oztrailblog-blog

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Forbes

Forbes. This was the town we were headed to and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with Forbes list. I had heard quite a bit about this place and that there had been a lot of floods here due to the extreme wet weather This was my maiden voyage with this car. I had bought two thirds of it and had to get it signed in my name within 21 days. I thought I’d worry about this later. We hit the camping site I had called at around midnight and we weren’t sure if we were aloud to just pitch our tent, so I called and asked if that would be okay. The woman really didn’t care.. 😂 righto. By the time the tent was pitched for the first time and everything was set up it was about 2am. Friday morning we woke up at around 8am to get to the orchard where we started thinning some peaches. I Thought we would be working on weekends as well but that was the last day of the weekend, so had a really hard earned weekend coming up. 🌴🌞 I really wanted to go on some cool road trips and spend the time on the weekends wisely instead of just “hanging around” but little did I know, there was a maccas there so free WiFi! Had a lot of stuff to do anyway. Peter had told us about this big interesting winery called “Casella” and that you can earn a lot of money there. So we prepared applications and called there etc. on that weekend I still suggested we do something cool so we drove to “Utes on the paddock”. It was a display of Utes which had been artistically modified. Found me Bundy and Vegemite there! 😎 The weekdays were basically made up of working hours, shopping, eating and having a chill. At the orchard I had to take moderate amounts of fruit (peaches, plums and nectarines) off of the trees to let the ones left in the branches to grow big and succulent. The people working there were mainly Aussies which was cool. I like my Aussies! 🇦🇺❤️ How ever there were these two Brits or pommies as they call them here, their names were Joe and Joe the said they like to “keep things simple”. Funny chaps, one of them had even heard of SLF, my dads favourite band which wasn’t really the most famous.. Guess the world really is itsy bitsy, not like the spiders here, hahahaha! The flies are a proper pest here, there were a lot at the Randalls too but they never got in the way there. I swallowed around five on one day once, it saved me taking lunch down with me, every penny counts, guys. (Lunch was always great: sandwiches, chips, fruit and a coke!) Don’t get me started on the Aussie Mozzies, blood had been spilt in Forbes. There were some ants biting my hands as well which made some fruit a bit harder to get at. On the weekend I recommended to my travel mate we just go for a blind drive to check out the area like up north of NSW. I really am into landscapes and I’ve been dying to do so for months and months, but she had some strop and started shouting at me.. Where the hell did that come from.. Oh well, not my problem. I was going to something on the weekend though like go for a drive around Forbes to see what was going on. I ended up driving to a national park because everything else “wasn’t good enough” …. 🤔 what an unappreciative thing to say. The landscapes were gorgeous around there.. However the park nice even though I mainly went to this hill adjacent to it and almost got bogged there myself. On the way back I had discovered this big creek and I couldn’t not check it out! It was huge, there were lots of tree roots on the sides and amazing water flows. What a place to watch the sun set. 🌄 Another Week flew by. Over the time at the camping spot I had met some really nice people! The owners were really friendly and open to conversation. She was telling me about some cool places I should check out like Mildura, Broken Hill and Echuca. She was just worries that we as backpackers would end up dying in the Out Back, very thoughtful of her though. She also gave us some Aloe Vera to sooth our Mosquito wounds, lovely lady 🙏🏼🙏🏼 There was this one other guy called Mickey. One day he just suddenly started talking to me. Once you start talking to him the conversation will last a fair bit which is good because he was a very funny man and rather typical Aussie! He would always joke around and throw words like “cunt”, “bastard” and bugger around 😂😂 Micky.. I would always go to him if my mate was grinding on my nerves. This one time he called us over because he had bought a piece of pork which was “too big”. So he invited us to eat a ginormous Roast dinner at his caravan. Some people out there really are amazingly generous. He was tying to support me and my dreams like recommending how I could get a sponsorship and what I should do if I wanted work on a building site or if I reeeaally really did want to study marine biology here. He along with Peter and Jamie were like a dad to me. So awesome, I am very very greatful. I even cried of joy this one time. These guys from Queensland, (“banana benders” as Mickey would call them 😂😂😂) just came up to us and gave us heeeaaps of food like soup and milk etc.. I was in awe and didn’t know what was going on. So friendly. Turned out Mickey was talking to them about us, and they all reckoned we would need support due to our “backpackers budget” 😭 Here is an empty paragraph because I cannot explain how amazed I am by this:

At this point of my journey I really started considering staying here in Australia for a long time. I have never in my life enjoyed my self more, dispite “you know who”’s behaviour sometimes. The music on triple J this month (November) was just to perfect as well, it would be, it’s Aus-music-month. Songs like “hanging by a thread” just brightened up my days This one weekend my travel companion and myself decided to go to a pub and meet up with the joes, that was a bit tricky as they were already gone by the time I had finished drinking my goon bag, lol. I met some funny Blokes and girls at this wedding there, was quite full capacity. If got weird afterwards though, I got into this dodgy conversation with some Mexican drug smugglers 😂😂 fuck that was scary. I don’t know why but I asked them if I could see their coke (I would never touch the shit) and why they were doing this. They answered “biiiiig money money” and gave me big luminous eyes. Afterwards they got suspicious and thought I was a cop so they ran away and then so did I because I didn’t want drug lord daddy to kill me. This farmer and I got into a convo though, about his tan line around his arm from his watch, he told me that that white line is like a scar and would never be like Te rest of his “cooked” arm. That again confirmed the power of the sun for me as I had previously been burned on my belly. On the sprint back to the camping site I saw this drunk guy lying in the middle of the road with his mate standing next to him laughing his pants off. I love Australia, we all got a cab together. Turned out that that man was the nephew of my boss at the orchard.. I have non-stop giggles here…. On the next day I had a goon flavoured hangover, it was terrible. During my suffering this car pulled up near ours, I went to talk with these people and ask if everything was alright. They just wanted to hose something off of their engine. They seemed very friendly they were in fact. We started talking for a while and we really got along with eachother. Their names were Jordan and Ally and they were staying there because of a birthday party the night before. After talking for like an hour they invited me and my mate to go to the cinema with them. I was delighted to do so, so we said we would meet up later! They even invited me to go fishing with them too, but I had something to do unfortunately. I told my Mummy about these guys and she freaked out and told me to be cafeful. That was spooky, I was terrified of going out with these guys as well, I was so happy 5 minutes before hand 🙈 but then my Mum calmed down.. I bet she’s watched too many backpacker slashers. 😂 Nah, these guys were genuinely awesome. My mate didn’t want to come though as sehr wanted to be able to wake up the next day. Jordan came up to me late at night my pulse was over 120 because of what my mum said, buro got over it. It turned out he messed something up. The cinema he was on about was in California in the US 😂 so we had a laugh and just watched a DVD (bad granddad) at the owners of the camping spot. We had so much fun. We exchanged numbers, would be cool too meet up with them again sometime 😊.. Great weekend!

After we were told there wasn’t much left to do at the orchard on the next Friday we started gathering our stuff together to head towards the Randalls for a quick revisit (told you it wouldn’t be the last time 😏) I bought a PNAU and Flume CD for the car as there is no AUX. Screw my straya playlist I guess. This one other elderly man that once gave us some burger patties said he wanted to say good bye to us properly, we gave him some chocolates as a token of respect. Saying good bye to everybody was emotional once again. These were some of the best people I have ever met. We got the owners some chocolates too and I gave Mickey a bottle of red wine. He told me he likes to drink a nice glass of cold red wine, bet he liked that, great man. After saying C ya l8er m8 we drove off. But everyone looked at me with a weird look. I got a call from Mickey saying I still had my boots on the roof and that the boot was still open… What’s wrong with me? 🙈

Off to Murrami! 🚗💨🌌

[oztrailblog-blog]

It feels like I've have spent so much time with The Randalls. I have learnt so much here. After coming back from Canberra I had been told that the car is still bogged on the hill. That was the main concern over the next days tbh and getting our next job.. and some other stuff. We tried many things, like stuffing sticks and twicks underneath the wheals, letting the bog dry up and driving out, tugging it with the bike. Mission failed every time. So Peter whipped out his blue tractor to give it a good tug. And it worked. There's always a but.. The tractor got bogged afterwards 🙄🔫 peter tried tugging that out with tension belts and cars and all sorts. I think he just about had it with the rain and bog, he put in the third gear and rampaged out of there and down hill, Tim got out of there too as we also almost bogged his 4DW 😂 There were some big holes left in the ground. Peter and Jenny took us out to some more cafes, where I told them it was on me this time. Peter also took us to this national park nearby Cocoparra NP. We got a really nice distant view on everything around us, and on some nice hills patched with gumtrees! 🌳🌤🏔 l i v i n g t h e l i f e ! I had some really cool jobs again like brush cutting long grass and helping Sarah in the packing shed again eg. Jamie needed my help with a few tasks so he and I started working together a bit more. We bagged up rice which was lying there and Peter was milling, all very new to me. Jamie also took me out onto the paddocks for some different jobs like getting some rice out if confined spaces into a tractor via an auger, nothing dangerous going on there 👍🏼 was different and a hell lot of fun. Jamie and I got on really well and had a lot of motivational converstaion about.. well that's not important. 💁🏼 Mens conversations.. We did in fact talk about cars. A car I had spotted in Griffith. - I called this guy in Forbes who owns some orchards in Forbes who was seeking for seasonal workers to do some thinning. He said we would need our own transport for getting to and from work. He also said he would wait until we would get a car. Because I wanted a car for quite a while now and Peter wanted to help us continue our journey. (gosh that sounds like he wanted to get rid of us 😳) We had seen some cars. I originally either wanted a 4WD or a station wagon but this one car changed my mind. I called this one guy and he said we could give it a test run and Peter would give it a good look over. Turned out this Holden Commodore was in really good condition. The guy selling told us he was a mechanic and would give it a good check over. "I'm not going to sell a car to backpackers which wouldn't be suitable for them. I've heard too many stories of them getting ripped off" Got to love Aussies So we had a few days time to decide if we wanted it and he'd give it a good check over. My travel mate and I had many arguments over this.. Pain in the bloody aarse! Oh well.. Due to the persuasive power of man, we three blokes managed to change her mind about the car. There was nothing wrong with it. It was like a deer had tied itself to the roof of your car and shot it's self. Not to take it would be daft, especially as you an trust an Aussie and an Aussie mechanic over a backpacker who just wants to sell his/her car, any day. The last day at the randalls, it was far too sad. 😩 we had to say fare well to these amazing people. Peter and Jenny gave us heaps of rice to survive and some rice cakes to snack apon. We also got some beer coolers, as we always had been getting beer with such coolers from Peter and Jenny. So thoughtful. We hugged Jenny goodbye. Peter gave me a business card so we would know where to find him and so we would have him as 'back up' 😭 Jamie then gave me his number and said I should call him when ever I get into bad shit or write to him whenever. This farm was perfect. Tim then took us to Griffith to pick up the car, when suddenly the bank didn't let me withdraw enough money... 🤑 On that bomb shell Tim went to his bank and withdrew $1000 and gave it to me I could not believe what was going on. I said I would pay him back on the next day instantly, he replied "yea no worries, man 🙂" Amazing ✨ I got some camping supplies for camping down town like a tent, stretches, a hob and an Esky of course 😌 We then met our car seller who had fitted in new spark plugs, a new belt, new tires, oil, tightened the brakes, the axes and bolts. For no price rise. He then also gave us his number and said he mechanics all over straya, that we wouldn't be knee deep in shit where every we go So basically No worries 💯 We then took off towards Forbes on a Thursday evening, with a car packed for adventure! 😝🌴🌏🚗 I know this won't be the last time time I ever see the randalls and co, I have to see them again! 🙏🏼

[oztrailblog-blog]

Canberra No, not can-berra. Caanbrah! Tim, son of Peter seemed to enjoy the company of outsiders in the family. On the first night he invited us to play "catan" with him, he's a proper fan of board games so I can never get bored with him around me. Tim usually takes care of the farmers markets when he stays at the farm. So he gets around to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne every now and again. There was a farmers market on in Canberra this weekend and he invited to join him going there, of course we said yes. 😏 we had only briefly driven through, to get to Wagga. Unfortunately, Tim had dislocated his shoulder so he couldn't drive, which meant he wanted one of us to take over for the trip to Canberra. I gladly took over as I really have missed driving in Australia! The best part was, it was I big heavy 4WD loaded with rice, so that was awesome. The road trip was so much fun, I'd do it again anytime! Listening to triple J, Flume, Amazing landscapes, roadsigns, highway like a roller coaster, stunning sunset and a gazillion stars displayed in the night sky. What a great way to start a weekend, eh? We spent the night at Tims uncle, Wes' but went to sleep asap as we were up early in the morning. The market kicked off at around 7AM and ceased at around noon. We were basically selling rice and rice cakes the whole time but we had time to go and try stuff from the other places. 🍴 There was a lot: pies, Biltong, coffee, oranges, you name it. Now funny enough the guy who was selling the oranges looked familiar and I was thinking: "why would an Aussie look familiar to me, I don't no many Aus- aha!" It was the guy from the small town we working in.. Small world. Just FYI, his oranges are so amazing, I'd eat them over chocolate any day.. Gob smackingly great. So I bought 4l of his orange juice and he gave me some more for free.. What a nice guy. What a great country 💭🇦🇺🍊 Funny story, Tim has gained my absolute trust. He kept saying, "hey, try this here" and everything he gave me tasted bloody amazing. So I tried allorts like 'dirty chai' for example, coffee with hot choc. That kept happening the whole weekend, great taste experience 👅=🎆 I bet that food there was better than drugs. We settled down after the flavour sensation going on there after which we ducked down to central Canberra, we dropped off heaps of rice at different shops which would sell the organic rice and then we discovered Canberra ⛰🏙🏛 After picking up Ghia, Tims girlfriend we went to all sorts of places like the war memorial, Te priministers house, the Capitol, target to get some headphones for me. The whole time I was thinking WOW what a liveable place. It was so down to earth and loose. No big crowds, nice and empty, crossable roads. I want to live there one day. The little cherry on top of the Sunday came up next. We dined out at a Korean restaurant. You have not eaten food unto you have been there. Just... I don't know how I should continue writing without drewling. I even insisted on paying for my self, and he wouldn't have it "no, come on maan, think of this as WWOOFing!".. How amazing are people sometimes?? It is i n s a n e . I really appreciate what Tim and the randalls have done for us up 'til now.. Blimey 🌃🌉🌄🗼 The little cherry on top of the cherry on top of the Sunday was born in this place called Oliver's Café. We all got ourselves a beverage, I got my self an iced coffee (guys, coffee in Europe tastes like shit, you haven't had one until you've been in Aus) I love my coffee here, and this one almost knocked me out. It might seem like I'm exaggerating a lot here, but I'm really not. I had such euphoria whilst drinking.. I shall say no more. Happy grinning Zak then drove us all to the tv to wen in Canberra where we enjoyed the views. 🙉 Hit the sack after that just thinking: this must of been the best weekend in my life (along with the odd other WE) On sunday we took a nice gander through the mountains, nice fresh air, one of the dogs seriously looked like Nosferatu. 🔥 Visited Tim at church and took back off towards home. Tim and myself reckoned the hills on the way back looked nice und fuzzy and we've always wanted to walk on such hills so we took a break and went for a little climb.. So worth it. Wie did a bit of a photo shoot on top, narley. We hit Griffith late at night where we got a dominos and dropped Ghia off. "Westralia" "What a time to be alive" "Dirty chai" -Tim What a bloody good weekend.

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Soooo, we've been staying at Daniel's for the past week, as he insisted we should stay until we sort our next stop, thanks Daniel!! 😳👌🏼 During our stay Jana and I went for long walks (25km) to Bondi Beach and to other beaches southwards from Bondi. The beaches were very clean and tidy, so very nice to walk by. There were lots of cool cafés and shops to go to were we discovered the almighty deliciousness of... Tim Tams.. 😱🙏🏼 we've probably killed one and a half packs per day... Had a few heart attacks this week as well, one of which made me literally jump. There was a fat spidey on the wall whilst we were in the cellar and I shit you not, it was as big as my hand or in universal terms, as wide as a brick. Mad. Biggest wild spider I've seen. 🕷☺️ We also walked to Sydney a few times to sort some stuff out and had some nice sunset moments having fish & chips at the opera house. 🐟🍟🌇 Sydney harbour is just amazing around the clock. Nice sunny views during the day and amazing skyline scenery at night. Has to be in my top 3 favourite cities, if not then 1st place.👌🏼 There is just so much space to breathe. We've just said good bye to Daniel and his amazing Bondi Penthouse and headed of to Wagga Wagga (famous for spider infestation) but no worries mate, more on that later... 😏

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Righty, like mentioned we went to work at a farm which is located in Lower Portland NSW. We were a team of five with my mate Jana, Barnaby from England, Daisy from Malaysia and Daniel the Aussie landlord! 😎👌🏼 We arrived at Daniels apartment in Bondi on Friday morning to pack the trailer with our gear and stuff for his farm. We were able to feed some parrots from his kitchen window, which was Awesome. We then left and settled at the farm in the evening after seeing some kangaroos jumping around! As we woke up the next day we were amazed by the beauty and size of the farm. An utter paradise. Such astonishing views and paths with forests, valleys between mountains and caves! 😱🌄 There was lots of different kinds of vegetation and creepy crawlies to spot 😖🕷 It was our duty to fix the veranda, rake the debris, harvest stinging nettles, take care of the horses... The Landlord of the historical farm who has owned it for 32 years until now has told us a lot about the invading lantana and his battle against it, some serious stuff..🌱☠ Jana and I have started to bet which one of us is the clumsiest of the both of us as we both have done A LOT of daft things whilst here on the farm.. 🤔 We intended to stay until Friday but ended up staying 'til Tuesday as there was still Lots to do. We had a nice campfire under the open sky every night where you could see the centre of the Milky Way as well as the Southern Cross. 😍🇦🇺 On the last day we knew it was time to finally leave although we had really just started to appreciate how remote this place was. No noise, no planes, no carriageways, no internet as the powerlines were wrecked so no running water either 😅 which reminded us how much we actually wanted to shower again. We felt refreshed and happy after our shower shortly after arriving in Bondi at Daniels apartment again. The journey continues..... 😏

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Mad day today... After completing some paperwork my mate and I found out our first job wasn't as secure as we had hoped, so I called a few numbers to make sure my we would have an occupation, over the weekend at least as I prefer adventure over relaxing anytime! 😅👌🏼 So we decided to head off into the city and explore Sydney after grabbing a few bits and bobs for the farm. 🌇 Can't go wrong with a bit of Aussie culture down here so I grabbed a bit of Milo and Vegemite for the road. Long weekend coming up at our first farm so got to be prepared. C ya later m8s 😏

[oztrailblog-blog]

#Pilot, Off I go, to Sydney, Australia from Düsseldorf via Abu Dhabi after saying goodbye to my family for 10 months. The flight was amazing, especially seeing the dusty outback from above, astonishing. I have now safely arrived in the "Wake Up!" Hostel in Sydney, the adventure shall continue tomorrow.... C ya. 😎🆒