Where do I start?? We have done so much since leaving the Gold Coast and been so busy, but had so much fun at the same time.
When we were planning where we would complete our rural work, we had no idea what would be best for us. Could we survive picking baskets and baskets of fruit in the scorching heat or would we be best at looking after animals (probably being bitten to death my bugs and maybe worse!!!). However, we must have done something right because we landed an amazing opportunity working for some amazing people. We managed to get jobs working on a small family run farm about 80km from Griffith. When they said small, we didn't realise small in their standard meant huge in ours. 3,500 acres of land and 'a few sheep' rounding to around 700! Fair enough the farm next door is over 20,000 acres, but still 3,500 acres is a fair amount of land compared to the size of my back garden at home.
Leigh was employed to help complete farm duties like tractor driving and helping maintain live stock. Whereas I was employed to help out in the household, which included caring for 2 children aged 2 and 5 and general household chores.
I can honestly say we have had a complete blast being here and ended up staying on an extra month and a half to save up a few more cents.
Whilst looking after the children I have vastly developed my knowledge of My Little Pony and Dinosaur Train. I feel I could honestly say I could easily identify over 30 different ponies and the type of pony they are (If only this topic was covered in the National Curriculum back home, I would be winning!!).
Leigh kindly, not through choice, taught me to drive a few different types of vehicles I wouldn't have had the chance to drive at home. I can now say I have become an expert at shovelling animal poo using a loader. Now if I happen to own my own thousands of acres of land in the future, I will 100% be purchasing a quad bike to travel around it on. How I have ever survived without quad bike in my life I will never know!
Me being obsessed with animals, we have been lucky to see a wide variety during our stay. From rounding up rogue sheep to dodging wild kangaroos which love to roam the dirt track roads, I have turned into Doctor Dolittle when it comes to attracting and searching for animals (talking to the animals could have come in handy a few times too). One afternoon we set nets out and left them over night so we could fish the damns on the farm for Yabies (which are the Australian version of crayfish). We caught a blue tongued lizard, an echidna and even a wild pig (with thanks to Ruby, an Irish Wolf hound/Stag hound puppy). Then the kids were given two guinea pigs named Bob and Rainbow Dash and a floppy eared bunny named Peter. Let's not forget the 5 chickens which have laid us lots of scrummy eggs to eat. Soon the farm will have to apply for a change of use and become a zoo!
Now our time here is drawing to an end and it actually feels quite sad to say goodbye. However, we have decided to come back and help the family out later on the year to help harvest the crop, so it's not a final goodbye but it is time to move onto the next adventure. Where to go to next... The country is our oyster!
xx
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