmm, it was a great choice! What a delicious meal it was (the sandwich kinda tasted like egg roll...weird, I know but I loved it). I sat in a comfy armchair next to a bookcase and coffee table and slowly had my breakfast while I read my book for 2.5 hrs. It was so nice to just relax in a cafe and have nowhere to go. The 2 guys working at the cafe were so friendly and greeting everyone "Happy Friday!" to everyone who came in and had small talk with them. The teenager reminded me of Ray (my best bud's brother) and the other one was anolder artsy darkhaired guy.
After the cafe, I went to the Dendy theatre inside the mall to watch a movie. I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the new Woody Allen film. It was a very good movie - more of a chick flick, really. The best part was when I went to the counter to purchase my ticket. The guy behind the counter immediately asked "student, right?" and I said "uhh, yeahhh!". Haha, I'm such a bad liar but he didn't ask for any ID. So I paid the student price of $12.50 for a movie! Later, I asked Allison about it and she said it's because the University of Canberra is nearby and they are used to getting a lot of students. Furthermore, I still look like I'm in uni (university), I have an accent, and my clothes are "different" (foreign-looking).
Sat Jan 10 - I started on the horse banner, which is my banner (I don't get to keep it though). It has a black horse (to represent Domino, the killer horse who almost trampled me) on a red and white background (to represent Canadian colours).
At dinner, we watched A Knight's Tale, the medieval movie about jousting with Heath Ledger. We were laughing at how cheesy it was.
Sun Jan 11- we got 2 peacocks today! A peacock and a peahen. They are for the medieval stuff. Rys and Allison had one before but it escaped and now lives on the nieghbour's property. They sure are beautiful birds!
I made mint cordial (syrup with sugar, water, vinegar, mint leaves). I boiled the ingredients for 10 min then threw the mint leaves in before taking them off the heat. You drink cordial by putting a bit of this minty syrup into a glass and filling it up with soda water. It makes for a refreshing drink on a hot day.
We went to the village of Taralga (30 min north of Goulburn, pop. 370) for dinner at the pub. The pub looked old fashioned and brightly lit. It looked like a nice old dining room as opposed to a hole-in-the-wall pub. Since we were in sheep country, I had the lamb cutlets with veggies, fries and gravy. Yum, it was delicious!!!
Mon Jan 12 - As I fed the animals today, i noticed that one of the Muskovie Ducks (South American duck) was dead. Perhaps she died because she couldn't lay eggs since the other female was sitting? I don't know...
I laid newspapers, sawdust, woodchips on part of the space around the new garden bed this morning. I will be cooking dinner today - I will make pate chinois or shepherd's pie (the "quebecois version" with corn and creamed corn).
Thurs Jan 8 - I finished the acorn banner I was making! One down, three more like it to go. Pat brought back a baby hare from the field today. He was removing Tussex weeds when he stepped on something and heard a squeal. The animal ran to the dam and nearly drowned when Pat rescued it and brought him home. Owen, Rys son, was excited and named the bunny "Pat". He put the baby hare in a cage with some food. However, the little hare had to be released back into the field that night because the 2 house cats were circling the cage like hungry sharks. Poor thing was frightened to death. We were told that the parents usually tell the baby to stay in one spot while they went to find food. Therefore, the parents would be back to look for their baby. That's another reason why the little hare had to be returned (in addition to being wild).
Fri Jan 9 - I went to Canberra for the day just to get away from the farm. I had breakfast at Veneziano Caffe and read a book. I ordered a spinach pie when the teenager working behind the counter told me that the spinach and feta sandwich with tomatoes and hardboiled egg was a better choice. So i took his advice and had a flat white (coffee) with that. Mmmmm, it was a great choice! What a delicious meal it was (the sandwich kinda tasted like egg roll...weird, I know but I loved it). I sat in a comfy armchair next to a bookcase and coffee table and slowly had my breakfast while I read my book for 2.5 hrs. It was so nice to just relax in a cafe and have nowhere to go. The 2 guys working at the cafe were so friendly and greeting everyone "Happy Friday!" to everyone who came in and had small talk with them. The teenager reminded me of Ray (my best bud's brother) and the other one was anolder artsy darkhaired guy.
After the cafe, I went to the Dendy theatre inside the mall to watch a movie. I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the new Woody Allen film. It was a very good movie - more of a chick flick, really. The best part was when I went to the counter to purchase my ticket. The guy behind the counter immediately asked "student, right?" and I said "uhh, yeahhh!". Haha, I'm such a bad liar but he didn't ask for any ID. So I paid the student price of $12.50 for a movie! Later, I asked Allison about it and she said it's because the University of Canberra is nearby and they are used to getting a lot of students. Furthermore, I still look like I'm in uni (university), I have an accent, and my clothes are "different" (foreign-looking).
Sat Jan 10 - I started on the horse banner, which is my banner (I don't get to keep it though). It has a black horse (to represent Domino, the killer horse who almost trampled me) on a red and white background (to represent Canadian colours).
At dinner, we watched A Knight's Tale, the medieval movie about jousting with Heath Ledger. We were laughing at how cheesy it was.
Sun Jan 11- we got 2 peacocks today! A peacock and a peahen. They are for the medieval stuff. Rys and Allison had one before but it escaped and now lives on the nieghbour's property. They sure are beautiful birds!
I made mint cordial (syrup with sugar, water, vinegar, mint leaves). I boiled the ingredients for 10 min then threw the mint leaves in before taking them off the heat. You drink cordial by putting a bit of this minty syrup into a glass and filling it up with soda water. It makes for a refreshing drink on a hot day.
We went to the village of Taralga (30 min north of Goulburn, pop. 370) for dinner at the pub. The pub looked old fashioned and brightly lit. It looked like a nice old dining room as opposed to a hole-in-the-wall pub. Since we were in sheep country, I had the lamb cutlets with veggies, fries and gravy. Yum, it was delicious!!!
Mon Jan 12 - As I fed the animals today, i noticed that one of the Muskovie Ducks (South American duck) was dead. Perhaps she died because she couldn't lay eggs since the other female was sitting? I don't know...
I laid newspapers, sawdust, woodchips on part of the space around the new garden bed this morning. I will be cooking dinner today - I will make pate chinois or shepherd's pie (the "quebecois version" with corn and creamed corn).
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bush Fires and High Temps
Wed Jan 7 - the soaring heat has caused many forest fires in the area, including one north of Goulburn. There are a few around Sydney and they have been dumping water with helicopters. This is what happens when it is a dry heat. We don't usualy have such fires in the north east where it's a humid heat. I've always seen it happen in areas such as California. If a bush fire comes near us, the community will have to go out and fight it. There are no firefighters in town - the townspeople are the "fire brigade".
I found out that the dead chook I found was the second one. There was another one that died on Sunday.
Thurs Jan 8 - the dead chicken that Rys had buried yesterday reappeared again today. Cara had dug it up and put it on the grass. So I reburied it and went to work on laying newspapers, sawdust and woodchips on the garden bed. When I finished, I saw the chook was out again. Grrrr, Cara dug it up once again! I told her she was bad and reburied the bird. I hope she doesn't do it again.
I can't wait to finish off the acorn flag today!!!
I found out that the dead chook I found was the second one. There was another one that died on Sunday.
Thurs Jan 8 - the dead chicken that Rys had buried yesterday reappeared again today. Cara had dug it up and put it on the grass. So I reburied it and went to work on laying newspapers, sawdust and woodchips on the garden bed. When I finished, I saw the chook was out again. Grrrr, Cara dug it up once again! I told her she was bad and reburied the bird. I hope she doesn't do it again.
I can't wait to finish off the acorn flag today!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Preparing For My Next Move
Tues Jan 6 - I got some progress on the acorn flag today. It was so hot that Sydney was in the 40's! It wasn't as hot in Goulburn - I was told that Melbourne is actually hotter even though it is more south (remember it's the opposite in the southern hemisphere) because it's at a lower altitude than Goulburn. This is why Goulburn is never as hot as the other cities (it's also the windiest place in Oz). Afterwards, we all went to the dam for a swim with the fishies. It's very muddy at the edges but it's clean in the middle. Allison lent me her shoes to go in the muddy part and I stayed around that shallow end since I still cannot swim properly. They also gave me a foam boogie board to help me float.
Wed. Jan 7 - today is a cooler than yesterday and there's a breeze too which is nice. When I was feeding the animals this morning, I noticed that one of the female Silkie chickens was dead. I do not know how long she had expired - I didn't notice yesterday so it must be 1-2 days. It doesn't seem that long because the flies are only starting to get to her now....ahhh, the forensic scientist in me - hahahaha. She is lying under a low bench which has a piece of plastic obscuring part of the view. I only noticed her because the other chickens were staying on the opposite end of the shed. She was always the unhealthiest looking one too - her feathers were falling off and she was badly going bald. Perhaps the heat from the day before was too much for her to handle.
I wonder if roosters have an internal clock that wakes them up as opposed to going by the break of daylight? The male rooster, Roofio, crows at 5 am each morning without fail! (He's the only chicken that has been named and he will live a long life). He crowed today at 5:02 am -- he was off by 2 min but still close enough! Truly amazing.
I would have been at the farm for 1 month in 2 days from today. So I've been thinking about my next move because there's so much to see yet! I love my hosts and they have been so magnificent but I must go on soon. I haven't chosen a date of departure yet since I am still trying to figure out the logistics. But I do know that I want to be in Melbourne at least a week before Australia Day (Mon Jan 26). This is a big national holiday and there will be celebrations galore. My plan is to be in Melbourne for 1-2 weeks then go to Tasmania for another WWOOF (hopefully, I'll find one available).
My goal today is to finish the first of four acorn flags...
Wed. Jan 7 - today is a cooler than yesterday and there's a breeze too which is nice. When I was feeding the animals this morning, I noticed that one of the female Silkie chickens was dead. I do not know how long she had expired - I didn't notice yesterday so it must be 1-2 days. It doesn't seem that long because the flies are only starting to get to her now....ahhh, the forensic scientist in me - hahahaha. She is lying under a low bench which has a piece of plastic obscuring part of the view. I only noticed her because the other chickens were staying on the opposite end of the shed. She was always the unhealthiest looking one too - her feathers were falling off and she was badly going bald. Perhaps the heat from the day before was too much for her to handle.
I wonder if roosters have an internal clock that wakes them up as opposed to going by the break of daylight? The male rooster, Roofio, crows at 5 am each morning without fail! (He's the only chicken that has been named and he will live a long life). He crowed today at 5:02 am -- he was off by 2 min but still close enough! Truly amazing.
I would have been at the farm for 1 month in 2 days from today. So I've been thinking about my next move because there's so much to see yet! I love my hosts and they have been so magnificent but I must go on soon. I haven't chosen a date of departure yet since I am still trying to figure out the logistics. But I do know that I want to be in Melbourne at least a week before Australia Day (Mon Jan 26). This is a big national holiday and there will be celebrations galore. My plan is to be in Melbourne for 1-2 weeks then go to Tasmania for another WWOOF (hopefully, I'll find one available).
My goal today is to finish the first of four acorn flags...
Monday, January 5, 2009
HOT HOT Scorcher of a Day!
Mon. Jan 5 - today is the start of a scorching week to come. It was 31C! I stayed inside and finished the banner/flag with the goose on it. Rys and Allison were pleased with it. It will be one of many banners they will hang at their medieval feasts in July and October. The next banner I will make is a purple/white one with acorns on it.
I managed to get the ducklings to eat out of my hand today! They get so excited when they see me in the mornings - not because they love me but because I have food. They follow me around quacking loudly. I feel like a mother duck. Hee hee. As for the chickens, I was happy to see an egg was laid and not eaten! As usual, I collected it.
Pat and Nicky finished putting the roof on the greenhouse. As a reward, Rys and Allison took everyone out for dinner at the Astor pub. It's a swanky modern looking restaurant bar in Goulburn. I was quite impressed this existed in such a small town. I guess it's because it's a part of the Astor hotel/motel so it has to be spiffy. There were flatscreen tv's everywhere playing music videos. I had fish and chips with a side of delicious salad....yum.
On the way back from the pub, Allison's dad pointed out that the tractor trailer truck in front of us had 2 compartments. He said that there also exist trucks with 5-6 compartments which they call train trailers. These can be found in Queensland (state in northeast Australia). The reason behind this is that it saves on the number of drivers.
Allison's car was in front of ours (her car had Rys and the french guys; her parents and I were in the car behind them). Upon pulling up the driveway, Allison almost hit a little kangaroo that leapt across the road! It ran into the fields and disappeared into the darkness. Darn, I missed it.
Tues. Jan 6 - This morning, I got the ducklings to eat out of my hand again - as long as their dish has not been placed before them. After they get their dish of food, they will not eat out of your hand.
It is hot out there today yet again. Uhhhh...it must be in the 30's. I made sure the animals have enough water to keep hydrated. I'll be making the next banner today....good day to stay inside for sewing.
I managed to get the ducklings to eat out of my hand today! They get so excited when they see me in the mornings - not because they love me but because I have food. They follow me around quacking loudly. I feel like a mother duck. Hee hee. As for the chickens, I was happy to see an egg was laid and not eaten! As usual, I collected it.
Pat and Nicky finished putting the roof on the greenhouse. As a reward, Rys and Allison took everyone out for dinner at the Astor pub. It's a swanky modern looking restaurant bar in Goulburn. I was quite impressed this existed in such a small town. I guess it's because it's a part of the Astor hotel/motel so it has to be spiffy. There were flatscreen tv's everywhere playing music videos. I had fish and chips with a side of delicious salad....yum.
On the way back from the pub, Allison's dad pointed out that the tractor trailer truck in front of us had 2 compartments. He said that there also exist trucks with 5-6 compartments which they call train trailers. These can be found in Queensland (state in northeast Australia). The reason behind this is that it saves on the number of drivers.
Allison's car was in front of ours (her car had Rys and the french guys; her parents and I were in the car behind them). Upon pulling up the driveway, Allison almost hit a little kangaroo that leapt across the road! It ran into the fields and disappeared into the darkness. Darn, I missed it.
Tues. Jan 6 - This morning, I got the ducklings to eat out of my hand again - as long as their dish has not been placed before them. After they get their dish of food, they will not eat out of your hand.
It is hot out there today yet again. Uhhhh...it must be in the 30's. I made sure the animals have enough water to keep hydrated. I'll be making the next banner today....good day to stay inside for sewing.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Getting Dinner Straight from the Farm & vegemite
Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading my blog and commenting! I had mentioned in a previous entry that I had tried vegemite and didn't like it. Well, I tried it again and it really isn't that bad anymore. It actually tastes like concentrated beef bouillion. I've been having it lately and I think I might be getting a taste for it. Hahahaha. At least I'm getting my Vitamin B! Of course, the trick is to have a miniscule amount on your knife for a whole slice of bread. Vegemite is sometimes put in gravy and I agree that would be good considering that it tastes like bouillion. Rys actually bought a small jar of vegemite for the wwoof house. This small jar will last for years.
Fri Jan 2 - Sujin the korean wwoofer left today and Allison's parents came to visit for the weekend. After dinner, everyone (except me) played 500. I am still trying to learn it and the french guys love this card game.
A friend of Rys and Allison came today to show us how to make armour. Blaney is from the medieval society SEA (?) and there are members around the world. There are kingdoms in Australia as well as the US (ie. Phoenix, Pittsburgh) where members will convene to fight wars. Blaney is a knight in the society which is apparently a rare honour. He showed us how to make a metal helmet by hammering a sheet of metal and putting the pieces together.
I went into the chicken dome to feed the chickens and found 4 eggs. I accidently dropped one which broke. Before I could pick up the pieces, the greedy hungry chickens were pecking at the broken egg. I had to take it away from them as soon as possible and feed them extra food to make them forget the taste of egg. Otherwise, they will know that their eggs are edible and eat them. Chickens eat everything....they even eat cooked chicken leftovers.
I've started running again which is great! I ran on New Year's eve and again every other day. It feels so good to exercise again! I run up and down the long driveway.
Sat Jan 3 - today was an action packed farm day!!!! First, we killed 2 chickens for dinner - a brown female and a white male Silkie. The chosen chooks were caught in nets and taken away from the others so that the other chickens do not see. The brown female was chosen because she makes the other ones nervous and the male Silkie was taken because we only need 1 rooster. Allison tried to break their necks so that we wouldn't get blood but it didn't work. I learned that chicken's necks can twist many times without any effects. So we had to do it the old fashioned way with an axe to the neck. Allison held one down and Pat swung the axe while Cara and I watched on the sidelines. I've always heard that headless chickens run around and I can confirm it now. The male Silkie actually ran a bit and then jumped and pirouetted around all over. Cara got excited since she loves chasing things so we had to keep her away. Then the chickens were hung upsidedown to drain the blood. The next step was skinning them which Allison did for the brown chook and started on the white Silkie. I finished skinning the white Silkie with a knife and large rubber gloves. The interesting thing is that Silkies have black flesh! They taste the same as the paler variety and apparently they are popular in Asia (China?) because of the colour of the meat. After removing the skin, I had to violate the chook by inserting my hand in to take the guts out. First came out the long intestines which looked like a long worm or thick spaghetti. Then came out the organs. Yuck. Since the 2 chooks were too little for 5 people, Allison made a stew using wine, potatoes, carrots, and barley. We had the stew over rice and it was delicious! I usually don't have seconds but I did this time! Yum. (Some people may be appalled that we killed chickens for food but I personally rather have them from a farm than a supermarket where they obtain them from places that mistreat the animals).
In the afternoon, I helped put up the greenhouse by hammering bolts into the wooden frame base and putting the walls together. It is a team effort from everybody and it takes a couple of days. The instructions that came with the greenhouse are so confusing. Allison's father is good with these types of things so he guides us on what to do and we do them.
In the evening, I went to the dam (pond on the property) with Pat to fish. It was my first time fishing and we caught 5 fish each!!!! We only kept 4 of the biggest ones and the rest back. The fish are red fin perches; they have beautiful brightly coloured orange fins (that are spikey) and striped black grey bodies. I was told that it is not normal for 1 person to catch 5 fish in 2 hrs! I'm so happy my first time was so fruitful! (I also caught a lot of weeds too while fishing). We are going to have the fish for dinner the next night.
Sun Jan. 4 - I got to pet a duckling more today while he was eating.
We needed to go back to the pond to catch more fish for dinner. Allison's father is a fisherman and he wanted to catch some too; therefore, he, Pat and I went to the pond to fish. No luck tonight.....they weren't biting. The only one who caught something was me and I got a tiny red fin perch which I threw back. The fish from the day before probably told their buddies about us... That's ok, we still ate the other ones we caught last night today. They were cooked in wine and ginger. Mmmm, they were good! It's so awesome to eat fish that I caught!
Fri Jan 2 - Sujin the korean wwoofer left today and Allison's parents came to visit for the weekend. After dinner, everyone (except me) played 500. I am still trying to learn it and the french guys love this card game.
A friend of Rys and Allison came today to show us how to make armour. Blaney is from the medieval society SEA (?) and there are members around the world. There are kingdoms in Australia as well as the US (ie. Phoenix, Pittsburgh) where members will convene to fight wars. Blaney is a knight in the society which is apparently a rare honour. He showed us how to make a metal helmet by hammering a sheet of metal and putting the pieces together.
I went into the chicken dome to feed the chickens and found 4 eggs. I accidently dropped one which broke. Before I could pick up the pieces, the greedy hungry chickens were pecking at the broken egg. I had to take it away from them as soon as possible and feed them extra food to make them forget the taste of egg. Otherwise, they will know that their eggs are edible and eat them. Chickens eat everything....they even eat cooked chicken leftovers.
I've started running again which is great! I ran on New Year's eve and again every other day. It feels so good to exercise again! I run up and down the long driveway.
Sat Jan 3 - today was an action packed farm day!!!! First, we killed 2 chickens for dinner - a brown female and a white male Silkie. The chosen chooks were caught in nets and taken away from the others so that the other chickens do not see. The brown female was chosen because she makes the other ones nervous and the male Silkie was taken because we only need 1 rooster. Allison tried to break their necks so that we wouldn't get blood but it didn't work. I learned that chicken's necks can twist many times without any effects. So we had to do it the old fashioned way with an axe to the neck. Allison held one down and Pat swung the axe while Cara and I watched on the sidelines. I've always heard that headless chickens run around and I can confirm it now. The male Silkie actually ran a bit and then jumped and pirouetted around all over. Cara got excited since she loves chasing things so we had to keep her away. Then the chickens were hung upsidedown to drain the blood. The next step was skinning them which Allison did for the brown chook and started on the white Silkie. I finished skinning the white Silkie with a knife and large rubber gloves. The interesting thing is that Silkies have black flesh! They taste the same as the paler variety and apparently they are popular in Asia (China?) because of the colour of the meat. After removing the skin, I had to violate the chook by inserting my hand in to take the guts out. First came out the long intestines which looked like a long worm or thick spaghetti. Then came out the organs. Yuck. Since the 2 chooks were too little for 5 people, Allison made a stew using wine, potatoes, carrots, and barley. We had the stew over rice and it was delicious! I usually don't have seconds but I did this time! Yum. (Some people may be appalled that we killed chickens for food but I personally rather have them from a farm than a supermarket where they obtain them from places that mistreat the animals).
In the afternoon, I helped put up the greenhouse by hammering bolts into the wooden frame base and putting the walls together. It is a team effort from everybody and it takes a couple of days. The instructions that came with the greenhouse are so confusing. Allison's father is good with these types of things so he guides us on what to do and we do them.
In the evening, I went to the dam (pond on the property) with Pat to fish. It was my first time fishing and we caught 5 fish each!!!! We only kept 4 of the biggest ones and the rest back. The fish are red fin perches; they have beautiful brightly coloured orange fins (that are spikey) and striped black grey bodies. I was told that it is not normal for 1 person to catch 5 fish in 2 hrs! I'm so happy my first time was so fruitful! (I also caught a lot of weeds too while fishing). We are going to have the fish for dinner the next night.
Sun Jan. 4 - I got to pet a duckling more today while he was eating.
We needed to go back to the pond to catch more fish for dinner. Allison's father is a fisherman and he wanted to catch some too; therefore, he, Pat and I went to the pond to fish. No luck tonight.....they weren't biting. The only one who caught something was me and I got a tiny red fin perch which I threw back. The fish from the day before probably told their buddies about us... That's ok, we still ate the other ones we caught last night today. They were cooked in wine and ginger. Mmmm, they were good! It's so awesome to eat fish that I caught!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Ringing in the New Year
Yesterday was New Year's Eve and I got to go to Canberra for a bit during the day. Rhys took us to a woodworking gallery because he has a passion for woodwork. This gallery displayed various works of practical art - meaning furniture, bowls, etc made out of wood that can actually be used. It was interesting to see the different types of wood there are including rare Australian ones. The one that really impressed me was a huge collection of miniature boots (about 2" x 3" each) that an artist had carved out from different types of trees around the world. You can distinctly see the unique patterns and colourings of the natural wood. All the works at this gallery could be purchased although they were too expensive for my taste.
After the gallery, we went to a lookout point above Canberra so we can see the city. It was a nicer day than the last time I was in this city (it was raining). Since this time the day was sunny, I was able to see everything.
In the evening, we had a BBQ dinner (no kangas this time) before heading over to the Goulburn Club to ring in the New Year with the locals. The Goulburn Club is a restaurant pub type place that has live music. Everyone in Goulburn is known for their friendliness and this is so true! While waiting in line for the bathroom, everyone was chatting and they also acknowledged me even though I was a stranger (I'm not used to this being a city girl). Another example was when I was sitting down and the woman behind me accidently bumped into me. She immediately apologized with great sincerity (which I would never have gotten in a big city) by saying "..I'm so sorry for sticking my bum in your face...". I love how Aussies use the word "bum" instead of "ass" or "butt". It sounds so much better. Anyways, my back was turned to her so her "bum" really wasn't in my face.
It was interesting to ring in the new year in a small town...it's really not that different in that there's always a colourful character at every party. This one had an older fellow with a mega mullet! His hair was so long it reached almost to his armpits. He was terribly intoxicated and knocking things over in front of the stage that the band was playing. At one point he ran into the room cuddlng up to a ratty old Teddy bear. I would think he was the highlight of the evening.
The band played some Aussie songs (which I didn't know) as well as 50's, heavy metal, and country. Rys and Allison were having a blast dancing and tried to convince me to dance too. Eventually with enough prodding, I went up and danced with them for a few songs. It was a lot of fun! At one point, a very drunk scrawny blonde was trying to pick a fight with Allison on the dance floor. It was quite funny actually, because blondie was being an idiot. Throughout the song she was the one bumping into Allison. As the song ended, she gave Allison one of those chicken staredowns. Allison thought it was funny so she just looked back at her with a smile. The little Napolean saw that Allison wasn't interested and turned away.
The countdown to midnight was quite disorganized. The band was on a break so no music was playing. All of a sudden, we hear "...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!". There was no warning whatsoever and the countdown didn't even start at 10. Secondly, they were 2 min early!!!! It wasn't even midnight yet! Apparently, they just pick someone's watch as the countdown time. Well, if they're gonna do that, they should at least use a cell phone! At least that's standardized by satellite.
Today (Jan 1st) I weeded the garden in the morning. I woke up at 9am (slept in 30 min -- woo hoo!) because we came home shortly after midnight. I was really tired by then...I think I'm getting old! LOL
Then at 4pm I rang in the new year again with my NY pals over the phone. It was so funny that I was in 2009 before my friends back home. After talking to them for a bit, I continued my sewing project of making medieval banners (flags).
After the gallery, we went to a lookout point above Canberra so we can see the city. It was a nicer day than the last time I was in this city (it was raining). Since this time the day was sunny, I was able to see everything.
In the evening, we had a BBQ dinner (no kangas this time) before heading over to the Goulburn Club to ring in the New Year with the locals. The Goulburn Club is a restaurant pub type place that has live music. Everyone in Goulburn is known for their friendliness and this is so true! While waiting in line for the bathroom, everyone was chatting and they also acknowledged me even though I was a stranger (I'm not used to this being a city girl). Another example was when I was sitting down and the woman behind me accidently bumped into me. She immediately apologized with great sincerity (which I would never have gotten in a big city) by saying "..I'm so sorry for sticking my bum in your face...". I love how Aussies use the word "bum" instead of "ass" or "butt". It sounds so much better. Anyways, my back was turned to her so her "bum" really wasn't in my face.
It was interesting to ring in the new year in a small town...it's really not that different in that there's always a colourful character at every party. This one had an older fellow with a mega mullet! His hair was so long it reached almost to his armpits. He was terribly intoxicated and knocking things over in front of the stage that the band was playing. At one point he ran into the room cuddlng up to a ratty old Teddy bear. I would think he was the highlight of the evening.
The band played some Aussie songs (which I didn't know) as well as 50's, heavy metal, and country. Rys and Allison were having a blast dancing and tried to convince me to dance too. Eventually with enough prodding, I went up and danced with them for a few songs. It was a lot of fun! At one point, a very drunk scrawny blonde was trying to pick a fight with Allison on the dance floor. It was quite funny actually, because blondie was being an idiot. Throughout the song she was the one bumping into Allison. As the song ended, she gave Allison one of those chicken staredowns. Allison thought it was funny so she just looked back at her with a smile. The little Napolean saw that Allison wasn't interested and turned away.
The countdown to midnight was quite disorganized. The band was on a break so no music was playing. All of a sudden, we hear "...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!". There was no warning whatsoever and the countdown didn't even start at 10. Secondly, they were 2 min early!!!! It wasn't even midnight yet! Apparently, they just pick someone's watch as the countdown time. Well, if they're gonna do that, they should at least use a cell phone! At least that's standardized by satellite.
Today (Jan 1st) I weeded the garden in the morning. I woke up at 9am (slept in 30 min -- woo hoo!) because we came home shortly after midnight. I was really tired by then...I think I'm getting old! LOL
Then at 4pm I rang in the new year again with my NY pals over the phone. It was so funny that I was in 2009 before my friends back home. After talking to them for a bit, I continued my sewing project of making medieval banners (flags).
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