Hey Everyone! Sorry it has taken so long for me to update my journal and let you all know what Australia is like. Internet is pretty hard to come by out here in the Outback and when I was in Brisbane I was really busy with getting my ducks in line for work. But here I am a month later, looking back on everything I've done and I'm a bit stunned with it all. I've really accomplished quite a bit in a short amount of time. I arrived in Brisbane a month ago tomorrow, and was staying with my friend Mark and his roommate Samantha for the first week. They both are very philosophical like myself so we there was so much great conversation to be had. Mark has many other really great friends whom he introduced me to and I thought were so much fun. Theres Blake whose an Aussie, Ibi from London, Grant from South Africa, and Annette from Poland, and a bucnah of others. I had an awesome time going out on the town with the whole group on my first and last nights in Brisbane. We went to South Bank on my first night, and a Pub on the Riverside my last night. Definitely good times.
My week in Brisbane was mainly to get over jet lag, get my Visa and work stuff in order, see the city (I walked EVERYWHERE, took buses, and river ferries), and then depart on the Visit Oz program (which I booked through Greenforce in London). It was myself and a German girl named Kira whom were starting the program on the same day from Brisbane. We became friends quickly as we soon discovered we were both in the program because we wanted to work with horses and owned our own horses back home. We then went to Rainbow beach for 3 days from Brisbane. It's a lovely beach about a 3 hours drive North of Brisbane. Theres pictures of it that I have yet to put up. Then we left for Gympie, where we went to our training farm (pictures of that too), and I stayed at Joe's Farm. Joe is the classic Aussie Outback Cowboy. He trained myself, Kira, and three Irish boys from Dublin whom I could not understand for the life of me!!! The five of us had a great training week. The first day was driving semi trucks to get 120lb metal gate panels loaded and out to a Rodeo, we learned how to load them and strap them down on the truck and stuff. Lots of Lifting! The next day was Timber cutting, tractor driving, and chainsaw work. Thats right. I used a chainsaw, dragged cut timber by tractor and learned how to use an axe to get the bark off of trees. But best of all on that day... I SAW A KOALA!!!! IN THE WILD!!! Not even most Aussies get to see that. It was spectacular to watch it. It was in a tree I was standing right next to!!! The next day was Cattle Work; I learned how to muster cattle on horseback and also how to mix grains to feed all the farm animals at Joe's farm. 100's of chickens, ducks, and pigs that need to have grain morning and night. Joe also had about 45 horses and 500 head of cattle. There was a little baby foal. Then a 2500lb bull got a Spinal Virus and he couldn't stand up or use his legs, so we had to water him with a bottle and lift him with the truck straps. Poor Bloke was just awfully sick. I did Reiki on him with Joe's permission and after Reiki (which the bull greatfully accepted)he drank two buckets of water all by himself. That was a big relief for everyone. Then the next day I learned how to ride offroad motor bikes (I was actually good at it, funny enough), and we mustered more cattle in the evening. Then the training was over and we all got ready to leave for our jobs.
I had already recieved a job offer for a working cattle and goat station that does trail rides and goat musters for tourists and backpackers in Biloela (5 hour drive North of Gympie). I accepted right away since it was the nearest Horse job that I could find and it sounded really rustic and authentic Australian living. I had no idea how much I would love it. So here I am. Lochenbar Station at Kroombit Park in Biloela. I have a favorite horse here out of the 70 horses. His name is Max. He's a beautiful Tricolor paint, with two colors in his mane. I love him. He's an excellent goat musterer. Thats right. I chase goats on horseback. It's hilarious! The horses will bite the goats butt if they don't move. And it is much more difficult than moving cattle to me because the goats aren't really scared of humans or horses like cattle are. If you want to, you can checkout the website of Kroombit to get some more info and see what it's like. www.kroombit.com.au
I love it here. I'm living the Outback life and I see Kangaroos, Wallabies, Kookaburras, Deer, and Wild Cockatoos everyday. I ride horses everyday and I eat campfire and barbequed aussie food everyday. There are 14 other backpackers, locals, and travelers working here with me, whom I enjoy tremedously.
Even so, I miss everyone at home and can't wait to see you all again and share pictures and stories in person. I am working on filling my memory card on my camera and downloading about 250 photos pretty soon here. So there will be photos of this stuff up eventually. I hope you are all doing well and getting ready for a great summer.
All my love,
Denise
