Today is now

The last few dated entries come from my diary. Computers weren't a normal feature in Tuscan farms, so I often found myself writing in my diary instead. I wanted to publish them to have a more complete picture of my time in Italy, and to share them with my traveling companions - who will definitely enjoy reminiscing about our time there.

22/11/2010 Stations

D-day, departure day. I'm sitting at Pontassieve station smiling about so many good memories here in Italy. The work - main reason why we came - seems to fade into the distance as I remember nights out, endless bottles of wine and cans of beer. Seems strange that this day has finally arrived. It feels weird being on my own already. Clara and Rob are still at Casa Cares, unlucky that for once, the weather's good today. I miss them already. Funny how we ended up traveling with Rob for a whole month, and consequently, have become very close. Last night will be hard to forget, we drank in our room and had facemasks on - Rob obviously getting sucked into yet another regrettable offending of his masculinity. We played ring of fire and the name game, and I was delighted to finally guess one, Mel B, while the others went through various rounds.
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Asked for a coffee in Terontola station, found a fly in it. Couldn't finish my coffee.
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Just had to pay 25€ to get to the airpoirt from Perugia train station. It doesn't seem to be well connected, despite the airport's motto being "Yes, we work". Probably reassuring travelers that it is indeed an operating departure point and not an abandoned warehouse still in construction.
My flight seems to be the only one today.

19/11/2010 Reggello

Another day off, Paul said we could "take off tomorrow", and for a moment we thought we were being chucked out. We went to Reggello to leave the house for once. Apparently Reggello is the Città del olio, the city of oil - but there really wasn't much in terms of specialised shops. I was hoping for cute stalls selling regional produce. I guess the town's reputation is due to the sheer quantity of olive trees in the area - LOADS. We saw some, neatly organised on terraces, stretching for miles on end - almost looked like an Inca pyramid.
On the way back the fog began to settle and we tried not to get runover by the fast cards, especially on the bends. Everyone went to a pizzeria to avoid the daily soup, but Clara and me were agreed that sitting in a restaurant with the Americans was the last thing we wanted to be doing. A good choice, they were talking about Volvos for most of the meal apparently. We just stayed in our room having a chat - my favourite moments of the trip. She listens to my stupid paranoias and always knows what to say - fountain of wisdom she is.
Everyone arrived at our room, thinking we would party here - even Raymond's dad turned up... We took the "party" elsewhere - to the basement, and proceeded to play ring of fire with nine people and copious amounts of booze. Everyone was pretty drunk afterwards. I pushed Ethan outside and he collapsed backwards, and then walked into the room with his hand covered in blood. Rob was pretty wasted, having had to down the middle drink - he went so pale whilst doing it. And Raymond was upset, running outside like an emo, smoking by the terrace banister. I think I took it a little too far by constantly repeating: "Dear diary, you're my best friend".
I can't believe I've only got one weekend left in Italy. It's been so much fun. Traveling with Rob has been great despite the money thing - he really makes me laugh. And it's funny that we haven't known him for that long but we've grown so close to him - and funny we met in vendanges.

15/11/2010 Reggello

Not in the best state to write, it's proving rather difficult actually. We're waiting for the bus to Reggello at St. Ellero. We've been on the same spot for nearly 3 hours. Clara left her handbag on the train we've just managed to recover it, but the camera is missing - with all the pictures. It's maybe worse than losing your wallet. We're all feeling pretty worse for wear.

12/11/2010

It was raining this morning, to our great joy -and to Roberto's chagrin. The harvest seems to be a bit poor this year. We walked to Montespertoli; apparently the wine capital of Tuscany - you really wouldn't have guessed. There was hardly anyone in sight, shops were shut and I really couldn't see all that many wineries - not like in Montalcino. We just missed the 'vino novello' festival (7-8 Nov), and the 'olio nuovo' festival is this weekend, but it's hard to imagine the town (if it can be called that) at all lively.
We went straight to the first cafe we saw. It was a pasticceria (and a good one at that, according to Roberto). We sat on some stools and had a couple of lattes, and were treated to home-made pannetone and chocolate crêpes. "Test please", said the only acceptable-looking Italian I've seen yet. Pannetone is not really one of my faves, but this one was fresh and juicy. We stayed for quite a while, getting stuffed. Looked at the postcards but none of them were that nice. Bought some more pressies in the bakery and walked back. The sky was quite clear and it'd stopped raining, so we knew there was work waiting for us. We started at 3. It wasn't that bad, there was barely enough time to do much. Only thing is i didn't have time to change into my wellies and put my foot in a puddle as soon as we started.
We're staying tomorrow Saturday in the end. Rob's feeling better and the work keeps getting interrupted, so it's not so bad at all. Plus, we've found that if we cook, we eat well, and I sure do enjoy it. Roberto is pretty insufferable - extremely stubborn and speaks to us as he would to a retarded 4 year-old. Clara says I get too worked up about it, it's true, but he does drive me nuts. He tried teaching me how to make tortilla the other night... I mean, come on. And he has the tendency to say "Claro!", when we ask really not-so-obvious questions. He also wanted to teach me how to eat my piece of pizza, but I refused to follow his advice. It doesn't need more olive oil for fuck's sakes.

11/11/2010 Certaldo

Woke up in the middle of the night with Roberto coming into our room, crying in outrage that Rob shouldn't be there. He asked why his room wasn't good enough and why he hadn't been told about Rob's move. He added there would be problems with the police were they to find him sleeping on the floor... The real reason is that Roberto can't allow boys and girls sleeping in the same room if they're not married. Needs to get out into the city as Rob said today.
The work today was ok - I kept thinking/telling myself I was there by choice, and that worked pretty well. The biscuits also helped, and my music. We don't knoe whether to leave Saturday or Sunday - we reckon they work here on Saturdays...
We're a sad bunch. Rob's been ill with a mixture of asthma, cold and diarrhoea - he's stayed at home for 2 days, sleeping. Clara got a branch in her eye and it was crying all night, and she couldn't open it this morning. I would be panicking and going crazy - she kept her cool.
The cat jumped on my lap at this point and I lost all concentration.

10/11/2010 Certaldo

I think I've worked out how to deal with the work - I tend to think "I don't have to be here, this is voluntary, and it's shit, so I want to leave" - but if I stay positive and think that in a couple of months I'll be at home missing the whole experience, then the work gets a lot easier to endure. It's pretty logical really, but hours on end of olive-picking can get you thinking, well, not clearly. It rained a bit in the morning today, so Roberto decided to show us around. This place is amazing, there is a wool workshop (and a shop selling its products: socks, hats, scarves...), a herb-packing workshop, milk workshop (also making cheese, yogurt, etc), bread (we saw Paula putting several loaves in the massive ovens). They also bottle juice and tomato puree, make their own pasta... they have jersey cows and milking cows (and a bull), and goats (and Billy - the male goat, with a very long beard). He also showed us the frantoio (mill) - so apparently the oil is produced when the olives are crushed continously and an enzyme is released.
I just cracked up laughing remembering a moment in the fields today. Rob was feeling very poorly and was sent to bed - I said I had some paracetamol he could take, but amazingly, Roberto had never heard of paracetamol and thought I could give Rob some parasites. Just remembering his puzzled expression gives me the giggles.
So Rob is sleeping here tonight because Roberto's sheets seem to be either full of dust or very damp - he can't breathe properly at night.
The sunset today was breath-taking. There was a storm just before 5, and when that cleared there was a beautiful light and a strong wind that made the clouds move very quickly and change shape and colour constantly. There were dark blues juxtaposed with light yellows, deep pinks with pastel oranges...
I seem to be annoying everyone with the light still on, so I'll say good night.

09/11/2010 Certaldo

We're at a new farm - Poggio Antico, first started by Franciscan monks in the 1200s and still going - without the monks, although still with some religious fervour. There's a prayer room on the ground floor of our little house, with chairs gathered around a stove, and spiritual song books and Bibles. There's also a print of Jesus directly above Clara's bed and Roberto's collection of DVDs ranges from Ghandi to Maria Teresa, with the life of Moses chucked in for good measure. At least he doesn't (he as in Roberto, not Moses) encourage us to partake in these activities in any way. There was no work today as it was pouring it down for the entirety of the day. Roberto took us to Certaldo station, encouraging instead we do some tourism - he even wanted to give us some train fare money, Rob should have accepted!
It looks like it's raining tomorrow aswell - Roberto has suggested Pisa, and my head instantly shot up thinking "Hell's yeah" - after we'd just had a conversation about how we should stay at the ranch, preventing further spending.
Only have one more week and a half in Italy.

06/11/2010 Cortona

This part of the world really is beautiful. We're exploring Cortona today. The sun is shining and rarely have I seen colours this vivid. Autumn has to be my favourite season. There are trees with leaves so yellow they look like they irradiate light. Then there's the reds, browns and smoky greens, always broken up by the greyish leaves of the olive trees. Cortona is pretty unique. It doesn't have the touristy that less charming Italian towns seem to have acquired. There are a couple of cafes in the main square, but one you move away from the centre the buildings are mostly residential. Beautiful houses wit verandas and terraces, chimneys and green shutters. Even now, beginning of November, the sun still warms you up.

01/11/2010 Perugia

First of November and no work. We got up late and hungover from the Halloween party, and thinking we'd have the day off. Enrico told Steve to "gather his team". Just as we were walking out the door it started to rain and we all jumped up in joy and sat on the steps looking at the hills and the many colours in the trees.

30/10/2010 Perugia

Steve lost a tooth yesterday, on his birthday. Must have been because of his fall from the tree. It was a good birthday, although we were paying for all the drinks and receiving abuse for being Spanish.

27/10/2010 Perugia

Steve and Rob are here. They were getting bored at the B&B and increasingly freaked out by Mario's night-time xilophone performances. As always, I feel responsible for them now. It's hardly pumpin' here. Although we livened up last night and played ring of fire at the boys' - on the mezzanine. Enrico joined us for a game of Shithead. Looks like wine solves all boredom. The hangover today was a bit of a killer but we laughed a lot in the fields and Steve provided us with plenty of entertainment, including falling off one of the olive trees.

15/10/2010 Siena

We've been very bad backpackers - taxi from the station to the hotel and taxi again from the hotel to the (nearer) bus station. Having a coffee at Piazza del Campo (twice) cannot be called economizing either. And the shops haven't failed to catch our attention. Still, we have been fairly disciplined, we had a pizza slice for dinner (2.50€) and bought lunch at the supermarket today (2.90€). We were hoping to stop this inadequate spending tomorrow, and instead feel worthy after a hard day of olive-picking, but we've just been told Sunday is rest day, and the idea of spending the day amidst olive trees with not much to do is not exactly appealing. This is the time when I wish we'd brought a car - we have to depend on someone else if we want to go a bit further afield to take us and bring us back. We're off to the supermarket now (driven there by Ralf) to stock up on wine for the week - might be our only release from Deutchsland.

Olives olives

We're nearing the end of our stay in Italy. I fly to England on the 22nd to see friends and finally to Santander on the 1st December. Because we've been doing the same thing for nearly 5 weeks we're all pretty much ready to go home, and also, we're all running out of money - and Italy is not cheap. But I know I'll be sad to leave this beautiful country. The numerous villages we've visited seem stuck in time and this time of the year is perfect to see them in their full glory. Plus, the countryside is simply breath-taking with its autumnal tonalities and the thick mist that engulfs mountains and trees, erasing the scene.
The place we're at at the moment is amazing. It's 500 m above sea level, near a village surprisingly called Pietrapiana (flat stone). Our room has a window with incredible views.
Have to go to dinner, will continue later maybe.

The pressure is on

The last couple of days have been a bit strange, almosphere-wise. We couldn't work on Monday because it rained and we weren't told to do anything else around the house. Everyone was pretty hungover from the Halloween party, so we just sat around, watched a couple of things on the computer and ate all the leftovers. We've been working since Tuesday and have been told the work is not fast enough and it's not proving cost-effective. We're finding it quite hard to keep our mouths shut but us being here is really not a cost for them at all. There is no food in the house, and we've had to resort to buying our own food from the not-so-nearby supermarket, which always seems like an inconvenience for the hosts. We are stuck here all the time, we haven't been shown around or taken on trips etc as I was promised when I first exchanged emails. And we work 7 hours, without getting paid. You should really see the packed lunch... So being told to work faster is not what we want to hear. We're doing our best and work non-stop.
This sounds like I'm just moaning but it's an uncomfortable position to be in. The hosts don't talk to us nor include us in any of their activities. Luckily we've got each other and are more than happy to sit and read by the fire. Other than that, it's all good. We're all pretty fed up of the olives though, but we're getting better at picking them. Our clothes are in an irreparable state, stained and full of holes. Tomorrow's our last day here, we're going to Cortona on Saturday and spending the night there. It's meant to be beautiful. Plus there's a market selling local produce on Sunday so that'll keep me happy. I can't wait to get out and explore another little town. It'll be good to walk around in normal clothes for once.

It's raining olives

We've had such a good week weather-wise. Sun and blue skies. On my birthday there was no wind and by the afternoon it was boiling. The boys had their t-shirts off and we were laying on the grass sunbathing and drinking wine. We worked quite fast and had quite a few breaks. We went to the supermarket after work to stock up on goodies, incuding a cake. It felt strange leaving the house - it's in the middle of nowhere so we havne't been able to come and go as we wish. We cooked a piece of meat in the fireplace, ate the cake and went out to a couple of bars in Perugia. It was ok, although the boys are out of funds so we found ourselves paying for the drinks.
Yesterday was also a nice day. We wanted to see Perugia by day as it looked so beautiful by night. Like many other Italian towns, it's old and retains an antique charm, with its cobbled streets and sculptured façades. It took us a while to get there: we walked, hitck-hiked, got a bus and then a tram. Once there we walked around, enjoying the sun and the Saturday bustle. There were lots of very well-dressed Italians going to church, markets selling antiques and hand-made pottery, children eating ice-cream, and locals sitting on the cathedral steps in the sunshine. It was so great to see a new town, and it really is a beautiful town.
I'm quite glad we're not working this weekend. My hands and back ache quite badly. I guess gripping the comb for 6 hours a day and stretching yoursef to reach the higher olives has to account for that.
There's a Halloween party going on tonight. We have no costumes so we'll probably use bin bags, and eyeliner and lipstick as face paint. It's quite nice to have a day of relaxing and sitting by the fire.
Happy Halloween.

Tiles

I can't believe I wrote the last entry only just yesterday. It feels like ages ago - I guess we're moving through completely different situations all the time, one day has nothing to do with the one before. At the weekend we were tourists visiting a touristy town, dragging our luggage everywhere with us; buying postcards and eating overpriced pizza; sitting on the steps of the main piazza and watching the world go by... Now, we're deep in the hills surrounding Perugia, with our own room (lit with candles, not bulbs); we're nor spending a penny and the food is homemade and finger-licking good; and sitting by the massive fireplace in the kitchen, reading and chatting.
We haven't started the olive picking yet because it rained all through the morning. Federica asked us if we would like to finish the tiling in a room in the cellar. We replied we'd never done it before and she said it wasn't a problem. Good old Helpx again, entrusting people with jobs for trained professionals. It was ok really. The gaps to be filled weren't right for the tiles available, so we pretended the wall was a jigsaw and tried to fit as many pieces in as tastefuly as possible. We even included some traingular pieces...
We spent about 3 hours preparing/eating lunch. Federica and Enrico both love cooking and it shows. They're very relaxed about the work and want us to join in in their lifestyle, eating pasta, drinking wine and taking it easy. It's great although I feel bad about not doing more work.
In the afternoon, well, half 5, we went for a walk with Enrico. He organises trekking trips so knows all about the area and has loads of knowledge of plants and seeds from the woods. He then left us and we climbed to the Panoramic point of Monte Tezino, where we spent some time gawping at the beautiful sun, setting over Lago Trasimeno.
Rob and Steve seem to feel like they're missing out and are joining us here tomorrow. It'll be nice to have them around, and will make speed up the olive picking. Steve's birthday is also on the 29th so Federica said we can have a party, Halloween themed of course.
I believe we start aour day at 7 tomorrow, so it's bedtime for me.
Will try to put some photos up in the next couple days.

Italia

Siamo in Italia!
Me and Clara have been here for a week, and oh boy what a week. We decided to prolong our travels after spending so much time with fellow travelers in France. So here we are - olive picking. We've just finished the first week at a farm near Grosseto, south Tuscany. It was an interesting experience. The work was cool although pretty hard on our untrained biceps - it consisted of "combing" the trees with a sort of vibrating pitch fork, so that the olives would come flying out at a ridiculous speed and force. It hurt when they hit you in the eye. It was only 4 hours a day though, so tolerable. The rest of the day was spent exploring the area - old villages, hot springs, sunset on the beach, oil mill... The only two things that bothered us was: 1. It was a German colony. There were 12 of us and we were the ony non-Germans, so we spent most of the time looking at each other and thinking, oh God. But they were nice enough, except for 3 really butch women/men. 2. We had to pay for own food, which is against Helpx's principles, but it was the boss's first time with Helpx so.. I don't know, there wassn't much we could do.
So we're in Assisi at the mo, going to Perugia this afternoon to start at the second farm (olive picking aswell, and 7 hours of it..).
Will try to update but it's difficult to find a computer on olive farms.
Hi from Clara!

Long time no type

Who would have thought that after going through the body-wrenching experience of grape-picking last September and swearing we would never ever put outselves through that again, we went and did it, again!
Clara and I just got back from 2 fantastic weeks in Beaujeu, a small village in the Mâcon region of France, near Lyon. We worked in 2 different farms and have 2 completely different experiences, one good and one bad - but now they sum up to a great "holiday". The work was not as excruciating as last year - I don't know if it was because our bodies were slightly immune to last year's constant back bending or if it was due to the copious amounts of ibuprofen we took and the daily Tiger Balm massages, a miraculous substance. It must be said, the boss this year was les strict and we had plenty of breaks and sitting down was allowed, that must have contributed too. Still, because the other grape-pickers were all foreigners (all Appellation Controlee applicants ( a Dutch agency)) and not French locals, we found ourselves being some of the quickest workers. It was a very pleasant surprise.
We had a great group of Brits, Germans, Dutchies and an Australian, who sure livened up our evenings, drinking 5 euro 5 litre "bidons" of wine. They each had their own story and their own traveling ambitions and you can't help but it rubbing off and soon I was more than happy to ignore my flights back home and stay for an extra week of work.
A group of us stayed in Lyon for a couple of days after the work ended. It was great spending time with them in a non-working environment, although a bit weird. We were sad to leave them, and let them carry on with their disorganised travel plans and feel slightly unhinged back at home now. All I want to do is set off again. The idea of settling back into a routine is not particularly attractive at the moment.
However much I might complain about not having enough clothes when I travel, it sure feels good to live out of a suitcase.

8 hours back in time

So the last entry was left unfinished because my credit ran out at the airport. I'm home now, didn't have the balls to rebel against already made plans. I guess it's for the best, this way I can prepare for my next visit properly, with sufficient funds and plenty of socks. The idea of living at home for a few months is nice, especially when I start working, and I'll be super motivated to save and not spend. I also want to spend some time working on my photography, experimenting with my camera and doing something with my photos - I've found a bar that exhibits paintings and photos, which are both on display and for sale, so I'm quite excited about giving that a go.
The journey back was pretty long and it felt weird getting into London and being pushed around and treated like sheep at Stansted. We spent the afternoon in central London, and went to an exhibition in the Natural History Museum about fish who live in the dark depths of the sea. It was average, and there were no wear near enough freaky fish in jars - a lot of them were ridiculously toy-like plastic replicas. But there were a couple of informative videos and the timeline listing the various forms of underwater exploration along the years was really interesting. Made me want to be a marine scientist, to get on boats and take samples of sand. Imagine that.
After the museum we headed to Liverpool Street and found a pub. We loved that it was still daytime until 9ish, and sat outside, amongst our various pieces of luggage, sipping on a pint and playing UNO. We met up with my friend Dave for a couple of hours and jumped on the Stansted Express, getting into the airport at midnight, where the cold floor awaited us for the night. Our bosies were slightly confused because of the time-change, and I ended up having an English breakfast at 2 am, which I afterwards regretted.
Now we're back home, trying to re-adjust to the flat, which amusingly seemed to have shrunk in size. Unpacking my backpack brought back lots of memories, but I'm not sad. We had a great time and the fact that it was a short stay has made us want to go back and do it properly, and I have the feeling we will.
G'day to all.

Bye bye baby Brisbane

Just a quick word from the airport. For the past couple of days I've been thinking, if I were a little bit crazy I'd say fuck it and not get on the plane. Well, I'm here already after all, and I don't really need anything from home, except maybe some more socks...

Back to Brissie

Apologies for the long wait. I stopped writing while at the winery, as I found out Tony, the owner, was reading through my posts and felt uncomfortable keeping it up knowing he was following my every comment. Not that I had anything negative to talk about. I just found it a bit nosy and inappropriate.
So, the second week at the winery was more of the same really. We kept bottling different wines, and that's what we really enjoyed - you get to do the whole process, from rinsing and sterilizing the empty bottles, to filling them, to bottling them, to taking them down to the cellar-door. Trudie and Tony are experimenting with making cocoa port, so we contributed by spending 4 hours peeling cocoa beans. Sounds bad, but was actually pretty enjoyable. Elena and I just sat and chatted and listened to the customers wine tasting outside. We got a couple of good weather days, and sunbathed in the orchard. We made paella one night, and it tasted as good as my Mum's, so we were pretty chuffed. It was quite hard filling out the day with things to do, so sometimes I worked in the afternoon, alternatively I just slept - was probably a good idea, good sleep reserves in preparation for Brisbane and the return of the backpacker lifestyle.
And I tell you, feels good being back in the city. We were amazed at seeing so many people and being back in civilization. Cafes and bars, cars, life. We flew on Saturday from Cairns to Brisbane, a two hour flight to cover the distance we'd initially traveled in several days. It felt weird getting on a plane, almost as if we were returning home. But we're so happy we've had these couple of days to catch up with the city and also to see people we met here and amazingly, bump into people we met on our way up north. On Saturday night we saw Steve and Nick, some Australian guys we met on our last night in Brisbane last time. They're really fun and were really happy to see us again. We went to a house party in the suburbs and chatted to other Aussies and didn't get much sleep. On Sunday we got up early and went to the Brisbane Museum. Its arrangement of displays was a bit mystifying but it was enjoyable overall. The best bit were the genuine specimens of wild-life (dead obviously). We saw box jelly-fish, red back spiders, taipan snakes... the deadliest creatures in Australia. We did our best at reading all the information panels, but it was a little bit too much for our hungover brains, but it's the intention that counts. We then headed for Brisbane's fake beach, which sounds pretty tacky but is surprisingly attractive. The water is pristine, and the juxtaposition of beach, river and skyscrapers makes a nice change from your everyday scene. We sunbathed for most of the day then had some food in McDonalds (don't ask), and relaxed in the hostel. At night we went to Ryan's (one of the Brits we met at Rainbow beach) old Brisbane apartment and gained access to the steam room and jacuzzi, which was such a great day of ending the day, accompanied by some Jaboticaba port from the winery and a stroll by the river.
Ryan is back in Brisban,e after 2 months of backpacking, taking back his old job to start earning again. And it's something that's been floating around my mind for a while, especially since being back in Brisbane. It's a great city.
Today we caught the bus to Lone Pine Sanctuary, a sort of wildlife centre, specializing in koalas and kangaroos. It was nice being able to get so close to the animals, and we loved being able to stroke them - but as always with zoos and stuff like that, I felt bad for the animals. The wombats seemed so sad, and the koalas must be sick of the never-ending camera flashes and constant admiration. We thought it was a bit of a rip off too. And you had to pay an extra $15 to get your photo taken holding a koala, which we didn't do, of course.
So we've just got the rest of today and most of tomorrow to make the most of what's left. We might go to the cinema tonight and walk around another area of the city tomorrow. The flight doesn't take off until 11 pm.
And then it's back home.

Cheers!

In the cellar

Time out

We've been sleeping quite a lot. Not in the morning, we get up at 6.45 every morning and work through to 1 o'clock, sometimes even later. We've taken up napping as there isn't that much to do around here and we don't want to read too much in case we finish our books. It can be quite frustrating at times, I just feel like I'm missing out on seeing more of Australia - something that might be plausible if we had our own trasport. The wether's beeen pretty dull too; and even though it's not raining anymore, the sky is forever overcast with big grey clouds. I guess I'd feel differently if I was going to be here for longer, and would enjoy having not much to do - but I actually feel happier when we're working away in the winery than when we finish with our day's work. If we were staying for longer we would be also be trained on talking about the wines, and would be able to assist customers, but as things stand we're just cleaning after them. I think the main thing for me is being active, even in my spare time, something that is not happening here. Elena goes for daily runs but I didn't bring my running shoes with me, and running in flip flops would probably do me more harm than good. I go clycling but there are so few roads here it gets pretty monotonous! What I might so is help Trudy in the afternoon too. She could do with the help and that would keep me busy.
I apologise if all this sounds like I'm moaning - I'm not. I do realise this is a wonderful experience and there are few times in life when I'll find myself working in a winery in the middle of the Australian rainforest. It's just an unusual transition going from a busy schedule of site-seeing, constantly meeting new people, going out, taking walks on the beach to being part of a fairly isolated working business.
Trudy has been amazing. She is so kind and so good with people. She's always willing to help and make sure we're ok and answers all our questions about Australian culture. She is also extremely hardworking and barely has time to finish her breakfast every day - she's always carrying her little tupperware with her, hoping to have a spare secong to have a nibble on her toast. Whenever she sits down to have lunch, that's when there'll be arriving customers, and she'll always assist them with a smile. She is a truly remarkable woman, and takes charge of most of the physical side of the business, such as lifting heavy weights and moving crates full of wine in the winery, and she's in her 60s.
We've got the day off on Sunday. We are being dropped off at Port Douglas (yay! biggish town, with cafes!) as it's market day and it's meant to be bustling with locals and local produce. It also has a 4 mile beach, so we're crossing our fingers for good weather, in the hope of regaining our tan!

12 wines

It's been a couple of days at the winery and gosh, how much have we done! We're thrilled to be getting involved in nearly the whole wine-making process, well, except for actually making the wine - no new batches are needed at the moment. But, Elena and me bottled the first vanilla port, a new release for Shannonvale Winery. We got to do pH tests, stelising of equipment, and then bottling of the wine into snazzy bottles coming all the way from Italy, as it seems Aussie bottles are not sophisticated enough. You need a certain rhythm to fuction this machine and it can be a bit stressful - Elena had problems because her hands were sweating so I took charge. She then took charge of the corking, well, they're not corks, they're caps. We were using a $6,000 machine. You press two side buttons that elevate the bottle into a spinning mechanism which secure the screw top, and you have to listen for an appropiate sound to know when it's been completed. Pretty cool stuff. We also helped the owners at the Mossman show, a sort of community fair with local produce and funfair included - we didn;t go on any rides, each ride was $7, I don't know how the little kids could afford it. Because it started to rain we didn't really have much to do so Trudy introduced us to all 12 wines, although only a few drops of each. The ports were delicious, especially the orange and grapefruit ones, I'll be taking some bottles of those back... you never know, it might get boring on the flight home.
We've also been talking about labels, there's going to be a label make-over and the new ones look really classy.
We did some fruit-picking too: kumquats and limes. I tried very hard not to scream and jump off the ladder whenever we encountered an unfamiliar bug, which was pretty often. There is so much crazy wildlife here. The bat reappered yesterday evening, he seems to like the bathroom (it's just a small insect-eating one, so he's alright apparently), then there was a bright green frog chilling on a leaf outside the kitchen, just like those you see in encyclopedias in the tropical jungle section.
There's a great veggie garden too. We go there before lunch to pick whatever we want. There are aubergines, green beans, tomatoes, celery, the best-tasting rocket I've ever tasted, spinach, peppers... and the list goes on.
Today we had most of the day off since we've got a lot of hours up our sleeve, as Trudy says. We cycled 10 km to the Mossman gorge, which is in the Daintree national park, the oldest rainforest in the whole wide world. It was ok, but a little bit touristy and on a par with the rainforest surrounding the winery. There are so many weird-sounding birds here, but I can never find the source, the trees are so tall and thick. There's a bird that sounds like a cat, one that sounds as if it's crying, or laughing...it's crazy.
We're pretty happy staying around here and giving a hand, it's really needed. Trudy seems to take on a lot of tasks and we want to avoid her getting stressed out , but as always with HelpX, there's a limit to the the help we can offer as you need a certain knowledge or generally an undertanding of how things are done before you can offer any significant help. But we're trying our best, and enjoying it at the same time. And that's what matters!

Shannonvale Winery

We're here! After a short bus ride we arrived at the tourisy Port Douglas, where Tony Woodall (one of the owners) picked us up. Just before I go on to talk a bit about the winery, I think it necessary to recount out last hostel experience. It really derserves a mention. After our 5 star hostel experiences this one kinda let us down: in the middle of nowhere, only drunk locals in sight, filth and graffiti in the rooms,mould in the bathrooms. Management didn't really know what they were doing... they unlocked and came into the twin room Elena and I were staying up, in the middle of the night, to ask if we had checked in...??? In the morning we thought we'd have breakfast at the hostel. Big mistake. We ordered French toast. Big mistake. The guy behind the bar looked like he'd just gotten up, didn't know where anything was, couldn't count the change properly and gave us deep-fried, fat dripping, soggy bread thinking he could get away with it. We helped ourselves to free cereal and left the "toast".
So the winery. It's pretty rustic. And similarly to the farms I worked at in France, the owners don't seem to get any free time at all. We've only been here for a day and half, but they seem to have customers pretty much all the time. People come here to buy wine mainly, so they taste the 12 varieties and then make up their mind. We haven't tasted them all yet, only 2 at the moment. There are table wines: jaboticaba, ginger, mango, lychee, passionfruit, grapefruit.. and ports: jaboticaba, orange, purple mangosteen, black sapote. And no, I don;t know what all the fruits are yet. We've been taken around the orchard briefly and shown the lime and kumquat trees, which are the only ones with fruit at the moment - we will have to pick it at some point. Trudie, Tony's wife, also showed us around the veggie garden, it was amazing: aubergines, green beans, tomatoes, celery.. and she gave us wild rocket and spinach to taste. Also warned us about green ants, which in her words, can be "quite uncomfortable" if you brush against their nest. Yikes.
We're defintely going to come across a little too much wildlife for my liking.. a bat just got into the bathroom, as we speak.
So what else.. We labelled some wine bottles in the morning with a snazzy labelling machine, had pie for lunch, and washed a bucket full of limes, then started squeezing them with another snazzy machine but there was a power cut so had to do most of the job by hand. The power cut lasted a while so we were quite limited as to things to do. We went for a bike ride, but the river had overflowed on the road. And then cooked our dinner by candlelight, had some wine.. pretty romantic stuff!
I think we're working in the winery tomorrow, filtering wine or something.
Bottoms up!

Finding Nemo

Today was our snorkeling trip to Uluru, a section of the Great Barrier Reef. We were pretty unfortunate with the weather, there was loads of wind and consequently the waves were ginormous. When we were in the water it was like being stuck in the middle of a storm. And when your trying to float on top of pretty sharp coral, you don't really want to be pushed about by the tide. Elena came in for the first snorkel but stayed in the boat for the second, which was a shame as the second was in shallower waters and the current has calmed down a bit. We were guided by the crew, which was great as they showed us all the cool stuff. I followed one of the crew memebers for quite a bit and it was just us, good news for me - I got to heold 2 different types of star fish: one hard and blue, the other slimy and purple. I also held a sea cucumber, which is a kind of fat worm that feeds on sand, take the nutrients out and then poohs it back out again. Nobody else wanted to hold it I wonder why... And, the great news, we finally saw Nemo! For my parents, who might not know that Nemo is a character in a Pixar animated film, Nemo is a clown fish, or an anemone fish, as it lives inside anemones. We saw abour 5 of them and they're really tiny and really cute. I then went off on my own and saw another turtle (a green one, beautiful) and some huge fish hiding behind the coral. Amazing stuff, just a shame about the weather.
The crew was really friendly and there was loads of food which is always a plus. Now we're back in Cairns, and gonna use some vouchers to get some free meals. We are trying to make the most of everything as our packpacking days here are coming to an end, and we're missing people we've met and places we've seen. I difintely have a thing for Magnetic Island, it must be the name... It's been pretty great living out of a backpack - you really don't need that many clothes, we've worn the same thing most of the time - and you know you're a true backpacker when you make your sandwich in the middle of the street, using your finger to spread cheese on the bread as opposed to a knife. Good times.

Jump in my car

Our means of transport on Magnetic

Magnificent Magnetic

What can I say about Magnetic Island, it was amazing. The guide books don't seem to give it the attention it deserves - in my opinion it was better than Fraser. One of the highlights was definitely the hostel, which had its own beach and nice decking with fabulous views. And the rooms were cute little bungalows. So, we got there at 2 pm and decided to rent some bikes to have a look around, attempting to cross the island to get to Horseshoe Bay. Only thing is we didn't think about the fact that the island is like a mountain, so going up the hill was not fun. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the other side. By the time we got back were dead and went to bed really early, but did not get to sleep until everyone else had gone to bed as the music was so loud outside and we had annoying Swiss girls screaming outside our room for quite some time.
The next day was awesome. We hired a "topless car" with a guy called Chris who we met in Agnes Waters, and driving was really fun. The island barely has any roads so the places to see are pretty limited, but it was so much fun driving again. And there's no traffic at all. We parked in Radical Bay and started walking the 3.5 km road to the beach (access not permitted to cars), then realised it was gonna take us forever so hitched a ride with an Aussie couple who frequently holiday at Magnetic. From the beach we followed a 1.6 km hiking trail to Balding Bay, which is one of the few nudist beaches in Queensland, as it is illegal in most of the state. That was really nice - there was barely anyone around, it was like we had the beach to ourselves. Only thing is the hike was pretty tough and it was boiling, and we'd arranged to meet up with Chris at a certain time so we only got to spend about 15 mins sunbathing.
After that we saw some wild wallabies, and I got to hand feed them! We spent the rest of the day making the most of the car and driving around. Returned it at 5 and bumped into Ricki and Ryan, two Brits who we met at Rainbow Beach and who are a real laugh. Because we like them so much and the island also, we decided to change our plans and prolong out stay, and it was so worth it. We went on another hike, I got to drive again (this time it was a Hello Kitty car), we saw a koala up on a tree, and played UNO and pool at the bar. We were really sad to leave today, we don't know if we'll see those guys again.
So all in all, a beautiful experience and now in Cairns. It's a weird transition from a small, compact and quiet island to this big, empty, ghost-like town. We're going on a snorkeling trip tomorrow, so more fishies!!
More news to come shortly...

FISH

I got this phto from the internet, but it's exactly what we saw when the food was thrown into the water. We had a water cam so hopefully we'll get some good pics from that.

Whitsundays - Just WOW

We just got back from the 2 day sailing trip around the Whitsundays. It was amazing. When we went to board the boat we kept seeing people coming back from the trip, for some reason all with long faces... now we know why - we didn't want to get off that boat.
It was probably the best thing we've done since being out here. Being on a boat was awesome, the views were amazing, our group was pretty cool and we snorkelled. This was the highpoint of the trip for me, and it's made the whole journey worth it. It was exactly like the documentaries you see on tv. There were millions of different fish, all shapes and colours, and they weren't shy at all, they'd come up so close you could touch them. It all got wilder when one of the crew members came out on the tender boat and fed them so they all came swarming towards the surface, flapping their fins and tails against our faces. There was also a massive green fish, that opened its mouth so wide Elena and I were jumping on top of other group members for protection. Then the most amazing thing happened, I saw a turtle too - just swimming around, in its own habitat, it was a beautiful moment and the whole experience just painted a smile on my face for the rest of the day. We also saw a whale in the distance jumping out of the water, and also a dolphin. It was really breathtaking. Apart from the fish themselves, the coral was incredible, also all shapes, colours and sizes. Some it was pretty freaky, some if it looked like brains, some of it was very very sharp so a lot of people got cuts on their feet. We had to wear "stinger suits" for the jellyfish. I wore my contacts every time we snorkelled (3 times in 3 days!) so I saw everything in perfect detail.
We also went to visit Whitehaven beach, apparently 4th best beach in the world. It was pretty stunning, to say the least. And we saw the sunset there.
Night-time was interesting. We slept on bunk beds under the main deck, it was pretty cosy. Elena and I shared a double that was right next to the air con machine, so the noise was a bit of a nightmare but the rocking of the boat felt quite nice when it wasn't sending me crashing against the wall. The first night Elena and I and 2 other guys were the last ones up, and had a bit too much to drink, and felt it the next day. Hangover + boat = not a good combo. But the snorkelling made it loads better.
So we're back in Airlie Beach now. The crew are holding an after party at one of the bars here later on, so we'll see everyone again before everyone parts in, well, pretty much the same direction, north. We're heading over to Magnetic Island tomorrow. It has a koala sanctuary and beached and we get free snorkelling equipment from the hostel. Great!!

More photos...

Voil`a

By the way...

The reason the previous post has that title is because Australia seems to be infested by Germans, they are everywhere. Well, they seem to love the tourist trail at least. Now I know the feeling when my Dad preferred not to stay in German packed campsites in France.

Deutschland

We're in Airlie beach! This is very exciting. Airlie beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, meant to have some of the most stunning beaches in the whole of Australia. Better yet, we see them from a boat, on which we stay for 2 nights. The package deal includes all meals onboard and snorkel equipment. I can't wait!
We got in at 7 am this morning, after a 10 hour night bus journey. We slept through the whole thing. We were pretty tired since we were kayaking for a couple of hours yesterday. It was meant to be "kayaking with dolphins", or at least that's how they sold it to us - but we only saw a tiny fin in the distance. Apparently the waves were too rough, and dolphins prefer calm waters. But it was nice anyway - I just wish they weren;t so cheeky in their marketing schemes. So we kayaked in the sea, stopped at a beach and went up to a lookout. It was very pretty, and timed so as we could see the sunset. i.e. 5.30 pm. We had some wine (or goon, as they call it here - it's a special kind of cheap wine that a true backpacker should experience) and some cake. The guide was an English guy dressed up as an Aussie: Billabong swimming trunks, a shirt, long blonde hair and a straw hat. Crocodile Dundee we called him.
After that we got invited to a free barbeque at one of the bars in town. There was barely anyone there so we had about 6 sausage baps, good times. We were also dragged into some dubious games.. I think they were meant to spice up the very dead atmosphere. So 5 guys sat on a chair each, in a row, with a balloon on their crotch. The aim of the game was for their female companion to try to burst said balloon without using hands or teeth. For some reason I got picked out as one of the girls, and apologetically continually sat/jumped onto the balloon as hard as I could. To no avail. We lost, somebody else had a sharper ass.
So then we just got onto the bus and fell asleep!
Our hostel here is pretty nice, it has balconies that look onto the beach. This morning, very early, we had breakfast by the beach. We have some cereal that we've been carrying around and just buy milk each time and as for paper cups in cafes to act as bowls. It was great. Because it was so early there was no-one around - except for the always present exercise freaks who jog bright and early (there's a lot of them around here - including my sister). And I feel like finally I'm seeing the Australia I was waiting to see. Palm trees by the beach, turquoise waters, sail boats... and when you see the green parrots chilling on the palm trees, you know you're nearing the tropics.
We're heading out for free pizza in a bit, and looking forward to having a few drinks in the first lively town since Brisbane.
Cheers!

Join the gang

Just got into Agnes Waters after a 4 hour bus ride. We've spent the weekend on Fraser Island - the biggest sand island in the world. We were part of a 20 person group, made up mostly of 18 year old over-excitable German girls, so it kinda felt like a school trip. The island is really beautiful though, and we were really happy to catch some good weather. I loved the never-ending beach, 75 km to be exact. And you can't swim in it because the tide is so strong, so it's pretty much deserted. There is a lot of wildlife on the island - we saw dingoes (which are basically wild dogs), giant jelly fish, whales, sharks, manta rays - it was amazing. Because it's winter here there was barely anyone around so we had the island to ourselves. Our guide was really awesome, and he really made a difference. He's lived on the island fot 3 years so knows all there is to know about it. He also knows where all the best places are, but didn't share them with us as each tout company has its permit, which limits visiting sites.
We've met a lot of people, in hostels mainly, and a surprising amount of people have been living in australia for just under a year. They come here to work for a few months and then travel with the money they've saved. You can get pretty good salaries if you work in big cities. It's pretty tempting actually.
Again, I'm finding myself a little bit disappointed by this sort of package deal, where you just follow all the other backpackers, and do what hundreds of other people are doing, and just brush the surface. As we were travelling up on the bus, passing beautiful sugar cane fields in the afternoon sun, I just wanted to stop and find my way into some farm and just stay there for a while. We've just met a girl who's hitch-hiking around Australia, and says it's incredibly easy to pick up a lift here. I'm not surprised, people are genuinely nice here. For me, this kind of thing hold a lot more merit than just hopping ona bus with other backpackers, and it makes me a bit upset to look at some of them - can't even be bothered to look out the window or be interested in their surroundings, just kind of going around Australia for the sake of it? I don't know. Anyhow, even though the yoga centre was a bit of a nightmare, it was definitely an experience. We're looking forward to working at the winery, and enjoying the Australian countryside without rushing around, checking in and out of hostels.
But don't worry, we're enjoying ourselves and also can't wait to see the islands and tour on a boat for 3 days!
More to come soon.

Going going... gone

We've finally managed to leave the yoga place, it was pretty easy really. We said 'We're leaving tomorrow', they were like 'ok'. They couldn't care less. They didn't say goodbye and ate all the carrot cake we'd baked. Funny actually. We were leafletting in another neighbourhood yesterday but there shops and cafes were quite posh so we couldn't really put posters up. So we had a coffee and the best cheesecake in the world. On the way back we stopped at a pub for a beer and ended up staying for hours on end cos these autralians started chatting to us. They were really nice and felt sorry for us, said we'd been unfortunate. They loved the stories though and we had a great time - it was a really nice way of saying goodbye to Brisbane. We got the bus at 7 am this morning and arrived at Rainbow Beach 5 hours later. Rainbow Beach is the gateway to Fraser island, a trip we're starting tomorrow and that will last for 3 days. After a very satisfying burger (MEAT! - with an egg thrown in for good measure) we've just taken a long walk on the beach. It's really beautiful and we're so chuffed to see the sea. The water isn't that cold so we might have a swim after watching the sun go down. We're in a 7 bed dorm in the hostel, and there's free pancakes at 7 am every day.
Get in.

Escape Day set to Friday

So the situation is getting pretty drastic. We're determied not to spend any money as we're saving for the 2 week mega adventure up the coast that we've just booked. So we can't really go out much. At the same time we don't want to stay in the yoga place - there is nothing to do and the vibes aren't good. Las night I got woken up by someone making a lot of noise in the kitchen - I thought someone was breaking into the place, since we're alone at night. It turns out to be another helper: A forty-year old woman from New Zealand, who as I've learnt today, regurlarly comes to stay at the yoga centre and is here this time to supervise the helpers and make sure they're doing their tasks correctly, since, apparently, jobs aren't always effectively completed. Great. We were kinda enjoying having the place to ourselves, but now we've got an annoying woman assessing our work throughout the day. And she's a bit strange, she just stares at us and says nothing. Isn't there anyone normal here?? Elena says that she can't be normal is she keeps coming back here...
Yesterday our task was quite good. We were sent to an area of Brisbane called West End and told to leave leaflets and put posters up in cafes etc. People were extremely friendly and were more than happy for us to leave our shitty leaflets. So it was nice to come accross some friendly Aussies.
We're doing the same tomorrow, only in another area. And it's our last day!!! We've just booked out holiday/ It lasts 2 weeks and starts on Friday. Getting us to Cairns on the 23rd, perfectly timed to start work at the tropical fruit winery near Port Douglas. We're desperately hoping that the hosts there are nice and welcoming!
So that is all for now.
Just to make you a little bit jealous I'm gonna tell you about some of the activities we have booked: tour of Fraser island (the biggest sand island in the world - with two lakes included, and whale spotting), sea kayaking with dolphins, Magnetic island (which has a huge natural park), 3 day tout of the Whytsunday islands (said to be the most beautiful group of island in Australia - we're gonna be sleeping in a boat), and a day trip to the reef, with a 6 hour snorkelling course included. I'm kinda scared to get too excited, I'm a little bit sceptical after this Brisbane fiasco, but it should be great.
Touch wood.

And the link..

http://www.yogaindailylife.org.au/Yoga-Classes/QLD/Fortitude-Valley-Yoga-Centre.html

Check it out

Sect?

Wow. So yesterday was "community night" at the yoga centre. And oh boy what a feast for the eyes it was. Where to start... Ok, so the hall was set with mats and cushions on the floor, tables with food, chairs in a semi circle for sicussion, a projector, and best of all, a sort of shrine to an indian guy in an orange robe who's supposedly the founder of yoga in daily life, the name of the centre. The shrine is normally covered by some curtains, but for this oh so special occasion they were opened to reveal a sort of family tree of indian yoga masters, a candle, and an orange. Orange seems to be king in this place, there was pumpkin, carrot and sweet potato soup for dinner and they seemed delighted when we said we'd make carrot cake as a contribution. We helped to cook all day, I got blisters and cuts from peeling 8 pumpkins. The night before Elena and I had spent all night baking, not just the carrot cake, but banana bread and cookies. These were all extra hours that we shoukdn't have done but we wanted to help, but nobody thanked us at any point and on top of that left us all the washing up to do from the party. We were also expected to attend the talk on Karma yoga, but we left when the DVD started...
So we were pretty fed up by the end of the night, but happy that we had Sunday off. We woke up this morning to see more tasks written on the board. Sunday is sacred ok? Elena was tempted to write "yeah right" next to the said duties (which included even more washing up). And we wouldn't mind if people were nice to us but they just seem to ignore us and let us get on with whatever.
It was nice to get out today and walk along the riverbank, it was a beutiful day too. We spent some time at West bank, which is the modern area of Brisbane, it has a fake beach and everything. It was market day todays and there were loads of cute cafes and a lot of people with sunglasses. We met a really nice Australian couple who were just really nice and took an interest in us and wanted to help us with suggestions as to where to go and where to avoid. We wanted them to adopt us, and take us away from the orange sect!
We are not gonna stay at this place for as long as we'd anticipated, obviously. So we went to a young person's travel agency and they've sorted out an amazing couple of weeks up the coast. They've been so helpful and just suggested nice plces to stop at, cheap accommodation, buss pass, trips, tours, the whole lot. We have to go see them on Tuesday to check how much it's gonna cost us. But we're pretty determined on getting the hell outta here!! Some of the activities include, koala spotting in natural parks, kayaking with dolphins, Fraser and Magnetic islands (just off Townsville), whale spotting, snorkelling in the Whytsundays, etc. We're excited for this and feel like this is what we should be doing, and not cleaning clean toilets every single day just for the sake of it.
We're looking forward to a little photo shoot in the centre, as we've found a set of orange robes belonging to the indian guy, we think he might be imaginary. The photos of him are probably off google.
...

Ohm

Here we are in an internet spot in a shopping centre, trying to deal with the cold. It's pretty cold here, the beginning of winter. So weird. There are cafes with posters saying "Keep warm this winter with our signature hot chocolate" and things like that. I've had to buy a hoodie, my shorts and t-shirts are not exactly winter wear.
So things are going great, except that we're still recovering from our jet lag, and we can get pretty tired. Today we woke up at 7 after having gone to bed at half 8 the previous night. We start work at 8. Our duties include... pretty much cleaning the whole yoga centre, from top to bottom, every day. I think it's not so much about keeping it clean but also getting rid of negative vibes or whatever you want to call it. We have to change the towels in every bathroom every day. Seems like a lot of washing machine energy wasted... So we sweep the main hall, vacuum and mop the reception area, vacuum the office, clean all the toilets, dust, water the plants, and then make lunch. It takes quite a lot of time, and we've been wondering how someone staying here on their own would get it done in the morning.
In between working you can go to the 10 o'clock yoga class. We were preparing the hall with the mats today for the Thursday morning class, when Sita, one of the women who runs the place, came and said there were no classes on Friday. We've completely lost track of time.
So, it's a bit weird, but we're alone in the centre at night, nobody lives there, and nobody told us about this. We just kind of realised that everyon left after the 6 o'clock class. I shouldn't say "everyone" as there's only one person at a time here. Apparently, because it's winter, there isn't as much to do or as many volunteers as there normally would.
We've been coping ok with the vegetarian stuff, even though it's just been one day... although we were gaping at a man eating a steak at a cafe just now... We made cauliflower and lentil curry for lunch today, it was very yummy. We were thinking of cooking some spanish dishes but evrything seems to contain eggs!! (Which are forbidden here - although there is a white powder called "No-egg" (egg replacement)). So I'm guessing no Spanish omelette on the menu..
There is a special night going one tomorrow, "community night" or something. There's gonna be a big meditating session, with over 40 people, and we need to help Samantha (one of the other teachers) to prepare a meal for them. Pumpking soup - so we'll need to peel about 100 pumpkins. Elena and I are gonna do some baking tonight for the party. Carrot cake, banana bread and some cookies. If we don't eat them all before tomorrow...
Oh, and we pray before we eat! I can't seem to escape the praying! It's a yoga type prayer, Indian thingy.. So that's going to be fun at every meal time...
It would be nice to have a tv with some films on these wintery nights, but technology seems to be a no no at the centre. They cover the computers with tablecloth type things, to hide the beasts!!
Anyway, that's all for now. We're gonna go to the tourist office tomorrow to find out about things to do here. We went into the centre yesterday and it was amazing. Brisbane seems to be a weird mixture of everything. There are historical-type buildings next to modern sky-scrapers, huge roads, and big shoping centres, loads of take away places, and kiwi-type birds chilling with the pidgeons.
Amazing!

Australia

So I'm here!
I've just arrived at Brisbane airport and going to be staying her for a while, until my sister arrives from Melbourne. It's a bit of a nightmare travelling on different flights but it was only for the second half of the journey, so not that bad.
My body is going through what I imagine jet lag feels like. For me it's 11 pm, but it's 8 am here... Don't know whether to have dinner or breakfast. I'm not too tired at the moment though which is good. Although I do feel like having a shower.
I loved the plane journey, especially the goodie bag containing a bottle of water, a packet of Polos, a Mars bar and a cookie. The time flew by, excuse the pun, and I only had time to watch one movie. Elena slept through the whole thing.
So, wow. It feels very strange to think I'm so far away from home. Although for the moment, the universal appearance of airports, Singapore included, gives me the impression that I haven't actually moved that far.
I will update again soon!

Last days in Spain

Not that much time left before I leave for the UK. I've been trying to make the most of the weather, it has vastly improved since Sunday. It felt so good to lay on the sand and listen to the sound of the sea. Seeing my family has also been great and the thought of leaving them again makes me sad. But. I have felt more lonely (lonelier?) here at home these couple of days than when I was out and about on my own in France. I guess it's a combination of inactivity, not having a close group of friends here and everyone around me being busy with their own plans. I find it hard to slip back into my old routine.
It's a weird feeling.
Up in the air, disorientated, neither here or there... whatever you want to call it.
Hopefully things in Australia will work out as well as they did in France.

Travels to follow

So I think, because I'll be setting off soon, again, I'm gonna keep this space. And maybe write some random thoughts till the day of my departure comes. The plan is to spend a couple of days in London catching up with friends and then flying to Brisbane on the 29th. I keep thinking they're not going to accept my boarding pass, and the visa was surprisingly easy to get...
So I'm going with my sis, and we were originally going to work at a B&B just outside Brisbane, but after a recent terrible review from another helper, we've decided against it, and we're now going to be working in a Yoga retreat. No drinking, no smoking, no eggs, no shorts, no internet. Oh joy.

Say "cheese"

The friendliest goats I have ever met.

Home sweet home

Yes, I am back home. Got back yesterday and it's the weirdest feeling. It's like I've had nearly 3 months of crazy adventures, learning and moving around and come back home to find things unchanged. My sister's still busy with school work, my parents are working on the house, my friends are doing the same jobs and going out in the same places, my gran is still in bed. I'm not saying this in a negative way, I don't expect people to change as much as I try to. It's weird, I find comfort in routine, and I don't mind staying in the same place for a long time, but at the same time, there is always this urge in me to set off, to see, to move, to escape? I really hope that it is my desire to roam the world and not a futile sense of escapism that provokes this feelings in me. I guess I don't really know what to do with myself now. The weather's crap so I can't be outside, and there's barely any time before I take off again, so I feel I can't start anything of any weight.
I'm going to do some cooking, and make the most of the kitchen, now that I can use it as I wish, without worrying about using up expensive ingredients, or using the oven.
The last couple of days at Melissa's weren't that bad. Jenny and I tried to be civilised and ignore Melissa's mood swings and constant vigilation. But Jenny was getting ill and that made the work less bearable, especially when Melissa would shout at us for not herding the goats correctly. They just went everywhere and started eating random bushes, I found it pretty funny. Melissa didn't. Then there was another moment when I dropped a cheese in the cheese room and attempted to pretend like nothing had happened and to top it all up, I didn't check one of the milk buckets and did not realise it was overflowing with milk after having poured a new batch in it. Melissa didn't like this at all. But her words made me laugh, especially since I knew that was my last day there. She said "Do you think this is a game? If you're not more attentive and don't check on things constantly, then things can turn into a catastrophe!". Yes Melissa.
My parents turned up, attempted to make polite conversation, to no avail. Looked at my room, suffered for me, and were happy to take me away from there as soon as possible. We went to Minerve for dinner, and took Jenny with us, promising Melissa we would [reluctantly] return her.
We went back to the Bed and Breakfast near Carcassonne in which I'd worked at, and stayed there for 2 nights. Oh how good was that breakfast. Pain au chocolat, cereal, croissants, juice, yogurts, waffles, melon, cereal bread, home made jam, fresh coffee. Mmmm, no cheese in sight.

10 litres out the window

Today was a weird day. Melissa was away all morning, selling her produce at a local market. She left us a re-used envelope with a couple of scribbled words, directions on how to make a cheese from scratch and the chores for the day. So, we fed the chickens, emptied the compost, turned over the cheese in the cheese room etc. Then we put the natural bacteria found in whey in the milk to commence the cheese-making process. Meanwhile I asked Jenny is she could cut my hair. While she's doing this I hear the dog slurping for quite a long time, and I say to Jenny, 'God, that dog's thirsty'. Then it hits me, and I quickly run into the kitchen to find the dig with its head in one of the 10 litre buckets of fresh milk. It's quite comical to think about it now, but this morning we were horrified, and worried sick Melissa would go crazy at us. She was fine, just said 'Oh no" and brushed it off, because it's typical to have wild animals slurping and licking in the kitchen. At another point in the day I found the cat perching on the kitchen surface digging into some butter, there is just no stopping them. I was very mad at kitty.
We've come to appreciate, or not appreciate, that Melissa hasn't got very good social skills and doesn't seem to like us. She doesn't communicate at all and makes us feel inadequate and awckward. She has no managing skills and gives us no indication as to what she wants us to gets done, or her expectations of us, so we're continually worried about what we should be doing, and can't ask her many questions because she gets annoyed. She says she can't be bothered with repeating the same things to every new helper but we don't even know where the light switches are, or the sugar. She doesn't like cooking so most of the time she'll just lay out cheese and bread for lunch and dinner, and with shit weather and outdoor physical work, you look forward to a hot meal. But then, she's doesn't want us to use her ingredients or her oven, as it's too wasteful. Today Jenny talked to her and said we need to eat, and we're happy to cook for everyone. So we made butternut squash and sweet potato soup with garlic bread, and Michel cooked some sausages he bought in the supermarket yesterday. It's not really fair that we should be buying the food but anyway, I'm leaving on Friday so..
Playing UNO and drinking wine got us through the day though. And the goats made us happy too, though I electrocuted my leg on the electric fence.
I'll leave you with a couple of funny sentences I've found on HelpX. This is a French guy attempting to write a review in English.

"After we went to see the caravan, a real garbage, the maximum fall in May, the door can be locked from the inside of the curtain of his newspapers, a foam mattress is common ..... The bathroom is an outdoor shower or shower staff very dirty. Nothing in the fridge just for milk and bread for the rest it's customers!

I asked the owner if she has another place for us to sleep, she answers, you want to go?

We understand it is their business, and we need help in exchange for a place to sleep and eat. But we're not even a dog because my dog, I will not sleep in this place."

Brilliant.

Quarter of a bucket

I was successful, to a certain degree, in milking a couple of goats this morning. I woke up at 6 to help Melissa, and it was fine. I haven't been sleeping well at all since I've been here, so I was happy to get up. Elly and Jenny told me later in the day that it might be because my mattress is not a mattress, but a wooden support for a mattress, the lower part of a bed. That would explain the back aches.
The farm is very rustic indeed, and calling it rustic is being nice. I just thought I should mention some interesting things that I've just taking as normal by now, but which were quite difficult to adapt to. This is not me bitching about the place, as I'm happy to be living on the rough side for a bit, but I just thought it'd be amusing for you to read. So, the living room constantly smells of goat, nothing can alter the odour. The first night we were all smoking quite heavily in there, and it changed nothing; the living-room kept smelling of goat in the morning. There are also these long sticky slips of paper that hand from the ceiling to catch flies. They're everywhere in the house, inclusive the unlucky multitude of flying insects gathered for maybe centuries? There is one directly above the breakfast table. If this wasn't enough to put you off your bread in the morning, there seems to be an unconditional love for animals in this place. The various dogs and cats are allowed in the kitchen at all times, given dishes to lick clean, fed the scraps off our plates while we're still at the table, and allowed to eat/lick any spillages. The cat got onto the kitchen surface the other day and ate the surface of a quiche Jenny had lovingly made. This quiche was then eaten by everyone as if nothing had happened. Talk about hygiene.
We've just been chatting to Michel, the Belgian man. He'd had quite q few glasses of wine throughout the afternoon and was proving a lot of the entertainment this evening. Jenny was explaining how in the States they call the bathroom the restroom, and I translated it, 'ou tu peux te relacher', 'where you can rest/relax'. He found this absolutely hilarious and started imitating people at the toilet, relaxing their bowels, as it were. We've just retreated into out little room, while he's decided to take a piss against the wall before heading back to his camping car.
He says he's not going to stay here long as he doesn't feel our host is particularly warm towards her helpers. It's true. But at least we've got each other. I'd hate it if I were here on my own. The plus side is that you do get to get involved in the making of the cheese and in the milking etc. So I guess you can't have everything every time.
Tomorrow she's off to sell her produce at a local market, so Jenny and I are in charge in the cheese room, which will be fun. We bought some pain au chocolat in a market today, which we will savour for breakfast, as we didn't get a meal this evening.
Stay tuned!

It's milk o'clock

Wow, so I thought I'd write today as it's been a super interesting day.
I got the cheese farm yesterday, it's in La Caunette, about a 20 minute car ride from Ventenac, where I was staying last week. Julia and Maureen drove me, and they took me out for lunch in Minerve, which is an enchanting little village, where the Cathars use to took refuge in. So I was really sad when they let me go. I think it's one of the saddest aspects of this HelpX experience, the goodbyes and the first day at new places. When I got here, Melissa, the host, was having a siesta, so her brother just told me to dump my bags in the living room and occypy myself with something til she got up. So I went out for a walk to check out the surroundings and on the way met the neighbour, a really nice woman who just started talking to me, and we ended up going on the walk together. When I got back Melissa was up. She can't be more than 30 and hasn't got very good social skills. She doesn't talk much and seems to find everyone annoying, or at least the helpers. She didn't show me around or anything, so I just waited til Elly and Jenny got here. Elly and Jenny are the American girls I met at Chateau Brandeau, and we got on so well I decided to rejoint them in this farm.
Ok, so today. Firstly we worked in the cheesery, a tiled room, very clean and sterile. We turned over the cheeses to help in the drying up process. She males mostly goats cheese, as it's goats' milk, but also does camembert and a couple other varieties. The interesting thing is, it's the same milk and the same additivies (ie a milk bacteria and a special enzyme) but different methods, like different ways of cutting the milk before it curdles, and different temperatures and drying times, and molds of course. So we also put the freshly curdled milk into molds and a lot of cleaning aswell, the place needs to be spotless.
After a very simple breakfast of bread and jam (nothing like the feasts at the chateau) we proceded to the garden to clear out the space around the fencing that keeps the goats enclosed. This was probably the worst job I've done since being on France. It was just cutting down bushes and brambles and sawing trees, and there were a lot of rosebushes and barbed wired, so we all got plenty of cuts down our arms. There were also these huge flies that actually bite, and really hurt, and that didn't make the job any easier. But that was only until lunchtime, then we have the afternoons to ourselves pretty much.
We were exhausted after lunch and just kind of sat around chatting, playing UNO by the pool, until half 5, milking time. So we had to move the goats around and get them reeady to be fed, and they don't often do as they're told, so you have to grab them by the fat on their neck and pull. I'm scared of hurting them. There are about 5 babies too, and they're the cutest things. I just watched the first few times and then Melissa let me milk one. You have to hold the udder in you hand and make a sort of milk pouch with your hand and then clench hard. It's not easy and the goats get anxious because they're not used to different hands, but very fun nonetheless!! And we eat cheese at all times here, it's yummy yummy.
After that, Elly and me did a bit of weeking in the garden and picked some strawberries. Then, at about half 7 we realised there was no wine left in the house so we jumped in Michel's camping car and drove the the neighbouring winery, and bought a 20 litre carton. Michel is a helper from Belgium, he's very funny. Then I talked to Michel for ages by the pool, and we talked about our HelpX experiences, then had dinner and now I'm in my room/shed, on the worst mattress I've ever slept on.
Getting up at 6 am tomorrow to help with the milking. We'll see how that goes!

In the kitchen

Taking a break from making risotto. Have to cook for the helpers, or 'the boys' tonight as Julia and Maureen are going out.
It's been ridiculously hot today, I started work early to avoid the mid-day sun and finished my 5 hours by lunch time. I was cleaning windows, finishing the kitchen steps and labelling sheets so they don't go amiss when taken to the launderette. The work's not very excting atm, as Julia is getting ready to head back to the Uk for the summer and just needs a hand tidying up. Tonight's my last night here, I'm going to hit the local bar I think.
So, I haven't written about Provence at all. It seems like ages ago now. Leaving chateau brandeau was pretty hard, as it's probably been my best experience in France. The helpers were great company and the work satisfying and fulfilling. Made me feel useful and even though monotonous, working under the sun surrounded by vines is... well, you can't really beat it. So after that, spending a couple of days in Provence on my own with no work on my hands was quite a change. I'd always heard Provence was very beautiful and was keen to follow the steps of Van Gogh and Cezanne, but it was a bit of a disappointment. I think it must have changed a lot, I just found it pretty touristy and the countryside did not blow me away. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The towns advertise Van Gogh walks and all sorts, but it's just a marketing plot to attract tourism. The Cezanne walk was following metal tiles all around the Aix en Provence, no information pannels, no samples of paintings.. Look, Cezanne walked on this pavement. And the main museum only has a couple of his paintings, the curator didn't want to make a big deal of Cezanne. Bad curator. I guess the hospital Van Gogh was interned at in St Remy is worth a visit, really nice courtyard, but again, its walls have been completely covered in VG prints and it's lost its feeling of authenticity. My favourite was the city of Avignon, where I stayed for 2 nights. It's pretty small, so you can get to know it quite well, and it has an enchanting feel about it. Lots of old buildings and secret squares. Cobbled streets and hidden wine bars. Busy during the day and quiet when the evening comes. Lots of people-watching and good shopping too. The problem with thse sort of places is that, apart from walking around, there is not much to do except spend money. It's all about cafes and restaurants, there not much else to do. This was not so wonderful when I was on my own; I was pretty much the only young single young female sitting at a table, and bars and terraces are more enjoyable as socialising spots, in company of other people. So I went to Aix and stayed with Elly and Jenny, the American girls who I met at Chateau Brandeau, and who were renting a flat in Aix. I had a great time with them, we had a very relaxing time, just sitting around the table chatting over coffee, we watched a film on their little patio with duvets, wine and candles, we tried hiring bikes, but the machines wouldn't accept out cards, and we went to the beach in Marseille. I was so glad to spend time with them after my time in Avignon. I'm going to be joining them tomorrow at the cheese farm for a couple of days, until Friday or Saturda, when my parents will be coming to spend the weekend and take me back home!
Mixed feelings about this, it's going to be really hard leaving France. It;s been my home for nearly 3 months now and boy, what adventures have I had. So many wonderful people and so many learnt skills. Although, I should take a break from the drinking - I'm sure drinking every day for 2 months and a half can't be good. But wine here is like water. Doesn't count as alcohol then.

My next entry will be from the cheese farm. Let the milking begin!

Chateau times

It's been a while since I wrote, these past few days have gone by at the speed of light, and I'm trying very hard to stop time, since my due date to be back home is quickly approaching. We've been working very hard at the chateau, trying to get things clean and tidy for an inspection, that took place yesterday. It's an inspection to become part of the Alistair Sawday guide book, which is a sort of club, with listings of some of the most enchanting bed and breakfasts in France.So Julia, the host here, has been stressing to get things looking spotless. In my time here I've done mostly painting jobs, the kitchen, the bathroom and the front steps. Very enjoyable I must say. And the place is simple amazing, great views and I've got one of the guest bedrooms, so pretty spoilt! I guess it makes up for my room in the first farm. This is what's nice about this system, the variety of hosts and conditions.
So it seems we've passed the inspection, which is great news. I don't really want to be inside while the sun is shining outside, so might come back to writing in the evening. I want to make the most of the day!

Goodbye Paradise

So today is Sunday, my last day at Chateau Brandeau. To celebrate we're going to the beach and having magret de canard for dinner, yum.
There is ot much to report on the work front, I've been driving the tractor (or to use the correct term, doing "décavillonage"), trying to finish some of the fields as soon as possible - once it gets too hot the ground is so hard the tractor can't dig into it properly. I did some fertilizing on Thursday morning, that wasn't fun. They use organic fertilizers here and they stink, when I asked what it was made up of Phil told me it was mainly chicken bones, beaks and paws. When I crushed a piece to distribute it evenly, it was full of white maggots. That wasn't fun.
We've had the assistance of Alain for the past week, he's a French guy working in the wine industry as a sommelier (or wine steward, according to wikipedia). He came from Bretagne with his dog "Vitesse", which we called "Quickness". He was very funny and would laugh at the most insignificant thing, he especially loved it when Phil would kill a vine while doing Décavillonage, and would start singing dirges. He also couldn't say "crisps", which we found pretty amusing.
So yesterday we worked in the morning. We offered to do this, as the weekend should be for ourselves, but things are a bit iffy in this farm. The owners try to sqeeze as much work out of us as possible - doing 8 hours a day is already excessive, it should be 5 max for helpers. I don't mind it at all, because it's fun to work with the other helpers, but I do feel weekends should be for us to do as we please. But they make a point of us helping in the garden and they don't show any appreciation for it if we put in extra hours. It's been a big problem between Eddie and Phil and the owners - because they're staying here for so long, this lack of appreciation really gets to them. The owners can be pretty negative, and quite miserable too, so it makes the ambiance even harder to deal with. But Eddie and Phil have each other and live in a little house next to the main house, where they have a drink and a laugh and try to forget about the shism with the main house.
So anyway, in the afternoon we went to Chateau Montaigne, which is where the French philospher Michel de Montaigne used to live. He's famous for writing the first French essays - the nale of his book was titles "Essais", which would translated to "tries" or "attempts". He's also famous for being one of the precursors of skepticism, his famous quote bein "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?") and mixing anecdotal with personal information in his writings. The tower is still intact, with its little chapel, library and bedroom. Some people had signed their name on the frescoed walls, some dating back to the 19th century.
So after that we bought some wine from the onsite winery and had a drink next to the vineyards. The walk back was beautiful, the acacia flowers dropping from the trees and the grass that translucent green that you get when the sun shines bright.
I better start getting ready, it's time for the beach!

CAKE

Old McDonald had a farm

Today was a good day; my job for the last couple days has been to plough the vines to get rid of the weeds that grow at their base, to do this you need a tractor, a driver and 2 extra people that go behind checking that the metal propeller-type things don't chop off any of the vines. So my role in all this is to be the driver! Driving a tractor is really easy and quite fun, although I was kind of surprised when they asked me to do it knowing I'd only just passed my driving test and not driven since the exam. But I seem to be pretty good at it and it's no where near as tireing as hoeing and the sun came out today so it was great. It was also nice to have some quiet time after such a busy and drama-filled weekend:
So, on Friday evening all the helpers went out for dinner, nothing fancy, just bought some croaue monsieurs and some lambrusco and sat by the Dordogne river, listening to peacocks and watching rowers on the river. On Saturday we went to the market in St Foy and looked around the stalls and had a cup of coffee on a little terrace, then went back home to make a giant chocolate cake. Ellie, one of the American girls bought this festive cake book for 3 euros and we just had to make one, following french instructions. It took us pretty much all afternoon and God knows how much chocolate. We also paintbrushed some vine leaves with the remaining chocolate to create patterned chocolate, but it didn't really work out, the chocolate simply won't unstick. The house is pretty busy at th moment, a friend of the family is staying her for a few days with his 2 children so there's quite a lot of babysitting to do. We played UNO the card game with them and I made sangria again, which soothed us all a little bit.
Sunday was really the big day. We went to St Emilion for an hour at 9.30 to start the day off. It's a beautiful little town, said to be the wine capital of France - it's full of shops selling wine and the countryside surrounding it is breath-taking, never-ending rows of perfectly tidy vines and grandiose chateaux everywhere you look. After that we drove to Libourne, we'd been waiting all week for this: a giant omelette was to be cooked somewhere ion the city, made up of 3,011 eggs (it was trying to beat the 3,010 egg record). It took us about an hour to find it, first we went to the park where a canine show was taking place, then we were directed towards the stadium, where there was a car boot sale (or a vide grenier as the french call it, which translates to empty your attic), then we were told to go to the tropical gardens, by which point we were ready to give up, but luckily we saw a sign, confirming that the giant omelette did in fact exist. It was a sort of neighbourhood fiesta, we were the only tourists there, and it was fab. Another small scale car boot sale, benches, huge families, face painting, a little dancefloor and a man with an accordeon, bottles of wine for 2 euros, and a giant pan full of eggs which 5 men were stirring with giant wooden spatulas. The cooked omelette then proceeded to be place in big trash containers, yes, and then into medium sized bowls, and then onto plastic plates - 1 euro per serving, and the portions were huge.
You can imagine what the day turned out like, lots of drinking, dancing and getting our faces painted. The other helpers kept buying unnecessary things from the car boot sale, like an ash tray merged into a spinning wheel (2 euros), a smoking pipe (1 euro), metre-long straws (1 euro), and a pair of shoes because they spilled wine on them so they had to buy them (2 euros). Seeing them dancing in ridiculous second-hand clothes just bought at the stalls amidst the old couples on the dancefloor: priceless.
We then went on to Bordeaux, taking a couple of bottles of wine with us. Phil, the 50 year old Brit was driving, therefore not drinking - I felt quite sorry for him, having to deal with us! But he was quite amused anyway. In Bordeaux we went to a couple of cafes and drank coffee and ate croque monsieurs and watched the world go by. I had to wipe the paint of my face after a while, people were staring, we must have been quite a strange group really.
Tonight Ellie and I have been painting rose petals with egg white and sugar, we're baking another cake tomorrow since her and Jenny, the other American, are leaving on Wednesday. I'll really missed them, I've gotten pretty close to them and they're a good laugh. They're working in cheese farms in the south of France til July, so I might rejoin them at some point.
Let us eat cake.

Ouch

I'm at the farm! It's in Castillon, near Bordeaux, and close to the town of St Emilion, which used to be and pretty much still is the wine capital of France. The scenery here is stunning, I have never seen fields more beautiful: vineyards everywhere and beautiful old mansions and chateux scattered around the countryside. This farm is pretty lovely too, it's got a wisteria covered terrace and a stone balcony looking over never ending fields of vines. Never ending vines that we have to work on! The work so far has been the toughest sinceI've been in France - next to this the BnB seems like a holiday! It's very physical work, tough on your back and your hands, I've got multiple blisters despite wearing gloves. So what we're doins is hoeing the vines, which means digging out the earth that separates them to get rid of weeds, and then we cut off the little leaves and branches growing at the base of the vines, because they're more prone to develop mildew, which is a type of fungus. Aaaanyway, I feel like I've learnt quite a lot about vineyard work so I'm hapy with that. So, we work 7 hours a day, which is really long but the food here is really delicious, lots of cheese!
Also, there are 4 other helpers, so that makes it really nice too. There are 2 american girls who've come over to learn about cheese-making because they want to open their own fromagerie, then there a guy from New Zealand who's gonna work here for 5 years; he wants to learn all about wine making and vineyard work because he wants to run his own vineyard at ome point and merge it with a hotel and restaurant to use his knowledge of interior design and marketing too. And then there's a British fella who's just taking a break from UK life and wanted to work out in the country, so a bit like me.
The owners are called Fearn and Andrea, he's from America and she's from London, and they inherited the property from their parents. She's also a teacher, and teaches english to teenagers near Bordeaux, and from what I've heard they're getting a bit tired of running the farm and would like to retire, but they need someone to take it on. They have a daughter and a son, she's studynig Neuroscience in Bordeaux and he's studying Philosophy at Oxford. Claire;, the daughter has told me she wouldn't mind runnin ghr farm but she's only 22 and wants to do some travelling and live her life a bit before settling here, because apparently once you start it's a full time thing, there are loads of things to do throughout the year and you can't take off and leave the vines.
So anyway, those are my news; I think on Sunday we're going to see how a giant omelette is made in one of the nearby towns; 3000 eggs!!!!
needless to say, I'm on a French keyboard again..