Two weeks ago I don't think any of us would have expected us to be saying this, but we have surprisingly decided to extend our stay in Barraba! Once again we left it a little bit too late to book our train tickets so the journey was sold out. Apparently it is quite busy at the moment as it is still the school holidays over here. So, as we missed our original leaving date, we have decided to stay for the weekend to have a bit more money and then we will leave on Monday for Byron Bay. Our extended stay also means we are around for the start of the Tamworth country music festival. Tamworth is apparently the mecca of country music outside of America, and this country music festival is the largest in the southern hemisphere! The locals here are telling us to be prepared and that we may need to take drugs to get through a day there! No one around here really seems to be country music fans. We will see what happens tomorrow when we visit...

The work we have been doing has been much of the same, cleaning the hotel and setting up a kitchen price database, pool cleaning, garden work including weeding, shovelling compost, mowing and raking. Also to add to our skills we are all now professional tractor drivers! Jade and me have used it to mow/plow the fields. Also, we have all moved two huge wood piles to new locations with it. Jade and me have both suffered quite badly with pulled muscles in our legs which makes work more difficult! We're obviously using muscles we've never had to before! While working we have made a few mistakes too. Ruth and me burst a water pipe while weeding, incorrect plants dug up, the tractor mower is now a little wonky, the wheelbarrow wheel is broken, the pool filter broke while cleaning the pool and a few pots have been broken!

The weather is still quite mixed. We had a huge storm one day which totally flooded the lounge. After a couple of cloudy days, it cleared and we have had some sweltering days. This does lead to clear nights where we can literally see thousands of stars as it is so dark out here. It is very beautiful.

With one of our days off, our hosts Hadden and Andrew, took us to the nearest large town Tamworth to go to the cinema to watch 'Hugo' followed by a pizza after. It was a nice change to be away from sleepy Barraba and to see some actual shops, although Tamworth is quite tacky.

One lunchtime we took a picnic over to Horton Falls which is a pretty waterfall around 20 minutes from the farm. Unfortunately the viewing areas are quite a long way from the falls, but it was still nice to see!

On another day off, Hadden's godson Patrick took us to Mount Kaputar national park. First we stopped at Sawn rocks which is an example of organ piping rock formation. Patrick then made us scramble up to the top which was nice but a struggle to get down! Sally, Jade and me all slid down on our backsides most of the way dislodging most of the rocks! We then stopped in a small town for a coffee and lunch before continuing on to the mountain itself. Due to the time and direction we approached the mountain, we were going to drive up but Patrick forgot to fill the car up with petrol so we had to stop halfway up. From here we took one of the paths which was labelled as a 'hard' 3.5 hour walk to the top. Dubiously we set off. After about 15 minutes a storm started up so Sally and Ruth decided to head back to the car when the thunder cracked. Patrick, Jade and me continued on as the rain started to pour. It was mainly a dirt track with a scramble over rocks and logs. Plus, the rain made the ground quite slippy. Near to the top, the path faded away and the terrain looked more like a steep mountainside. Jade decided to call it a day and waited there while me and Patrick continued up. The walk turned into more of a climb and I decided to stop quite high up when I decided a climbing rope would probably be an essential item and the risk of death without one was a little too much. It was only now Patrick decided to inform me he was a professional rock climber! Informing him I wasn't, he carried on and I sat down as I had no idea how to get down! As I attempted to get started with my descent, I realised I totally couldn't reach the next ledge down, so I had to climb to the lowest ledge I could, then dangle my legs off and sort of slide down to the next ledge. I went down most of that mountain on my bum! After at least half an hour, I got back to where we left Jade and Patrick caught up, we took the track back down to the car. Drenched and tired, Jade and me slipped down a lot of the track but we made it! As some of the roads were flooded from the storm, we had to go the long way back. But then we got a little lost, so it took hours!! Even though it was a long day and I have no desire to dangle off anymore cliffs anytime soon, it was really nice to get out in the countryside and stretch our legs!

One afternoon, Jade and me were in the town de-stressing and decided to check out the two local pubs. We walked into one, and then straight back out again! The second was much friendlier, before we even ordered our drinks we were invited to a party. We concluded we must just look like party people, or we were just making up numbers to lower the average age of the party goers!

Hadden is still trying to interest us in
Australian films. This week we have watched 'Muriel's wedding','The castle' and 'Gallipoli'. All were entertaining enough, but not great and I don't think any of us will be in any rush to watch them again. The highlight film of the week for all of us has been 'Bridesmaids'.

To Ruth's pleasure, we have had plenty of encounters with rats this week. We have heard them running around in the roof, so Patrick was sent up to dispense poison. Since then, we have found a dead baby rat outside the back door and then chased one around Jades room! It was quite slow (due to the poison) so Hadden caught it and drowned it which was a bit grim. Yesterday morning, Ruth and me went to make a cup of tea to find the kitchen surface swamped with maggots. It turns out they have been feasting on the dead rats in the roof and then fallen down a small gap it the kitchen ceiling onto the surface! The dead rat smell is also starting to kick in around the house now! It is definitely time to leave soon! When moving the wood piles there was a huge rat living in there as well as scorpions and red back spiders. I think we may be lucky to still be alive! However, I seriously think we have all coped really well with the wildlife! Sally especially isn't half as fazed by frogs and spiders now. I realised the other day I was having a shower with a spider right next to me (it was only small though!) Although, it is still a little unnerving trying to go the the toilet with a frog sat next to you just staring at you!

We have booked our trains to Byron Bay for Monday, so our spending our last full day tomorrow at the music festival which should be good fun. Hadden's relative Denay, and her boyfriend Charlie, have come to stay from New York and are coming too. Hopefully it should be a nice last day here!

Amy. x