The Wild Blue

Photos: Springtime in Norway

colin_s — Sat, 10 May 2014 06:33:00 GMT

Initial shots of norway!

Photos: Great Barrier Reef and Whitehaven Beach

colin_s — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:20:00 GMT

Unfortunately my 'waterproof' camera did not live up to its advertising. Most of these are taken by a friend or with a cheap disposable camera.

Photos: Airlie Beach

colin_s — Sun, 1 Apr 2012 09:29:00 GMT

Living in a tent and living on the beach. A welcome vacation from the hard working life on the farm.

Gyranada

colin_s — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:39:00 GMT

Right, so It's been a while since my last update, but i figure it's better late then never.

Gyranda was a farm in the Australian outback, several hours inland from the coast and nearby Duke's Plain. As you've read previously, Volunteered uncer a really great farmer by the name of shane at Duke's plain. Apparently I made a decent impression, and he arranged a job for me at his Brother's farm, 45 minutes away.

Gyranada is one of my strongest memories of Australia. I worked on the farm for a period of about 2 month, and it was interesting to say the least. On the one hand, I've never worked so hard in my life, most mornings I was up before dawn to feed two dozen horses, I would then do a full day of manual labor and finish just after dusk. Generally 10-12 hour days with only a few breaks for smoko (the aussie term for a short break, which would invariable include fresh tea brewed on a small open fire).The owner of the farm, Burnett, was a stubborn and gruff man from another century, and more then once I had to bite my tongue at some of the things he would say and ask. One time in paticular, when I was returning to the farm after a brief visit to the hospital I drove down the front road to the house to return the car I had borrowed. Apparently this was a poor choice as since i was a worker, I was supposed to drive down the back road instead. My bad. There was a lot of this sort of thing.

I will fully admit though, that I was totally out of my element. Here I was a Canadian city boy with an education in adventure tourism working as a farm hand in the Australian outback. Despite being generally competent I constantly felt frustrated, both with myself and with the job. Totally smashing a feed trailer through a gate in my first week certainly didn't start me out on the right foot either. Despite all of this I grealty enjoyed my time at Gyranda, I feel like I learned a lot of skills from my time on the farm. Everything from driving a manual transmission, to a motorcycle, to horseback riding. Toss in some general carpentry, farm knowledge, biodynamics and a first hand look at the whole farming system, I even helped work on a motor more than once.

Gyranda was tough, but definitly a diamond in the rough.

Photos: Ila Gorge

colin_s — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:33:00 GMT

Spent the night in a nearby national park.

Photos: Gyranda

colin_s — Fri, 9 Mar 2012 13:31:00 GMT

Bull farm

Photos: Dukes Plain

colin_s — Mon, 5 Mar 2012 19:33:00 GMT

Duke's Plain

colin_s — Sun, 4 Mar 2012 10:09:00 GMT

I've been at Duke's plain for almost 3 weeks and i've enjoyed every hornet-free moment of it. I'm keeping busy and learning a ton of things almost every day and get to hang out a with a group of pretty cool people while i'm doing it. I've done some things here that i never really imagined myself doing before.

Near the end of the first week here I helped skin and slaughter a bull for dog meat. I figure since I eat meat i should know and experience what, where and how it all comes from. I grabbed several shots, but many of them are pretty graphic so i'll upload them in a special gallery later on and drop the link in next time i post. A week or so after that I helped out with branding, which was another whole day of learning. First the calfs and cows were seperated using a large system of pens and a narrow walk way with a swinging door, the whole system being known as the yards and raceway. Then the calfs were led to another raceway and one at a time were branded with a heated poker, dehorned with a heated circle skewer poker, vaccinated against diseases and sprayed with a homeopathic first aid treatment. The whole proccess took about 50 seconds per calf. One of the most important lessons for me, was learning about how to move cattle. While i didn't do any drafting(seperating and moving cattle), I did try to help another, much more experienced, wwoofer a few times with lining the calfs up in the seperate sections of the raceway. I kinda think I got more in the way then helped most of the time, but I definitly walked away with more knowledge then I went in with, so next time i'm sure i'll do a better job.

On top of that we've done more mundane jobs. Spent time with the chainsaw chopping down trees and debarking them to make rails for the stable, walking along fencelines and chopping/sawing trees that were growing into the fence and of course the random odd jobs around the farm that need doing. Everything from polishing the yute(aussie term for a light truck) to sharpening the chainsaw, to unloading hay bales, to helping out in the garden.

All this work is spread around going for swims in the dam(man made pond fed by rainwater), hiking in the hills and chilling out with the cane toads and a good book. Speaking of hiking, I did finally manage to retreive my hat from the hornets nest I mentioned in my last entry. It took 3 tries, but i finally went back up the hill with annette and after a bit of coordinated back tracking(we both ran in opposite directions once the hornets came out) we finally found and recovered it. The next hike up the mountain involved a gorgeous view of the plains below, again i'll upload a shot next time I get a chance.

For some reason the computer here won't allow me to upload any photos with this site, so i'll spend some more time figureing it out, but if I don't get anywhere i'll just upload them next time I get at a internet cafe.

As a gesture of incredible hospitality and kindness, the folks here at dukes plain have suggested I use this place as a base to leave/come back to, and that I should treat it as my home. It's really heartwarming to find a home away from home like this.

This past week I've started working at another farm, Gyranda, which is owned by the brother of the fellow that owns this place. I'm volunteering there for the first week on a trial basis, but will be getting paid after that, so I figure I'll be there for a month or two and then jump offand start exploring the rest of the country.

I'll talk some more about that place after i've been there for a while. I don't think i'll have internet access while i'm there unfortunatly, so It'll be a while before I get a chance to stick up those photos or make another post. Catch you then!

WWOOFing

colin_s — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:36:00 GMT

Willing Workers On Organic Farms.

I've wanted to learn more about farming for a while now, so in an effort to put my financial woes on hold I've started volunteering on an organic farm called Dukes Plain, near a tiny little town called theodore, check the map. It's not a bad deal, in exchange for 4-6 hours work 5/6 days a week, food and accomodation are provided. This makes wwoofing totally expenseless, not only that but the idea behind the program is to get volunteers to learn about as many aspects of the farms as possible, from trimming the weeds, to mustering cattle, to building a stable. I've been here since last friday, and its been an awesome time, although with a few bumps in the road.

Nearby there are some sandstone caves that have aboriginal handprints and etchings in them. The hills around the caves are beleived to be a burial ground, and the handprints may have been those of people either dying or already dead. They frequently used red ochre in their art, and the hand prints are outlined in it. I grabbed a few shots which i'll upload sometime over the next few days.

I've developed much more respect for the australian bush after taking a hike up a nearby mountain and getting swarmed by hornets. The buggers are 2 inches long and they build their nests inside of old dead trees in such a way that they are almost invisible unless you're specifically looking for them. They defend these hives ferociously from anyone so much as walking by them. The forest here is filled with old dead trees and it would be impossible to avoid going near all of them, so its kind of like playing minesweeper. The first time the buggers got me 3 times in the neck and 3 more in and around the ear. The day after that i'm helping shane lift a drill mechanism for the tractor and what do you know? a wasp nest sitting on the underside of it, almost exactly where i put my hand to lift. Great start.

It's been pretty fun all in all though, the people here are super friendly, the area around here is gorgeous and i'm having an awesome time learning about cattle. I might even get a chance to learn to ride a horse a bit later in the month too.

Its getting near 6:00am now though and i think breakfast might be just about ready. catch you later in the week.

Rainbow Beach

colin_s — Wed, 8 Feb 2012 11:50:00 GMT

After the Gatton Incident, I made my way back to Brisbane for a couple days to collect myself and decide what my next step should be. A friend of mine has told me all sorts of stories about a little town up the coast called rainbow beach, and that's where I decide to head. As to the Brits, Lucy decides to spend some time with a friend of hers that lives in the city, and Luke decides to come with me to Rainbow.

The place has definitely lived up to the hype, I've been here for almost a week now, and I've loved every second of it. This is a small town nestled in the rainforest next to miles of sandy beach. The hostel where I'm staying is a pretty sweet spot with a pool, hammocks, a bar and gets a whole new set of backpackers every day. The town serves as a jump off point for people heading to Fraser island, a UNESCO heritage site less then 100km north of here. Its supposedly a gorgeous island with a 75mile long beach, rainforest growing right on the sand and pristine freshwater lakes. To all this good there are only a couple of downsides: the cheapest way to see it is around $300 and involves piling in a 4x4 jeep with 7 other people and then traveling in a caravan of 3-4 more jeeps with a guide in the lead car. Maybe if I find some work I'll do it, but I'd much rather try to explore it with a bit of a smaller group.

Next to the town is a National park and I've already done a 30k hike to a lighthouse on a far point. Got some great shots of that and of the Carlo Sandblow, which is a giant sand dune on top of a cliff that is slowly blowing inland and burying all the trees in its path.

While this has been a great week, the job front is on the wane. I'm having a lot of trouble finding work of any sort. I'm at the point now where at the end of this week I'm going to pull one of my backup cards and volunteer on a farm for a few weeks, In return for 4-6 hours work 5-6 days a week I'll get accommodation and food provided. Not quite the income that I need, but at the very least I wont have any more expenses while I'm there. That and I to learn about farming, and since part of the work is building a new stable for a rapidly increasing number of horses, I really hope to get some of horseback riding in.

Stay tuned for some shots of the area.

Photos: Rainbow Beach

colin_s — Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:56:00 GMT

Gatton

colin_s — Sun, 5 Feb 2012 10:50:00 GMT

Time is just flying by, holy cow.

So that same day I made some posts last week, i had a fascinating encounter with a Brisbane local. I'm making my way back to the hostel for lunch and I'm waiting at the crosswalk minding my own business. I suppose i must have looked like a tourist, because this random guy comes up and tells me to "go back to your own country", needless to say I'm shocked and I look at him wondering if he's talking to me, which He says "yeah you heard me". I'm kinda stunned into silence for a moment, I've heard racism can bad down here but this was simply ridiculous. I really felt like making a snarky comment asking him if he was a native or not, but i feel it would have caused a fight. There really wasn't any point though, since it likely would have just made him that much more bitter. Apparently his opinion is quite rare however, so i'm not letting it spoil anything. We have just as many crazy people back home anyway.

The day after was supposed to have been the start of some pepper picking work, but that was a huge let down.

I make my way to a little town called Gatton with Luke and Lucy, a pair of Brits I met in Brisbane. Luke has been in contact with what we believed to be a farm and that they would have work for us within a few days. Every impression indicated that we'd roll up and have work for any day that wasn't raining. We get there and it seems like a nice enough town, we get to the house where we were to stay. Before we have a chance to look around or talk to the other people staying there, our host ask us if we want a ride to the grocery store since they need to be away for the rest of the evening and the store closes early. Assuming everything is OK we go to the grocery store and between the 3 of us we lay down $300 for groceries for the next few weeks. As soon as we get back we get given our contract, at this point everything becomes very clear.

The people that the Brits were in contact with are apparently a middle agency that owns 14 houses in the area, and each house takes up to 9 people each. They take a $100 deposit and then collect weekly rent($100) and transportation fees ($7/day) and in return they'll contact farmers and contract out workers on a as-needed basis. The work is far from guaranteed since this is the wet season, and you can't pick fruit or veggies in the rain. After talking it over a bit and speaking to one of the other guys in the house, who hasn't had any work in 2 weeks, we decide to just pack up as much food as we can carry and book it back to the bus. I feel like its important to note that it was a 35 degree day and the bus station was a 40 minute walk away. Live and learn for all of us I guess. Luke and Lucy learned to ask more direct questions, and I learned not to rely on people I just met to ask those kinds of questions. All in all a good story.

Photos: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

colin_s — Sat, 4 Feb 2012 10:59:00 GMT

Photos: Stradbrooke Island

colin_s — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:55:00 GMT

Photos: Brisbane Botanical Gardens

colin_s — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:56:00 GMT

Stradbrooke Island

colin_s — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:38:00 GMT

Edited for more edits!

So after several attempts at uploading pictures, I've given up. Apparently the library computers don't let you do that kinda thing around here. So instead I'll post another segment, then maybe see if i can find a net cafe around somewhere to upload pics.

This weekend I spent on stradbrook island which is fairly close to brisbane, only a couple hours and accesible by a train and then a water taxi. Upside was a good hostel, decent traveling companion and a chance to learn to surf for free. Downside was that it rained for 2 of the 3 days i was there and on the 1 rain-free day it was still overcast without a hint of blue in the sky. The major downside is that because it was cloudy and overcast, i figured it would be ok not to wear any sunscreen. despite there being a sign in the hostel specifically stating that the sun here is strong & that you should ALWAYS wear sunscreen. Stupid stupid stupid.

Surfing was bloody awesome. The hostel had a free surf board and a body board for residents to take out, so Luke and I each grabbed one and headed for the beach as soon as we realized it wasn't raining out. The hardest part was getting out to the waves because of the strong current running along the length of the beach. We first went in the water away from everyone else, in part because we didnt want to make fools of ourselves, and in part because we didnt want to smash into anyone else accidentally. this proved to be an almost disastrous idea however, since we didn't know about the current. We ended up way down from the sand and we crashed up on the rocks far down the shore. Amazingly we both emerged unscathed and still holding onto our boards.

Humbled, we decided to go over to the lifeguard station and stick near the group as much as we could. After several hours of trudging chest deep through waves and current, just to hop on a board and ride the water back in to shore I think I was starting to become pretty good at it. At one point near the end, I was even able to get up on my knees without having my hands on the board at all. Pretty good for only receving a few tips from other people surfing out there with us.

When i got back to the hostel I was starting to feel kinda sore and once evening rolled around I was aching all over and looked like a red chili pepper. Went to bed real early, burnt to a crisp and light headed from the heat.

Next morning we pack up and head back to the city.

First Week, Pt. 2

colin_s — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:03:00 GMT

So where was I?

Oh yeah talking about Drunk people at Bunk. So Bunk is the hostel I decided to stay in for Australia Day night, this decision was based on a couple friends recommending it to me, since they were also staying there. Let me paint you a bit of a picture of my experience walking in there.

First off the Reception was pretty decent, seemed like a laid back easy going spot.So i check in and proceed to meet up with my friends. As i'm on my way to their dorm on the 4th floor I notice squashed bugs almost ingrained into the carpet, while above me i can here a strange kind of chirping coming from the cieling. I can only guess this is the sound cockroaches make, since although i've never seen nor heard one in person before, the squashed bugs seem to fit roughly fit the description. Continueing along i come across an obviously wet spot on the carpet which gave off a horrid stench, apparently someone failed to make it to the bathroom across the hall. Awesome. So after spending the day out and about, I come back to my own room and notice that almost the entire ceiling is splotching with mold. As you can imagine I am now questioning my friends judgement about what constitues a 'good' hostel.

Whatever. It was just for one night. Aside from drunken and hostel antics, I've had the chance to see the majority of the city now. From the Gallery of Modern art to the Brisbane Museum, to the Story bridge lit up brightly in the night. It's a gorgeous city. and I've uploaded more shots in the brisbane and botanical gardens galleries.

I was starting to tire of urban life, so I spent the weekend at Stradbrooke Island, a couple of hours outside of downtown. stay tuned for tales of surfing and sunburning.

First week

colin_s — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:56:00 GMT

So i've been here for a bit over a week now, and i've done all sorts of things. Started the week off with a walk about the roma st. Parkland, which was literally in the middle of downtown brisbane and as you can see by the shots it was absolutly beautiful.

I spent some time doing logistical stuff, picking up my cell, opening a bank account, etc. I've now pretty well settled in, and am starting to head out and explore. the dowside is that its been raining near everyday since last monday. Suppose thats what i get for coming to the coast in the "wet season".

I'm starting to meet people here as well. First off i met a pair from Britian; Luke & Lucy, then from them i met another girl vicky, then the group of us met another group, and we went for a dip in the public lagoon down by the river for aussie day. Speaking of, Aussie day was the day of drunk people.

It started off at the lagoon with a fellow who was unable to stand and collapsed in the middle of the pathway. There was a half dozen cops around him after few minutes, and it drew a bit of a crowd. On the way back to the hostel we met our next drunk fellow, who decided it was CRUCIAL for him to stop to tie his shoe in the middle of the road during heavy traffic. Amazingly he escaped unscathed and continued to meander and flail his way down through a pedestrian only street. He was with 3 or 4 fellows, who i assume were his friends only by their proximity to him, since they were doing nothing to help or guide this guy around.

Next up we had the accurately named "flying fat guy": we were in King george Square, which again, is a pedestrian only Street. So this fairly rotund chap, starts jogging up the middle of the path, slowly building up speed, once he's at a brisk pace, he sticks his arms out and starts to make a "brrrrr" sound, this continues till he at an outright run and making weird airplane sounds at the top of his lungs. I'm kinda amazed because he ran right by a group of half a dozen or so cops, whio just looked at him and seemed to think "oh that's just crazy bob, he only gets to come out on aussie day so we'll give him a break."

Lastly was a fair bit later in the evening, I was about to call it in for the night, since the night club i had gone to with a group of friends really wasnt my scene. So im in the lobby of the hostel chatting with a couple people when this fellow jumps over the couch and sits down next to us. He immediatly starts talking about how much he likes france and that he bloody well hates the scottish. His conversation dosen't last long before he jumps back up and heads upstairs. I notice about half an hour later he and another equally drunk fellow are being dragged out of the hostel by security. I don't think i'll be staying here again.

Only 3 minutes left on the library computer, so i'll catch ya'll later on.

Photos: Roma St. Parkland

colin_s — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:16:00 GMT

One of the Largest Sub-tropical gardens in the world.

Arrival in Brisbane

colin_s — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:37:00 GMT

Holy shit. I'm in australia.

Still hasnt processed yet.

I had a bit of a hard time coming through customs. Apparently they don't like it when you have no Oz phone number or address, not even the address of a hostel. They gave me a hard time, but finally let me through when i gave them my email address with a promise i would check it all the time. Effective security!

Where i came from abroad with a couple of backpacks, it was apparently sufficient suspicious for them to put me in the "dog team" security queue. not only was it the first time i've had to go through security coming out of an airport, but the first time i was checked by a dog. So they put 5 or 6 of us all in a line and sternly demanded that we stay behind the yellow tape at all times. There's big angry looking security guards standing about and i'm expecting some great big german shephard to come out from the room next to us and roughly route his nose through our stuff. I couldnt help but laugh when out from around the corner comes this tiny, absolutly adorable little beagle. He pokes his nose here and there around the lot us, and not having found anything gives off a little yelp once he's done and is led bag around the corner by his holder. I immediatly think i'm going to like this place.

After that ordeal, I pop on the train and arrive at a hostel i've heard has good reviews, and book in for a week. At this point, i'm so jetlagged that i have just enough time to buy some food and then get it stolen (it was my own fault, i put it in the communal fridge without realising i needed to put my name on it, thereby making it fair game) before crashing for almost 18 hours.