Slave labour

Hey ho hello and good morning to all!

I'm awake as well for about an hour after a nice drink yesterday with some working friends. And today is my day off, so I can tell you what I've done in the last 2 weeks.

My last couple of days with Chris and Shiran, I mainly aided them in preparing for the party and their wedding invetations. And of course prepared a nice little 'sketch' for them. U know, like the ones we always used to do for each others B-day. Had Chris really scared, he taught he'd be screwed. :P But I held back, so in the end the really enjoyed it. :) I enjoyed the party as well. Met some of his Barossa valley friends, and we had fun!

Next day Shiran, Chris and me went to Disney on Ice. Shiran and I were 'in our element', while Chris fell asleep. :P

And on monday I left, after preparing lunch and dinner for about 3 days. Drove down to Adelaide Hills for a view over town and a little walk. But it was cold and windy, so I continued to Victor Harbor/Port Eliot. Here I did some whale spotting and saw 2 parents with their baby. So that makes up for missing that whale on the Galapagos.

After a good night sleep next to the road I was in Cape Jervis around 8 and booked a ticket for the ferry and a day trip Kangaroo Island. Was back at the mainland at 8.30h PM and had a buzzy day. After arriving in Penneshaw, we went on the bus and drove to Seal Beach for a guided tour. Seals there were really big (males about 400kg) and we couldn't get so close as at the Galapagos. But we saw them surfing, playing and the males 'hunting' for some nice looking lady seal. ;) After that, it was lunchtime. :) And second sight we visited was a bird show with a falcon, barn owl and the eagle Rex. Also a bird named Sofie came along, which was a regular guest for the bird center.
After seeing some wild life, the bus went on to the southwest corner of the island to see the Remarkables and Admirals Arch. First one are some funny shaped rocks. Second one is an arch at sea level with 100's of sealions. Beautiful view. Particulary with the sunset. :)
And on the way back to Penneshaw we had a little extra. A stop of 10 minutes to spot some koalas, kangaroo and walibies.
After getting back to my car, I drove on a good way direction Riverlands and slept somewhere next to a dirt road in the semi dessert.
Luckily for me I did that, because when I arrived next day in Berri, there was no work in the Riverlands. So I drove on al the way back to Victoria.

So that's where I'm now. In Mildura, at the Murray River. When I put this on facebook, first thing Wiske (girl who was in Oz some years ago and gave me some advice) said was: 'Mildura! Get the hell out of there!!'
And she is right. I'm now working at a almond farm, pruning the trees. This means leave the hostel at 6AM, be at the farm around 7.30 and spent the next 9 hours riping branches out of trees and cutting them. So, when I'm back at the hostel around 6PM, it's taking a shower, eating dinner and go to bed. :P We get 45 cents a tree, so the harder you work, the more money you make. Luckely I'm quite good at it and do around 2,5 row a day (which is about 250 trees). And today I'm of. So yesterday me and the other poor backpackers without money had a little drink to celibrate our survival of the first couple of days. :D

Well, that's it. I'm getting out of bed, cause the sun is shining.


Byebye!


My Trip
17/03/10 Flight from Dusseldorf
19/03/10 Arrival at Christchurch
26/03/10 Arrival at Mt Cook Village/Aokari
28/03/10 Arrival at Queenstown
02/04/10 Arrival at Dunedin
05/04/10 Queenstown
06/04/10 One day trip Millford Sounds
08/04/10 Wanaka
12/04/10 Franz Josef
16/04/10 Hokitika (glow worm caves)
17/04/10 Arthur's Pass
19/04/10 Christchurch
21/04/10 Flight to Sydney
04/05/10 Blue Mountains
07/05/10 Road trip Snowy Mountains - Gillsland - Melbourne
12/05/10 Melbourne
19/05/10 Roadtrip Great Ocean Road
21/05/10 Adelaide
27/06/10 Adelaide Hills & Fleurieu Peninsula
28/06/10 Kangaroo Island
29/06/10 Mildura (working)

Planning:
01/09/10 Broken Hills (rego verlengen)*
03/09/10 Brisbane & east shore*
10/09/10 Fraser Island*
20/09/10 Townsville*
30/09/10 Cairns (work 1 month)*
07/10/10 Cape York*
10/10/10 Alice Springs/Uluru*
17/10/10 Darwin*
17/11/10 Perth*
17/12/10 Adelaide & York Peninsula (ev Tasmania)*
24/12/10 New Castle*
31/12/10 Sydney*
05/01/11 NZ South Island**
20/01/11 NZ North Island**
31/01/11 Java, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodja**
01/04/11 Back in NL*