Back to the grindstone Wednesday morning but a later start than previous weeks so an extra hours sleep was welcome after a hectic 5 days. Was hard getting back into the swing of things again.. the back ache and knee pain from the first week came back to haunt me, and I've managed to pick up a new injury. My right hand wrist has swollen up from the repetitive strain of twisting the peppers off the plants and feels like my muscle is tearing apart if I use it. So now I can only use my left hand which is making things much harder.. I can't even brush my teeth properly at the moment!

Struggled through a long day on Thursday.. think it was a combination of the aches and pains and being back in Stanthorpe after coming down from the high of an awesome time in Melbourne.

Starting to have serious doubts about staying here in Stanthorpe to do the 3 months farm work I require to qualify for the second year visa. I'm at the end of my fifth week now and the thought of having to do another eight is not something I enjoy thinking about. I'm already getting a little stare crazy and I reckon another eight weeks would drive me insane. Being in Melbourne for the weekend with the rest of the 'real world' made me realise how much I missed the travelling part of this adventure I'm on.. so I may cut short the pepper picking and start travelling up the east coast again and find more work elsewhere after doing some of the activities I've got booked on Fraser Island and Whitsundays. I will see how i get on this week and consider my options again next weekend.

We were given the whole weekend off so we headed down to Central for 'Happy Hour' on Friday night. Had a few pints and went back to the hostel for an early night.

Got up very early Saturday morning as I was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Went for some breakfast at Cosimo's Cafe for a mocha and a bacon and egg roll. Came back to the hostel where we sunbathed and had a kick around for the rest of the morning/afternoon.
Headed down to the creek after tea for a few drinks with 30-40 of the other people in the hostel but we were moved on by the police after a couple of hours for making too much noise. Everyone then made their way to Central to continue the night. Had a good laugh and made my way back to the hostel just after midnight.

Woke up early again today so I decided to go for a run which I haven't had chance to do for the past two weeks. Chilled this afternoon and did my laundry, then made a curry for tea.
Mother's Day today so walking up to McDonalds so I can Skype with my mum and the rest of the family at my sisters house.

Happy Mother's Day ma!!
Love and miss you.. you are my rock :) xxxx

xx