Where to begin, the last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of going from one place to another without spending a lot of time anywhere. Two days of travel, three days in Sydney, five days on the training station and now three days in Dubbo. Settling in at my job in Walgett, NSW will be really good. I expect to be there at least until June sometime so that will give me some time to catch my breath at least. 

   The training station was an experience I don’t think i’ll ever forget. We got there sunday late afternoon after a six and a half hour drive from Sydney through the Blue mountains which are more hills than mountains in my opinion. The ride up was pretty quiet, just imagine 11 people that don’t know each other cramped in a van, a little awkward. But once we got there and settled in everyone started to relax a little and started talking. The group consisted of one Canadian, five Germans, four English and one Icelander. So not to much diversity but enough to be interesting.

   Monday morning we were up at 7 am and got everyone together to go over what the course would be about and such and then headed into Coonabarabran to get us all outfitted with boots and hats and bank accounts. Craig, the instructor guy, is a really interesting character. He liked nothing more than to play a practical joke on people and was super good at it too. He is super intimidating and was very hard to read so I wasn’t sure half the time if he was playing us or actually serious. It got annoying at times but whatever, we put a ton of stress on him. 

   Once we got back from town we all got a lesson on quads and motorbikes, talk about chaos! Some of the students had never done anything like that before so there were bikes running into quads, sheds and just about anything that couldn’t move fast enough to escape! Since I have driven quads before and a bike isn’t much different, I had no problems so I sat back and laughed at all these people struggling to figure out the gears and such. Entertaining to say the least. Once everyone had gotten a bit of a handle on it we went out to the paddock to practice driving through ditches and puddles. Well thats where Ollie and Daniel put their quads into the pond, and Craig blew a gasket! I have never seen someone that frustrated. It was a stressful afternoon. The whole time i’m thinking that this must be the worst group to come through Outback Packers but later around the fire Craig said that we had done really well, I don’t want to imagine what a bad group is like!

   Tuesday all twelve of us piled into a jeep that should seat five, it was a clown car experience. The back seat had been taken out so that made it a little better. We then headed out to his other property where we saddled up some horses and did some horseback riding. I found out really quickly that it had been a long time since I had done anything like that, my bum was actually bruised the next day. That actually went surprisingly well compared to the bikes. Did a bit of a trail ride through the bush. At the end of the trail was a pond where we unsaddled the horses and rode them bareback into the water, it was a good time. Got some good pictures there. My horse wasn’t to pumped about swimming but eventually got him to go where I wanted him.

   After the trail ride we sorted some sheep out and sheared a few. I tried it and cut the sheep pretty bad, its hard to get the right angle to shave a squirming sheep. But apparently I did well for a first timer so that was good to hear. Every day of the week we treated some sheep that had become flyblown, the had magots in the wool and were actually being eaten alive. It was pretty disgusting.

   Wednesday we did a lot of sheep mustering, drafting and shearing. It was a probably the hardest and longest day of the week. Drafting is the australian way of saying sorting. Thursday we brought some cattle into the yard and did some drafting there as well. Put some through the cattle crush so we could check their mouths and such. The English girl, Becky, got to shove her hand up a cows bum to preg check it, without a glove. I would never have thought she would actually do it but she didn’t even hesitate to long and just shoved it right in there! It was hilarious to see everyones reactions to that! One guy was gaging and almost threw, some couldn’t watch anymore.

There were all kinds of little instances throughout the week that just amazed me how someone could be that dumb. The one german guy, Jakob, he did very few things right the entire week but I gotta admire that he never quit even though he got reamed out at least once a day.

  Friday was a little bit of fencing and chainsaw work and then that was it for the course. At four pm I was taken to town to catch a bus to Dubbo to spend the weekend and on Monday I hop on another bus and head out to Walgett to work. Dubbo is a city of 41000 people but feels like a much smaller town, at least the part im in. Its a country town with saddle shops, shearing shops and a flour mill right beside the hostel. Saturday night was St. Patty’s day and there are a few Irish staying in the hostel im in so there was a big drunken party here until four or five in the morning. Didn’t get much sleep. 

   I don’t know when I’ll have internet access again to update this blog again but I will as soon as I can. I am having a really good time here but I do miss talking to people that I know. Everyone I run into is a stranger, so getting to know some locals in Walgett will be really nice. I miss everyone back home and hope you all keep me in your thoughts and send me a message sometime eh. I would love to here from everyone.

Cheers!

   Wow! The last few days have been crazy! So much is different in my world since I walked through security at the James Richardson International Airport. I got on a little jet there and flew to Vancouver, my first time flying. Gotta say, take off is the best part of flying, landing is pretty good too but just cause you can walk again then. Since I checked in at the last minute I got stuck in an exit row with no recline for the first leg of the journey, but didn’t have anyone beside me so that was okay.

   After a short stop in Vancouver, hour and forty or so, I boarded a huge plane and this time got a seat that reclined thank goodness! And to those who are wondering, no I did not have to sit beside a fat smelly guy. So I settled in for what would turn out to be the longest night of my life, literally. By the time I saw the sun again it was almost twenty hours since it went down in Winnipeg. The flight had some rough spots about three and seven hours into it, thats always a good time. Saw Honolulu’s lights from pretty far up, 36000 ft. or so. The distance traveled from vancouver to Sydney is 7900 miles. Even with a jet thats an awfully long way! 

   When we were coming into Sydney to land it was super sunny, above the clouds. When we finally got on the ground it was pouring rain and looked like it had been raining for a while, water everywhere. Went through customs without them even sending it through the scanner, everyone else I saw had to. Little did they know I had a pocketknife in there :) Australia is very strict with quarantine stuff, I said I had been in contact with agriculture in the last 30 days and the guy wanted to look at my shoes to see if they were dirty. Not sure what he would’ve done if they had been.

  Anyway, finally made it to my hostel were I get to share a room with five other people, and my bunkbed with some girl from Germany. One of the other guys snores incredibly loud, and of course he was the first one in bed yesterday. Spent the rest of thursday just hanging around close to Base (thats the name of my hostel). 

   Then friday rolled around and thats when the party started. I figured I would just explore the city a little, see some stuff and just pretty much chill out. So I started by walking down to the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge. Got some sweet pics, also some with me wearing the Johnny’s Java shirt someone insisted I buy, Lol.

  Then just to west of the Opera is some kind of park or Botanical Gardens, beautiful place. I walked through there for about two hours, not only is it awesome, its also huge. Saw my first palm trees there, and some other tree that I don’t know the name of. I have pictures of them. So i’m walking along looking at trees and plants and its quite peaceful, suddenly about ten feet beside me this stupid cockatoo comes diving out of a tree and screams super loud, scared the crap out of me! I got to see some more of these guys yet, a lot more, there was a group of about 100 or so that hung out by some big old tree.

   So after meandering around in the Gardens for a while I decided to head to Bondi Beach. But. being from a rural area and never having to use public transit, I decided it would be more fun to walk than figure out which bus to take. Well it was more fun. Ever been lost in a city you don’t understand in a country you just got to? I have. Silly me, didn’t bring a map when exploring a city. What should have been a two hour walk turned into four and a half. I knew the general direction I wanted to go and figured it couldn’t be to hard, however, I made one wrong turn and ended up 7 kilometers away from bondi beach in something called Centennial Park. Not sure how I got there but I eventually found a map and realized that I had gone seriously wrong. But, trooper that I am, I started toward bondi again, this time with some actual directions from a woman on the street who flagged me down wondering if I was from the UK. Not sure why but she turned out to be helpful.

    When I finally got to the beach, wow! No wonder its one of the worlds top ten beaches, the sand and surf are amazing! I didn’t actually swim but went to stand in the waves, first time seeing the ocean. So I hung out there for a while just listening to the roar of the waves and watching the surfers do their thing. Pretty sweet if you ask me. After that I headed back to Base, this time taking the right road and getting back in just under two hours, my legs and feet are killing me right now, I think I walked at least thirty km today. I should try and figure out an accurate ish number. 

    Grabbed some supper from subway, I love it that the tax is included in the price, makes life easier. and headed for Circular Quay. This place is sweet, restaurants, yachts, street performers and just a whole lotta party. I was on my way back to Base when I stopped to watch a guy do some juggling stunts, ended up helping him get set up for his finale. He put a bmx on a shaky pole about fifteen feet high, kept steady by four ropes held by people from the crowd. Then he climbs the pole, gets on the bike, and gets me to throw him a knife, some one else threw him a bowling pin and an apple. Then, he stands on the bike seat, and juggles the three objects, by the time he finished he had eaten almost the whole apple without missing a beat in the juggling, It was pretty cool. 

   Then I headed back to my room and here I sit, typing this blog. Its been fun and unbelievable so far but I can’t wait to get out of the city and onto the farms. I can’t quite grasp it yet that I am here for an entire year, I keep thinking that I will be back to reality soon, but this is my new reality and its nice. Some things about this country will take some getting used to, I saw a dog driving a bmw and it took a few seconds to remember that the driver is on the other side lol! Even on the sidewalks, pedestrian traffic flows like  the cars and I keep ending up on the wrong side of the sidewalk, better figure that out before I drive anything on the road. Anyhow I need to hit the hay. I though jet lag would effect me but other than going to bed early yesterday, it doesn’t seem to be a factor. 

   Everyone take care and miss me lots, cause I miss you a little :) 

   

   This is my last weekend on Canadian soil for a while, and its cold and snowy. I really don't mind the snow, actually I was hoping for a good blizzard before I took off. Driving last night was a good time, finally got to use my winter tires in some treacherous conditions. I was thinking for a while that I could have saved myself some money and just driven my summer tires year round. The snow came a little late though, now I have no time to go snowboarding!
   It is my sisters wedding today and she was hoping for snow for her pictures and such. Well she definitely got snow. Its interesting that one would have to hope for snow at the end of February. This winter will go down as the weirdest one in my life so far. But I just want to wish my sister all the best with the wedding and first year of marriage. Since after today I will not see her until I get back from Australia.
   Packing for a year in a country with such a different climate than Canada is hard. What kind of clothes do I take? How many? Do I take the basics and just buy what I need when I get there? Actually that is kind of what I'm doing, I have bought what I didn't have and anything else that I need I can buy out there. I did a mock packing just to see what kind of room I would have in my luggage and carry on. My one piece of checked luggage can be 50 lb. and my carry on 20 lb. Well I had almost everything packed up and still had a lot of room for more stuff and it only weighed 26 lbs. I think I'll be just fine.
   Since I have never been on a jet before, I don't really know what to expect on a fifteen and a half hour flight, but I am quite sure its not going to be the most fun I've ever had. From what people have told me I won't have any leg room and chances are the person in front of me is going to recline right up in my face and the person beside my will be to big for their seat and probably smell bad. So thats what Im trying to prepare myself for and all the while hoping for the complete opposite. And an exit row seat, that would be ideal. At least I get a preview of the long flight when I fly from Winnipeg to Vancouver, thats only three hours. Vancouver to Sydney is a really long way, and its all over water. Deep scary water. If I said that I wasn't a little nervous about traveling halfway around the world by myself, I would be lying. But at the same time, I am so excited that I don't know what to do with myself sometimes!
  It doesn't seem real at times that this is actually happening, and happening in three days! I am going to miss the family and friends and hope that they miss me a little as well. But I will be seeing new sights and experiencing things that I would never experience here so maybe I will be to busy to get homesick! I am not that good at meeting new people and making new friends so this is going to kick me out of my comfort zone, every person I talk to will be a stranger. Now that does scare me! But, sometimes you gotta face your fears.
   My to do list is down to two things, put my car into storage and pack. The list was very long when I started getting ready back in October but I have been able to check things off without to much trouble along the way. While booking my flight online had a little trouble but that seems to have been straightened out and hopefully it all works when I get to the airport.
   I checked the weather for March 8th in Sydney, 22 degrees and sunny. Sounds great to me, not to hot not to cold. The time difference is a little confusing at first since I cross the International Date Line somewhere over the Pacific. But as of now, Sydney is 17 hours ahead of Winnipeg. After Daylight savings starts next week Im not sure. I leave here March 6 in the evening, travel for 22 hours and get there March 8 late morning, the 7th is going to be like four hours long. Shortest day of my life!
   To all those that I will not see again before I leave, Good Bye! If you want to  connect with me send me an email or facebook message!