Creatures of Caboolture

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Big fat hello!

Right i am currently sat in McDonalds as they offer free wifi - have slugged my cuppacino and am now going to scribble at a rapid rate so i can get the hell out of here! Wow - SOOOO many creatures - not the nice kind! Caboolture - Morayfield to be precise - shouldn't be on your top 10 spots to visit - just going to the mall is a frightening experience! But, i shall try my best not to judge the creatures that surround me and get on with the task at hand!

We have been in Queensland for almost a month now - not as pretty as Tazzie and filled with bogans - but sunny and warm and covered in strawberries...which is the reason we are here! The monster drive took 4 whole days - 2200km - go Trevor go! he really is a trooper - yes he likes to feed - but if you keep him happy and stop for snacks every 300kms he goes like a boeing! i was behind the wheel pretty much the whole time as Slime was feeling pretty ropey as he had a bad case of the sniffles...but to be fair, most of you know how terrified i get when slime boards the driving seat - for no reason really as the big-headed beast has the skills - but anyway, it worked out just dandy - slime gets to navigate and play dj while i wrestle Trevor!

We arrived in Brisbane and knocked on Corinne's door - country-yodelling betty who lived with us in London for a wee while - as luck would have it, she lives in Narangba - i.e. slap bang in all the strawberry madness! She was most kind and we took full advantage! We parked Trevor on her doorstep and didn't leave for 3 weeks!! Her neighbours must have been quite concerned what with the 2 homeless people sleeping on the curb! It was good fun though and we had many a laugh - in between hunting down farmers in need of pickers! Wow, i have never seen so many strawberry farms in one area - Caboolture is clearly the place to be if you're amped for a strawb but unfortunately the whole of Korea knows it too!! They be top notch pickers and they're EVERYWHERE! Slime and i had our work cut out - we phoned 5 meelion farmers, left our names and went from farm to farm saying howdy do... until finally we met Farmer Bill! He really is an excellent chap - happiest fellow i've ever come across - and always has a fat story to tell! i remember being quite concerned one friday afternoon that we wouldn't get a weekend at all - Farmer Bill was in fine form - story after story with min breaths in between...luckily the phone rang and we made a run for it! It's all good though - it's a small family farm - even grandma visits during lunch to have a chat and hand out free strawbs - the ropey kind that can't be sold - and chokos - weird Aussie fruit/veg that no one likes! We have these fun trolleys that we shuffle along in - plucking the red gems as we go - but shucks, you have to make haste and show some pace else you make min beans. Day 1 i of course smoked Slime out in the fields...he has upped his game now though and we're pretty much on a par! We're picking with 2 Italians, a Swedish bet, 2 Koreans and some other betties who come with the farm - they be packing some serious picking skills...ho hum, my fingers grow nimbler by the day!

Next big tale is that we have a HOUSE! Oh yes - still living in Trevor (means we pay less - bonus!) but Trevor has a fine roof over his head so is most pleased! And no - we're not shut in some manky garage - more like an open patio type set-up - main thing is that we have a shower and kitchen plus lounge and tele to watch the bafana - at 4:30am!! Time difference means min z's for us pickers but hey it's all good fun! We're living with our fellow pickers (Italians and the Swede) plus 1 more Italian and a French bet... Luca the one Italian also happens to be a chef - so we get real Italian cooked by a real Italian and WOW do they munch a lot of pasta!! Mountains of the penne goodness cooked to a turn! they really do crack me up - i have no idea what they're rattling on about but they're just like the folk you see on the movies - textbook Italians - 'quel catzo'... 'mama mia' etc all spoken with such enthusiasm and many a hand gesture!

This last weekend was excellent fun - Gael, our good friend (crazy French bet) that we met back in the vines of Tasmania was in town for a few days so we set off to see some sights! we checked out the Glass House Mountains - didn't climb the beasts - merely gazed upon - and had fine picnics on the beach. Gael - or Woody as we call her (she looks like Woody Alan with her sunnies on!) even found some oysters and cockles which she snapped open with her knife and slurped down on the spot! Crazy frogs - they really do munch anything! Other than that, not too much to report - picking is still a little slow so we have more days off than we would like but that will soon change... we were supposed to be going to a gig tomorrow eve - Strung Out are playing - most of my friends will appreciate this - the oldies, not so much! Would love to go but going to have to tally our beans first!

Right - i've had my fill of the fatties/bogans that surround me in this fine restaurant so must be off...plus i have to get my nut down early as i'm up at 4:30 to cheer on my team before mounting my trolley and wrestling Farmer Bill's strawbs! i miss you all so so much but still enjoying all this picking madness😊 Hope everyone is happy and well...will check in with more tales from the fields soon!

Lots and lots of love eM, Slime, Trevor & the kids
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p.s. Good luck CAPTAIN - i know you'll wow them Grahamstown crowds😊 ... oh and HAPPY DAD'S day for Sunday! xx

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