Monday was the last day of picking peppers which was a great relief.. that will hopefully be the end of any more back problems. With the picking season at an end on Barbera Farm alot of the workers have been released having to find work elsewhere but I have been one of the lucky few who've been kept on. Many of my friends have been released so now the only people remaining other than myself are three Irish girls, two Estonians, a Danish lad, a Chilean and another Englishman.. and of course the farmers. We've been told there is about another month and a half's work so hopefully that should be enough for me to gain the second year visa. The jobs that remain include clipping wires, ripping down tomato bushes, pulling up the black plastic which beds the crops and pulling stakes out of the ground.. pretty boring work but easy to get through when listening to your iPod.

Another Black Red Belly snake was found on the farm on Thursday. One of the farmers brought it over to us after he had stunned it but I didn't get too close.

All the workers received a letter in the post about the farm going into administration this last week but it shouldn't pose any problems for the immediate future whilst I'm there.

Worked a half day on Friday till 12noon and then we were given Saturday, Sunday and Monday off for Easter. Pretty much the whole of Stanthorpe was shut for Good Friday.. it was like a ghost town, but a few cafes and takeaways stayed open. Decided to treat myself to burger and chips from KC's for my tea with a few of the lads and then headed back to the hostel to watch a few movies as the pubs were closed.

Went for a mocha and a Skype session down at Cosmo's Cafe for a few hours on Saturday morning. The majority of the hostel were off work for the day so with it being a nice day all the Brits.. and one German, headed down to the park for a few beers and a game of footy. Had a brilliant day playing all afternoon and evening in the sun.. the highlight being a 2-3 hour penalty shootout drinking game amongst ourselves with a couple of boxes of the dreaded 'goon'. We were all pretty drunk when we decided to call it a day in the pitch black with no 'goon' left.. some alot more than others!! The German lad got the brunt of it :)))) haha.. we didn't mean to, honest ;)
We made our way back to the hostel and got ready to go out. I had no intention of going out but I guess I got the taste for it during the day. We headed down to the creek again for a few more drinks before going to Central to carry on the night. We were all a bit worse for wear by the end of the night but it was a great day/night, probably the best I've had since being here in Stanthorpe.

Had a very chilled Easter Sunday recovering in bed watching films with my roommates. Got a small Easter egg in my locker from the hostel owners, Doug and Sandra, which was a nice touch. Did a bit of food shopping and made my tea before chilling in the room to watch another film.

Today is Anzac Day, a public holiday for the Oz's and the people of New Zealand where they remember those who fought in Korea's Battle of Kapyong. I'm one of a few people who have today off work so it's nice to have a bit of time to myself. I had a lie in till 9am and have just finished my laundry. The majority of the shops are closed again till around 1pm and there has been a small parade through the town center. Going to make my way down to Cosmo's shortly so I can publish this blog and have a look on the internet. May go for a run and a work out later this afternoon but my whole body is still aching from the footy on Saturday so I could be giving that a miss.

Start of my ninth week here.. five more to go!!!

xx