Hello,

Just another update to bring me up to date....

As a friend from Port Headland, Matt came to visit me for a week, we decided to do The Great Ocean Road Tour; it was something that we both wanted to do. Again another early morning start which would have been fine if I hadn't been up all night drinking with Tara and Janey (We have now realised this is a bad combination). Ended up staying in the clothes from the night before and grabbing a taxi to the meeting place as I was not in a fit state to walk in the rain. Once again I ate a sausage Mcmuffin and a hash brown. Boarded the bus and fell straight asleep. Was about the only thing I could do.

Woke up at our first stop was Torquay, the home of Bells Beach. - a beautiful beach. Point Break the gangster surfing movie was supposedly filmed here, but it wasn't it was filmed in Los Angeles. We stopped for a coffee and a few photos before joining the bus again and falling straight back asleep. The next stop was Apollo Bay, a coastal town. Was given lunch of a sandwich, which I could not even eat and had a wander around before going to see some parrots and koalas in the wild. From here, we explored an ancient rainforest and admired the tallest tress in the Otway National Park. In this area it rains for about 200 days a year.

Leaving the rainforest behind, we went to visit the 12 Apostles. Strange name considering that there is only 7. Apparently the others have collapsed in to the sea. It was a magnificent view but was way to cold to hang around any longer than just taking a few photos. After this we headed to Loch Ard Gorge, part of the shipwreck coast with the final stop of the day being London Bridge which coincidently has fallen down.

The journey back to Melbourne was long. I asked the driver if he could drop me near the hostel that I am staying at he was like sure no probs. Got of the bus when he told me to and had no clue where the hell I was. It was dark and raining, I was cold, wet and extremely tired. My phone was dead so couldn't even contact any one. After wandering around for a hour I eventually recognised something and made my way back to the hostel. Its true what they say blondes have no directional skills.

It was a good day and I am glad I saw the 12 Apostles but I feel it would be a much better thing to do in the summer; it was way too cold and wet to be sightseeing!

I decided on the Monday 31/07/2011 that as not much was happening at work, yes I was still getting paid to do nothing, I would look for a farm job to start ASAP so I would get as much time travelling down the East Coast as possible. Rang around and not much occurring to be honest. Called Harvest Trail, and they gave me the number for Harvest Hotline. They claimed to have work in Mildura picking oranges for $22 a bin (Sounds good til you see the size of the bin). They charged me $60 for their services. Not sure what their services were as all they did was give me a number for Eva. Eva is the owner?! Of Oasis Backpackers and I was instructed to call her. Before calling, I googled it looked great - swimming pool, bar, in the centre and lots of people having fun. Called Eva, she chatted away, promised hourly paid jobs in the above hostel etc. She should get a job selling ice to an eskimo because she made it sound totally amazing. I fell for her hook line and sinker. So I leave ANZ on the Friday, 2 weeks before my end date. They were cool about it though. The girls at work brought me afternoon tea and cake. It was yummy, and we spent the afternoon taking pictures of ourselves. Ha ha. We went out in the evening and was met by Christian and Cassie. Started in Charlies Bar, and ended in Section 8. One of my most favourite places to go in Melbourne. It is a container from a ship that is a bar, in a car park covered in graffiti. Very Melbourne. We all ended up a little bit tipsy.

Saturday my last night in Home @ the Mansion, ended up drinking $8 jugs in Cho Goa with Tara and Cassie and heading to Brunswick Street. Messy Times but have a black and white picture of the three of us, and a declaration saying no one forced me to drink. Ha ha.

Sunday woke up in bed (no idea how I got there) in the same clothes and was like stuff it I'll wear those on the bus to Mildura. Still disgustingly drunk, I throw the last of my stuff in the bags I have and make a bee line for reception to call me a cab. Christian and I share our last cigarette together, bid farewell and off I go. Its only once I get to the station, Southern Cross, that I realise I am too drunk to walk straight and that I have far too much stuff to carry. It was definitely going to be a interesting journey from here, considering I had to change trains twice and get on a bus all whilst drunk oh dear. Luckily, I arrived with all my stuff and sober 9 hours later.

I was told someone would collect me from the station, so there I am waiting and eventually someone says Backpackers? I was like yeah so I jumped in his van. Too tired at this point to remember the number one rule do not get in to cars with strangers, so here I am sat in the car with a stranger. We are driving away from Mildura and in to Red Cliffs at this point, I say where the hell are we. Luckily at this point we drove in to Oasis Backpackers, Red Cliffs. Oh My God does not come close. First impressions, the place was filthy, smelly and just generally gross. Close to tears, I am shown to my room and begin making my bed. The sheets were smelly but I had no choice. There were even rats running around!!!! I was told to check the job board that evening to see if I was working on the Monday morning between 8pm and 9pm. As it happens I was working, and my job was to be picking mandarins. Deep joy. So off I go to get an early night. Think again. The place turns into a crazy place in the evening. People running around, some naked and not particularly hot. Wild doesn't come close.

Lots of Love

Amy x x x x