After the Outback trip I was realy happy to trade the tent for a bed in my own room in a real house, I lived with Jimmy, Kelly, Abby, Jack and 3 dogs for about 5 weeks in Townsville again. Besides a bit of Babysitting I didn’t do much work. I just enjoyed the beautiful city on the beach with over 300 days of sunshine a year. I definitey fell in love with the capital of Norh Queensland and it is for sure that I’ll spend more than just holiday time at this place. But since I’m here for travel AND work I had to stop being lazy…After about 2 month of traveling/holidays it was time to do some work again.

And where would it be easier to make some money than back in good old Tully…so I went back to the Bananas for a month. I couldn’t make up my mind where to go next, I still wanted to see the West and South of Australia but I was just not ready to leave the Tropics yet. I decides to go back to Townsville for a few weeks. I got a job as a kitchen hand, I met really nice people and I liked Townsville more and more. But it is to early to settle so I needed to keep going…

Destiny led me to Magnetic Island, a beautiful tropical island just 20 minutes from the Townsville coast. I’ ve been there quite a few times before, for diving, Full Moon Partys and things like that but I never thought about looking for a job over there. Well it just happened that they were looking for a kitchen hand/waitress and housekeeper at Bungalow Bay Koala Village (http://www.bungalowbay.com.au/). It was just perfect! I lived in paradise for the next 5 weeks. My bungalow in the middle of a tropcal garden with palm trees, lorikeets, koalas, cockatoos, wallabies, swimming pool, hammocks, Reggae music and just the most chilled out atmosphere. I did three hours housekeeping in the mornings for free accommodation, food and drinks and night shifts in the restaurant for saving money. I hardly had any expenses but a great lifestyle. I dreamed about spending Christmas and New Years in the sun at the beach all my life and finally after 26 years I made it happen! It was just great. I love the people I worked with, we were like a big family, I didn’t feel lonely during the holidays (what I was a littel bit afraid of) even though of course I miss my family and friends in Germany!

It was so hard to leave Paradise but again Australia is a big country, I had to keep going if I wanted to see it all. My New Years resolution was to make a plan for the rest of my time over here. And I did, after 9 month of living from one day to another I actually planned the last 3 month. And the plan is: Tully for one more month (…money…), Cairns for a couple of days to catch up with friends, flying to Perth (West Coast) on February 17th where I meet my friend Daniela who’s coming over from Germany and then we have 2 month to travel along the south coast from Perth to Sydney. Depending on how much time we spend in Perth, Adeleide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and all the other places in between and how much money we have left in the end we might do some more travelling to other countries/islands before we fly back to Germany mid of April. If I manage to fulfil my plan by the end of my trip I’ve seen all four coasts, the center, all six territories, all big cities, all kinds of seasons, climates and weather and then I will be ready to come home…

In the last 3 weeks I experienced a completely different side of Australia far away from the coast line. Between freezing my butt off with 0 degrees in some nights and sweating like crazy on some days with 40 degrees the Outback was very diversified, even though it was mainly about red sand, big rocks and desert…

Starting the trip from Townsville (QLD) towards Alice Springs (NT) in the center of Australia (2.500 km) we passed quite a few little towns like Hughenden, Cloncurry, Mount Isa and Tennant Creek, saw the first famous rocks – the Devil’s Marbles – and lots of wildlife like bugs, birds, cattle, camels and kangaroos (dead or alife…).

 

From Alice Springs we traveled  1.500 km in a triangle to Ayers Rock (Uluru), the Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and Kings Canyon (Watarrka)….

 

…and from there head north another 1.500 km on Stuart Highway along Aileron, Daly Waters,Mataranka and Kathine up to Darwin. 

On the journey we put up our tent in the most beautiful National Parks like Elsey and Nitmiluk (except of Kakadu National Park which was the most disapointing Park ever!!!)  

All together it was lots of driving, lots of dust, lots of Aboriginals and lots of nothing but it was also lots of experience, lots of fun and definitely worth it!!!

30.07.08: After 2 month at this place it’s time to move on even though I don’t want to leave…My life in Tully started boring and lonely but it turned out to be one of the best times I ever had in my life. I’ll miss the physical work at the farm, the communicative work at the pub and especially the people I met. But at least I don’t have to say “Good Bye” to all of them because I’m going to travel with 2 German girls from work for the next couple of weeks. We’ll  go to Cairns for a couple of days and then to the Red Center. I’m excited to see a new part of Australia since I was only on the East Coast for the last 4 month. The Outback will be different and I’m happy to go there with Jana & Helena and not by myself! (Never thought I’d meet people in Tully who are just like me and who I get along with so well after such a short time. We have the same rhythm and that makes travelling together very easy and fun… But anyway I miss my friends back home and I’m sad that I can’t share my experieces with you guys!!!)

20.06.08: I’m here for 3 weeks now. Farm work is getting better…I’m outside most of the time. Sometimes I drive the tractor and most of the time I’m stringing, that means I tie the banana trees together so that they don’t fall over, because they get to heavy if they get a new bunch. I learned a lot on the farm – lots of knots and driving big vehicles – so it’s not boring anymore and if it’s not raining it’s even fun at work. I also started a bar job. Work 70 hours a week. I’ll see if I can do this for a couple more weeks. On one hand because it’s good money and on the other hand for my second visa. If I do farmwork for 3 month I can apply for a second visa ( 1 more year). I’m not sure yet if I’m really going to do that, but so far I really enjoy my life in this beautiful country. Australia makes me happy:-) So for all of you who miss me, you should plan holidays over here…

07.06. – 09.06.:

Made a trip this weekend (250 km south of Tully). Met a security guy called Jimy at the Full Moon Party on Magnetic Island and ever since then we stayed in contact. He lives in Townsville with his girlfirend Kelli and his two kids ( 7 month and 16). He invited me to come over and meet his family, so I did, even though it felt weird because I only met him this one night before…But it was awesome! We became really close already and I think I met friends for lifetime!

We went out to nightclubs, saw “Sex and the city” at the movies, went to a horse race and on a hill to watch the city lights by night. I’m looking forward to meet with them again, I even think about staying with them for a while and working in Townsville. I don’t know what to do since there are so many options right now… I met people who go to the red center by car and invited me to join, I like Tully because I make lot s of money, I could go back to Magnetic Island where I have an offer to work my next diving cetificate off, I could go to a job interview on a 5 star resort on Hayman Island (Whitsundays) or I could just follow my original plan and go all the way up the east cost and then fly to Dawin in the north. Well, I hope destiny will help me because I really can’t make any decision right now….

26.07. – 30.07.:

Went to Townsville fort he weekend again. Jana Helena and me got dressed up for the Townsville Horse Races, a big event in Queensland.

I also went fishing and pig hunting which was an experience I don’t want to miss but I don’t really need to see that again…

 

Arrival in a tiny tiny village which has the most rainfall in whole Australia… Nothing going on…Lot’s of Asians in the hostel (don’t like them), share my room with 2 Italian boys (and a cockroach) who smoke and drink the whole day in the room. There is no window and no aircondition.Will try to change room! Came here to work but unfortunately no jobs available at the moment…

Shit! Can’t get worse… (it’s my 13th place I went to, maybe this number really means bad luck…)!!!

Things look better now. Start working tomorrow. This man knocked on my door last night…he got me a job at a banana farm and also at the hostel bar (never seen this man before?!?!)

The Asian invasion here still sucks. I explain: Everywhere else in Australian hostels you cook your dinner (usually just for yourself the first night), sit down on a table and within the next couple minutes someone will ask if he/she/they can sit with you…Here it’s different! The Asians don’t ask if they can sit down, they ask if they can have the chair from your table and take it away. One after another. So you sit there with 5 empty chairs around you starting to eat and within 10 minutes there’s only the chair left you sit on (if you forgot sth. in the kitchen and leave your seat only for one minute, even this chair will be gone…). But that’s ok! I don’t want to eat with them anyway! They make this noises while eating – I hate “mouth sounds” during eating! And they only eat rice – for brakfast, lunch, dinner and in between…

29.05.08: Worked the first day today. Was exhausting but good. Had to seperate good bananas from bad bananas. Started at 5:30 am. What a great job – good that I went to university. hahah!!! No, for real I like to do this kind of jobs for a while, at least then I know that it was right to go to school for so many years!

03.06.08: I’m working here for a week now. Did sorting (die Guten ins Toepfchen, die schlechten ins Kroepfchen), breaking (make little bunches out of a big bunch), packing (put the bananas in boxes for sale) and repairing the irrigation plants outsides in he fields. It’s pretty exhausting to do 8 hour of labour work if you are used to an office job, but at least here I feel like I’ve really done something at the end of the day and that is very satisfying!

If everything works out on plan I’ll stay here until the end of the month and save some money for the next travelling period…