I have done pretty much nothing in the last week but yet I have so much to write about. I am currently in the Gulf Savannah in a little town called Karumba. Let me rewind a little bit. The day mine and Nicole’s skydive got cancelled I went to a job agency to see what was available-the reason I came to Cairns was to find farm work for a few months. There was a lodge 11 hours outside of Cairns looking for a new bartender as one of theirs was leaving. I was interested but there was a catch. This agency charged you a fee, they wouldn’t even call the place until you paid them the fee, plus on top of that my bus fair to get out there was almost $150 and I was so skint on money at this point. The agency fee gives you a year membership, free internet at their locations and free coupons for local pubs and shops but once they get you the job they have no responsibility for you and when you get back and want to find another job they charge you a fee again. I know, bullshit right? Well it was either this or go work at the burger shop around the corner…I paid the fee and 3 days later at 6am I hopped on the Greyhound for a long 11 hour ride.
We stopped off at a place called Innot Hot Springs where the water is hotter than the hottest days in the outback. It was a quaint little resort like place, with a pool a shop, cabin like rooms and I believe spots for campervans. It was quiet and really hot but I could’ve spent a few days there. I met this little Maori woman who was 4ft nothing, skinny as a beanpole, a cigarette in one hand and a coffee in the other. I asked her where the hot springs were. “oh this way this way” and she would just keep talking spilling her coffee everywhere and smoking that cigarette. The gate was locked “ahh look just do this” and she opened it. “Come on, just come through” I couldn’t believe her skinny little legs were strong enough to hold her up. “oh my coffee” the cup getting emptier and emptier. She was so cute I couldn’t stop smiling. “Oooo feel the wata it’s hat” by the time we got back to our bus she barley had any coffee left and I can tell you she didn’t drink it most of it was on her hand and in the grass.
The bus ride was a little painful. There really wasn’t much to see at all; blue sky, straight road, trees both dead and alive and lots of cows. At some points the road can only fit one vehicle so when there was one coming at us both vehicles literally had to drive on the shoulder-or what there was of a shoulder. Thank god for iPods and an external hard drive full of movies and of course the tiny cat naps I had along the way though it didn’t make the ride go any faster. Finally at about 5:45 I had arrived. “Is anyone picking you up?” asked an older couple “haha I hope so” I hadn’t called them to make sure they were going to be there but they did say on the phone “see you at 5:30 on Friday” so I was hoping that someone would be there. “Emmie?!” “Yup that’s me” I said with a smile and a bit of relief “hi Im Yvonne” we grabbed my stuff, put it in the trunk and off we were to my new home.
So now here I am in a little remote town called Karumba with a population of 600 located in the Gulf Savannah, a vast stretch of remote northern safari land abounding with wildlife also known as the outback by the sea; and the outback it is. It’s so fucking hot here. The locals tell me it’s cold because it’s winter but fuck! I could not survive a summer here, infact I am wondering how I am going to survive 2 months here. There is a tiny café, a grocer which is so expensive, a clinic a school, a library which includes one wall of books and two shelves in the middle that are pretty empty and 4 computers with internet –which is where I have to go because my internet dongle doesn’t work out here, no cellphone – only one service works out here which isn’t mine but I figure I don’t need one when I am out here. There is the little flea market which we went to the other day; its oversized clothing and nicknacks this is the only place you can buy clothes!!! There are two lodges with restaurants, Sunset Tavern and the Karumba Lodge which is where I am. There is not much to it, the lodge part has 24 rooms, there is the Sauve Lounge which is the dining room and all the pokie machines and on the other side is the Famous Animal Bar which is where I work. Back in the day the Animal Bar was the most dangerous bar to work at in Australia! There were so many fights that everything was bolted down to the floor so people couldn’t throw anything. It’s all open concept, with a long bar, 3 pool tables, 3 long high tops with stools a few smaller tables and 3 picnic tables on the lawn. It doesn’t get busy, but the locals drink enough to keep the place going we have to cut people off all the time. We are what they call Barmaides which I think is funny. We have the walk up bottle shop which is attached to Animal so during our barmaid shift we are also serving at the bottle-o (as they call it here). I can not get over how much the locals love their cask wine or better known as Goon, lol it’s kind of funny. The lodge and bars are run by a couple, Steve and Yvonne. They are really nice and are great to us. We live behind the Animal in the Six Pack which is basically an oversized portable with six bedrooms (hence the name six pack), a main room with a couch or more or less a broken couch three arm chairs two of which are broken, a table with two chairs to eat at, a tv with 4 channels, a dvd player but we have no dvd’s. I would like to say we have a kitchen but I don’t know if you would call what we have a kitchen it consists of a long wooden table that we use as a counter, a microwave, a toaster, toaster oven, a hot plate our sink is on the other side of the six pack where we have an ant infestation so we cant leave anything in the sink and a washing machine that doesn’t work so we have all our dishes on it. Two ceiling fans but only one works and it gets so hot so its usually left on all day, we also have an A/C in each room which is a heaven sent. We have two bathrooms each with a shower; my first morning I went in to use the toilet and couldn’t figure out why it looked like there were little poop pellits on the counter “that would be the gecko’s, they come in and like to poop on the counter. Oh and sometimes we get frogs in the bathroom. And the other day there was a brown snake in Animal” “are they dangerous” “yes one of the most deadliest!” You can imagine how I felt when I first got there. I asked myself the famous question “what the fuck did I get myself into?”
Yonni, Alex’s man friend, took us out on my second day. We literally went and drove around in the bushes, drove to the dump to see pigs but we only saw a dead one. Yonni pulled over so Alex and Cass could chase the birds. I look back “guys you left all the doors open to the car my stuff is in there” “do you see anyone around here, we are in the middle of nowhere” I look around, yup nothing definatley in the middle of nowhere. We finally saw some pigs. 3 baby ones ran into the bush so Yonni disappears off into the bush. We were walking around picking stuff up when we heard the pigs snorting and squealing. “Not a fan of that noise” I said “ya me neither” so we start walking back to the car. Then we see the 3 baby pigs running in a line out of the bush and across the horizon then like a bat out of hell you see Yonni running full speed after the pigs, haha it was so funny. I am definatly going to learn a new definition for fun while I am out here. There are no Roo’s here but there are wallabies which Yonni kept stepping on the gas to hit them. “Yonni please stop trying to kill them it’s not nice” I said “but they are a pest they need to be shot” “how would you like it if you came to Canada and everytime we saw an Australian we stepped on the gas and said lets hit him they are a pest” he starts roaring with laughter “I think that would be hilarious.”
The locals here are really nice, they will drive us around or take us out on boats and croc spotting which I have yet to do. There are also the local fisherman who will bring us in mud crabs. The miners are great. Every Wednesday we get a new set of miners in as they get one week on one week off. Dale will order dinner and then order us garlic bread and ice cream – they get a $30 allowance every day for dinner so they keep us fed and we each have ice cream in our freezer because of the miners. Plus I am the new girl, I am a smarty and they are the fat kids, you can imagine!!! It’s so different out here and boring lol though I have been writing (not just my blog) and reading so its nice. Matthew (roomie from Fiji who I was hanging out with in Cairns) was actually jealous that I got to come out here. “Emmmie, that is real Australia! You get to experience what a lot of backpackers don’t get to experience, it’s going to be amazing.”
Well I have been here a week and the place is starting to grow on me. The girls I live with are really nice, Liz (English) and Alex (Canada), there was another Canadian here named Cassy but she left on Wednesday morning, she was the one I was replacing. There are only three of us living here so we get our own rooms which is awesome, it’s really nice to have my own space even if it’s for a short time. There is not much to do here so on our nights off we usually just go for a few drinks at animal or drink at the six pack. It’s nice being able to leave for work a minute you have to be there lol, or not really having to go home after work because you are already there. Saturday is my day off which I am looking forward to, it’s the first day I have something to do. Liz is done work at 4, one of the locals is coming to pick us up and take us on a boat to go croc spotting and then to a real Aussie barbecue with mud crab, bugs (not sure what they are yet) prawns, vegies and drinks. I am actually really excited, it’s going to be great, its going to be a real Aussie experience, I think I’m gonna like it here!
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