Ok, here we go again. Sorry for my extreme lack of blogging action I guess there is a lot that I need to update you all on. Very short update, we came home in September and we're now doing the Ski season in France which has already been quite interesting but I'll get to that shortly (hopefully)….

Ok I think I left you all hanging on with my gamy armpit saga, well as you can guess I survived and have 2 scars to prove it but all has healed nicely. The doctors couldn't say what exactly it was that caused it and sent me on my way after staying in for almost a week.

Steve and I found out not long after I was discharged that we got the jobs for the ski season!!! This was a massive relief as we didn't really want to come home just yet and really wanted to get on snowboards again, and earn some money of course.

We had to wait for 6 weeks before our contract started at the end of June, so with ever dwindling money we decided to try Help Exchange again and this was our only option really as $30 a night just for a tent site was a rip off, but that's the East coast of Australia for you. We found ourselves once again in the middle of nowhere on a cattle farm, I can't even remember the name of the place as it must have made such little impression on me, but the experience will forever be imprinted on my brain and not in a good way. We were to be helping and staying with a chap called Al and his son, basically doing odd jobs about the farm and a bit of housework as Al worked long hours and it helped him out. This was ok with us and our first job was to paint the chook AKA chicken shed, which was a dodgy yellow colour we didn't think much of it but it's not our place to say we thought it was rotten, so off we went and spent 4 hours each painting away making sure that it was all done properly. Al came back later that afternoon said he didn't like it and wanted us to paint it back to white the next day, this was quite irritating but hey ho.

Al was very welcoming to begin with which perhaps lulled us into a false sense of security because soon his attitude began to change. When he was around he liked Steve to do the manual work and I was directed towards the cooking, cleaning, washing and tidying his boys bedroom. He was definitely a man's man and women were only good for looking after the house, Steve was never allowed to help with the washing up after dinner and was always called away and offered a beer, I was offered squat. He would speak very degrading of women and complained to us about every woman who he had there on a help ex, well we soon found out that he was recently divorced, voila!!

The first real hiccup came when he wanted us to help herd cattle, I told him that I hadn't ridden in years at least 10 if I'm going to be exact, but I was willing to give it a go and quite looking forward to it. He tacked up the horse which hadn't been ridden in a month, oh good, and then proceeded to warm it up which I viewed it as "winding up" because he raced it around this small pen digging it in the ribs just being rough really. Then I got on and he b*****ed off for about an hour to find the cattle apparently, during which time I walked about on the horse, had a little trot and tried to get used to the cowboy style saddle with stirrups that couldn't be adjusted so my legs were dangling against the horses side I may as well have been riding it bare back. Steve's role in the herding action that was due to take place was to ride the quad bike and help out, once Al had come back he very briefly showed Steve the gears and said to engage reverse you "press this button and move it (the quad) backwards and forwards" then he left Steve with his 6 year old son who we were told knew the gears, he cantered over to me waiting quietly with an air of caution, as we walked into the field it appeared that Steve was struggling with the quad and couldn't get it into reverse and the kid was saying "dad just shakes it" that's not exactly knowing how to use the gears but he's six why should he!!! We were in the field by this time and Al could see Steve struggling and he told me that Steve was a simple Simon and useless, I was shocked to hear that come out of his mouth and he galloped over to Steve told him to turn it off and forget about helping, his son was crying because he knew his dad was angry. I felt so uncomfortable in this man's presence now and knew it wasn't going to get better. When he came back he told me to stop and stay there and don't move as he was going to herd the cattle over the hill towards the gate and I wasn't to let any past me, hmm ok but you've just told me not to move. He bombed off on his horse which I think was intentionally to wind mine up because it started rearing and being head strong in the direction he'd just gone, p****

The next thing I saw was a big herd of about 30+ cows come running over the hill in all different directions, I basically had no chance I did move but of course some got past me, Al was screaming and swearing at me in which I lost it and told him what for, use your imagination. We eventually got the cows in the pen, his mate had arrived and he went back to the house with him I'm sure saying how pathetic Steve and I were but when he came back over he handed us a beer each and smiled, when he gave me my beer (wow) he said that was a test to see if I could handle the horse. Well I thought that was a bloody good test to see if we could handle you, nut job!!

Steve and I sat down with him that night and asked what happened that day because of his change in attitude towards us. Remember that we had very little money and 6 weeks to go before we started work, so grudgingly we agreed to stay and things were fine for another couple of days probably because we were on our own. Al was also a farrier as well as having his own excavation business; the cattle were another source of income for him too. He asked Steve if he wanted to go out to work with him one day, Steve was a bit unsure as I hadn't been asked but one day apart isn't going to harm us and seeing horses being shod is quite interesting, it did harm Steve though as Al had him work for 12hrs in rain lugging stuff about and not a horse shoe in sight, also bare in mind Helpex is usually 4hrs help, not slavery!!!

I was doing my housewife chores everyday, washing, cooking and cleaning, which I loved! If you're not getting the smack of sarcasm in that then I'm at a loss as to what to write!! One day into our 2nd week I was emptying the washing machine and Al was loudly grunting about his mobile phone. Now I started strongly believing in God and prayed with such might that Al's phone hadn't gone through the wash but luck or the lord above wasn't about to answer said prayers because sure enough there it was gleaming and newly laundered in the bottom of the washing machine. I just had to take a deep breath and take it to him and endure the fit that was about to come my way which wasn't as bad as I'd expected, yes he swore at me called me a name and then walked off swearing as he went.I was always uncomfortable with washing a strangers clothes, going through pockets, underwear etc, uurrrggh so I was expecting him to check his own pockets especially to remove his work mobile. We ended up giving him our spare phone and my job for the next few days was to input hundreds of numbers, so I was punished.

We were really not enjoying being there, Al's comments just kept coming and he was always separating Steve and I. The last job Steve was given was to dig 12 holes for fence posts each 3ft deep which is hard work as it is but when the ground is full of rocks too it's ridiculous and even worse when you know the man has an excavation business ,that job could be done in half an hour!! Steve managed two in four hours and called it a day. Al thought this was bad effort and told Steve who I'm sure bit his tongue to the point of bleeding. The next day was Steve's birthday and he was allowed a day off from digging holes and that night Al said he was going to have a BBQ for Steve and invite his friend and girlfriend too, she was lovely but quite obviously worn down by him as she was so timid I don't think she was allowed an opinion of her own or even talk unless spoken to. It turns out the BBQ wasn't a birthday thing for Steve as the others didn't even know it was his birthday, the food was good but things turned sour when we overheardAl speaking to his friend so we could hear him that "Steve is a lazy c*%t only managing 2 holes in 4 hrs" and that he "may as well have dug them himself" we looked at each other and knew then and there that we were leaving, didn't need to confirm it in words.

So we went to bed that night because we'd been drinking and couldn't drive but wrote a nice note for Al and left at the crack of dawn and also taking back the mobile phone we'd had to give him. He tried calling us numerous times but we'd said all we wanted to say in the note and never wanted to speak or see him again. Whilst we were with our last Helpex in Sydney, I'll tell you about Sydney next, he proceeded to call our 1st host and tell her how we had been slagging her and her family off, so I got a very upset email from her asking how we could say such things as she thought we were a lovely couple. I called her the next day and told her what had happened and she realized he was trying to cause trouble. I also received an email from him a few days later saying that he was planning a ski trip and may just bump into us. He really is the most horrible person I have ever met, Steve and I wrote to the management of Helpex and told them what happened as we thought it was very unfair for him to continue to host people especially if it was a single woman going there, it really would emotionally scar them. Al decided on his own accord to leave Helpex and tell us how horrid we were, I can't say it bothered us then and certainly doesn't bother us now!

Ok let's get on to Sydney!!