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G'day my little beauties!!
It's been a loooooong time, i know; i've just escaped from the cattle station and so i can now do normal things like email and talk to people!! Where oh where do i start?!
I arrived at the lovely (!) hill billy outback town of Julia Creek on Weds 20th June, getting stranded for 2 days due to unseasonal heavy rain and my new farmer boss not being able to pick me up in fear of getting bogged. My god what an eye opener this was - i stayed at the local motel and had a drink and dinner and talked to the locals, not realising why there were no girls in there. One local (think Oliver Reed, but very dirty and black teeth) had taken note when the motel/pub manager gave me my room key. When i went to my room he was WAITING for me outside!!!!!! I was sh*tting myself! I told him i was off to bed and said night - as soon as i opened my door he pushed himself in and put the kettle on!!!!
10 minutes of pushing him and telling him ' i didn't invite you in, respect my privacy and get the hell out' he finally left in a foul mood!! The room had no curtains in it so anyone could look in....i had to use the duvet covers off the beds to cover the windows! I didn't get any sleep.....
Next morning i made friends with a lovely lady who put me in touch with 'Piston Pete' (they don't have normal names here) who she reassured me was safe and she had friends stay there all the time. Piston Pete's house was SHOCKING. It stank of meat...his fridge was full of defrosting meat and beer (staple diet of the outback) and i can't describe the bathroom (think hair, not head). All i kept thinking about was the house in Blair Witch Project....i didn't sleep again!!
The other stories i will have to explain another time!!!!
Luckily i got picked up the next day by the farm's Supervisor Rod, and met Paul, an English Jackaroo who was working on the farm too. We then got picked up by farmer Guy in his plane (how cool is that!) and i flew over the outback to my new home for what was suppose to be 5 months!
My new home was an 80,000 acre cattle station called Bow Park. My new job was as a jillaroo working 7am-6pm Mon-Sat for very little money, but food and board was included. The owner, Guy and his family, had a lovely homestead on the farm. Our Supervisor, Rod and his family, had a tiny home near the work shed. Paul and i had really sh*t living quarters near Rod!! Such a difference between what the workers had and what the owner had!!
Our boss Guy ended up being an absolute a*sehole which made the days harder! He knew that Paul and i had no experience, yet he would not tell us how to do something and would go into an outrage and swear at us if we messed something up! Nothing was good enough. We got no thanks. But Paul and i pulled each other through it - so it made it a bit bearable! We also managed to get away to Julia Creek Centennary weekend to get away from the farm (Julia Creek for a weekend away is quite desperate!) and we had a good piss up there.....
The work was all physical so some things were difficult for little me to do, but i gave them a damn good try!
I drove the massive tractor all day in the paddocks; drove 3 litre Turbo Utes (trucks!) doing 110km along dirt roads; mustered cattle on a quad bike, ute and by foot; yarded the cattle so they could be preg tested (hand up the butt by a vet!) and also loaded them onto a road train; i've flown in a tiny 2 seater helicopter to get to the other farms (Guy - the a*sehole boss - owned a few!) so i saw the sunrise and sunset over the horizon; i have seen the moonrise over the horizon - ehich is something i have never seen and will never forget! I have built and fixed fences and pipelines; worked with mad cows; participated in killing a cow, skinning it and chopping it up (i have more details and pictures for those who want to know!); i have been squashed between a gate and fence by 2 fat cows which resulted in a lot of blood and split/fat lip.....i have seen so many kangaroos, emus, camels, wild pigs, dingoes, iguanas, spiders, geckos, mozzies, flies...experienced how foul the language is in the outback! Experienced the outback weather in winter - 29 degrees during the day and in the minus during the night (such extremes!)...and have become a lover of XXXX gold beer.....
So really a hard experience, but one i really won't forget in a hurry and i feel lucky that i've experienced that part of Australia. I have never eaten so much beef and bread in my life, which is pretty much all i ate for 2 months - Paul and i would get excited taking Vitamin C fizzy tablets!!! But i have managed to save some money so that's been a bonus!!
I had to go back to Mount Isa to get back to Brisbane, so the weekend just gone i spent at Australia's biggest Rodeo with some people i met in Julia Creek - and that was an experience too!! Bull riding, calf roping, country music and lots of aboriginals! Plus plenty of barbie's!
I'm now back with Beck's in Brisbane and i've had a good day sorting myself out! I've done my hair, done some shopping and i'm off for a few cocktails soon - i'm beginning to feel like a woman again!!!!
Hope all is ok at home - there's plenty more to tell you but i'll be here forever and you will probably all fall asleep!!!!! I will add some pictures soon......
Take care!
Cowgirl Caz xxxx
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