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Published: June 20th 2013
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Hello everyone,
Not quite sure when this blog will be out on as have no Internet at the mo, so it may be a little out of date by the time it reaches you.
An update since our last blog...we found regional work on a farm in Koorda and have been living here for the past few weeks. It was sad to say bye to Perth (somewhere we have both grown to love!), we have lots of great memories, which we won't forget In a hurry!
Despite being sad to say goodbye to Perth, we were both super excited for the next part of our adventure and to experince a bit of traditional Australian country life (and we haven't been disapointed!). We have been working/living in Koorda now for one month. Koorda is a small village in the heart of the Australian wheat belt. Grain is so important to this region, almost the whole population of Koorda is connected to farming/grain handling in someway (they have even adopted a corn dolly as their emblem).
We arrived in the midst of seeding season, which meant the town was even quiter than usual and with a population of around
500, it was pretty much a ghost town! We couldn't believe how remote the town was when traveling from Perth, the landscape was just fields and fields as far as the eye can see, until we finally stumbled across Koorda. The nearest "bigger" town is Northam around 2 hours, but the majority of people would just go to Perth (3hour journey away!!). It was straight to work for Paul, he was driving the seeding tractor for 12+hours a day, for 2 weeks! Despite working such long days, he really enjoyed it and loved this totally new experience. He had never driven a tractor prior to this, so was a bit apprehensive but has loved being a "farmer" for the past few weeks.
My role was to cook for the men who were farming (lunch and tea), look after the farmers children and any other general duties they needed help with really. There are 3 children (4year old, 6 year old & 8 year old), so as you can imagine they have kept me extremely busy (I think I have my first grey hair!).
Things are a lot less chilled the last couple of weeks, since seeding has finished,
days are much shorter for Paul. Which has given us the opportunity to get a real sense of the aussie country life. The community spirit here is unbelievable, we went to watch a local "Aussie rules" football match and couldn't believe the turnout of support, I would say almost the entire population was there, and they provided lunch, drinks, afternoon tea, and an evening meal, it was a great day which really highlighted their fab community spirit.
The farmer and his family have been so welcoming to Paul and I and we have been made to feel like part of their extended family, I spend a lot of time with the kids at their grandmas, who was able to tell me lots of interesting stories about Australia's history. Not only the family but the local community have been so welcoming. On my first day I got up early and went to the local shop (its only open certain days and hours) to get some food supplies for the house, I was greeted by a friendly lady "oh hi, you must be Vicky, we have been expecting you", this made me laugh, such a culture shock from Perth. Although reminded
me of home and the similarities of living in Newcastleton.
Last weekend we visited Jurien Bay with the farmer and his family, as they have a beach house here. One word....WOWo! The beaches here are just gorgeous, much like Rottnest, white sands and crystal clear waters, only people on the beach! Paul couldn't resist a swim in the ocean, even in the middle of winter haha! At Jurien Bay there is a skydive centre...I was on the fence about whether to do a skydive or not, Paul made the phone call to book but they were full until The Tuesday, we left on the Monday. I have decided it was a sign that I shouldn't! Although we will visit again soon...I may just take pictures!
At the moment we are hoping for rain, as this is good for the crop and means there will be more work for Paul, although at the minute there doesn't seem to be any rain forecast. Which means we will begin our travels a couple of weeks earlier, either way we are both pretty excited! It's still hard to believe its winter and the average temp has been around mid twenties, it's bliss.
Although we have had few days that had a real cold breeze and on an evening it gets to around 12degrees! Pretty much every day is guaranteed sunshine. Still not quite sure how we will cope with the UK weather change.
Our plans next is to travel up north and we will also be applying for a second year visa, so fingers crossed we get accepted for that!
Speak soon
Vicky & Paul x
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