Good Riddance

We survived our 11 days straight of work.  The last few days were hell but we survived.  We were so happy Saturday morning that we had two days to relax though unfortunately we didn’t have access to any wheels and we couldn’t hitch a ride with any truckies because they only had room for one passenger.   We really wanted to get out of the Springs for two days,  I did not want to spend our days off there doing nothing and being depressed.  We were in our room contemplating what to do when there was a knock on the door; it was the owner.  “As of right now your employment is terminated so pack up your stuff and Jason is driving you into Darwin.”  That was it! We packed up and left within half an hour.  

We knew something was up, the last few days were getting pretty bad,  the owner was treating me like shit.  Infact, the night before he fired us Dan was behind the bar and when he looked down on the floor he saw my iPod.  “Why is Emmies iPod on the floor?”  “Well I hooked it up to the radio and that was the only spot I didn’t get any static” replied the owner  ``so you take my missus` iPod and leave it on the floor in the most walked spot where anyone of us can step on it.  How bout I take your iPod and leave it on the floor``  Dan picks it up and puts it on the stereo…no static ``gee, look at that no static!``  Can you believe that!  My personal property and he treats it like that, it just shows you his respect level.  Not only that,  two of their former employees came back and they were both on bar…so now there are 6 of us on the bar?  Nope, made sure he had staff before he got rid of us so he wouldn’t get screwed over…CUNT!!!  Goodbye  Emerald Springs.  

Dear D & B,  you are not the type of people who should be employing backpackers,  you are selfish and a mean man who has no respect for anyone including a wife who is not well.  You stand around giving out orders while everyone else works there ass off including your wife who shouldn’t be working as hard as she does.   You don’t know to treat people or talk to them, and if you really cared about your staff you would’ve addressed the so-called issue with us early on to possibly avoid the termination and on top of that you would have actually listened to us when we tried to explain things about your prescious customer  W who is an old fat cunt with no respect for others which is probably why you like him because he is just an older fatter version of you.  You would’ve listened at the fact that he throws his money at us instead of handing it to us,  I bet he never told you that Dan got mad at him and to not throw his money at us,  you didn’t know that did you…Mr.  W didn’t tell you about that did he, he just told you I was a bitch and didn’t like me,  maybe that’s because I don’t like people who treat others especially me like shit for no apparent reason,  do unto others as you would have done unto you, you treat people like shit so they treat you the same and you don’t like it.   You wonder why you go through so much staff, why they leave in the night it’s not your staff, it’s you!!!  Oh and about my iPod on the floor,  how bout we put B’s there and see if someone steps on it,  would you do that with your wifes iPod…haha I wouldn’t put it past you.   Maybe you should lay off the fucking beer and the amphetamines that we all know you take but maybe you feel they make you a better person but I don’t think it’s possible for you to be a better person, you’re the type of person that I feel is a waste of space and doesn’t do anything good for man kind except give Aussie’s a bad name and a bad work experience.  Your also a waste of breath and I have wasted too much writing this so I will sign off by saying,  I hope for you that one day you wake up and actually see how beautiful the world is and that treating people with respect actually gives you a nice feeling inside, miracles can happen I think your miracle is B, she is a beautiful woman and I don’t know how you ended up with her,  maybe you can give her a miracle by being a nice man.   Merry Xmas and good fucking riddance.

Give Us Strength

Things haven’t gotten better since my last blog though they haven’t gotten worse.  I mean, when the owner isn’t working things are fine but it’s when he works!!!  He makes me so mad and frustrated my blood boils.  I can’t stand the way he talks to me, I just want to yell and scream at him and put him in his place.  He talks to me like I am a fucking idiot, like I don’t know what I am doing and that I am incompetent of my job and living life itself, and when he is not doing that he doesn’t talk to me at all, he barley even acknowledges I exsist unless I am not doing something to his satisfaction- which seems to be all the time, correct me in proper English –which I can say his is bad or to degrade me in front of guests.  For example today I was mopping the floor and a guest asked me about the Leukaemia function we had a couple Saturdays ago.  I stopped mopping to tell him about the event when I hear from behind me “ya and you should be on the committee, standing there talking and doing nothing”  and he wasn’t joking.  “ A few hours later we had two women come in and order lunch but they put in 4 separate orders.  I brought all the orders into the kitchen at the same time because they were all going to the same table.  Not only did I get a lecture about bringing in the orders separately he then said “but you wouldn’t understand unless you work in the kitchen”  “thanks but I’ve worked in kitchens” “ya, right.”

Later on in the afternoon he said “ok Sparrow is back” –one of our chefs-and he just walked out of the kitchen.  The chef hadn’t even arrived yet and Dan and Jayson were left with no chef for 15 minutes and they had orders up.

He will sit with guests and talk and if you tell him there is an order up he looks at you with hatred and then with a condescending tone “yup” and continues to talk to the guests like we have inconvenienced him with the food orders.  Yet if it was us that pulled that he would yell at us.

Honestly I am starting to lose it. We work crazy hours and work our asses off and we just get yelled at.  A good day is when he has paid us any notice.    I really want to give him a piece of my mind but both Dan and I can’t afford to lose this job.  It makes me feel sick to my stomach that I am putting up with this, that I am actually letting someone talk to me this way and treat me like this…like a dog, because that`s basically how we are treated.  I promised myself I wouldn`t allow myself to be treated like this and accept it but we don`t have options right now.  I know Dan and I are better  than him, it kills us to bite our tongues and take it…I am just praying for us to have the strength survive the next 7 weeks!

Even Hell Can Look Beautiful

2 hours South of Darwin, in the middle of the Outback off of the Stuart Hwy is a roadhouse called Emerald Springs.  It’s not your typical roadhouse,  or what you would expect a roadhouse to look like (definatly not the type of roadhouse Patrick Swayze worked at in the movie).  This is more like a casual bistro, almost a romantic setting with the walls a soft grey , fresh flowers are picked and put on the tables every day and candles light the tables at night.  The patio is covered and has plants of all different kinds in all it’s corners;  candles sit on the tables as well to light the nights and the beer garden is strung with pretty twinkling white lights.   Out the back you have the donga’s where the miners from the surrounding mines live and stay during their work weeks.  Off to the side is a house-like donga where all the staff live and in between the miners and staff living quarters is the campervan park.  All of this is surrounded by beautiful  landscaping of trees , bushes and beautiful flowers that I can’t even begin to name.  Beyond this is nothing but bush and beyond that is more bush.  When the sun rises the sky goes purple and then into pink and orange and when it sets it is just as colourful.   Emerald Springs is just a place it’s not even a town, no population,  it’s just a little stop off on your way across the Hwy.  It sounds beautiful doesn’t it?

It is beautiful, and hot, soo fucking hot.  By 11am it’s almost 40 degrees, and sometimes its just as hot inside as it is outside and you just sweat.  We have snakes, and Cain Toads surround us – they like to great us on our front step – we have kissing geko’s, skints (a lizard type of thing), bush flies – they literally sit on your face and the rest of your body  - and ants!  Heaps of ants.  They get into everything and I mean everything, you drop one thing without even noticing and next thing you know your floor is covered, they are in our sink, our bed, sometimes our food – I had the joy of sharing a bag of chips with 200 of them, I didn’t even realize they were in the bag, I’m sure you can imagine the rest – and our house is invest with Daddy Long Legs – I have learned to ignore them.

As beautiful and as interesting as it may sound we honestly don’t like it here…well wait, we do like it here, but the owner is crazy.  His expectations in the work place are just above and beyond anything normal.  He has OCD when it comes to cleanliness.  We literally have to mop the floor every 45 minutes because if there are footprints he considers it disgusting  and we have to clean with sterilizer that they use in hospitals and it’s still not enough.  No mistakes can be made, we made mistakes on our first day and he said we needed to do better.  You get in trouble if you talk to someone for more then 30 seconds and we are constantly told what we are doing wrong and not what we are doing right.  Him and his wife went away our first weekend and when we came back he told Dan we did a really good job and then two days later he told Dan that the place was disgusting when they got back and we need to do better?  He speaks very condescending and has no respect for women.  He barley says two words to me but acts all buddy buddy with Dan.  Today I brought something to the wrong table and he said “that is fucking uncalled for” he is always swearing and instead of telling us what to improve on or what we are doing right he just speaks down to us, especially me.  The owners wife is sick with leukaemia and has good days as well as bad days.  They want staff that can help take the work load off of her which we are more then happy to do, but he is the worst when it comes to helping.  She will be out in 40 degree weather cleaning rooms and he is sleeping.  He tells us what to do but is the laziest cunt I have ever met, he will yell and scream but wont do anything himself.  We had a big function for leukaemia the other night,  we all worked 12 hours plus, we were exhausted and all he did was point and give directions while all of us including his wife worked our asses off.  The next morning we were all in there doing the buffet breakfast and putting the restaurant back together (once again including her) and he walked around with a beer talking to guests and shouting out orders.  When he closes at night nothing is prepped for the next morning or cleaned because he expects me (I am the morning girl) to do it all when I come in and sometimes it slows me down, there is no sugar, coffee, there are piles of dishes, the toilets haven’t been cleaned, garbage bins are full up to the rim and then he will come in and give out orders.  Now we only have two chefs because two left so he is working mornings with me and he should not be in the kitchen, even Dan says the same thing.  He is too high strung.  Dan can smell beer on him sometimes.  One minute he is singing at the top of his lungs in the kitchen and then he turns around and swears at you.  Today Kate and I were rearranging some furniture on the patio because it was still out of place from the event.  We had to set it up in a spot that it is not usually in because we can’t move the pool table back.  We just wanted to clean things up the way he likes things to be.  You know what he said? “ that’s not where it goes!”  “I know but everything was all over the place and we were just trying to clean up until the pool table gets moved” “The boys will move it later because that’s not where it goes”  he didn’t even say thank you just told us it was wrong even though we were making the “presentation” look good and “presentation is the most important thing.”   After the night of the event one of our chefs signed out and he had 16 hours, straight no break.  “you are honestly gonna claim all those hours?”  asked our manager. “ The night was for charity you are expected to donate some of your hours.  I can’t believe you are claiming all of them”  You know what, we worked our asses off, the chefs worked 10 days straight and then a 15 hour day and then anything over 12 hours we are expected to donate our hours to charity??? Get fucked!!! That is not right and they can’t make us.  We didn’t even get a thank you, just shit the next day to clean up…well that’s a lie, Dan and I went in for a drink and his wife bought us a round but other then that nothing.  It’s always you are not doing enough or your not doing it right or your not doing it my way because it’s the best.

The manager is the same way…he is a young English guy with no prior experience.  Everytime Dan and I worked with him he was like do this, do that, this needs to be done that needs to be done while he did nothing.  Dan and I did everything. He even had the odacity to show me step by step to wash dishes!!!  I finally lost my shit with him and told him he does not need to talk to me condescendingly and treat me with more respect, I’m not an idiot. “Well if you did it right the first time I wouldn’t have to speak to you like that”  “Excuse me!?!  Just because I did something wrong doesn’t mean you have to talk to me like that.  People make mistakes, it doesn’t give you the right to treat them like idiots.  It’s not what you say it’s how you say it and it really needs to change.  One night Dan and I were having a couple of drinks and sitting on the laptop, Dan went in to grab us another drink and the manager said “doesn’t Emmie work tomorrow? Should she be having another wine”   I had three glasses in three hours and I am sorry but I am 31 years old, who do you think you are watching what I drink.  He even does it at the house if we are all sitting around having drinks…”who opens tomorrow?”  “can you guys turn the tv down?”  ughhh. Though after my little talk with him things changed a bit, he gaveDan and I his car for the night so we could go to Darwin on our days off.

It was so nice getting out of the Springs for a night though the car ride there was …well…it sucked!  Not that we should complain due to the fact we got a car but man did this car suck.  It had no A/C  so we had to keep the windows down.  The stereo had an ipod dock that didn’t work so we had no music, the speedometer was broken so we didn’t know how fast we were going and it was soo hot and it is even hotter in  Darwin because of the humidity.  To top it off the stereo needs to be unplugged when the car is turned off because it drains the battery but the stereo got stuck and we couldn’t get it out to unplug it.  It was hot and humid and all we wanted was a beer but we had to unplug this stupid thing.  We were so annoyed because of the heat and we couldn’t stop sweating.  My cleavage looked like Niagara Falls and Dan in just his shorts literally looked like he stood under my cleavage of the Falls because he was drenched.  Finally after checking into a cheap motel and getting a knife we solved the problem.

We stayed at the Value Inn and let me tell you , you definitely get what you pay for.  The room was so small I felt like I was back on the Clipper lol but it served it’s purpose considering we were only using it to sleep.

We went to Shennanigans (the place we met up with Nik last time in Darwin).  Alex, one of the Canadians I lived and worked with in Karumba is living in Darwin so I called her up and she met us for drinks.  Man did we get pissed up.  She took us to this place called Monsoon’s where they almost didn’t let Dan in because he was drunk but I talked his way out of it.  We finally get in and are having a drink when Dan trying to speak, slurring his words over his now intoxicated British accent “babe, can I have room key? Be back”  “what do you need it for?” “to freshen up”  I start laughing “you do not need to freshen up you want to go to sleep” he shakes his head.  “Alright we will all go back” we skull our drinks and walk back to the Value Inn.  I run in to use the toilet and when I come out Dan is beginning to take off his clothes  “umm babe can you wait Alex is…oh, ok you want to take your pants off now” and then he is naked “Wow Dan I just saw your penis, good job there Emmie”  OMG great first impression.   Anyways like I knew he wouldn’t he didn’t freshen up he went right to sleep.  Sweet, girls night!  We had a fab time and tried to dance it up but we were too drunk, but it was great seeing her again and so good to have a girls night. The next morning it was back to the Springs.

We both are really trying, to like it here.  Instead of saying how long we have been here we go how many weeks we have left.  We talk about what we are going to do on our road trip after here and think about all the money we are saving.  The money is great, we pull in over a grand a week so we are saving heaps due to the fact there is nothing here and with no car (unless borrowed) we are here at all times.  I keep trying to think of the money we are making but sometimes I think sanity is worth more then money.

We found that if at  work all we do is clean and wash the floor it seems to make the owner happy but then one thing happens and he just loses it there is no room for error and I am sorry I am human mistakes will happen.  It’s stressing me out and I am always walking on egg shells.  I am stressed out to the point that I have headaches every day, my appetite has gone down, my stomach is upset and my mouth hurts (one of my stress signs) plus on top of that I am dehydrated from the heat so I feel like shit all the time.  Dan is calm and chill but some days I can tell he just wants to bust.  Now we have 10 days straight of work but then we have two days off so we are going to Darwin for a few days.  We wanted to go to some of the Falls but because of wet season most things are closed off till April so we just head to Darwin for drinks and whatever else we can get ourselves into, maybe some new ink?  What do you think mum?  Lol you know it’s gonna happen!

Just like Karumba this is an experience, and I know I will look back on it and smile just like Karumba.   I try not to stress but it’s hard with someone like the owner,  Dan has literally been my sanity I don’t know what I would do without him.  Now we just have to push on 9 more shifts and then it’s time for Darwin!!!

Evil Cows, Waterfalls and Job Decisions?

I was pretty stressed out when we got to Cairns.  I had spent heaps of money in Airlie and my funds were decreasing fast.   Our plan was to find work as soon as possible but we were not having any luck.  Dan really wanted a day where we could just enjoy ourselves and take our mind off things for a bit so we decided to go on Captain Matty’s Barefoot Tours - $85 – perfect for our budget.

We got picked up at 7:15am out front of the hostel.  This orange and white hippy van pulls up infront with a musical horn and out jumps Captain Matty a 32 year old full bearded dreadlocked hippy.  “Good morning you must be Dan and Emmie!  Come here give us a hug!” He embraces us in a huge bear hug with a kiss on the forehead (just me not Dan) “Allright then Dan where are you from” “England” “Ahhh a POME. Nice.  Emmie where are you from?”  “Canada” “Are you afraid of the dark?  Apparantly Canadians are afraid of the dark!”  I knew right away this was going to be a great day.

Every time someone new joined he would hug them.  His energy and vibe was amazing and before we got to our first stop he knew everyone’s name and where they were from and, of course, had a little anecdote or fact about them.  “Alright now you Irish as much as you deny it we all know that you guys are not very good swimmers so everyone here please keep an eye on them.  Team America – Fuck Ya!” He sang to the 2 couples in their 50’s. “ Now guys, please do not talk about bombs and terrorists because it makes Team America really nervous.”  “Emmie, Miss Canadia.  Is it light enough in here for you?  It’s going to be dark on our way back but don’t worry I have night lights so you won’t get scared.”  He had something for everyone!  “All right guys welcome aboard my name is Captain Matty and the bus…her name is Shh Ka Ka.  We are on no time limit if you want to spend 5 minutes or 1 hour at our sites be my guest, this is a chilled out laid back tour so take your time.  You can eat on the bus and drink (soft drinks) and just enjoy.  Questions, concerns, comments anything about butterflies?  I am currently learning about butterflies so please feel free to ask me anything about them.  NO?  Well I will tell you anyways!” 

As we drove the Atherton Tablelands Matty educated us on butterflies, Kangaroos, Koalas and the evil cows in the fields.  ``See the little white birds in the fields next to the cows.  They are terrorists and they tell the cows to charge at tour busses filed with backpackers so we need to be really careful.  Look how all the cows are facing the same way…sitting there staring at us and it goes through every field out here.  Just keep your eyes peeled, it`s dangerous around here.``

At the first stop we decided to roll a cigarette.  “I will roll that for you” Captain Matty said and took the half rolled cigarette out of my hands “you can have one if you want” “nah mate, I quit but I love rolling and I love the smell so just blow your smoke my way.  You can’t smoke on Shh Ka Ka but if it’s green be my guest!” Our first stop was the Cathedral Tree.  A tree, in which its roots wrap themselves and swirl in every direction up the base of the tree and the leaves starting 100 feet up.  It was awesome!  Our next stop was Lake Eacham, or what they call a lake.  It was basically a really big pond.  “Are you sure this is called LAKE Eacham?”  I asked Dan “ya that’s what Captain Matty said” It was the size of our Mill Pond.  I wonder sometimes about the Aussies, they call something the size of a pond a lake but yet they say some of our beach aren’t beaches because they are fresh water?!?  It makes no sense.  Anyways after Dan took a morning swim in the “Lake” we had the morning tea and biscuits Captain Matty had prepared for us.  “So Emmie how old are you?” “31” “Sweet I am 32.  Dan how old are you?” “25”  “Good job mate.  Are they real?”  “Yes.” “Good on you!” Said Captain Matty slapping Dan on the back.

Next we went to a “really big hole.”  There really is no other way  to explain it; it`s this really big whole with water in it, but it is not known where the water comes from or how deep it is.  One diver went down to 95 meters and there is still no answer of how deep it is or if it is connected to another body of water.  When the rivers around flood the level of the water in the ``really big hole``  stays at the same level.  To be honest it wasn`t that beautiful but yet at the same time it was breathtaking.

After that we went to our first waterfall ( I can`t remember the name) where we swam around in the fresh water and kissed under the waterfall.   Next we stopped in Milla Milla at the pub for a beer and lunch and then we headed off to Milla Milla Falls. 

You know the Herbal Essences commercial where the girl is under the waterfall and she is moaning orgasmically well that is Milla Milla Falls and it’s amazing.  We could’ve stayed there all day.  We swam right out to the falls and went behind them.  It felt like we were in a storm back there, it was so loud that you had to yell to talk and water kept blowing in my face so it was hard to see.  We swam underneath the falls and took pictures and enjoyed the coldness of the fresh water.  Matty took pictures of everyone whipping their hair back even the guys posed for pictures.  I honestly wanted to sit and have a picnic and spend the rest of the day there but it was time to move on.  We went to two water falls – Zillie Falls and I can’t remember the other one – which we couldn’t swim in and then we went to our last stop Josephine Falls.  This was awesome!!!  The falls rand down these huge rocks which have become a natural waterslide.  It was so much fun!  You just climb up the rocks and then you slide down on your stomach, back or like I did on my bum.  Some of the locals actually run and slide all the way down on their feet.  We must’ve spent about an hour going down the rocks and swimming, well swimming as much as we could, the current was really strong and would always pull you the opposite ways so finding a rock ad perching yourself was the best way to stop and take pictures.  After we made our way back to the car park Matty had prepared evening tea with chips and dip.  My favourite!  We snacked for about a half hour and then loaded back on the bus for the ride back to Cairns only to find out he had tv’s and a DVD on board and we got to watch Ice Age.

By the time we got back to Calypso we had been gone for 12 hours.  It was one of the best tours I have done in my 8 months of travelling.  It was laid back, entertaining and all the places we went to were awesome, we had so much fun and it was so nice to not stress out for a day, though that didn’t mean I didn’t get back on the stress the next day.

It was now Monday and we still hadn’t found a job.  The Night Owl across the street was hiring for two positions but I didn’t want to spend the next few months working at a convenience store.  We had answered to heaps of ads on Gumtree, Happy Travels ad Peter Pans and still we had heard nothing, and I had started cleaning at the hostel so we could get free accommodation.  Tuesday we devoted most of the day to researching jobs and sending out our resumes.  At 4pm Dan said to call it quits “we have been doing this all day, give it time for responses.”

The next day (Wednesday) his phone wouldn’t stop ringing with job offers.  We got offered 5 in 20 minutes.  There were two we were really keen on.  We got offered one in the Torres Straits on Thursday Island which we were really stoked about.  Not many white people get to go there as it is Aboriginal so we knew the experience would be amazing.  The other was helping run a lodge in the Northern Territory Outback.  We didn’t know which one to take.  We made our decision only because one of them said we could start right away while the other said we had to wait 10 days and we couldn’t afford to wait around Cairns for another 10 days.

We booked our flight for Friday morning but as we were boarding our flight got cancelled due to technical difficulties.  So we had to go through customs and baggage claim and then wait around in the lobby for 2 hours before we could check in to a flight 7 hours later.   Jetstar was putting us up in a hotel at our destination for the night as our new employers were picking us up but we were landing too late so we had to spend the night after we landed.

So now here we are in the Outback working at a Roadhouse/Lodge just off the Stuart Hwy.  There is no population here as we are not even in a town.  There is just us employees and all the miners that stay onsite here during there work weeks.  It’s so incredibly hot here.  It’s about 30 degrees at 5am when I start work.   It’s beautiful here though.  The landscaping is beautiful and the roadhouse is set up like a bistro and our house – we get free accommodation and meals – is massive.  The sunrises here are so beautiful, the sky turns purple!

We are so stoked to be in the Northern Territory.  We even got to spend the afternoon in Darwin before Dallas (our employer) having drinks at Shennanigans with Nik!  You all remember Nik!  My mate from Dracula’s who I used to walk home with.  He was out here visiting his parents so we met up for some drinks.  He was dying in the heat.   You can always tell the Melbournians,  pastey white and dying in the heat lol.

Well, we are spending the next three months here in Population 0 and we are super excited.  We both love the job, the owners are great and the other staff are pretty cool.  There is not much to do out here unless you have wheels so we are hoping to buy a car within the next couple of weeks. 

Till next time.

The Clipper

I left you all off with me waiting to go on The Clipper,   a backpacker boat in The Whitsundays with a reputation of being the craziest party boat!!! Let me tell...The Cipper definately held up to it's reputation.  To be honest,  I wished I was in my early 20's again so I could've really gotten involved as much as the younger ones did.  It was a mix of Jersey Shore and Spring Break in Cancun on the water for 2 nights....that's probably not the best way to describe it because it makes it sound horrible and not give it the justice it deserves but those are the only words that seem to fit with an explanation of my experience on the boat.  In other words AWESOME!!!!  Come on, we all know I love JS!
Anyways, I had to walk to the Marina, it was only a 20 minute walk but with my overnight bag, a box of Goon and massive humidity it was brutal.  I was swearing at the company under my breath about how much money I spent and there could at least be a bus. I was sweating and my goon was heavy and I had absolutely no idea where I was going.  They said follow the path but it turned and then disappeared and with my sense of direction I was ready to turn around and go back to the hostel and let the boat keep my $400, but with determination and asking for directions I finally made it.
We all boarded the boat put our stuff in the bar area and went upstairs to the main deck to have our orientation.  Jimmy one of the decky's comes out and says "alright guys we are only suppossed to have 53 people on this boat and we have 55 so we need to find out who the idiots are before we can leave."  He begins reading off names and everyone is saying here, here, here.  After about 10 names this girl said "did you say this was the Clipper?" "Yes"  "Ummm ya we are the idiots, sorry guys"  we all clapped and waved them on there merry way.  Jimmy says "wow this looks fun lets just randomly walk on a boat filled with backpackers and see wehre it takes us!"  Anyways with all that figured out we finaly set sail and
had a bit of an orientation that went something like "welcome to The Clipper....please use our toilet paper not your own as ours is made for the toilets....your goone is in the beer fridge....ladies no strings no wings in the toilet....the music and beer fridge close at midnight....there is a spa on the lower deck....please do not jump into the waters tonight there are sharks.... guys those little rubber things you "sometimes" use please tie a knot at the top and place them in the rubbish bin....for all of you drinking goone the cups are in the cupboard that say cups so please do not ask where we keep them.  Tonight is a night of drinks and music so grab your goone and whatever else you backpackers drink and party!  Definatly my type of boat already.
I ended up sitting with 4 girls that I spent the next two days with, Amy, Selina, Emily and Ketchup...yes that's right Ketchup.  She is Dutch and when people can't say her name properly it ends up sounding like Ketchup so that's what she calls herself.  
A few hours later I was pretty pissed and I looked over the side of the boat and I say " OMG guys look at the sharks!"  "ummm Emmmie they are dolphins and they have been swimming here for 2 hours!"  I'm sorry I was drinkning goone we all know what happens when I drink goone...it's like tequila for me I take one sip and say "see you guys tomorrow" which is exactly what happened.  I ended up passing out at 10pm and when I woke up the next morning to Jimmy singing at the top of his lungs to wake us up I didn't even remember I was on the clipper.  I was so confused.  With bleery eyes I got dressed into my wet shorts and bathing suit and made my way up for breakfast.  Jimmy after his singing said "alright guys get your bacon and eggs up in the bar area!" So all the guys roll out of bed and race up the stairs only to find toast and fruit, lol too funny.
"My clothes are still wet from being thrown in the spa last night" I said when I sat with the girls at breakfast.  "Thrown in? No Emmie you went in willingly"  "oh dude really, fuck, I remember getting thrown in." "nope you went in willingly and then you flashed the guys"  "oh no really?  oh...and now that you mention it I remember...I swear it's the goone I am a completely different person when I drink it!"
Our first stop that morning was to Whitsunday Island where we would get to spend the morning hours at Whitehaven Beach.   Before going to the beach you head up a hilll to the look out.  Now everyoe is extremely hungover and dying on this trek complaining how hard it is and that they feel like dying...me who would usually be winjing myself was so used to hiking up and down the island hills that I was like "hard?  come on guys suck it up this is an easy trek"  honestly living on the island and having to hike to and from work everyday has totally helped my fitness level.  Anyways the look out is where all the pictures of the Whitsundays are taken for postcards and let me tell you the view from there was postcard perfect.  Blue blue water with swishes of the whitest sand swirling through it.  That's all I can say to describe it,  I don't think there is anything to describe what it loooks like except "you have to go see it!"  Seriously that's it!  I don't know what else to say. It was beautiful, it was breathtaking, stunning, incredible...whatever else you can think on is probably just the tip of what it looked like.  I could've looked at it all day but the beach was calling my name, so me and Stu (one of the guys I met  on the Clipper) made our way back down the path to head to the beach.  
As we are walking we hear a rustling sound in the bushes and see something "oh my god what is that?" said Stu stepping back.  - Stu is quite new to Australia so not overly used to the wildlife here.  Me on the other hand don't freek with snakes and spiders anymore and am picking up bugs with my fingers...I know I know but what can I say. - Next thing you know an oversized lizard slowly, taking his time walks out on to the path in front of us and making his way down the hill.  "It's just a Guana, don't be such a pussy" I said calmly getting out my camera as I had never seen one and wanted a picture.
Whithaven!  WOW!  Fucking incredible!  I loved it as much as the beach in Abel Tasman.  It was so incrdibly beautiful.  The first view of the beach when you leave the tree covered path to the white sand is incredible.  The sand is the whitest sand you have ever seen and so incredibly soft on your feet, and you see miles of white that eventually meets the clearest water you have ever seen.
  The sand is made with silica, it's the only beach in the world with sand like this.  You can shine your silver,  rub and wash your skinn with it making it soft like a new born baby's bum,  brush your teeth to whiten them it was amazing.   The water is crystal clear...I mean crystal clear.  You look down at your feet and it's like you are standing in a bathtub looking at your feet in the water.  It was so refreshing and felt so good.   We sat all morning in the water hanging out and playing around using Stu to put us up on his shoulders so we could get photos.  Washing our skin and brushing our teeth with the sand which didn't feel the greatest when rinsing the our now hot bottles of water.   We could've stayed all day but it was time to head back to the boat so we could get our mid day feed and head to Hook Island for some afternoon snorkelling.
I wasn't overly keen on going snorkelling.  The girls were all planning on going but I had already gone in Cairns and ended up struggling to much and not enjoying myself so I was gonna hang back on the boat with Stu  and a few of the guys and enjoy the waterslide and the divingboard, but when I saw that the snorkellers and divers were being dropped off on Hook Island not out in the open water like in Cairns I decided I wanted to go. I grabbed snorkel gear and hopped on the dingy boat with Amy.  
The first bit of snorkelling wasn't the greatest or should I say the first part of the water wasn't the greatest.  There was this brown algae on top of the water that stinks and makes you feel like you were walking through poo...I had to hold my breath...but it only took us a minute to wade through it and then we were off.  I am so glad I went.  The water was calm and the sun was shinning and I didn't have to struggle with my swimming like the time before.  Amy hadn't snorkelled before and was a little nervous which I was ok with because I was still a little nervous in the water.   They gave floating noodles to go out with so we doubled them up and just chilled out and took our time.   We ran into Selina, I mean swam into Selina...so she joined us and we snorkelled around together.  Amy finally had the nerve to look in the water and loved what she saw.  It was really awesome!  The coral itself wasn't what I had seen in Cairns but the fish....there were so many of them.  There were heaps of Dori fish and Zebra fish that at one point I felt like I was at the zoo in the Zebra section.  "Wow, my fish Jack would love it here.  It's short for Jack Daniels.  I also have Smirnoff but Jack would definatly love it here!"  "Selina I don't think this would be overly safe for your fish"  I said as I put my head back in the water.  "I know but he would love the coral and all the fish he would have so many friends." "Selina...haha are you still talking, here we are snorkelling away and you keep talking about your fish Jack.  Stick your head in and enjoy it"  " I know, I'm just saying the would've loved it.  He died awhile back."  Amy and I started laughing.  "Still he would've loved it."
That night was a fucking crazy as party.  First we all had to go in these big bins and grab clothing and put it on.  The clothes stunk so bad lol.  You could tell they were clothes people had left behind and were covered in alcohol and sweat from previous parties on the boat. 
The guys...of course...put on dresses and got their makeup done.  I don't know what it is with boys and dresses, I swear they all want to be women.  One of the guys Stu wore a bra on his head.  Amy stuffed the front of Lukes shirt to make him have boobs, they were so uneven and saggy it was awesome.   The staff was dressed up and was involved with everything.   The whole night was to see who the King/Queen of the Clipper was.  People got illiminated every round and when they got eliminated we had to sing "nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye"   NO!  I was thinking....that's what they sing when you leave the island lol I really don't want to hear or sing this.  The games were crazy we had to pretend to be zoo animals, one round theycalled freeze and we had to hold our positions we couldn't move or laugh, even if they tickled us we couldn't crack a smile.  While holding ourselves still the staff came around and put us into sexual positions.  There was a guy and girl standing beside me.  They bent her over and put him in a position with his beer botthe up to his mouth and made him hump back and forth the whole time.  This was the only thing I could see and I was doing everything not to laugh and I survived the round and moved on.  One round the guys were Eucalyptus trees and the girls were Koalas and we had to climb them and hold onto them.  Next round we had to be letters of the alphabet.  "Right lets make the letter B"  So I jumped up and wrapped my legs around one of the girls and curled up in a ball.   A third girl curled up at the bottom of her legs.  " Her head is in my croch"  "Thats ok" I replied "I am actually resting my ass on her head and my face in your boobs...this isn't akward at all.  My name is Emmie by the way"   The next round is where I got eliminated.  We had to pretend we were in a rowing competition, we had to keep together and row as fast as we could.  I never want to be a rower.  It was hard work, I think we even moved a foot across the boat we were rowing so hard.  I was a little upset I didn't make it on to the next round but when I turned around and saw that almost everyone still left in the game were naked I was so thankful I could just drink and watch the craziness that at one time in my life I would've been involved in and loving.  There was music and strobe lights and singing, it was insane, if we were on the mainland we would've shaken the ground.
I was one of the last ones up...I know it's amazing...I wanted to go to bed early but Stu kept saying "no Emmie you have to stay up tonight, enough of this sleeping business."  A few of us hung out upstairs on the main deck with Jimmy  he told us when they were cleaning out the spa that morning to refill it, it was clogged with someones underwear.  "honestly, his said there have been so many things I have seen on this boat it's incredible."
The next day we were heading back to Airlie but we got one more snorkel off of Hayman Island.  THE best snorkelling I have done in Australia so far.  The colours of the reef were incredible and there were so many things I hadn't seen before.  At one point I was completely surrounded by Dori fish and I mean surrounded I could stick my finger out and touch them they were so close to my face.   One of the staff had thrown in fish food so they would come around and boy did they ever.  There were so many you could see them pop out of the water and feel the swim up against you.  I was a little freaked out but it was worth it.   There was this massive fish (I don't know the name)  they call Elvis that we could pet and swim with.  It was amazing,   I wanted to stay in all day, I didn't want to get back in the dingy but we had to start heading back to the mainland.
When we got back to the Clipper we really wanted to do one time down the waterslide.   Awsomeness!  plus there were these huge blue fish swimming with us it was cool.
That night there was an after party at Phoenix and a drink and half a pizza for $5.   The girls and I went but after I ate my pizza I was ready to go to bed.  "You do too much sleeping for my liking Emmie" said Lee.  I didn't actually go to bed I was meeting up with Aidan and Max as it was Aidans last night so I went for a few drinks with them and headed off to bed.  
I had a message from Dan telling me to call HR when I got back.  They had found me a job and were going to move him and I into a double room.  Once again I got the run around for 2 days finally with an answer "sorry Emmie but Vickie won't let you back"  I waited around for nothing!   I didn't know what to do or what my plans were but then Dan quit his job on the island because he wanted to come with me but he still had to stay another work.  My friend Siimon hooked me and Alexa (from the island) up with his friends apartment for 4 nights rent free.  All we had to do was clean the apartment.  Perfect.  The days went slow and were boring, Dan and I were counting down the days until I got to go to the island.  I was going back on the Tuesday night (his last night) as his guest for the night.  It was so much fun and felt so good to be back,  the boys were happy to see me and so was everyone else.  "Party tonight boys" "of course Emmie your here" "Umm it's my last night"  Dan says "ya but Emmie always throws parties...Emmie wants to get drunk party...Keep me on the island party....I'm leaving the Island party....I want to party party....andd we love them you can come though"
The next day we made our way back to Airlie and then booked the bus to Cairns for the next day.  Honestly 10 hour bus rides are not fun, but we went with Premiere and they have more leg room then Greyhound and they play movies almost the whole way so we really couldn't complain. 
So it was back to Cairns.  It feels good to be back, my Aussie landing ground.  I walk in the door and I hear "Emmies back!"  Everyone wants us to stay but we really want to find work in the Outback for the next 3 months.  I know, more isolation but it is the best way to save and make money, and it is quite nice being away from technology.


what was the thing i need you to remind me about the clipper

The Run Around

By the time I got to my second week I knew I wanted to extend.   I had met incredible people, I loved my job and I was living in paradise, what more could I ask for.  After a shift I said to my manager “I would really like to extend for about 2 weeks”  she said she had to talk to my supervisor and she would get back to me. While I waited to hear back I talked to some of my mates and they said I might as well stay longer, the longer I stay the more money I save and then I can travel for months and not work.  Why not I loved it there anyways.  Five days later I still hadn’t heard anything back so again after work I asked “have you talked to Jim yet” (my supervisor) “no I haven’t, I will tomorrow”  “ok, well I would really love an extension, I love my job here and really want to stay till at least mid-November possibly January.  I then went to HR to talk to them. ( My manager has to go to HR who has to go to the Chief of Village of final decisions. )

I was a little on edge for the next little while.  I still didn’t have an answer therefore I didn’t know what was going on and I was getting stressed out.   One day at work I asked my supervisor what was going on he said they were cutting staff but there were two spots available.  They were 100% keeping Jarrett because he wanted 3 months and that someone from FnB (food and beverage) had put in a request to transfer.  Nothing against my work ethic but that was the decision. Then as I went to sign out at the end of the day my manager says “Emmie I am cutting down to 7 staff so I’m not giving you an extension!”  Just like that, in front of everyone.  I was a little embarrassed and upset.   I went right up to HR and told them I would do the three months.  That I really wanted to stay and I wasn’t ready to leave.

I was far from ready.  Everything was amazing on the Island.  I lived in the best spot, I had amazing friends who I adored and I kind of started dating someone.  Everything was just perfect and didn’t want it to end.

The next day while putting up curtains with my supervisor he said “you should’ve said you can stay for three months” and then continued to tell me about how the French Canadian guy Christian got the position and that all the paperwork was getting done that day.  The next day I see Christian and his wife  Nadia.  “Hey Emmie did you get any good news about your extension?”  “I didn’t get it!  You got the position!”  “No!  they told me to come back that no decision had been made.”  “they told me all the paperwork got done yesterday.”  “they give you information they don’t tell me.  It is your job I don’t want to take it from you.”

I was so frustrated.  I didn’t know what was going on.  I went to speak to HR again and she said I wasn’t the only one trying to get an extension and that I should be prepared to leave the following Tuesday when my contract was done; but then that night at disco she said “Emmie I don’t want you to leave I am doing everything to keep you on the Island.”  Dan and I had no idea what was going on,  we didn’t know if I was coming or going, staying or leaving, packing or settling.  He even wanted to get me in the kitchen with him as a dishy but they don’t allow girls to be dishy’s.  WTF!!!  

I was gutted!  I didn’t want to leave, everything was perfect and I was so happy. In honour of myself I threw a Keep Emmie on the Island Party where I took marker (that we borrowed from kids club) and wrote in big letters on a club med towel to make a banner that one of the guys wore as a cape.  It was a success the boys showed up and got pissed up and then we all headed to the disco.

  Head’s of departments were telling me not to worry something would come up, looking to see if they could find a spot for me anywhere on the resort.  Then Scottie, gardens supervisor said “hey I need another person in gardens would you be interested”  “HELLS YES!”  “allright then let me just run it by Luke.”  Well Luke said yes,  all he had to do was talk to HR.  Oh great here we go again…the run around.  5 days later I still hadn’t heard anything it was always come back, we haven’t spoken, your fine don’t worry,  I have a meeting I will know tomorrow.  I was getting so anxious it was the last day of my contract and I still hadn’t heard anything!  And to top it off HR was closed for the day!! Dan kept telling me not to worry, that I had massive support to be kept on the Island there is no way I was leaving.   Finally, I was told to be at a meeting the next morning to get everything sorted out.  It sounded really positive and raised my spirits a little bit,  it’s the closest thing I had to a reply in days.

The next morning after my meeting I went straight to my room to wake up Dan.  “How did it go?”  “it didn’t” “it didn’t” “what do you mean it didn’t”  “they said there is no budget and I have to leave tomorrow morning”  I couldn’t believe it!  Actually no one could believe it.  “What do you mean you didn’t a get transfer” “that’s bullshit” “why do they always get rid of the good ones”  “I just don’t get it”  people I have barley even spoken to knew I didn’t get it and were coming up to me.  The guys were knocking on my door asking for hugs and how they heard.  Dan had told everyone when he saw them at work.  “there is nothing else I can do to keep her here. We’ve tried everything.” 

I was told of a few spots opening up in a couple weeks but I had to leave and come back if they accepted me into the job.  It seemed pointless.  So unwillingly I packed up my little donga all day and got prepared for my last night with my Island family.  It was a really nice night, all the boys showed and even some of the chefs popped up when they were done work to say goodbye.  As much as I didn’t get to stay the love and support I had from everyone was enough for me.

It was a sad goodbye on the jetty the next day.   I didn’t let Dan come and say goodbye.  “it’s bad enough I am leaving I don’t want to have to say goodbye, besides you are coming to Airlie in a couple days I will see you then.”  The guys came down with me “Emmie why are you crying we will see you in Airlie on Friday” Graeme the bus driver got out and hugged me.  “you take care of your self sweetie. I love you.” Then he looks at me “oh don’t you start crying” then it came to my goodbye with Shira.  Shira is the reception manager and me and her became mates one night over some wine.  I had spent a half hour in her office the previous morning crying when I didn’t get my extension.   She came up to me put her arms around me and we hugged so tight (well as tight was we could as I had on my massive backpack)  “emmie you are such a beautiful person,  good luck with everything and never change.”

I so did not want to get on the ferry.  The guys were taking pictures of me leaving, everyone was waving and singing “na na na na hey hey hey goodbye.”  I hated every minute of it.  There were a few of us leaving so at least I didn’t have to do the travel on my own.  It took us hours to get back to Airlie.  By the time I checked into the hostel it was 4.5 hours later.  It was such a long day.

I ran into a friend from the Island so we hung out for a couple days at the bars during happy hour.  I even ran into a mate from back home that I hadn’t seen is 6 years, it was so random.  Dan came out on Thursday for two nights.  He told me the girl who got the PA position was leaving in a week and the spot was opening back up!  WTF!  Aidan and Max (2 of our mates that just finished their contracts, also PA) said that it was 100% that she was leaving and my one supervisor was trying to get them to hire me back.  It’s retarded!  Plus there are ad’s up all over Airlie for immediate work on the Island?!?  It makes no sense to me what so ever.  Dan left today and he is heading straight to HR to find out what is going on.

Oh well, I’m just thinking of this as a mini vacay and the fact that there is a gastro outbreak on the Island I don’t mind not being there.   We had a wicked two days. Shopping, watching movies, bar hoping, swimming in the pool.  It was really nice to have some time away from the Island.  Now to continue my vacation I am heading on to a boat called the Clipper.  One of the best party boats to go on through the Whitsundays.  Honestly, even with the run around I have had with the Island, life is great and it just keeps getting better.

The Magic Ingredients to a Perfect Life on an Island

I have a log book that has logged every day of my travels.  It includes stickers of the places I have been, quotes from people and letters from people I have met along the way.  I recently made a really great friend on the Island who unfortunately was done with her contract and left . It was sad saying goodbye though unfortunately with travelling it happens often, you meet great people but you blink and they are gone, it sux but thats apart of travelling.  The night before she left she wrote me a beautiful letter in my book that almost brought me to tears and wanted  to post it. 

The Magic Ingredient to a Perfect Life on an Island:

The people I have met!

I live in a little box where they succeeded in  making fit a tiny little bed, a shelf, and a broken fridge.  But the rest of the time I stay with my dongas family spending the time messing around drinking a few beers on the floor of the “living room” or watching a movie: 7 people in 1 bed!  And then we get ready for the Disco!  Every Wednesday and Friday, and the main question the morning is “who is getting NBO?” or “How and when the held did I get home?”

We pet Elvis and Pete the cockatoos, go to discover the island and try to swim back the current without drowning, count how many points we made last night, try to wake up and go to work on time but it never happens, hunt turkeys with craig and fishing line, nominate the queen/mother/god…of the dongas, count how many flies we’ve killed in a day, look at the NBO’s party pictures, kill our hangover by the pool talking about the gossips, debat on who are the new hotties and GO’s assholes, take pictures when we party so we can actually remember what happened,  have to open 4 different rooms to find our belongings…and so on!

And now it is time to go.  Not because I want to but because I have to.  I’ve been dreaming for this moment for so long, but now that it’s here, I just don’t wanna leave.  I feel exactly the same as when I left home 11 months ago to do my world tour, this weird feeling in my stomach because I’m leaving my family/friends/routine, and now the real world is calling me…but I don’t wanna go.  Now I’ll have to go to a supermarket and cook my own food, meet strangers in the street, have to take the bus to go to the beach, lock my door, have to pick up the phone when it rings (I don’t even remember my phone number), be a backpacker again and pack everyday (which I hate!)

So, yeah! This is it, 5 months on Lindeman.  Awesome time with awesome people.  I really hope that you will experience it as longs as you can cause you deserve it little crazy mother donga’s ! J

Make sure we meet up again, why not south America when this beautiful Argentinien will have stolen my heart haha! Or in Europe and get crazy and catch up this time that we didn’t spend together and I wilsh we had but I left too early or you came too late…

Take care of the Donga’s as you are the new feminine representant and only girls rule J

I miss you and all of you already.  Keep smiling and getting shit faced but not NBO!

Xxx Justine Mother/Queen/Donga’s!

I don’t think it could’ve been said any better then that.  Those really are all the ingredients though you have been the only ingredient missing these days.   You have been missed and I always say that the party is missing something…you.   I hope all is well and that we get to meet up somewhere in this crazy world again.  Take care and I miss you!

Your Replacement Mother Donga xox

Living in Paradise.

The past two weeks have been crazy, I feel like I have done sooo much!!! From leaving Karumba, to being back in Cairns and then doing the long trek down to Airlie Beach to live in the Witsundays!  It has been insane. But; before I get to my adventure getting here and telling you about island life I have to tell you a story.

Behind where I  lived in Karumba was the old staff housing, an old blue house with two levels that are now boarded up and locked.  My last week in Karumba (before I knew it was my last week) Liz, Cass and I grabbed wine and bundy rum and drank into the wee hours of the morning.  On this very drunken night after we danced on our front porch and sang along to the iPod I pop up and say “you know what I have wanted to do since I got here?  Break into the blue house!!!”  Well, the girls thought it was a great idea, so off we go to the forbidden blue house.  We walk up the steps to the top level.  Locked.  “Cass cough”  “What?”  “Cough really loud”  as she coughed, I – thinking I’m tough – kick the door hoping to break it down?  Ya right it didn’t even budge.  Defeated we walk back down and were ready to call it a night when I said “there is a door on the ground level”  Cass walks up and turns the handle and the door moves, she pushes it again and it opens a crack but something seemed to be blocking the door.  Liz joined her and pushed on the door.  They get it open enough for all of us to squeeze through.  There was a huge king size mattress blocking the door which of course happy and excited we got in had to act like toddlers and jump on the bed.

The place was pretty clean, not overly dusty or covered in cobwebs.  There were other rooms with mattresses that didn’t seem to be old or rotted.  Liz found a scarf, there were empty beer bottles and a full set of golf clubs and of course deciding we just needed them for no apparent reason took two of them home with us.  Cass found a lamp shade glued to the ceiling in one of the rooms “I like this she said” and ripped it down and wore it as a hat.  The place seemed pretty cool and we wondered why it had been shut down.  To be honest, the place gave me the creeps.  I felt weird in there, that something was hiding in the shadows, as fun as it was I was happy when we left.  Also, just to add,  I had not been drinking goone like my last BnE lol though I was not at one of my most reasonable moments. 

Karumba.  I do miss it out there and even though I left there two weeks ago it feels like it was a lifetime a life time ago.  I went back to Cairns for 4 days and felt like I was home again, I had an absolute blast and got to catch up with people and then  Jarrett  (one of the guys who used to work at Calypso Hostel where I stayed)and I applied for a job with Club Med Lindeman Island and got the job. So 24 hours later and drunk as skunks after a big party night at the hostel we boarded the Greyhound with yet another 11 hour bus trip ahead of me.

So now here I am living on Lindeman Island in the Witsundays, Paradise, and pretty much a haven for backpackers.  The views here are amazing!  We are surrounded (360 degrees)  by mountainous Islands for endless miles all with golden lines of beaches.  The water is so blue and sometimes so calm it is like glass.  The wild life here is amazing.  Bush turkeys that constantly squak and chase eachother and wild cocatoos that fly into our canteen and steal peanut butter.  Elvis (one of the resident cocatoos) flys in grabs a packet and flys back into his tree where he peels the lid back and sits up there cleaning out the whole packet with not a trace of peanut butter left.  When he is done he just drops it to the ground adding to the pile of the packets previously enjoyed.  One day he even ate it off our fingers.  He very slowly walked up to us and like a tame cat just licked it right off our fingers.  They are really curious birds and seem to have no fear of us.  They will fly up right behind us and just sit there looking at us, turning their heads and fanning themselves out.  Then there are the spiritual birds (I’m not sure what they are called) they have long skinny legs and their feathers have the most interesting brown and black design, some parts almost looking like the spots of a leopard.  They have the blackest eyes and they just stand there not moving for minutes at a time, staring at what I don’t know.  They make this weird clicking-hissing sound and then they run towards whatever they are hissing at.  It is said they are warding off evil spirits and if you purposely kill one your number is up.  I love watching them.

There are butterflies, snakes (which I have not seen), moths, horribly big marsh flies that bite, green ants that bite but apparently taste like citrus and spiders, big ones, but I am dealing with them ok.  The weather here is so hot, almost flawlessly hot, I am tanned as,  working outside in a polyester uniform really isn’t the greatest fun.  What am I doing for work?  I’m a PA.  No no not personal assistant, Public Area.  We mop the floors, clean all the toilets, pools, tennis courts, pool areas, rubbish bins and our living area GE Land.   GE Land is made up of shack like appartments A-D block and the Donga’s which is where I live and the best place to live.  We each have our own rooms though we share toilets and showers but its incredibly social here and everyone gets a long great.  My door is always open unless I am at work, I would like to say it is closed when I sleep but usually I pass out with it open when I nap.  Even when there are parties here I fall asleep with the door open and do not wake up to the loud music lol.  There are three parts to the Dongas.  There is oneside called the Monga’s – they are quiet and don’t party, then there are the Donga’s which has two blocks there is the end part which is clean with painted doors which I call Beverly Hills and then there is my block which I like to call Harlem.  This is where all the parties take place on our doorstops (mine being one of the main ones), garbage and cigarette butts that I try and clean in the mornings but is back to the way it was by the end of the night and graffiti on the doors, sounds ugly but we love it though and wouldn’t change it.   GE Land is set up on a hill away from the resort and guests are not aloud here, we have a gym (with rusted equipment), ping pong room (that has holes in the walls containing aspestos but they have been checked and it is safe), a canteen where we eat all our meals (3 meals a day done buffet style, yum yum), a pool, a bar, laundry facilities and the shoe tree.  The shoe tree is massive covered with heaps of shoes,  when leaving the island if you have a pair of shoes that are ruined and need to throw out you put them on the shoe tree so they can stay on the island.  Work isn’t really that bad.  PA is one of the best jobs to have on the island and I actually really enjoy it even though I am cleaning toilets.  I’m happy and always smiling at work even when I sweat like a pig in heat I smile.  Our polyester shirts just sit on the sweat and the mesh at the side to help you breath…not so much by the time I am done work I feel so grungy I can’t wait to get into a shower.  My shifts are 630am till 3pm everyday, early I know but I like the hours.  I have even been napping in the evening so I can party at night.   We have a disco on the resort which is pretty much all staff, it kind of sucks but it is nice to go out and see the GO’s which is the other side of the staff.  The GO’s are the FOH (front of house) staff and have different accommodation from us so it’s nice to see them.

It’s really cool working and pretty much knowing everyone since we all live here.  Everyone is great!  I’m having a blast, I’m even trying to extend my stay here so I can stay and save some more money.  Plus there is so much to do here.  Snorkel (as we are on the outer part of the Great Barrier), camp outs on one of the island beaches, kayaking, weekends at Airlie Beach, helicopter rides over the Witsundays, hikes up Mount Oldfield where you get a 360 degree view of our surroundings which is absolutely breath taking, watching sunsets from the 8^th hole of the golf course which are probably some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.   I DID have pictures of most of this stuff but I lost my SD card so I have to take the pictures again so please be patient.

Anyways I know I am lack of blogs lately but so much happens its hard to keep up so I will be trying my hardest to keep you updated.  I must go though, there is an epic night waiting to happen at the disco tonight and I must join in the festivities of my Donga-ites and get ready for tonight.  I just napped for 4  hours as I have to wake up at 6 and clean…guess what…the disco haha.

Take care

PS  It is my 7 month anniversary!!!  Miss me ? J

On the Road Again!

Alright so it grew on me, Karumba actually grew on me.  The people, the dry landscape, the heat, the fishermans cologne it all grew on me and I fell in love with Karumba.  The only thing I was struggling with was the job, I never settled into it.  I tried but even to pretend I enjoyed it I couldn't do.   They changed the rules on us and worked against our RSA and the old guys that sat at the bar everyday were C ____s (I won't write it because I know mom doesn't like it).   To top that off Steve and Yvonne were acting really wierd towards me and everytime she spoke to me she was condescending; like I wasn't capable of doing my job properly.  Every thing I did she spoke to me like I was a child and I was getting really frustrated.  I don't care if I am a backpacker and we get the shitty end of the deal I am still a person and you don't talk to me like that.
By last Saturday I had enough,  I was ready to quit but I actually had a feeling I was getting fired.  The schedule came out on Sunday,  the other girls have 45 hours and I barley had 35, that was it, my last straw after my shift on Sunday I was going to give her my notice.
"Emmie can I talk to you"  says Yvonne as I was signing out and just about to ask her if I could talk to her.   She pulls me into the office and I knew before we even got in there what it was about.  She said she had complaints and then blamed me for losing them business!!!!  She said that people had stopped going there beccause of me.  "I was coming to tell you that I was leaving"  I told her "Well good then you can leave on Tuesday with the rest of them"  and that was it.   I had less then 48 hours to pack, get a bus ticked (which I had to pay for)  and find myself a ride there.  I went online and talked to one of my mates from the hostel in Cairns.  He booked me in for the next night and was picking me up at the station when I arrived.
"What do you mean you are leaving?!?"  asked one of the locals "I got sacked!  She told me I lost them business.  That people stopped coming here because of me."  " What people?  it hasn't changed since you got here.   Did you get a warning or .  anything?"  "Nope, just less then 48 hours to leave!"  "What a bitch.  YOu know that people stopped coming here because of her not you."  " I know but it's ok, they obviously weren't happy with me and I wasn't with them so it is for the best."  The locals were really surprised and some very unimpressed.  They couldn't believe I got sacked, even the ones I gave grief to and kicked out said they couldn't believe it.  The next day the new girl to replace me arrived.  They had already put an add through the agency and hired someone.  They saved their asses before they threw me out on mine.  CUNT's (sorry mom).
I didn't realize how much I loved Karumba until I was on the bus.   You don't just become family with the staff, its the locals as well you become part of their community and their culture therefore they becomes part of your family.  I was feeling Karumba sick on my way to Cairns.   Me leaving had happened so fast that I really didn't even have time to think about it.  I was stoked to get back to Cairns but sad to leave my little Karumbian world.  
The bus trip was long though there were four of us.  Liz was off to Fiji and Becky and Luke are heading home, plus I had thrown my back out in the morning so 11 hours on the Greyhound with a sore back is not fun.  The closer we got to Cairns we got the weirder I felt.  It was so wierd to get back into  "civilization" and plus how green it is.  Everything is so dry in Karumba and so green here it felt wierd to actually see some colour.
It has felt so good to get back to Cairns.  I honestly feel like I am home again.  I missed it so much here.   Matthew  has come by the hostel for drinks and we have been talking about doing Asia together.   I have seen other friends that I met last time I was here and to be honest I don't want to leave.  Cairns has been my favourite place.  Yesterday heaps of us from the hostel went down to the lagoon all day and just hung out in the sun, listened to music and went swimming.  It was such a wicked day, one of the best I have ahd in a long time.  I just want to stay and live at the lagoon everyday,  but...lucky me...I got a job lol.
One of the guys (Jarrett) who used to work here was planning on heading down to Brisbane to find some work.   I on the other hand wanted to do some excursions and head down and hopefully find some work in about a month.  There was a job posting in the hostel and we applied together.  We got the job, we leave tonight at midnight for an 11 hour bus trip haha love those.
Whats the job you ask.  Working at a Club Med Resort in the Witsunday Islands.  It's gonna be great.  I'm not overly excited because I just came back from work but I would be stupid to give this up, it's money and it's only a three week contract. Apparantly they had heaps of replys but they only had 3 spots available,  so awesome.   It's gonna be so amazing out there!  Everything in life happens for a reason.  If I hadn't of gotten fired I wouldn't have had this opportunity. On the road again!