Brisbane: Through My Eyes

Photo Credit: Brisbanetimes.com.au

I left Chinchilla and  headed 2 hours to the east coast, where I would catch my flight from bustling Brisbane. The city was lively, musical, artsy and in bloom. Unfortunately the hostel I chose called The Tin Pan or something like that was dirty, overcrowded and stifling, with not a window in any room. I made the best of it by spending most of my visit in Brisbane exploring the outdoors and the rad art installations all around the city. 

I headed down to walk along the riverbanks of Brisbane, since the city itself is actually 9 km or so away from the ocean. It was really quite beautiful. It's where the stunning modern architecture of the city meets the natural beauty of earth, air, and water. I was giddy about all the great aarchitecture, and became even more excited about Brisbane after checking out the street buskers.  

One stands out in my memory. A slightly overweight woman with a beautiful face. I remember her like it was yesterday. She had dark hair, dark eyes and plumps lips traced in deep red. She was sitting down, proudly playing this full-bodied, enchanting song on her cello. She was dressed in this crimson red dress made of a light, lingering material, which danced in the light breeze, and draped over her body, down to the ground and across the cobblestone path. She caught my eye and as I passed my face turned to keep watching her. When I looked away I realized everyone was doing the same. She was the fire.  The city seemed to be in perfect balance.

Passing under pergolas of vines and flowers, my friend and I (who had eventually got back onto speaking terms) made our way to the outdoor markets and to the revered Spanish Restaurant, OLE.
  
The food and drinks were very good and I enjoyed the atmosphere. I started to think I should have come to Brisbane sooner. The energy in this city was so different from other Aussie cities I experienced. I had been in Sydney many times, and in honesty, it was nothing spectacular. I skipped over Melbourne, which Ive heard has an amazing nightlife (but not much else, of course depending what your interests are) and  made my way to Adelaide, which was likeable- but Brisbane, now that's my kinda place. 

If you like art, green space, local food and a community feeling in a warm, sunny place, Brisbane just might be for you.

 Fortunately my not wanting to leave was combated by the fact that I was headed for New Zealand (!), one of the greatest destinations in the world. It was looking like my wishlist was starting to come true.  

The next day I caught a direct train to the "Brissy" airport and flew over "the ditch" to Wellington, New Zealand.

Flying Solo

To all my beautiful and loyal blog-readers,
You may be asking if I have fallen off the face of the earth- I know, it's been awhile.
The answer is, YES, I have fallen off the face of the earth because I feel like Ive been living in the sky! The last 3 months have been insanely fun and filled with more flights to various destinations than I can count. Since leaving Australia I have been on the go- constantly! In exhausting times I found myself thinking of one of my favourite quotes:

The good news is I have so much to share with you- and I am going to do my best to catch you up on what's been happening to me and My Roaming Backpack as we've been checkin out the world in all it's amazingness.

As you know, Australia was a rough go for me (I can post about that later- but let's just say financially, physically, mentally, the gamble didn't really pay off and the WHV wasn't all it was cracked up to be.) However! The stellar backpacker friends I made in Chinchilla (in the middle of nowhere) were my favourite part of my whole experience and Im glad I met them- otherwise I would have left Australia with a chip on my shoulder, remember all the bad experiences I had there. Saying goodbye to those amazing people on my last days was so hard but it left me departing Australia on a happy note and with good memories. 

*Shout outs to Lydia, Marie, Julia, Elaine, Dori, Dickson, Jack, Sam, Felix and Im sure Im forgetting some people, but you know who you are!*

Now, you may know that I originally flew to Australia with my friend Scott. We had backpacked across Thailand for 9 weeks earlier in 2012 and he proved to be an excellent travel companion, however- when traveling with someone for along time "break-outs" can occur. Scott and I had a pretty massive "falling-out" (of which I won't bother getting into the dirty details) and after this argument I was very, very upset and didn't know where to go, or what to do. All I knew was that it was time for me to get back on the road- and this time, alone. 

Brisbane is beautiful in the summer. Flowers, street music, walking trails...

After we split ways I traveled Australia alone for a month and a half (which is how I ended up in Chinchilla of all places-aka- the sticks, and found my way into a great circle of new found friends in the outback), but after working out in the hot, dusty Australian nowhere I had yet another feeling it was time to get going, again. After awhile you just have a knack for these things- if you pay attention and listen closely to the signs you will know when to stay and when to go.  But then I found myself in a pre-dicament...

New Years in OZ- Ringing in 2013- Monteray Style!

I wont lie- I was very excited to get out of Australia and return back to Asia, but in all honesty, after living with 20 other amazing backpackers and forming some great friendships, I almost didnt want to leave.

 One of the best memories I have/ kind of don't have, was New Years Eve on the farm (which was dubbed 'Monteray') As another breath-taking sunset fell on us, we took it all in and got prepared for a decidedly sloppy night on the farm. A few days before the event, my friend Lydia (from France) and I were making plans for the party and deciding what liquor to buy. I mentioned the classic drink: The Caesar. To my shock her, or anyone else for that matter had never tried one, and didnt even know what it was! I took the liberty of introducing everyone, with what ingredients I could scrounge up from Chinchilla's local IGA. Now, believe it or not, Australia does not have Clamato or any Clam/tomato juice, so I had to make due with some V8 type juice, which is no comparison, but hey! You make due when youre in no-mans land!

i

 PRE-DRINKS!
The Caesars were a hit-a little too much! We ran out of plain vodka and decided to use lemon vodka and yes..ew, vanilla vodka..but hey! Its better than Goon! (a cheap boxed wine popular in Australia, which I dont even think has any grapes in it, I heard it is made from shellfish and other nasty ingredients..) One thing lead to another and soon enough we were passing around the 'boxhead' in "Kings".

We finished the night by walking down the road with a cooler of Corona and limes ( pitch black Australian road in the middle of the outback= super creepy!!)... but we made it and set up a fire down by the river! I remember walking down there with Marie from France and WOW did we have so much fun...lol...long story!

After this point I cant say I remember that much, except for the midnight hugs n kisses, the guys pulling a massive turtle out of the river, Jack being wasted drunk and having to go home early and me getting in trouble for dancing on a car....

A Very Ozzy Christmas in Queensland, Australia

MmMmM...

Champagne &

Pavolva!

Elaines creative decorations!

My favourite German couple- Jan-Felix and Elaine

Lydia, Moi et Marie

Dori and Lydia

15 Backpackers, One Hot Australian Day, Lots of Cold Beers!

Represent, World-wide! England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Belgium, New Zealand, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Canada, and France! WHAT UP!?

After grading onions and harvesting watermelons on the farm in Queensland, Australia for a few weeks the winter holidays were creeping ever closer. When we were hired, we all knew we were expected to work through the Christmas and New Years holiday, but as the holiday got closer the word on the street was that we might actually get a day or two off for Christmas! I, myself dont make much of Christmas these days- traveling sort of does that to you. It would be nice to be with the rest of your family for dinner and so on, but all in all, its not a big deal. Would I trade in traveling to go back for a few days? No.
Still, when I found out that we had 2 days off and there would be free beers for us waiting back at the onion shed... I was pretty happy! And so was everyone else, it was a great surprise. It had been a long day in the Australian sun and a few cold beers would do the trick!

Dickson from Hong Kong and Marie from France, 2 amazing people!

Lydia from France et moi! Man I miss her so much!!

The lot of us! Now theres some hard-working backpackers

Working in Queensland, Australia: Where the Watermelons Grow

The beginning of another beautiful sunrise

I woke up everyday around 4 am, which would give me just enough time to see a beautiful sunrise, wash up, have breakfast, pack a lunch and be out of the door for 5:15 am. Then around 15 backpackers including myself would hop into a rickety old van that could barely hold us all and drove 15 or 30 minutes down some lazy, red dusty back roads until we reached a exspanse of melon fields.

We made sure to always bring  a few liters of water and a good lunch because once we were out in the field there was nowhere to fuel up or go to the bathroom for that matter(even popping a squat was out of the question as there are no trees or grass in the fields) Just flat, red sand on the horizon. Anyhow, somehow the girls made due!

Once we got to the general area of the field everyday, a tractor towing a huge truck bed would meet us out there. The bed is equipped with 2 booms that attach at either side of the bed and these have conveyor belts on them. The bed is also equipped with a conveyor belt (we are sitting on it in the picture below to the left)<----

So how does it work? Once the tractor/truck bed combo is in the proper row, another tractor comes to remove the booms from their storage place on the side of the bed and assembles them to run perpendicular from the bed itself. Then the harvesters walk in a line behind the boom, picking any melons which are ripe and ready. They simply throw the melons on the boom, which then moves down the boom's conveyor belt, which is then transferred to the belt on the bed. The melons then move directly to us, the packers.
Once the melons move their way down the belt, it was our job to sort the melons by size and color depending what the farmer wants. For example, medium light green in one box, medium dark green in another. 

Melon pickers walk barefoot to make sure not to crush any melons

Sometimes youve gotta make your own fun!

<3 Lydia!

 Usually we would work from 530 am-1030am and then break for lunch under what shade was still left under the roof of the truck bed.

Then we would continue on until the afternoon, sometime between 130 and 330 pm. Some days were okay, reasonable heat.. and they passed by quickly. Other days were brutally hot, stifling, you broke a sweat by 8 am and didnt stop sweating until the shift was over! Those days passed so sloooowwwlyyyy.. it as if theyd never end. Luckily most days I worked with Lydia, my bestie on the farm:P Her and I just clicked from the day we met, and we spent most work days just laughing our asses off! She was like my personal stand-up comedian for 8 hours a day, and a great friend to me. Im really glad I had the chance to meet her and cant wait to meet up with her in Asia, (or perhaps in her homeland of France one day?) We both preferred sorting onions to packing watermelons, but working alongside eachother helped pass the days and weeks on the back of that truck bed. Overall, packing watermelons is not the worst job in the world, but I cant say I miss it. I do however miss all the great people I met on that farm. :)

Farming in Australia: The Onion Craze!

My amazing friend Lydia (France) goes onion-crazy!

For my first two weeks working on the farm I graded onions with a few other girls, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Some days we graded tonnes and tonnes of onions-literally!

The onions are dumped into a huge machine (in the back of the picture to the left) which then sends the onions down a conveyor on rollers. Several girls stand at the first section sorting out any bad onions that really stand out, as well as onions missing their shell. These are classified as "seconds" (Grade 2 onions)

The girls and Dickson waiting for the next batch

After the girls pick out the obviously bad ones, the rest filter down through another set of rollers where I am standing. My job was to sort through the remaining onions before they are sent to be bagged. It
was kind of a long, boring job because you have to stand in one spot for 10-12 hours and my station only requires one person so most days I worked alone. It also got really really hot in the onion shed- one day reached 43 degrees Celcius, which was really horrible and made me nauseous.

 Ill never look at onions the same again!

I just soaked my head and clothes in water constantly to keep going, but it was still pretty bad. LUCKILY this only accounted for a few brutal days, most of the days were relatively easy with hot but not dangerously hot temperatures.

In the end it was great because I was raking in 200$ a day and saving most of it! The dongar where I was living only cost me 80$ a week to rent so I was chuffed about that. The onion craze lasted about two weeks and after that we were set to work in the watermelon fields! More on that coming soon..:)

The final stage- at the onion bagging station

Working in Australia: Welcome to Camp "Monteray"

The red dirt road leading to Monteray

After working 3 shit jobs in Australia (that never paid me what I was entitled), I finally found one that didn't completely rip me off. After going one month without a job in Australia (ouch! to my bank account) I found out about this particular job which was inland from Brisbane, Queensland and approximately 40 km outside of a tiny town called Chinchilla. The work? I would be grading onions for one month- not my ideal job, or the way I pictured working in Australia but hey- cash is king.

I set out on the first Greyhound bus to little Chinchilla, and the next day I was getting picked up by an Irish backpacker who would drive me 40 km into the middle of nowhere until we arrived at the base camp where I would live for the next 30 days. I found about 15 other backpackers living at the base camp nick-named Monteray. Some friends, couples and single travelers were living together in caravans and dongars (which are basically caravans without wheels.)

Inside the kitchen/lounge

The dongars

The communal kitchen

There was also a shared kitchen in a separate building, as well as a separate dongar with bathrooms and free laundry facilities inside- bonus. The camp was really basic, but was relatively clean and provided the necessities unlike some of the other farms I lived on in Australia, so you can see how I appreciated it. A few perks were a tv, pool table and fire pit. Needless to say, the other backpackers and myself made the best of it, worked hard through December and January, but had a great holiday season too. It was an amazing experience because I made friends from France, Hong Kong, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, South Korea, Ireland and many other countries! I shared a dongar (air-conditioned, thankfully!) with a sweet South Korean girl nicknamed Dori and couldnt have asked for a better roomie. It was awesome to be surrounded by so many other people my age, doing what I was doing and with similar interests.
Pictures to come! 

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Boonoo Boonoo National Park, Australia

Boonoo Boonoo National Park (pronounced bunna-bunoo) is a national park on the  northern border of New South Wales. We heard about it from my hippy, landlord lady, Autumn. She said the nature there was amazing with a massive canyon and lots of swimming spots. Only a 40-minute drive from Thulimbah, Queensland led us on a dusty, bumpy ride into to the bush where the park is. The drive was wicked. Scenery was stellar. This is a place worth going, hands down. 

Transitioning from scorched and golden fields to the greenery of gum trees mountains, the further we drove into the bush the more beautiful it got. A path lead us from the parking lot down to look-off point immediately, an early pay-off. But it just kept getting better. After that, it was all forest, rolling mountains, swimming holes, rock canyons and waterfalls!  

Want to know more about Boonoo Boonoo National Park? Read reviews here

We stood beside a waterfall at the first look-out, staring into the valley ahead. Waterfalls in Australia, check! We kept on down the trail which led us to a miniature Grand Canyon of rocks( mind you it was still huge!) The rocks completely engulfed us, we were like ants. We scaled in between them and over them, around them and eventually got to a second waterfall which was gorgeous. The hike was fun especially with so many people rockin their flipflops. I busted my pair eventually. Oh well , they lasted me over 6 months, way to go Payless! Lucky for me, Paul had an extra pair of "pluggers" as he would say in his British accent. Id defintely recommend good walking shoes for this.

Boonoo Boonoo is worth the day trip but would also be great for camping!

Eventually we found a small beach and a good swimming spot, and the guys jumped in even though it was freezing! I took some photos of the plant-life up there, and practiced skipping rocks. Skipped my first one- ever! woo!

 It was really gorgeous up there, blooms of yellow and red, growing on rocks, cacti, and beautiful rock formations shaped from the strain of time and pressure. I didn't want to leave, it was so serene. We all wanted to camp up there on that beach but had no supplies. Maybe next time?

As the sun was just going down we scaled back down to get back to the path. As we all met in the parking lot we sat down at a picnic table and one of the backpackers that was with us rolled up a joint. I looked over when I heard her yelling. She pointed up to a cookaburra bird in a tree. It turns out this bird just swooped down and stole her joint. I thought that was pretty funny....!

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Tea Tree Lake, Lennox Head, Australia
30 Things Ive Learned About Australia
Australian Working Holiday Visa

How To Play "THINGS" The Drinking Game

The town of Thulimbah literally disappears at night and is lost to the darkness. It's pretty much non-existent so on a Saturday night so you have to make the best of it! We find ways of occupying ourselves with tunes, some good Aussie beers, bonfires and occasionally the Canadian Club whiskey finds its way out of the freezer.. 

Lately we've been getting into the drinking games. Like "Roxanne", the drinking game where you have to drink everytime Sting sings "Roxaaaaannne".
 Or "Things"!! The Best Drinking Game In The World.:)

How To Play "THINGS":
The great thing about this game is it is really fun to play with good friends but also with strangers. It adds a whole new element of humor to the game.

1)Start off passing around a sheet of paper and pen. Have each person write down several different sentences starting with things. for example: Things you see in the subway, things you should never say to a priest, things you miss about home, things you cant live without, things you love to hate etc. Make sure there is a good variety of questions

2) Then cut up strips of paper and hand them out to everyone, and give each person a pen. Make sure all of the pens are the same color. Put a hat in the middle of the table.

3) Elect one person to read out a question, for example: Things you see in the subway
 

4) The other people all write down an answer in block letters. It can be funny or serious, it can be true, it can be made up, and can even be made to imitate the answer that other plays might give. Then they should cold their paper strip/answer in half once and put it in the hat.

5) The point of the game is for the person reading the question to then draw out the answers, read them a loud and after everyone is done dying of laughter that person must try to guess which player said what. Some of the answers you get are hilarious! If the answers are correctly matched with the person who wrote them the writer has to drink. But if the question reader is wrong they will have to drink! This game is a blast, try it!

I asked one Estonian, one Brit, and one Canadian,
"What Do You See In The Subway?"

Featuring Stanthorpe

Stanthorpe is soooo boring. This is my opinion but I am entitled to it! I find myself wondering, "Why are the only interesting things in Stanthorpe related to alcohol?"

Is that a coincedence or a reflection of this place and the people who live here?

Passing Time With Backpackers & Rebel Pigeons

Australian sunsets are gorgeous

Thulimbah can get pretty boring, but as Ive heard an Aussie say:

 Only boring people get bored.

For me, when I'm not working it's just the simple things that make life delicious! Have a hot tea in the garden, do some yoga in the yard, snap some photos, whatever. To just enjoy nature the way it was intended, away from the noise of cities and chaos.

Still, sometimes I get restless out here! Even though I do feel great coming back to the country after a shopping day in the nearest town, Stanthorpe. (blah) The wildlife just out of the town is incredible, especially the variety of birds. Im not used to seeing wild cockatoos and rebel pigeons so I could sit outside just watching and listening to them forever. I love the colored parrots-except when they wake me up at 3 am..true say!

I have renamed the Crested Dove, The Rebel Pigeon

I've been in Thulimbah for almost two months now, but surprisingly the time has just flown by. I have been working for 6/ 8 weeks so maybe that's why, but there have been some good times here.

Out of restlessness my creative streak has been coming through, and Ive taken up photography and Ive been baking like mad!  Herb Bread, Foccacia, Banana bread, raisin scones, mango pie, shortbread cookies, chocolate macaroons, you name it! My new housemate Paul from England has even pitched in money for baking supplies so he can get in on it.

 Tonight is his 32nd birthday so me and the other housemates are having a celebration dinner for him that he doesn't know about yet. Tatsu and Yuki, our Japanese housemates are going to make Vegetable Tempura and I am going to make coconut cake topped with fresh strawberries from a local farm. Perhaps have a few drinks of Canadian Club too?

My own Pizza, Chocolate Macaroons, Veg Shephard's Pie, Scones & Red Veg Curry!

Rebel Pigeon Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org