So where are we now?

A catch up. 

Ok so those of you who read my last blog would have noticed that it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant of reads. In fact many of you commented either via Facebook or Twitter that you shared a common reaction to that of Hayley’s and mine at just how shitty that experience was. However, if you don’t have bad experiences you can’t possibly hope to learn and grow. So let us assume we have grown and learnt and not bothered with another stupid farm job and just got something normal to tide us over for New Zealand, Fiji and America.

Well, here’s the thing. I don’t like to feel defeated. I also promised myself that if I was going to have to work on this trip then it was going to be something that took me out of my comfort zone and something I could look back on as being a true experience of working in Australia. What honestly is the point in going to Australia and working in a café or a restaurant or something else that I can happily do back home when there is an abundance of jobs out there for the Australian backpacker that are a massive far cry from that, especially for the short term.

Farm jobs are the ideal solution for two simple reasons. They fit the above criteria and they count towards a second year visa to use before we turn 31. But let me get one thing straight; the Australian government are a crafty bunch. You can only earn a second year visa if you work in a rural area on a farm or something agricultural that gives back to the country. Fine. There are however no strict laws that mean backpackers can’t be treat like shit and extorted for small or no pay, crap living conditions and put to work for all the hours in the day. Some backpacker’s work for free picking fruit in a field for 10 hours a day just to stay in Australia longer. Why? What possible experience are you getting that you wont label as being utterly shit.

This could come across as condescending: I needed a backpacker job but I didn’t want any old shitty farm or picking job. I wanted to work as a farm hand, working alongside the farmer on their land and live the life of a farmer. Not a slave. Easier said that done I know but it is possible. This trip is all about the experience; learning new things and becoming a new person; a better person; not a sap. Too much was sacrificed to come on this trip and I needed this experience. I needed to work outside to know the difference between the office and the wider world. To appreciate my craft back home. To get a feel for the great outdoors and the working way of life that coming to Australia had promised me. To work within the physical and mental demands of the farming world and to get what effectively was a free three-month gym membership. I was up for the challenge. We both were. Our reward for this: the second year visa.

So about a month ago we started our new job on another farm. You might now be thinking well-done dick head now this blog can also be a long account of how bad the experience was. Wrong. In fact we love it. We are working on a horse stud and Labrador breeding farm in the Hunter Valley, NWS. It’s not too far from family, we have sensible working hours, the pay is good, the work is varied for the most part, we have our own little house and it is all going towards our second year visas and our funds for the rest of the trip. You see, we did learn from our last mistake of going all that way into the backwards realm of nothingness that can sometimes be the Australian outback. We visited this farm before accepting the job and we researched what the typical work could be, took the gamble and it’s so far paying off. The tipping point was knowing that we wouldn’t be working for a big outfit and therefore our value to the farm would increase. We would be taught how to do pretty much everything needed to keep the farm going and everything that would need to be done to improve it. It would be the farmer, me and Hayley.

Another winning ingredient to this concoction of Australian working stuff was that the Hunter Valley is absolutely beautiful and by taking this job it became our back garden. Every sunrise and sunset is laid out perfectly in the valley our farm sits in and we get to witness some spectacular scenery and wildlife. The farm itself has its land defined by the small river that runs around its borders and it’s all topped off by the Eagle Reach hill range sitting just off the back of the property; a small slice of heaven.

I don’t feel the need to get too into what it is that we do day by day on the farm. It’s pretty standard. We feed the horses twice a day, sort out the stables, feed and sort out the 40+ Labradors, fix/build fences, general maintenance, build kennels, get deliveries etc but on top of all that we have a laugh and that’s important. It’s hard work and we put in the hours and effort to get stuff done but it would be so much harder working for someone that we didn’t like. We all get on well and we know the importance of small breaks and having a sense of comradery to get us through the long hot days.

The physical challenge is great but it’s my mind that’s getting the biggest work out at the moment. I have a lot of time to reflect and contemplate when working on the farm. It’s not unusual to be working on my own on a fence for 4 hours and find myself looking at the distant landscape of the valley of letting the moment sink in. I’ve had time to think about work, life, love, and all manner of different aspects of my life. Things I want to change or improve and on the odd occasion congratulate myself on something done right.

I have all kinds of epiphanies when I work for when the trip it over. Things like: dressing better, what car I will buy when I get home, what I want from my future at my current job, whether or not to get another job, what other job could I do, a thousand reasons why my first major purchase when I get home will be an Xbox One. You get the point.

The opportunity to loose myself in my own head for a bit hasn’t just given me the chance to look at my future but also my past and present as well. The things I can be thankful for that I perhaps took for granted or a chance to get a little homesick especially with Christmas. Perhaps most importantly it has given me a chance to look at who I am right now and see how I have changed since this trip began then compare that to the person I want to be when I get back and see how far I still have to go. I’m pretty much still the same tosser I always was, I’m happy to report.

The biggest revelation was my relationship with Hayley. Before Hayley and I set off on this trip we lived fairly separate lives. We only really ever had weekends together unless it was a public holiday or we planned some time off work. This was all fine though as at that time we were both busy young professionals and this situation was working. We would have liked more time together sure, but that was where we found ourselves and we made the most of it.

Having been on this trip and going from seeing each other for maybe 2 days a week we were now seeing each other everyday, for 24 hours a day. We are both very independent people and neither of us will take any shit from the other and we sure as hell know how to push each others buttons. It’s a huge leap for any couple. Especially ones who decide to take a world trip for a year before having spent that much time together. It did take some getting used to for both of us; I had to become more understanding and caring and she had to put up with my shit more than usual. It was a steep learning curve for us to make the relationship stable enough to work under those circumstances. But we endured and settled and have had the greatest time so far on this trip. We do argue though. Every couple does, and, before we left for Finley we had had a couple of big ones on the road to Cairns and one or two when we finished our east coast tour and got back to Sydney. Anyone who spends enough time around anyone else will eventually have something to get off his or her chest. That’s just natural, but, when you’re the other side of the world it’s really important to do it as you can’t have small niggles mounting up until one person explodes.

I don’t want to go into the whole Finley thing because all that is in the past but oddly it formed a glue that has made our relationship even stronger. Going through that together forced us to put anything silly aside and connect in a way that we had never before. We became closer and it was undoubtedly the silver lining. Were currently living together on the farm where we work at now and it’s all going smoothly. Having been on the road for so long and not staying in one place for more than a week or so it’s been great to settle and make a house a home. Even if it is only temporary.

Anyway, it’s 2014 now and seeing the incredible fireworks in Sydney for New Years has signalled the start of the downhill dash towards the end of this trip. We still have so much more to explore before we get our feet planted firmly back on UK soil but we know we can go and see it as better and stronger people than we were a month ago. Let alone the people we were 7 months ago.

If I have learnt anything from this trip so far it’s simply that you can’t have the good without the bad. Even on the trip of a lifetime. But that really doesn’t mean the bad has to bad. Sure it probably sucks at the time but if you can take it and mould it into a weapon that you can use to make yourself a better person and learn from it… then you win at life. Remember: what doesn’t kill you only makes your stronger. Unless you get Aids I guess. That shit will fuck you up.

Till the next time.