Back on the blog again after a forced break due to a broken laptop! We've upgraded to a macbook and I'll try to post about the past weeks as I remember them. I will start where we left of, working on one of the most special places in Australia, Fraser!
Our job consisted of cleaning enormous houses, this means that our days on this small paradise on earth were spent scrubbing toilets and covered in sweat and cleaning products. As Willem once put it: Somedays, when I am with my face above another shitstained toilet I think to myself: is this the great Ozzie-adventure? Nonetheless, we can't really complain. We usually did two houses a day which took two hours each. We put on our cleaning playlist on Spotify and dance around with the vacuum cleaner until we were done for the day (around 1 pm), put on our swimwear and go chill in the pool/spa until we got hungry or were tired of throwing Phoenix (the 5 year old son of our bosses) around. We've worked up a nice tan from chilling by the pool everyday and got a lot wiser from watching quizes and 'deadly 60' on TV every night. We were forced to a better lifestyle as well with less alcohol (too expensive) and doing a 30-day-sixpack workout routine daily. Unfortunately we didn't get a sixpack so we quit after 30 days (okay, 29).
We did actually treat ourselves to a night to the bar one day and met a couple who we played pool with. They invited us to come camp with them since we had a few days off, which we gladly accepted! Finally we had the opportunity to see some more of the island and talk to other people! They took us to the famous lake Mckenzie, a beautiful clear lake with the whitest sand you've ever seen. It was a two hour bumpy ride over the sand which made me very nauseous, but that was quickly sorted with a few glasses of wine. The guy told us about his work in the mines in Middlemount, a small mining village in (north) Queensland and that the local pub over there hires a lot of backpackers. He told us he was quite sure that they would have a job for us if we gave them a call, which we made a mental note of in case we'd ever be crazy enough to want to work in 40+ degrees.
Lake Mckenzie
After about 5 weeks on the Island and only been to lake Wabby and Lake Mckenzie, we were starting to worry that we might not see much more of Fraser and leaving the island without having caught a single fish. Luckily our bosses saw that we were getting desperate and intervened, they taught us how to fish (we both caught the tiniest fish possible) and took us out to experience Eli Creek. Eli Creek is a creek streaming from somewhere in the middle of the island out to sea. It is crystal clear water (when thirsty just open your mouth) which runs through the most beautiful rainforest. It was indescribable relaxing and wonderful to float through, we both agreed that this was way more special than Lake McKenzie. It is hard to explain, so I'll add a video to give an impression.
During the last two weeks on Fraser, our search for a new job took a lot of time and effort. (Yeah, the guy who promised us as job in Vacy was trying really hard not to be contacted by us, so we gave up on that.) After a while we decided to give the manager of the pub in Middlemount a call, and sure enough, without even asking for our resumes, she asked us when we would like to start! Fantastic! We finally had a new opportunity to save some money. The job would consist of working behind the bar, in a bottleshop, in the kitchen and some cleaning (thank god for airco). Getting all ready to drive straight up to Middlemount, Willems sister suddenly asked if we wanted to join her and her boyfriend on their vacation in New Zealand. I was convinced that it was not possible, since we were supposed to start work around that time and we didn't have much money, but Willem didn't want to give in that easily and we asked the manager of the pub if we might be able to start three weeks later. To my big surprise this was not a problem and we could not believe our luck! Our next adventure would suddenly be in another country!
SS Maheno
Cap'n Will
Sunsets on the beach
Sunrise
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