Finally a chance to sit and reflect. The opportunities are very few, as working full-time is so demanding and getting online is so rare. Again, I'm sitting in the office, on the farm. The same farm as last 2 weeks ago, and the same as 3 weeks before that.. All up, it's been 5 weeks here in Shepparton, not that I'm counting or anything.
I was just saying today to Jason, that it feels like so much longer. Why? I don't know.. I'm not too sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. They say time flies when you're having fun. So does that mean I'm not having fun and that this chapter s dragging on too much? I don't think so. Because don't they also say that when you feel so quickly at home somewhere, then its like your life situation has never been any different than the one you find yourself in. So I'm not too sure what to make of it all.
The work is going good. We're working 6 days each week now. 7 days was proving to be too much. It was draining us both and we lost all our enthusiasm on the 13th day of working flat out. So we quickly lost interest in pushing ourselves unnecessarily. Jason is too easy-going when it comes to work anyhow. He might be my boss, but he's not a slave driver.. I'm probably the one who could be classed as that.. oops-a-daisy! I've done away with that attitude and have relaxed into going with whatever working hours we miss on or have to catch up on. It's not that important.
How are the trees? They're great. Not a bother. We've probably attended to around 10.000 in the past month. And each day the amount rises. We have different paddock (fields) with rows and rows of trees, each week. So it's like we're in a different "office" at the start of each week. How exciting! We get stuck in, we do our work, we talk sh*t to each other, we bicker like kids, we laugh, and then it's time to "go home" (a 2 minute drive across the farm).
It's sounds monotonous, and it can be. But each day brings something different.. Because as the trees are being attended to, and conversation runs low, thoughts go within and that's where it all happens: Sometimes it's happy things and thoughts, sometimes it's a confusion and other times it's eagerness to take the next step on this journey. What step? I have a few ideas, but nothing is certain as of yet. Where to? Again, I have a few ideas, but no certainty. The eagerness and the itchy feet come and go. Sometimes it's nearly unbearable and other times it's easier to forget that feet can itch to the point of going crazy. This is due to the fact that we're so isolated and it's so easy to forget about the world and about what's going on out there. It's almost too easy. But as tempting as it is, I force myself to feel my itchy feet and let them lead the way.
Will they be leading me away from this farm or away from Jason? The work here will be ending within a week, then maybe I'll be going to Adelaide with Jason for a week or so. After that there's more work. But I'm not too sure just yet what I want or where I'd like to be next. This lifestyle can be amazing: living in a van, roughing it all the time, being in the bush, surrounded by lots of these giant insects. It really can be so good. And I appreciate it the most when I'm at ease and not feeling my feet itch. This lifestyle can also be hard going: All of what I just mentioned to be amazing, can easily turn into the biggest struggles, at the drop of a hat. But I've found ways to keep me from feeling any kind of strain.. I still do yoga out in the field. That's what keeps me sane, gives me my space and helps me relax. So for now, we've still got a couple of 1000 trees to see to, and from there I'll make a decision as to what I want to be doing. More than likely I'll be going with the flow. But what flow will that be.. My flow and my feet.. or my flow and some work? That I still have to figure out.
The weather is picking up, ever so slowly, cold nights, but spring-like days.. So hopping out of the van in the morning is getting more and more pleasant and I still enjoy sitting in the grass brushing my teeth, after I've squatted against the "toilet-tree" for a morning visit to the bathroom.. So for the next week or so, All will be well, as it always is..
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
3 weeks later
3 weeks since I first arrived at this farm. 3 weeks after stepping back into the workforce again. 3 weeks since living in a house. 3 weeks since having a shower at my disposal, at any given time of the day or night. 3 weeks since watching tv. 3 weeks...
Does it feel like this long? It definitely does. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it takes a while to adjust to living in this environment, where work is always at our "doorstep" and where a space of 2 square meters is all we have to call our home. It might sound like it's difficult. That's because it is. Enjoyable but difficult. A challenge at the best of times. But never one that I'd shy away from.
There are certain things that keep it exciting.. Like the wild deer that lives just behind the field we work in. He's there on a daily basis, just standing as near as ever, and a pretty as ever. Some workers (Jason for example) would be tempted to shoot it and cook up a feast.. But not me, I admire it and wouldn't stand for anybody killing it!
Another thing that keeps it exciting, is to wake up in the morning, after a frosty night, and to be offered a ride in the helicopter before starting work. They would use the "chopper" here on the farm, to blast the frost away from settling on the fruit trees, which would otherwise cause damage - Something I never knew to happen.. (we live and we learn!). It was so cool, to hop in and be taken for a 10 minute fly across the region! The first time for me to be in chopper..the sky was clear and seeing the farm and this whole area from up above was amazing! I loved every minute of it!
Boring moments can suddenly become the total opposite, when sitting in the van at night and Jason gets a shocked look on his face and tells me not to move because there's a massive outback huntsman walking across the pillow just beside my head! Oh my god! I didn't scream, I didn't run.. I forced myself to stay calm but couldn't bring myself to have a proper look of this gigantic poisness spider, that was orange and hairy and as strong as I don't know what. It had invaded our tiny little house!! Jason was freaked out too, tried to kill it, and after 3 or 4 attempts, it finally gave up and passed away.. We didn't bury it, but threw it in the garbage and had a proper look at the ins and outs of it, the next day, once we both felt up for it.. But if you think I slept at all that night, you can think again. I had the heeby-jeebies for days. But seeing as though how scared I can be of spiders, I reacted so calmly. How proud me and Jason were of us both to not being scared off by that beast!
The work itself, is going great. We've been working 7 days this week and next week too. I don't mind. I don't feel like I haven't had a day off in 2 weeks. I've adjusted my mindsetting. I switched off to what day it what. One day just rolls into the next. It's easier that way.. The outside world is nothing for us..only when we need a shower. This would usually be everyday, but we don't have a shower here on the farm. So, as often as we can, we drive 25 minutes to the nearest town, and scrub up. Last week we said to each other (even though I had been thinking it for quite some days) that we are starting to live like hobo's.. or pigs even.. It's so easy to do that here, because we can go for days without seeing another soul, except the trees and the manager of the farm. But we can't let ourselves get like that.. Especially now that the warmer weather is coming in. This has been the warmest week so far. Around 20 degrees it's been. Not too hot, but it feel a whole lot hotter when you're standing in it, concentrating on the trees and the ties and the paint for hours at a time. I'm adjusting to the heat though. The nights are still as chilly as a ever (around 1 or 2 degrees) and we've nearly been tempted to sleep with our hats on, because we'd wake up in the night with icy cold foreheads. The joys of living in a van.. But once the mornings come, it's beautiful to step outside in the sunshine, with a cup of tea and be heated by the already shining sun. It makes it all worthwhile!
So 3 weeks I've been here, and as one day rolls into the next, we tie more and more trees. I don't know how many more trees we have to "attend to", but for now it doesn't matter. There are thousands.. so on and on Jason grafts and I tie..
Does it feel like this long? It definitely does. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it takes a while to adjust to living in this environment, where work is always at our "doorstep" and where a space of 2 square meters is all we have to call our home. It might sound like it's difficult. That's because it is. Enjoyable but difficult. A challenge at the best of times. But never one that I'd shy away from.
There are certain things that keep it exciting.. Like the wild deer that lives just behind the field we work in. He's there on a daily basis, just standing as near as ever, and a pretty as ever. Some workers (Jason for example) would be tempted to shoot it and cook up a feast.. But not me, I admire it and wouldn't stand for anybody killing it!
Another thing that keeps it exciting, is to wake up in the morning, after a frosty night, and to be offered a ride in the helicopter before starting work. They would use the "chopper" here on the farm, to blast the frost away from settling on the fruit trees, which would otherwise cause damage - Something I never knew to happen.. (we live and we learn!). It was so cool, to hop in and be taken for a 10 minute fly across the region! The first time for me to be in chopper..the sky was clear and seeing the farm and this whole area from up above was amazing! I loved every minute of it!
Boring moments can suddenly become the total opposite, when sitting in the van at night and Jason gets a shocked look on his face and tells me not to move because there's a massive outback huntsman walking across the pillow just beside my head! Oh my god! I didn't scream, I didn't run.. I forced myself to stay calm but couldn't bring myself to have a proper look of this gigantic poisness spider, that was orange and hairy and as strong as I don't know what. It had invaded our tiny little house!! Jason was freaked out too, tried to kill it, and after 3 or 4 attempts, it finally gave up and passed away.. We didn't bury it, but threw it in the garbage and had a proper look at the ins and outs of it, the next day, once we both felt up for it.. But if you think I slept at all that night, you can think again. I had the heeby-jeebies for days. But seeing as though how scared I can be of spiders, I reacted so calmly. How proud me and Jason were of us both to not being scared off by that beast!
The work itself, is going great. We've been working 7 days this week and next week too. I don't mind. I don't feel like I haven't had a day off in 2 weeks. I've adjusted my mindsetting. I switched off to what day it what. One day just rolls into the next. It's easier that way.. The outside world is nothing for us..only when we need a shower. This would usually be everyday, but we don't have a shower here on the farm. So, as often as we can, we drive 25 minutes to the nearest town, and scrub up. Last week we said to each other (even though I had been thinking it for quite some days) that we are starting to live like hobo's.. or pigs even.. It's so easy to do that here, because we can go for days without seeing another soul, except the trees and the manager of the farm. But we can't let ourselves get like that.. Especially now that the warmer weather is coming in. This has been the warmest week so far. Around 20 degrees it's been. Not too hot, but it feel a whole lot hotter when you're standing in it, concentrating on the trees and the ties and the paint for hours at a time. I'm adjusting to the heat though. The nights are still as chilly as a ever (around 1 or 2 degrees) and we've nearly been tempted to sleep with our hats on, because we'd wake up in the night with icy cold foreheads. The joys of living in a van.. But once the mornings come, it's beautiful to step outside in the sunshine, with a cup of tea and be heated by the already shining sun. It makes it all worthwhile!
So 3 weeks I've been here, and as one day rolls into the next, we tie more and more trees. I don't know how many more trees we have to "attend to", but for now it doesn't matter. There are thousands.. so on and on Jason grafts and I tie..
Monday, August 31, 2009
Living it rough
Arriving in Melbourne, last week Sunday morning, after the longest day of my trip so far. I was exhausted. Hadn't hardly slept in 48 hours, and still had a whole day to fill, as I waited for the train that would take me to Shepparton, in the evening, where Jason was going to be waiting for me.
We flew into the airport at 11.30 in the morning. My train was at 06.00 in the evening. So I had the whole day to fill. What was I going to do..? Walk around the city, like a zombie, waiting for the hours to pass? Yes, that's exactly what I ended up doing. The city wasn't as I remembered it. I always loved it, but now it was dark, gloomy, full of people, sky scrapers and just so much hustle and bustle, even on a Sunday morning. I had gone from a familiar place, which was Cairns, where I was becoming a familiar face, where the atmosphere was friendly, where the climate was warm and that had the feel of being a small town, to this big city, where I was just a soul, wandering around. I felt lost, I felt alone. I was not a happy chappy at all. I sat and had lunch in this small cafe, looking at the world passing me by, and the feeling I had owned for the past 3 months, which was being a free and unique individual, had suddenly gone. I didn't want to be in this city, no matter how cool and trendy Melbourne is supposed to be. I thought back over the month I had spent in Cairns, and it suddenly felt like on a distant memory.
All these feelings were probably made a little bit worse, by my exhaustion, by the weather and by the fact that I had just said goodbye to Janice and Cora. I hung out in the city for rest of the day, and it made me realize so much.. I suddenly knew how country people feel, when they go to cities. A concrete maze. That's all it is. I had never felt like that before, not when it came to being in cities. But suddenly I knew that I'd rather be away from a fast pace of life that the city represents. I knew that I wanted to be seen as a person, and just another soul that's roaming the streets, trying to keep up the pace and trying to fit in to the life that that particular city can offer. What an eyeopener. All this made me so excited to be on the farm again, and I couldn't wait to get on that train..
It left Melbourne at around 06.00pm and 3 hours later I was in Shepparton, where Jason was waiting for me. It was as if I hadn't left at all. There he was, in the carpark, Jason fooling around with the devil sticks.. Myvan was there too.. It was great to be reunited. Back in the van again.. back to basics, away from the tourists, away from the city.. This was what I wanted again..
We started work on Tuesday morning, after having a day of rest, to get over the flight. The farm is around 20 minutes outside of Shepparton, real isolated. But it's great. I was kind of nervous about starting work again. I had some doubts if I would be able to do the job, without running myself down. And also stepping back into the workforce felt so odd. But after the first few days, I realized that this is "too easy" (as the aussies would say). What exactly is it we're doing? Me and Jason are in the field, he grafts wood into an already existing tree, I come along and tie up the graft with some tape, and seal the "wound" with some paint. That's it. It's so much fun, even though it sounds pretty monotonous. It's anything but that.. We try to do around 500trees a day. The first week is just over and done with. It took us a few days to get into the swing of it. But now we're flying.
At the moment, we're living a very rough and primitive lifestyle. Myvan is parked just beside the field where we're working. Finding a shower each day, can be tricky, but we do have some luxury: We're allowed to use the canteen to cook our dinner every night.. Which we're delighted with! (we're both very easily pleased..). We jump out of the van each morning, in the "freezing" cold, hop into the field and away we go.. until around 5. We hang out in the canteen for a few hours (no tv or radio).. and then try to keep warm in the van each night, get some sleep and do it all over again the following day.. What a life! So basic, yet so great.
For now, this is where we'll be working. I'm not too sure how long this job will last. It could be a month, it could be two. It's always hard to know just how reliable these aussies are, when it comes to work. We'll see how it goes. It doesn't really matter. Because I'm enjoying being apart of the workforce, after 14 months, and I'm living for the moment, right now. Each and every tree I tie, I do it with so much pleasure! That's all there is.. the trees and Jason of course...
We flew into the airport at 11.30 in the morning. My train was at 06.00 in the evening. So I had the whole day to fill. What was I going to do..? Walk around the city, like a zombie, waiting for the hours to pass? Yes, that's exactly what I ended up doing. The city wasn't as I remembered it. I always loved it, but now it was dark, gloomy, full of people, sky scrapers and just so much hustle and bustle, even on a Sunday morning. I had gone from a familiar place, which was Cairns, where I was becoming a familiar face, where the atmosphere was friendly, where the climate was warm and that had the feel of being a small town, to this big city, where I was just a soul, wandering around. I felt lost, I felt alone. I was not a happy chappy at all. I sat and had lunch in this small cafe, looking at the world passing me by, and the feeling I had owned for the past 3 months, which was being a free and unique individual, had suddenly gone. I didn't want to be in this city, no matter how cool and trendy Melbourne is supposed to be. I thought back over the month I had spent in Cairns, and it suddenly felt like on a distant memory.
All these feelings were probably made a little bit worse, by my exhaustion, by the weather and by the fact that I had just said goodbye to Janice and Cora. I hung out in the city for rest of the day, and it made me realize so much.. I suddenly knew how country people feel, when they go to cities. A concrete maze. That's all it is. I had never felt like that before, not when it came to being in cities. But suddenly I knew that I'd rather be away from a fast pace of life that the city represents. I knew that I wanted to be seen as a person, and just another soul that's roaming the streets, trying to keep up the pace and trying to fit in to the life that that particular city can offer. What an eyeopener. All this made me so excited to be on the farm again, and I couldn't wait to get on that train..
It left Melbourne at around 06.00pm and 3 hours later I was in Shepparton, where Jason was waiting for me. It was as if I hadn't left at all. There he was, in the carpark, Jason fooling around with the devil sticks.. Myvan was there too.. It was great to be reunited. Back in the van again.. back to basics, away from the tourists, away from the city.. This was what I wanted again..
We started work on Tuesday morning, after having a day of rest, to get over the flight. The farm is around 20 minutes outside of Shepparton, real isolated. But it's great. I was kind of nervous about starting work again. I had some doubts if I would be able to do the job, without running myself down. And also stepping back into the workforce felt so odd. But after the first few days, I realized that this is "too easy" (as the aussies would say). What exactly is it we're doing? Me and Jason are in the field, he grafts wood into an already existing tree, I come along and tie up the graft with some tape, and seal the "wound" with some paint. That's it. It's so much fun, even though it sounds pretty monotonous. It's anything but that.. We try to do around 500trees a day. The first week is just over and done with. It took us a few days to get into the swing of it. But now we're flying.
At the moment, we're living a very rough and primitive lifestyle. Myvan is parked just beside the field where we're working. Finding a shower each day, can be tricky, but we do have some luxury: We're allowed to use the canteen to cook our dinner every night.. Which we're delighted with! (we're both very easily pleased..). We jump out of the van each morning, in the "freezing" cold, hop into the field and away we go.. until around 5. We hang out in the canteen for a few hours (no tv or radio).. and then try to keep warm in the van each night, get some sleep and do it all over again the following day.. What a life! So basic, yet so great.
For now, this is where we'll be working. I'm not too sure how long this job will last. It could be a month, it could be two. It's always hard to know just how reliable these aussies are, when it comes to work. We'll see how it goes. It doesn't really matter. Because I'm enjoying being apart of the workforce, after 14 months, and I'm living for the moment, right now. Each and every tree I tie, I do it with so much pleasure! That's all there is.. the trees and Jason of course...
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