Another month has gone by in paradise.I wasn't expecting the holidays to be anything special but it was better than I could have imagined.

At work, we kicked off the Christmas season with a party at the bowls club.Bowls is pretty much a game for old people.It's similar to 10-pin bowling, except that it's played on a green.You roll a lopsided ball at a target and try to get the closest.I took no mercy on my supervisor.We had a barbeque and it was all good, social fun.

Not wanting to spend the holidays at the hostel, I contacted a relative (sort of) who lives on a farm just inland from Cairns in northern Queensland.Reiner, who is my mom's godmother's son, said I was welcome to come anytime so I booked a trip leaving on the 20th and returning on the 1st of January.I didn't know anything about him and neither did my mom, so I was excited to meet him.

The morning of the 20th, I left Coffs on the bus and 8 hours later we arrived in Brisbane.I spent the afternoon walking around the city with a German girl I had met on the bus.We saw a really cool Cirque du Soleil performance on the street and visited a free museum.We dropped into a church where a choir was singing carols and it really put us both in the Christmas spirit.My flight out of Brisbane to Cairns departed at 9pm that night so I said goodbye to another person I'll never see again.

I arrived in Cairns at 11pm and it was midnight by the time I had checked into the hostel.The following day was spent wiping sweat from my brow and getting impatient with my laundry that wouldn't dry.At 5pm that afternoon, I took the coach inland to the Atherton Tablelands.An hour and a half later, I met Reiner and his partner's son, 16 year-old Alex, in Atherton.From there it was another half hour drive to his farm.Once at the farm, there was a good meal and a nice bed waiting for me.

Reiner grew up in the same town in Germany as my mom.After university, he worked for the German government in Africa and then moved to Australia about 7 years ago.Twenty cattle roam on his 30 hectare farm, called Lamins Hill.The farm is on the boundary of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.He hosts Japanese students throughout the year, giving them tours of the tablelands and teaching them about farm life.Reiner's partner, Michelle, is from South Australia and she arrived a few days after I did.She and Alex are permanently moving in with Reiner, and Alex will be finishing years 11 and 12 of high school there.They were all extremely nice and tried very hard to make my time there as enjoyable as possible.

The next week and a half was really awesome.We did little excursions and had amazing food every day.And getting work done on the farm was no more important than relaxing.

Almost every day, when the heat and humidity became unbearable (though it was far more tolerable than in Cairns), Reiner, Alex and I drove about 20km to Lake Eacham, a really pretty and popular crater lake.We floated and went snorkelling for a couple of hours as the sun went down.It was the perfect way to cool down after sweating all day.

The countryside was great for bike riding and one morning I cycled to the Nerada tea factory and plantation, Australia's largest tea producer.I toured the factory and learned all about the process of tea making.When I went back to the visitor's centre, the woman there served me lunch on the house (fresh tea with a scone and marmalade) and gave me a free bag of tea.I sat on the veranda and took in the great view.I really can't believe how hospitable people are.

Alex and I tried our luck gold panning a few times in a creek that runs through the paddock.The creek is the very beginning of the Russell River, which flows into the Pacific.Further downstream the area is famous for its goldfields.I didn't realize how hard the work is.Our only payoff was finding a few leeches on ourselves.

One morning Alex and I went fishing in a river while Reiner and Michelle did their Sunday morning motorcycle jolly.Reiner is obsessed with motorcycles and every Sunday he rides in a club through the hills to a café.Alex and I caught two Sooty Grunters each and took them home to eat.As I was fishing from the bank, the log I was standing on collapsed and I fell into the river up to my chest.I was sure something poisonous would get me but luckily I escaped.

Another morning, Reiner dropped me off with a bike at an outdoor market on his way to pick up Michelle in Cairns.I spent a couple of hours wandering around and stuffed my pack with tropical fruits that I had never seen before.I underestimated the bike ride back and regretted having bought so much fruit - until I ate them.

We didn't really celebrate Christmas, and it would have been hard to make the day any more special than the rest.On Christmas Eve we did have a great meal and German Schnapps.On Christmas Day, Alex, Reiner and I went fishing and set yabby pots on a large lake that was dammed for irrigation.We didn't catch any fish, but the next day we pulled up 5 yabbies in our pots and boiled them for lunch.They were pretty tasteless (like most freshwater seafood) without sauce.

The day after Christmas, called Boxing Day, is also a public holiday in Australia.Its main feature is the beginning of the Boxing Day Test Match (cricket).Australia played India this year.I finally learned the rules to cricket and now I can bear to watch the game for short periods of time.The match lasted 4 days (not unusual, though 5 days is the cut-off).Australia dominated and is recognized as the best team in the world by far.Play starts at around 9am and is interrupted by lunch break and afternoon tea.I really enjoyed making fun of the game, though I think Alex took some offence because he plays on the school team.

Every day there was some work to be done on the farm.I was usually responsible for feeding the chickens in the morning and, in the afternoon, letting them out of their coup and collecting their eggs.Preparations had to be made with the approaching monsoon (every evening we tracked the progress of the front moving south).One afternoon, Michelle, Alex and I were clearing an overgrown garden when the skies just opened and it began to rain like I have never seen.Soaked within seconds, we just continued to work.The driveway turned into a river and the soil was being washed away from under our feet.A couple hours later, I took a hot shower and pulled the leeches off.It was a genuine tropical experience.

In spite of the work, we always made time to relax.Whether it was lying in the hammock on the veranda or watching cricket, the heat and humidity made you feel pretty sluggish.In the late afternoons, we sat on the veranda and ate nuts and drank tea or beer.I learned that r&r is critical to farm life.

While I was there, I learned so much about farming.It made me realize how naïve and disconnected I am from the food we buy off shelves in the grocery store.All the food on our table was organically grown, and most of it came straight from the farm. Reiner's farm is biodynamic certified, which is a whole school of thought on organic farming techniques.Everything was soooo good and was prepared like such food demands.Beef (straight from the slaughtered cow in the freezer) was a main ingredient in every meal; there were eggs from the chickens, vegetables from the garden (bok choy, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes), homemade bread, fruit from the garden and market, organic yoghurt from the dairy centre, freshly caught seafood, and organic wine.Our drinking water was pumped directly from the creek and combined with any rainwater.The day it rained in torrents, Reiner forgot to turn off the pump and our water became all brown from sediment.We drank it anyway.

On my last day, Reiner and Michelle gave me a tour of the entire tablelands, as they do with the Japanese students.We relaxed in hot springs and a spa, visited several really pretty waterfalls, ate lunch in Queensland's highest town, and hiked to a massive crater.The students are very lucky to see such a beautiful area and have such great guides.

On New Years Eve day I took the bus back to Cairns, preferring to spend the night in the city.The city is totally overrun by backpackers; you can't turn a corner without seeing a hostel, pubs and clubs, and a bottle shop (liquor store).I met two people in my room and we went to an Irish pub with really good live music.We left to see the fireworks and along the way I bumped into somebody I had met in Coffs.We watched the fireworks at the beach together and then tried to beat the rush back into the pubs.I stayed up all night and caught my flight out of Cairns at 6am that morning.I connected with my bus in Brisbane and arrived back in Coffs at 10pm.

Needless to say, the trip was really awesome, from beginning to end, and I am indebted to several people for it.I have posted many pictures from the trip.Enjoy and until next time!