Hopefully, the family guy fanatics will get the name of this blog.

10/08/12

Today...well today started out being hungover and definitely not seeing Airlie. But after waking up, watching a film and grabbing brunch, we headed down to meet Sabrina at the Lagoon. Nothing much to report really, we just stayed there, chilled out, chatted and then me and Luke grabbed a Dominos for tea. 'Backpacker deal' $5.45 for a large, how can you refuse that?!

12/08/12

I'd love to say what I said last time about missing a day, that 'I was having too much fun' alas, the opposite has to be said. The last 24 hours have been so damn boring it would seem ridiculous to write about it. Today, however, has been more interesting. As it always is when moving town and/or hostel. Checked in to City Centre Backpackers in Bundaberg at about 11am this morning after 12 hours on a coach (most of which we spent sleeping). The room is only a 6 bed and has an en-suite! "Wow! That's pretty decent!" you might think? But you'd be wrong. It's a skanky joint, but everyone's been alright so far and we got shown our room. First time meeting the 3 guys in our room and they were all balls deep. Classy. The form for who's on what farm with the pick up times gets put up at 7pm. 04:45 being the earliest. Mother of God.

That was written a mere 50minutes ago. Since then I have discovered that they charge for transport to your work place ($7 per day) but, I have just explored, and the...

Nope. This place is a s*** hole. Absolutely filthy dive. Just cooked dinner and I fear for my health. I'm leaving tomorrow and getting some helpx work. The host I'll be staying with is able to sign for 2nd Year Visa too, so I'll be getting that work out of the way. Sure, I won't be earning any money, but with free accommodation and 3 meals per day, I won't be spending anything either. Staying neutral. Plus, this will give me plenty of time to get some work else where, and it won't need to be farm work! This magical place that I'm going to is the Flying High Bird Sanctuary.

13/08/12

Today I've been dossing about this s***ty little town doing, well, not a lot. But I got the phone call from David saying he'll pick me up at 5pm. Perfect, get me out of this filthy hostel and this nothing-to-do town. I don't think for a second that 'Apple Tree Creek' is going to be a lively place, but hey, that'll save me spending any more money. The nearest town; Childers is a farming town, so I can keep my eye out for any additional paid work there. Anyway, what we did see on our little walk was bats, thousands of bats hanging in the trees by the river. There will be a photo of them, seeing as there is nothing else to take pictures of in this town. I can imagine I'll have a lot to say when I arrive at David and Anne's bird sanctuary later...

So, after 'having to leave' because 'somethings come up'; I managed to blag a refund at the hostel minus the night I stayed. I was then swiftley picked up by David, and went on to pick up Anne, his wife, and Sam another 'helpx'er. Sam's a guy if anyone's wondering. He's only been there for about a week, but already knows a lot about birds. I guess I'll be an expert soon enough! We grabbed fish and chips on the way back to the sanctuary and I was shown the house I'll be staying in. Separate from the main house and fully equiped with kitchen, bathroom and TV, we each have our own double beds. I have the one downstairs, which apparently get's coldest, but is compensated with the fact that it has the TV. I've already checked out what channel and time neighbours is on. After I'd gotten settled, we took a dander over to David and Anne's gaff and was immediately offered a beer. I think I'm going to like it here. I met their fat diabetic cat; Thomas, over excited German Sheppard; Chloe, and their rescued bird; Sophie. David and Anne's daughter and grandson arrived later and after chatting to them all for about 30minutes, I really got the sense of welcoming and warmth. After chatting for a while, I think I might have a few computer related jobs to do for them too! All that's left is to see what the work, and of course the animals, are like!

14/08/12

If you're expecting to find out how the bird sanctuary was, you'll have to wait! It's only 7:30, but I'm; up, showered, dressed, had breakfast and ready to go. This morning it hit me, as I sit here with my coffee on the dining table, bed made and music playing, this is what I've missed over the last 6 weeks. Somewhere to call home. Sure, this may get pretty lonely after a while, but certainly for now it's 'bloody lovely'.

Here it is, the verdict... Australian birds are better than British birds. But we knew that anyway ;-) So when I start talking about them, bear in mind they aren't just run of the mill birds, these are colourful both in looks and character. One of the main characters is 'Birdie' a red collared lorikeet who is constantly on someone's shoulder, drinks coffee and eats biscuits. This morning I went round with Sam, getting the jist of what needs to be done. Emptying food trays, wiping feeding tables and replenishing them. This arvo I was set to take down the old nesting stations and put up the new ones David had made. This included a ladder, a drill, a hammer, nails and screws. I know, me? DIY? Actually, I was good, so screw you! No pun intended. I finished at about 5pm, so, urrr 3-5 hours is a bit of a lie. But then again, I am getting days signed off towards my 2nd Year Visa, it's piss easier than farm work, I'm basically living in luxury accommodation and getting all my meals cooked for me. So it's only fair I guess. Only 87 days to go!

15/08/12

Before work: "HOW CAN AUSTRALIA BE THIS COLD?!" Was my first thought this morning. I don't think I'm going to be updating much, but then again, the work may vary massively every day. Who knows?!

After work: It did vary, kind of. I spent the morning cleaning and feeding the birds, so pretty much the same as yesterday, just by myself. After a late break, having scones, I spent the afternoon making new nesting stations! I say making... I just had to finish them off by . After work, I did the same as yesterday; go across the road to the old rodeo ring and do some running. I figured, if I'm going to be working here for a while, I may as well get a routine going. With that in mind, I now have an assortment of rocks for weights, a bar for chin ups and a log for tricep dips. This isn't just working out; this is rustic, backpacker working out.

16/08/12

Well, if you're reading this: Happy Birthday Jim! I spent the morning doing the usual, cleaning bird s*** and feeding them. I don't think I could be a zoo keeper or anything like that, having to clean something every day which you do nothing to get dirty for an animal that doesn't appreciate it. Cleaning the kitchen after a long day of serving customers was different, I'd made that mess and the customers appreciated it. Ah well, I spent the afternoon doing something a lot more to my taste, web development. Well well well, this is a surprise, the website itself is already set up, it just needs improving and seeing as it's already done in Wordpress, this shouldn't be too difficult at all! But saying that, for Anne and David, this sort of thing would take time they don't have. This (thankfully) is probably more valuable than doing extra work in the avery.

17/08/12

Not sure if it's tiredness, lack of banterful interaction, not doing fun activities or actually having to do work, but I'm actually starting to feel a bit home sick. It doesn't help that it's Jim's birthday do tonight, so I'll probably call them up tomorrow morning when they're all about to go out.

That said, after a pizza tea and achieving one of my goals whilst in Australia, I feel a bit better. That goal, in case you're wondering, was to get a picture of the milky way.

18/08/12

So, yeh... leaving tomorrow morning. Working with animals (or at least birds) definitely isn't for me. Felt really bad for letting David and Anne down, but Sam's still here and they have another volunteer starting on Monday. As for me; I'm jumping on the Greyhound tomorrow morning, joining Luke and hitting up Fraser Island. This will be the last of the pre-paid activities and just as well! But after that, I move to Brisbane; A city filled with oppertunity, plenty of jobs. May even do my RSA to get bar work. We'll see.

19/08/12

Arrived at Rainbow beach and first impressions are pretty good. 2 free drinks and 1 free meal. Ping pong and pool is all free. Going to check out the area, if there are any jobs here, I may jump at the oppertunity. I mean ANY jobs. It's either $19 or $21 per night after my voucher runs out so that's not bad.

Sorry for the boring blog. This week hasn't been the most exciting. Maybe next time will be better...