Week 10 - 22nd Jan – 28th Jan

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Another working week, but at least the weather’s picked up. It’s been comfortable around 28 - 35 degrees but I’ve been having to get up earlier (0455) because more people are working now, which means that Rob, the hostel manager, has to do more runs for people to work. I’ve been getting to work around 0520, shitting around waiting to start work at 0600; we can’t start any earlier as it’s still dark! The beginning of the week was difficult because Saturday through until Tuesday night I only had an average of 3 hours’ sleep per night. I kept having to have power naps before work and at lunchtime! Friday was Australia Day, which is obviously a big deal for most people here. One of the Aussies, Brad, suggested we go to the pub with us Poms dressed in scarlet colonial dress, with the Aussies in shackles and chains! John, a chap from Tasmania suggested that the Koreans could play the part of the Aborigines, but we thought that might be a bit harsh! A lot of people had the day off and Brad and John thought they’d stay in bed - they didn’t expect to get a call from the boss that afternoon telling them they were sacked! Happy Australia Day, boys!!

We got some tunes on in the evening (mainly Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory, just to piss off the Aussies!) and sank plenty of beer. We had wanted to fly the Union Jack from the flag pole on the tourist information centre, but nobody had either the balls or the inclination! It would appear that Australia is also the victim of Tony Blair-style political correctness: in the news, they’ve been asking people not to fly the national in case it offends other nationalities and minorities! What a joke! The weekend has been a pretty tame affair otherwise. A few of us went bowling on Saturday night - it was packed with people this time. We saw our mate Steve and got the details for our late night bowling action - we’re expecting a call some time this coming week! Today, Sunday has been spent writing this update - the past weeks and taking Anders to Berri to get the bus to Sydney. He’s been getting stressed for most of the time he’s been here and it was time that he moved on to do what he stayed in Australia for, namely being a cowboy. He’s hoping to do an 11-day course for $850 just north of Sydney where they teach you what you need to know to be a Jackaroo, then he’ll try to find a job doing that.

I’m not anticipating much to happen over the next few weeks. I’m going to be as frugal as I possibly can in an attempt to save as much cash. I called the local gliding club in Waikerie to get some details of costs, when they fly and stuff. Luke, the South African chap, and I are going to get involved with that at some point, but I don’t think it will be until the end of February - I can’t wait though!

Well that’s the blog up-to-date - I’ll put some pictures up on my Webshots page soon as well. I hope all’s well with everyone - I’ll try to reply to some of my e-mails this week, now that I can hook my laptop up to the network in the local Internet café. Ciao for now!

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