ok, so now i am at the southern tip of the great barrier reef which sounds wonderful when in fact it is not. this place is quiet, boring and nothing is open past 5pm or at all on a sunday...which doesnt really help since i tend to get in from work 5.30pm!!!

where to start, i have had a really bad week. i came here on monday after a tearful goodbye from the girls. i got the the hostel about 3.30pm....nort sure it should really be classified as a hostel...more like a dive/pit/shed...and it has bed bugs...great!!! so i started tomato picking on the tuesday. up at 4am....start work at 5.30pm...picking grape toms, which are small...as the name gives away. they were all at the bottom of the vine...which means plently of bending, kneeling, sweating and just general pain. but i only did it for 3.5hrs and then headed back to the shed/pit/dive/hostel. wednesday and thursday was manula tomato picking on 300m vines. not as bad as the grape toms but 10hour days starting at 4am.....i soon got sick of the site of them, believe me. friday was the worst day as we got sent to the farm at the usual break of dawn, to only to be told we werent needed....after we had been waiting around for an hour. then they found us a job...which we did for an hour...but the supervisor who is a sexist pig told us to go home as we were girls and it was a mans job....well needless to say i was pissed off. so when i got back i booked my ticket to leave....which i have now canclled now i am not in a tantrum!!!

friday was also special as the bus on the way to farm ended up in a ditch...we had a new driver, didnt know where he was going missed the turn off....he turned around in a driveway, only to miss the driveway and go straight into the ditch!!! so that was quite funny at 5am!!! we didnt end up getting to wrok til8pm as they wouldnt send another bus out for us!!! then me and clodagh got left behind at the end of the day as ther was no room on the bus...to then get a lift a la tractor!!! i am sure it was a delayed april fools!!!

saturday was better. picking toms still but on the machine which makes it farily easy and you earn good money-as you get paid by what you pick...which is much faster than if you do it by hand. so going to give aweek and if i still dont like it then i ,will leave. the money is shocking and i havent even made enough money to cover my rent this week but back on the machines next week so should be better money.

the girls are coming over to see me tomorrow to have a birthday get together. i cant wait to see them. its only been a week but i feel like i have my arm chopped off!!! it will be sooooo good to see them so it will help me get through my 10hour day of picking toms. i had today off, but i woke up at 7am....on a sunday...i couldnt even get back to sleep. bundy is such a quiet place and not much to do so my books are finally getting read. met some great people here and evryone is chatty which makes up for the lack of everyhting else. had a bbq last night and alcohol...which is a big deal as no alcolhol is permintted in the hostlk only on saturdays....so the goon came out (cheap wine....$10 for 4 litres!!! didnt have too much to drink though and was in bed by 9pm...a late night for me...usually asleep by 8pm!

i cannot belive we are now in april...where has the time gone...it just flies bny. even this week has so fast but that probably because i work eat and sleep...and thats all!!

so enough of my depressing ramblings....hopefully the next installment i will be richer and less grumpy and thinner....i have put on 10lbs since leaving in october...which can be attributed to the copious amounts of alcohol i have been consuming and the lack of anything remotly resembling exercise!!!! but its all been fun...i quite like putting on weight coming to think of it...never enjoyed myself as much!!! ok, i have started to ramble again so i will sign off and say have a good week. lots of love, missing you all, jen...the tomato picker...not the job title i had in mimd when i graduated from uni!!! x x x