Working at last

This bulletin is covering one month of travel and taking us into new working experiences!
As mentioned in “Part 1”, we arrived back in Gunnedah, in search of koalas, gear for our working life and future employment opportunities. First goal - Koalas! We set off for Porcupine Lookout, a reserve well populated with our furry friends. Setting out towards the middle of the day was probably not our brightest idea, as koalas are renowned for sleeping through the day and being more active during the mornings and evenings. Undeterred, we set off on the bush track, meeting up with another couple who were returning after an hour through the bush with not one koala in sight! We pressed on and obviously took a different path to the other people, as we soon found ourselves back on the roadway leading up to the lookout! (Don’t ask either of us to navigate for you, although Peter reckons he took the shortcut so the walk was not too long). In our defence there was a notable absence of signposts to guide us. As soon as we began heading back to our car, the other couple came past in their vehicle and told us they’d just seen a mother and baby up a tree (koala's that is), not 100 meters from where we were now. It took us a while to spot them, because they were so well disguised by the trees, and they’re not very active in the heat of the day. But we did see them, and only wish we had Peter’s SLR camera as well as the little digital, as that was just not good enough to zoom in very close.

We spoke to the Graincorp Site Manager at the Gurley Silo, who informed us that we would have jobs there; he just couldn’t tell us when we’d be starting. We had been wiating for something definite for weeks by this stage, and it was becoming very frustrating, not to mention the rapidly declining bank account.

The next day we drove to Tamworth for shopping and job hunting. We figured if we came back in January for work, we could attend the Country Music Festival for the first time! Peter phoned all the bus companies, and we both approached a labour hire company whose client is the Buttercup bread factory. We were told that they would be looking for people from late January through to Easter, because they make hot cross buns for Coles and Woolies. Sweet!!! Back in camp in Gunnedah, Peter washed the car and had it looking fabulous. You can guess what happened next. Yes, another dust storm! That night a Dutch couple parked alongside us, and they had come all the way to Gunnedah from Holland in search of the Tractor Museum. Yes it’s there; we just didn’t make the time to visit!

We thought it wise to move north and closer to Gurley, in readiness for work, so we set out to check out Bellatta, where it had been suggested that we may like to stay while we work. There’s a small caravan park there, or we could stay at the Bellatta Silo. Calling the “Little Gem Caravan Park” a park, would be stretching the truth somewhat. Wendy calls it a prickle farm. Nevertheless, if this is where we have to stay, it will do. The amenities are OK but the one and only washing machine is out of order. Wendy also earmarked a couple of potential sites for us to stay. We know that in our future travels, we could look back on “The Little Gem” and remember it as an oasis compared to some other places we’ll see and stay. We travelled towards Moree where we intended to partake of the artesian pools. Our lunch stop was on the side of the road at Gurley. Not a very big “town” is Gurley (population about 10 people). There are lots of road trains and trucks passing through though. We went to meet the Site Manager, but he wasn’t in. We did meet the newly appointed night-shift foreman, who confided in us that he did not really want the job and he would be telling Davo (the Site Manager) when he returned. Wendy had been through training with this guy, and although he had been doing some contracting work for Graincorp, he was just as inexperienced as we are, and had no supervisory experience (and he’s expected to run the show???).

The best place for us to stay in Moree is the Gwydir Carapark and Thermal Pools. Yes people, in the grounds of the caravan park there is lovely, well-watered green grass, and 5 thermal pools, different temperatures, same relaxing benefits. We got to enjoy lots of nice chats with lots of travellers (with 2 soaks each day until work started). The weather was often windy during these few days, temperatures still quite pleasant, though getting warmer. It also turns out that the cooler weather was partly responsible for the delayed grain harvest.

A few days later we got to have a site inspection at the Gurley Silo, and Wendy was pleased to find out that she would be in the weighbridge, and Peter would be doing the labouring in the hot sun that we expected. That afternoon, we got a call to say that we were required to start the next day (Saturday) for on-site training. The following day was our first real shift (afternoon shift) and Wendy was left in charge of the weighbridge. She faced quite a few challenges and somehow managed all of them, and learnt quite a lot in the process. The RTA regulations, the Graincorp terminology, the computer system, and the interesting personalities of the other casual employees, kept us chatting for days. After our training day we worked eight days of afternoon shift and then we had 2 days off due to wet weather. We really appreciated those 2 days. Peter had been suffering terrible hayfever and wheat dust-induced asthma. Peter’s job is out in the sun (until sundown), and he has to work in the dust and the heat while Wendy sits in the air-conditioned weighbridge, only venturing outside at dusk (when it’s cooler) to sweep the bridge. Not fair, some say. The air-conditioning is for the welfare of the expensive equipment, we’re told. When we got back to work there were a couple of short shifts, due to the fact that the farmers were still not back to harvesting after the rain, a couple of regular shifts and then the season was quickly drawing to a close. We may no longer be required, and yesterday it was raining as well so our shift was cancelled. More time for the pools, we get to finish this blog, and we went out for dinner last night. We also have been chasing up some more work, since this job hasn’t lasted as long as we had anticipated. We’re either going to get a “transfer” to another grain receival point, or we’ll have to find something else. Picking table grapes in St George looked attractive, but that doesn’t start until 12th December and we want to back with the family before Christmas. We still may have a chance with blueberries near Coffs Harbour.

Our Business Swap friends may know Graham and Leanne Schultz from Sewroo products (ironing board covers and other laundry products) on the Sunshine Coast. Each Friday afternoon we receive the WorkAbout Australia newsletter, and yesterday’s edition features Sewroo products as a way of making money whilst travelling. We had already been considering that very idea. Now we’ll have to act on it. It’s an omen, because we had been saying all day that "something will present itself today". We’ll keep you posted.

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