In the cellar
viernes, 30 de julio de 2010
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!
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!
miércoles, 28 de julio de 2010
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!
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!
domingo, 25 de julio de 2010
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!
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!
viernes, 23 de julio de 2010
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.
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.
jueves, 22 de julio de 2010
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...
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...
sábado, 17 de julio de 2010
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!!
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!!
jueves, 15 de julio de 2010
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!
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!
martes, 13 de julio de 2010
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.
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.
jueves, 8 de julio de 2010
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.
Get in.
martes, 6 de julio de 2010
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.
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.
sábado, 3 de julio de 2010
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.
...
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.
...
viernes, 2 de julio de 2010
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!
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!
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
