The thing is I moved to another hostel where they didn’t have internet, well they didn’t have wireless internet and then it all fell apart – blogwise that is. Life became ultimately more awesome. As awesome as it can be when you are working 12 hour days packing strawberries. We complained pretty much nonstop but that’s life and part of what made it bearable to keep working. Then I got my taxes back and with 4 grand in the bank it was hard to rationalize standing there going strawberry crazy all day every day so the next day I didn’t go back, Mary played hooky as well and we had such an awesome day we didn’t go in the next day either, or the next and then we pretty much just called and told them we were done. It was fine though because we were leaving in a few days anyway for our Great Australian Road Trip. Carlie’s last day of work was Wednesday and on that day the Strawberry Farm pretty much told them all their strawberry careers were over and they didn’t need them anymore. So good riddance. Friday we packed up the car and took off for our first stop – Brisbane – to party with Mary’s friend Alex.
Brisbane was awesome, the best night out I’d had in a while, but it was only a brief stop to gear up and have some fun before hitting the road. By noon the next day we were heading north out of Brisbane, music pumping, Katie’s hand on a stick waving in the air and pointing at people out the window, and there was dancing… lots of dancing. We hit Hervey Bay that night went to the pub to have a few drinks and met these Bogan ape men and hung out with them that night before going back to the beach to set up camp. That was our first night roughing it in the car and on the beach. The tent was super easy to set up but the wind coming off the ocean was really rough and blew the tent around all night, I was sleeping ocean side and was getting whipped by the tent all night it was all on top of me, hitting my head constantly. I did manage to get some sleep but how awesome was the morning waking up with the sun and the ocean and then grabbing all the girls and going for a swim in the ocean in our undies. Good times.
The next day we went to Bundy to check out the Rum Distillery. I was driving on the way back and on this one time passing someone I don’t know if I misjudged how far away the car was or the Haybird was just slow at picking up speed but it was a close one. Nearly head on collision. I’m just glad the girls were all sleeping at that point.
Next day we drove up to 1770 for some free laundry, free internet and so Katie could rendez-vous with her boy toy Chef. It was a cute hostel though the rooms were very white and bare, we didn’t stay long and after coffee in the morning we headed off for Eungella to see the Platypuses. Kenya had told me about it and it was my must do thing.
This morning I woke up in the back of The Haybird completely depressed and ready to give up on life. Yeah things haven’t been going so well. It seems like no matter what I do I’m doomed to fail. Or maybe life is just trying to teach me a lesson, like never ever ever ever ever give up – but it just kinda really sucks.
It’s getting closer and closer to departure day and I still don’t have work and everywhere says oh after Easter or two more weeks. It’s always two more weeks, I’m starting to think that maybe I’ll be going home in August after all and trying to convince myself that maybe it won’t be so bad. I mean I can start doing all the other things I wanted to do like learn to fly, get a house and start watching CityLine again and deciding how to decorate and get a car? I don’t know.
Then I was talking to the HarvestLine chick today and she says I still have lots of time to get my 3 months in which kinda calmed me down a bit but still the sooner the better. I don’t know what to do with myself right now. I was planning on going up north to explore and see new places but she also told me that I’m in a good spot right now and there should be work here soon so now I don’t know what to do. I already checked out of Cotton Tree, said a big ‘I’m not coming back’ goodbye so I can’t turn up again. I don’t want to turn up again and the car isn’t so bad to sleep in either. So I don’t know.
But the road trip was going pretty well until I got a text from Aiko yesterday morning saying there’s work again at the hostel and she needs a car to get there and do I want to work? Shit. I was like a 5 hour drive away but after calling every phone number I had and being told no work right now I decided that it would be the best thing to do so I turned around and headed back down the coast only to be told that it’s not for certain and the farmer needs to see how many plants he gets to know if he needs more workers. Okay. Great.
At least I got to go see the other farmer and get my VISA paper, 5 more days down, 77 to go. It was kinda funny though I called him and was like ‘hey Shane, it’s Colleen one of the backpackers who was working for you the other week’ and he’s like ‘ oh one of the backpackers – lucky #13, I miss those shorts you used to wear… ‘ WHAT! Did he really just say that? Awkward. Hey didn’t you say you wanted to marry a Canadian girl? I need an Australian husband to stay – maybe we can work something out? Ha if only, that would be a laugh.
They really try very hard to encourage safe driving in Australia, with tons of road signs encouraging resting and not speeding. Usually you get the Stop Revive Survive signs but yesterday I saw the best one Tired Drivers Die which I thought was funny and told myself often throughout the day. It’s not negotiable you will die if you’re tired. Ok. A little harsh. Then there’s the speeding ones where they show a dead girl and it says Slow Down Stupid which often does encourage me to ease up on the gas peddle when I see it. And yesterday I saw a new speeding one Speeding is a fast way to die , yeah I guess it would be and I guess Sleeping would be a slow way to die, maybe they should make one like that too. I guess I have a lot of time on my hands while driving.
I had my first two nights sleeping in The Haybird, I was a little nervous about it the first night but I pulled over at the rest stop and there were tons of people already there with caravans and stuff and it was totally fine, pull in under a tree, make up my bed, spoon with The Mach 5 and I actually got a good nights sleep, and then was up at like 5:30 in the morning but it was ok. I could totally do this all the time. I just need to find a rest stop near a surfing beach and just live there it would be awesome. As long as they don’t enforce the 20 hour limit too harshly.
This morning Emily and I left Cotton Tree, her for good as she’s going to New Zealand on Sunday and me hopefully for a long time because it’s really hard to be around Luke right now. So we went to the Outback!! Because we haven’t been and I think its one of those things you should do when you’re in Australia.
Tropical Cyclone Hamish was on his way down the coast headed for Maroochy so it had been rainy and windy and stormy and while it would have been awesome to stick around and experience the storm we had better things to do. So we ran away from Hamish and headed south and then west toward Toowoomba, it was quite a long drive but really pretty, it took a few hours before we hit the Great Dividing Range and only a couple minutes to drive up and over and we were in Toowoomba where we saw a Billboard for Sizzler so we decided to go there for lunch. And it was an awesome idea! They had a salad bar (buffet) for $15 and there was so much amazing food, we sat and ate for so long and were so full by the end.
After that I was behind the wheel and drove for 2 hours through what could have been the Canadian Prairies for how flat and greeny brown it all was. And it was one lane highway the whole way so when you came up to someone really slow you had to pull out onto the wrong side of the road to pass them, which I have never done before. The first time I was super nervous but it was a long straight stretch with no one in sight so I pulled out and zoomed along and passed them! It was great and such a rush.
It’s weird driving in the Outback though (well it’s the outback but it’s still pretty green and not like desert outback) because they have these road trains which are big Mack trucks with like two or three cariers behind them, it’s crazy and when they come whooshing past it’s a little scary.
Anyway we got to our destination for the night – Chinchilla – and checked into this cheap Hotel which is a bit of a dive but so awesome and everyone there is so funny and I think we are getting drunk with all the old boguns tonight. It should be fun. I’m looking forward to getting some photos!
Well I’ve been kind of bummed out the last few days so to remedy that Emily and I have been doing a lot of driving. First of all we went down to Surfers Wednesday night to meet up with Livia and Bernice and went on this big pub crawl. Then we drove all the way back up to Maroochy. We were planning on checking out of the hostel and hitting the road for good … but by the time we got back we were so tired we decided to stay overnight and head off in the morning.
But that night we decided that maybe we could just do a day trip down to Coolangatta to see the Quicksilver Pro surf comp and then maybe drive down to Nimbin while we were at it. We figured we could invite people from the hostel to help reduce costs and it seemed like a good idea so we decided not to check out the next day after all.
So yesterday Emily, Austen and I piled into the car at 6am and headed back down to the Gold Coast. We made awesome time and got to the comp in time to watch the 2nd heat of the women’s semi finals (there were 8 heats in total so we only missed one). It was pretty cool to watch, sometimes there was lots of action on the waves and the girls would catch wave after wave giving you lots to watch but sometimes they would paddle around out there for a while and you would be kind of bored, then sometimes they’d be way over on the other side of the beach and you wouldn’t realize it so the announcer would be like oh Stephanie Gilmores got a wave and you’d look out but couldn’t see her. Over all it was a really good time and it really inspired me to get out there and keep surfing. I want to be that good.
After the comp was over we headed down to Nimbin where we checked out the town, made a few purchases, and visited the Nimbin museum. Then headed back 5 hours back to Maroochy. It was a long day but so much fun.
Anyway I’m really tired and will edit this better later.
So my last post was about car drama and I’m afraid this one will be no different. After a fun New Years drinking on Neil’s balcony and a couple days just chilling in the city it was time to pack up my gear and head to Bundaberg to do my time as a fruitpicking backpacker.
So Saturday morning Neil and I went to his work where we had stowed my car after the parking incident at his building I started driving it back to his place and after about a block it died on me. Crap. So I tried to pull it over to the side of the road while I tried to sort myself out, it started again right away but when I tried to drive it it just cut out. Not good. After a few more tries and stalling in the middle of the intersection I finally got the car back to Neil’s.
By this time I was a little wary about driving it but I told Neil what had happened and we decided it was probably just that the car hadn’t been driving for a few days and the petrol was kinda low and there was probably just some sediment in the engine so I should fill her up and let it sort itself out. So we packed her up and ran the engine for a while it seemed alright so we said goodbye and I started off for Bundaberg.
Five blocks down the road it had stalled again. I started freaking out, I just had to get myself to a petrol station fill her up and see how she goes. It took a while and a few stalls but finally I found one topped up the gas and revved the engine a few times it seemed alright so I took off and it wasn’t too long before the car started to die again. I found another petrol station and asked if they could help with my car – they couldn’t but he gave me some yellow pages to look through for a mechanic. Great.
But then Hope!! A mechanic had come in to get his car washed and the guy at the counter told him about my dilemma so he helped me out and checked out the engine and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, I explained our hypothesis about what the problem was he figured maybe we were right. He was going my way so he said I could follow him until we reached the highway and if I stalled he’s pull over and see what’s going on. And the car broke stalled again, so we took the back roads to his shop, and this time it seemed to be going fine.
So he took a look at it again when we got there, thought I just needed a filter for the fuel tank took it for a test drive and it seemed to be going fine. Now that I’d had someone check it out and give it the go ahead I could leave town without worry I was going to die by the side of the highway. Happy and relieved I thanked him for his kindness and took off down the highway and things were going great, I stopped at a servo for a bite to eat and then saw the giant pineapple and then … the car stalled again. Crap.
Eventually I got it going again and it was going good for a while and then disaster struck again, I was now down to two lane highway and stuck behind cars going slow, I wanted to get to Bunday as fast as possible before the car could break down again and we got to a passing bay so I thought it was my chance to pass the slow car and big truck in front of me so I floored it and started zooming past cars then just when I’m approaching the big truck he pulls out to pass the car in front of him causing me to slam on the brakes, after he passes I had the chance to pass him again so I floor it and get out ahead just before the passing zone ends and then the car started loosing power – oh shit- and I tried but it was no good I was going for broke and had to pull over again. But I was almost to a town with a petrol station and I thought if I could just make it there I can fill up again and maybe that will help.
— man I feel like this is way too much detail about my car problems —
So I filled up and got on the road and maybe 2kms down it stalled again except this time I couldn’t start it up again. My heart started pounding in my chest. What was I gonna do this time, maybe I could hitch a lift back into town to the servo I’d stopped at. Maybe they had a tow truck? So after sitting in the car trying to start it up again for about 15 minutes I got out crossed the highway and started walking back into town, hoping that I would be able to get a lift but were not very friendly. They love to honk at you but they just can’t bring themselves to help a girl in distress.
I called Glen because I didn’t know what else to do he was going to drive up to try and help me but then he remembered he had RACQ and called them up and someone was coming out to help me. So I walked back to the car and waited. And then he was there and I was so happy and he tried to fix the car but to no avail, it wasn’t going to happen. So I had two choices I could get towed to Bundaberg my final destination which would cost a lot, or get towed into Maryborough (for free) and stay there until Monday when the shop was open and they could (hopefully) get my car fixed.
So I went to Maryborough, I got a ‘cabin’ in a caravan pak (which was just a caravan) and bunked down to wait for my car to be ok. I went out for dinner that night at a nearby pub and drank my anguish away.. nah I was actually kind of enjoying the whole situation at this point, I always find myself in trouble you gotta take in stride. But it was a good night. The next day I went into town and walked around the mostly deserted streets, saw Queen’s park, chilled with Mary Poppins (this town is known for being the birthplace of the guy who wrote Mary Poppins so they have a statue of her) and then went to the information centre to find out where the movie theatre was.
Some interesting facts I learned about Maryborough from the guy who came to fix my car while we were driving in is that they used to build warships there and trains and they’re well known for building the trains or the company that built the trains I think it was called Windsor. He was the one who told me there was a movie theatre also and he seemed to like Maryborough so maybe that helped me see the situation in a more positive light too.
So I went to the movies and saw Yes Man which I quite enjoyed. Then went back to the caravan for a night of watching TV and reading. And being a little worried that my late night visitors ( a couple of lizards who were running around the ceiling) might bite me or crawl inside my mouth while I was sleeping. But I don’t think they did and I woke up the next morning hopeful that my car would be fixed.
It wasn’t. So I had to spend another day/night and I had no idea what I was going to do now, I was ready to go – bored and over Maryborough so I ended up at Big W and bought some hair dye a streaking kit because I’d had good luck with those before and went home and died my hair. Which really ended up being a bit of a disaster to be honest. I’m still trying to cope with it and have worn my hair in nothing but a ponytail the last two days.
Tuesday morning I woke up early and anxious to find out of my car would be ready, I started packing my stuff up and then I got a phone call. It was Timber City Motors – my car was ready!!! I was so happy. I could finally leave. So I picked up the car and hit the road, it was a beautiful moment when I was reunited with the Bluebird… I almost cried.
I was a little nervous on the way up to Bundy afraid it would break down again but I got here ok. Checked in to the backpackers and signed up for work. So hopefully all goes well. The hostel seems a little dirty and the kitchen smells bad. I got put in an air conditioned room which I’m not completely sure is a good thing because it gets pretty cold in there at night and they only give you sheets for sleeping so I had to pack on the clothes but we’ll see how it goes.
Lots of Frenchies there. Maybe I can practice my French. And Bundaberg is better than I thought it would be – not saying it’s great but it’s a lot bigger than I had expected from what I heard. Although their movie theatre is pretty crappy. It’s hot as though. You step outside and are instantly sweating. Lucky there’s a breeze today otherwise it would be worse.
Well I guess that’s all for now. I’ve got nowhere to go and nothing to do but I can’t sit here in the air conditioning all day.
Until Next time.
