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So after slothing to the max in Cairns the stark realisation hits us that we need to find work again otherwise we will be winging our way back to sunny London in a jiffy. Much debating commences, with Team Thompson keen to find some bar work in Cairns and Team Wolfe arguing that fruit picking would be a more 'authentic Oz' work experience. After a few rounds Team Wolfe wins and we are off on a bus to the sleepy town of Innisfail to get involved with some bananas. Innisfail is only about an hour south of Cairns but it is like proper redneck Australia, where the whole place revolves around the banana industry.
I don't even know where to start with the whole banana experience but all I can say is that it has been just that, 'an experience'. Upon arriving at 9am we were shuttled off to start work immediately at the Australian Banana Company factory, one of the biggest in Oz. Our first job upon arrival was to pick up cigarette buts from the 'smoko' area outside the factory and I literally thought Grant would shoot me down dead with one look. After the excitement of this task wore off we were allowed into the factory where I was put on 'stickers' and Grant given the important task of moving boxes. Having never worked in a factory before I just couldn't grasp that this was an actual job, to stand by a conveyer belt and stick labels on packets of bananas for 10 hours a day. After a few hours one of the sad old birds working with me (who was most likely born and raised in the factory) hissed at me "I can't believe you've been given stickers on your first day!" "Bloody hell" I thought, "I've made it".
Generally each day belended into the next at the factory, with occassional highlights such as Grant getting to press a button one day or me finding a frog in a box of bananas another. Things really looked up however when I was put on weighing, meaning for 10 hours a day I put bunches of bananas on scales and checked how much they weighed - hurrah. There was one bonus to this however which was that I got to spend all day with my new buds Nat and Emma (fellow backpackers) and systematically slag off every other person in the factory. Now, this was not without good reason as I can honestly say that the group of locals who spent their sad existences living for those bananas were quite literally the nastiest, most vile group of people we have ever come into contact with in our lives. I don't think I ever heard any of them use a sentence that did not contain the F-word or speak to anyone without screaming and almost bursting a blood vessle - lovely folk. Ah well, thank the lord for Guy Sebastian and his Elevator Love which got us through some tough times!
So apart from the 5.30am starts and 6pm finishes life in Innisfail ticked along and we managed to get out and do a few things while there. The first of these was a trip to Josephine Falls which are beautiful waterfalls in the mountains just outside the town. This was the scene for my (first) near death experience. Upon arriving at the falls we saw that some people were climbing up to a plataeu bit of rocks and sliding down this bit of the falls that was like a giant slide. Now there were no other girls doing this but after Grant had been down once and said it was ok I decided I would give it a whirl. The water was probably the fullest it gets to in the year as it was just after the rainy season so the power of the water was mindblowing. After getting up onto the rocks in an attractive scrambling type fashion Grant said he would go down first and wait on a rock to catch me if the current pulled me into the rapids. Thinking this was just him being all over protective and manly I said ok, and off he went skidding down the slide, bobbing up in the pool and grabbing onto a rock with ease. Next it was me and after falling down the slide legs akimbo I found myself in the pool below with the current dragging me down towards the rocks and the next pool below. Now I literally feel physically sick thinking about this as I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life, but Grant grabbed my arm just before I was swept away into the rapids. With Grant gripping my arm, my legs were being swept away from beneath me and however hard I tried I couldn't pull them back. This was the start of a 40 minute struggle and panic in the middle of these rapids with Grant desperately trying to pull me back and me pretty much just shaking and crying. However, you'll be pleased to know that after quite some time, and with an audience of onlookers, I mananged to scramble back to dry land feeling pretty dazed - thankyou Mr Thompson!
Other than this little experience we had a few nights out in Innisfail at the local pubs which are a wierd mix of backpackers and local rednecks. The 'places to be' are the Crown and then Rumours (the one and only club in town) which we never even got into due to me wearing flip flops - doh. It didn't seem to occur to the management to mind that every other person in the place was a crusty old maid/beardy wierdy who looked like a tramp - flip flips were a no no and that was that.
Had a good night out in Cairns with Vic and Bry too, who we met up again with for the... hmmm.... 3rd time since we ben here I think. They came to pick us up in their camper van and we sped up to Cairns to the infamous Woolshed for some drinking, dancing and general merriement. After quite a few games of Moose Grant had an idea in his head that he had to find a shop to buy some phone credit (not sure quite why as it was 12.30am) but off he went and I said I'd wait outside the club for him. After about 20 minutes I hadn't heard anything however so called him to see what was going on. When he answered he said he was at a hostel and might just have a lie down in a bed for a bit! As we were supposed to be staying in Vic and Bry's van that night I was a bit confused but he said he'd come back to the club in a bit... Needless to say that was the last we saw of him that night and he awoke the next morning with no idea where he was or how he got there.
So that's about it for now. We did 3 weeks all in all with the bananas and earned ourselves some pretty good money, mainly due to the fact what we worked 58 hour weeks (!) but at least now it's all over! Think Grant may actually hold the experience against me forever but this was nothing compared to what I would coax him into doing next....
Linz x
p.s Lorraine - look closely at the pictures of the factory, can you spot any bananas in pajamas...?
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