I don't think ive been wingeing enough so i'm going to have a little rant about two things...
1. The way some Australians pronounce words and change them, and some of the slang that I'm not keen on.
They love to change the names of basic stuff. For example, they call peppers or bell peppers, wait for it... capsicums. Courgettes are zucchini's. Broccoli is pronounced broc-o-lie. Pasta is parsta. A receipt is a docket. A blanket or duvet is a dooner. This makes no sense to me what-so-ever, so I thought I'd let it all out. You can't bring this up with Australian's because they get defensive.
2. The lack of quality Australian TV!
The news uses slang, which takes the severity away from what has happened. For example, there has been a spait of motorcycle gang shootings, which they describe as "bikie" shootings. The news over dramatizes everything, which is also really annoying. The adverts are terrible; they remind me of one of those videos which you taped over christmas, that has a classic film with all the old adverts from the 80's. The last thing is all the adverts - they have the standard four sets of three minute adverts as well as three 1 minute news, sport and weather updates every hour. It's so frustrating.
I think I might be done now. Hope you're all well back home. Please leave some comments, especially if you're a regular reader and haven't left a comment yet, please do so now!!
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Apples and the story so far...
This post is just so you guys know how much hard work picking apples is. We wake up everyday at roughly 6 am, give or take a few snoozes, depending on the day. We get down to the packing shed, which is all of 20 metres or so away. Tom and Lauren get a lift with Dave the farmer, and I jump on my tractor and cruise over at about 25km's an hour to where they are already starting to pick the bags. A bag when full will way about 12kg or so. It takes about 22 to 24 bags to fill a bin. The tractor trailer takes 3 bins, each taking between an hour to an hour and a half to fill - times this by 3 and your looking at finishing your first trailer at about 10 or 11.We don't normally finish until about 4 or 5 everyday. Obviously we all pick at different speeds, so for every trailer I take 1.25 bins, Tom takes 1, and Lauren takes 0.75. Most of the trees on the farm require ladders to pick the top apples. Ladders are another effort. Tom and I have steel ladders, which are heavy but really easy to set up. Lauren uses a aluminium ladder, which is a little more difficult to setup but is very light. Dave and two other guys use wooden ladders. These I think are hell to use. They bend, wobble, moan and groan, every time you breathe or anything slightly more severe than that. Next, to the apples themselves - the stars of the show you could say. The hardest apples to pick are golden delicious, as they bruise really easy, and every apple has to be wrestled off the tree which becomes really frustrating. Not to mention most of the trees are anywhere from 60 to 100 years old, which means they are really brittle and generally require at least three ladder moves, taking even more time. However, the apples are really big so they fill your bag fairly quickly. Golden delicious are meant to be eaten golden, not green. We are all used to eating under ripe apples because the supermarkets are more bothered about how they look on the shelf than the taste, which is what should really concern us all! Red delicous come away from the tree far more easily, and because they're all fairly young trees you can get to the majority of them by bending the branch and picking them off with one hand. They are harder apples so they take a bit more abuse before they bruise. As you may have guessed by now, it's not easy work by a longshot. That's before factoring in the weather or whether you can be bothered to pick.
Six month summary
So it's been 6 months roughly since i left the UK, I have posted this to give a thank you and shout out for all the people that have made this possible and the people who have shaped my life and planted the idea to travel the world in my concious.
Firstly, obviously I would like the thank my family - Mum, Dad, Nanny, Bampy, Sue (auntie), Terry (uncle), Deb and Richie. Oops, I forgot Lou, my big little sister! All of the above have either given me money or advice to travel. The reason I'm writing this apart from the fact it's been 6 months is because mum and her side of the family sent me a box of pressie's that really made me appreciate how lucky I am to have such an awesome family. In the box was a letter from mum, detailing all the news and pictures of all the family at christmas dinner at my aunties. This was really hard to read, not only because i got really home sick, but because for the last 20 years or so i have been trying to read her awful handwriting. I stared at each photo for at least 2 minutes thinking of all the arguements (espically Lou) and good times I've had with each person in the photo, with that warm comforting feeling knowing that each one of them will be there for more of what I just mentioned when i get back. Next was a little chocolate muffin with a single candle to have as a late, but not under appreciated, birthday cake. Theres a picture of me with me birthday cake below. This is what i'm talking about; family are so thoughtful. If that were the only three things in the box I would have been more than happy! The other presents included were a pair of expensive boxer shorts that i would never bought for my self, and socks - I have bought myself socks since I've been away, but because I've been doing my own washing, and always seem to lose one single sock, it makes his best mate in life useless. I also had three great t-shirts which I am really grateful for. All the presents were wrapped in either christmas or birthday paper, which was a great laugh unwrapping
Dad and Deb came out to Australia last month, but unfortunately I couldn't meet them on their mini round the world trip, because i was working in Tasimania. It was a real shock going from seeing Dad everyday at lunchtime in work, to not seeing him at all. So a thank you and mad love to all the family I would change any of you for the world.
Now a special mention to my adoptive family - the Carters. Every one of them have been so kind and helpful. Obviously to Rebecca for loving me back, and making the last 3 years and over of my life so special, action-packed and amazing. Helen for giving me all that fantastic advice, Wozza and Rachie for being the younger brother and sister I never had, and last but by no means least, Nick for working together with me to keep Rebecca in check; without him I would have taken ages to learn all the tricks to keeping myself in her good books.
Next the great team of mates I have at home, and the people I spend my weekends with in the pub. Every situation you get into when you're away, you find yourself thinking 'I wish one of them was here to give a helping hand', whether it be Bondy to get steaming drunk with when you're down and missing home, to Brogan to say something stupid and make you see everything in a more light-hearted way. I miss you all and wish you were all here to share this experience with.
Now to the people i spent at least 37 hours a week with, the work buddies, and they were definetly the best people I'll ever work with. The DTC was like a home from home. Everyone was there, from the big sister ready to make you laugh, or laugh at you when you say something like 'Britney Spears has been commisioned' (meaning sectioned), to the crazy uncle who gives the type of advice that would make your mum gasp in discust! Both mentioned above know who you are! I really miss going to work, because everyone there was a great person, and we were all achieving amazing things to make the council a better place. I would like to say to everyone still there to keep up the amazing work, and to the people who have left for pastures new, good luck.
The last thank you goes to Tom my travel companion, he's the first and last person I speak to most days and he's always here for me. Thank you for persuading me to come away with you, I hope your as happy traveling with me as I am with you.
I'm over being soppy now, might go and pick a tonne and a half of apples! Peace!!
Firstly, obviously I would like the thank my family - Mum, Dad, Nanny, Bampy, Sue (auntie), Terry (uncle), Deb and Richie. Oops, I forgot Lou, my big little sister! All of the above have either given me money or advice to travel. The reason I'm writing this apart from the fact it's been 6 months is because mum and her side of the family sent me a box of pressie's that really made me appreciate how lucky I am to have such an awesome family. In the box was a letter from mum, detailing all the news and pictures of all the family at christmas dinner at my aunties. This was really hard to read, not only because i got really home sick, but because for the last 20 years or so i have been trying to read her awful handwriting. I stared at each photo for at least 2 minutes thinking of all the arguements (espically Lou) and good times I've had with each person in the photo, with that warm comforting feeling knowing that each one of them will be there for more of what I just mentioned when i get back. Next was a little chocolate muffin with a single candle to have as a late, but not under appreciated, birthday cake. Theres a picture of me with me birthday cake below. This is what i'm talking about; family are so thoughtful. If that were the only three things in the box I would have been more than happy! The other presents included were a pair of expensive boxer shorts that i would never bought for my self, and socks - I have bought myself socks since I've been away, but because I've been doing my own washing, and always seem to lose one single sock, it makes his best mate in life useless. I also had three great t-shirts which I am really grateful for. All the presents were wrapped in either christmas or birthday paper, which was a great laugh unwrapping
Dad and Deb came out to Australia last month, but unfortunately I couldn't meet them on their mini round the world trip, because i was working in Tasimania. It was a real shock going from seeing Dad everyday at lunchtime in work, to not seeing him at all. So a thank you and mad love to all the family I would change any of you for the world.
Now a special mention to my adoptive family - the Carters. Every one of them have been so kind and helpful. Obviously to Rebecca for loving me back, and making the last 3 years and over of my life so special, action-packed and amazing. Helen for giving me all that fantastic advice, Wozza and Rachie for being the younger brother and sister I never had, and last but by no means least, Nick for working together with me to keep Rebecca in check; without him I would have taken ages to learn all the tricks to keeping myself in her good books.
Next the great team of mates I have at home, and the people I spend my weekends with in the pub. Every situation you get into when you're away, you find yourself thinking 'I wish one of them was here to give a helping hand', whether it be Bondy to get steaming drunk with when you're down and missing home, to Brogan to say something stupid and make you see everything in a more light-hearted way. I miss you all and wish you were all here to share this experience with.
Now to the people i spent at least 37 hours a week with, the work buddies, and they were definetly the best people I'll ever work with. The DTC was like a home from home. Everyone was there, from the big sister ready to make you laugh, or laugh at you when you say something like 'Britney Spears has been commisioned' (meaning sectioned), to the crazy uncle who gives the type of advice that would make your mum gasp in discust! Both mentioned above know who you are! I really miss going to work, because everyone there was a great person, and we were all achieving amazing things to make the council a better place. I would like to say to everyone still there to keep up the amazing work, and to the people who have left for pastures new, good luck.
The last thank you goes to Tom my travel companion, he's the first and last person I speak to most days and he's always here for me. Thank you for persuading me to come away with you, I hope your as happy traveling with me as I am with you.
I'm over being soppy now, might go and pick a tonne and a half of apples! Peace!!
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Photos!!!
Tom looking rather ferrel after i forgot to put the headshaver back to a grade 4. He had to have a 1 in the end! Sorry Dawn, please don't hate me!
Me and me birthday cake! Was so nice!
The bedroom of the coconut lodge
I love this photo! Being a red neck rocks!
Tom, Cam, Brooke and I by the whale in Cockle Creek.
I caught the one on the right obviously!
And about an hour later...
The snakes in its entirety
The snakes head!
Me and me birthday cake! Was so nice!
The bedroom of the coconut lodge
I love this photo! Being a red neck rocks!
Tom, Cam, Brooke and I by the whale in Cockle Creek.
I caught the one on the right obviously!
And about an hour later...
The snakes in its entirety
The snakes head!
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