Hi people,

amusingly my first entry from Sydney is now being followed by my last! After spending the weekend panicking about the job and accommodation situation I went to Travellers Contact Point this morning and within an hour I had got myself a job orange picking until Christmas out in the middle of nowhere. I also get a good deal on accommodation with transport to work and sunscreen thrown in! The catch? I have to be on a greyhound bus in 3 hours for the 16 hour journey to Mildura on the state line of New South Wales!

This has meant a slight rush of activity as I've had to pack up and check out of the hostel and now have to have a decent lunch, buy some food for the journey and head down to the army surplus store to buy some hardy work clothing all before heading to the station in 35 degree heat with all my bags in tow (can't seem to reduce the number of bags to less than 3 anymore).

However this is an exciting opportunity to do something a bit different and will mean that I have somewhere to stay over Christmas, there is also the fact that I won't actually have to work on xmas day although I'm not yet sure if this is a good or bad thing as it means I won't be earning that day. Another thing about this job is that I will get paid on the basis of how much I pick, a rate of $25 per bin and I have no idea how big these bins are, so I am in for a large amount of very hard physical labour in the scorching heat, yay. I've been told that a very slow person will only make $50 a day, I hope to make more than this, but we'll have to see. I found out that there is only one girl working there at the moment, I guess with a picking team made up entirely of men the pace will be pretty fast!

I'm not sure how remote this place is so it's entirely possible that I won't be in contact for a while but I will do my best. Family members try not to worry about a long silence from me as I might be in the outback! Have a good Christmas if I don't get the chance to update you again.

I have to go now as I have a lot to do before this long and probably boring bus ride without my ipod because I haven't had the chance to charge it. Sorry for the rambling quality of this entry, I'm in a state of nervous anticipation and am finding it hard to concentrate!

Love

Kate

--x--

P.s haven't seen a kangaroo yet