Brent's Birthday

So into week 2 of grape picking. Another 2 full days of picking but on Wednesday we finished at 12.45. One of the girls, Amanda, we had made friends with invited us to have a few drinks at the pub with her.



So after going home to freshen up we met her at the Middle pub. It was funny to see her in ordinary clothes and hair down as I had only seen her in a scruffy outfit, hair tied up and no makeup; she said the same about me too. After the Middle we proceeded to the Bentley pub which locals described as a bit upmarket (funny as it looked very ordinary to me, obviously our standards were a bit different). After a drink there we then followed Amanda to her friend’s house which was on the main north road. It was a shared house and from the number of people who were lying/sitting in various rooms I couldn’t figure out who actually lived there. We were introduced to a lot of people including Bob and Sam (Samantha). Bob and Sam invited us to come round on a Thursday to play poker – at last our social life was picking up.
The next 2 days we worked 7 hour shifts and on the Friday I even spotted a kangaroo in the vineyard. Bingo on Friday and still no win!
Saturday 21st February and as you guessed it Adam and I went to the library. I had heard about a job that had been advertised as the best job in the world – an island caretaker. Throughout the week Adam and I had recorded a 60 second video and edited it so I could apply for the position and so we uploaded it. It turns out 30,000 other applicants worldwide had applied too and unfortunately I wasn’t picked but we had fun making it. That afternoon we met Brent (one of the AVS supervisor’s) as we were going to his birthday party. We followed him to his house in Koolunga which was 45 minutes away.



Adam and I were delighted that we had been invited considering we had only known the guy for just over a week but he was lovely and said he knew that being new in the area meant we would not really know anyone and this was a way to make friends. His house sat on a large plot of land but as it had been so dry the grass had died and turned yellow. He told us that he bought the place about 8 years ago for $30000 (15,000) so cheap! The drinking commenced and the Barbie was started. We had bought Brent a 2 bottle spirit holder which he was surprised to receive but made full use of. The evening continued with lots of food and merriment. Brent was in a band and so the guitars came out half way through the evening and we sang along to various songs. Brent had obviously been enjoying the drink because at one point he fell over and scraped his forehead on the side of the bbq. It looked painful but the boys managed to lift him up, he brushed himself off and continued with the drinking.

On Sunday Adam decided he wanted to do something fun so got the boys who lived in the converted part of the house (Jake-14, Bryce-12, Daniel-3) involved in making water rockets. They spent the whole day trying to make them go further or with more speed (boys and their toys).

First Week of Grape Picking

On Monday 9th February Adam and I left the house at 6am to meet the other workers outside the Community Fire Service station in Watervale which was only a 5 minute drive away.



Our first grape picking experience would take place at a Vineyard owned by Fosters. The vines were low but it wasn’t too hot. By 9.30am our backs were hurting from all the bending over and I was looking forward to my break. We would have a 15 minute break at 10am, a 30 minute lunch break at 1pm and usually another 5 minute break at 3pm, however today we finished at 2pm and boy was I glad we didn’t have to carry on until 3.30pm (normal finishing time).



My body was aching and I desperately wanted a shower. However as we had finished early we decided to quickly go to Clare and rent a dvd called 21. Then on the way home we popped into the Tourist Information Centre which was conveniently located next to the Clare Caravan Park. The lady there told us about a big event called Party on the Green which was a 3 day musical festival. This year the main acts were The Angels and Jimmy Barns, who I had never heard of but apparently were famous throughout Australia. We considered buying tickets but at $100 each for bands we hadn’t heard of we didn’t bother. The other thing suggested to us was to cycle the Riesling Trail. The trail follows various routes of the former railway between Auburn and Clare and you see can see views of vineyards, mixed farms and natural bush lands. Other attractions in the Clare valley region included Martindale Hall, the different wineries, Spring Gully Lookout, Bookstop and Beans (a book shop) so we made a list of what we wanted to do in our spare time. That evening we had dinner, watched the dvd and went straight to bed, ready for another early start.
The following day we found out we would be grape thinning at a vineyard called Jim Barry’s. Which basically involved cutting off bunches of grapes to allow other bunches to develop further. It felt like such a waste to have to cut and drop all the bunches to the ground but as they had had such a dry, hot summer it needed to be done to ensure there were enough decent bunches to make good quality wine. I found this work very easy and quick. The wines were nice and high and the grapes were easy to cut off, I was secretly hoping we would get more of this sort of work.




The rest of the week was a mixture of thinning and picking at Fosters, Jim Barry’s again and Leasingham. We had long days sometimes not finishing until 4 or 4.30 but as long as the conversation was flowing in the vineyard the days felt as though they went quicker. Another thing we noticed and it must be a psychological thing is that the shorter the rows the quicker the time went-strange!
Friday night was Bingo night, so off we went. We got introduced to a couple of people and soon made friends with people on our table. We found out that they usually carried on until 11pm, however Adam and I only stayed for the first half, leaving at 9.30pm as we were practically falling asleep from tiredness. I definitely felt as though I was the oldie then!
We had tried our 3G internet stick again but there was definitely no signal where we were. We had looked into possibly getting a Telstra internet stick as we were told we would be able to get a signal and therefore connect but the price of it was very expensive and we decided to continue using the free wifi at the library instead (they had air con which was even better). On the way to the library we spotted a sign saying Clare Farmer’s Market.

So we stopped to have a look around. It’s nothing like our Wellsbourne Market but it was very quaint with about 20 stalls selling things from home made olive oil, to books, to food, free range eggs and of course wine. After having a quick look around we carried onto the library. After a couple of hours at the library Adam stopped functioning as he needed food (typical male) and so we went to have lunch at the Middle Pub. We were told they served good food at a reasonable price and I must say I was very impressed. Adam and I filled our bowls with the complimentary salad bar and then waited for our $10 meals (£5 each). I had the Sunday roast and the lamb was just beautiful, so juicy and tender and Adam had the chicken strips with chips

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After finishing off our lunch Adam suggested we go for a drive. Fortunately I had already put a 10ltr case of water in the boot (we had read that you should always carry approx 3ltrs of water per person in case you break down and may not able to get help straight away) so off we went. We started driving south (towards Adelaide) and having looked at a map agreed to visit a place called Gawler Town. On the way there we passed several little villages which were the blink and you miss it type. After an hour of driving and endless fields we arrived at Gawler. It was a small place and the main road seemed to be where most of the businesses were situated. However we spotted a Big W. So off we went. It was so lovely to walk into a proper shop which sold clothes, electrical items, food etc. Having calmed down from the excitement (sad I know) we bought a couple of items, watched a man cut up kiwi and melon with a knife which made pretty patterns and then left. We walked along the main street but most of the shops were starting to close (everything closes at 5pm) and there wasn’t much else to look at so we made our way back to the car and headed home.On Sunday I decided I would make some fairy cakes to take to work. After having gone a bit OTT with the cake mix I ended up with 24 fairy cakes but they were yummy and I even put a little pink icing sugar on top.

6 month anniversary

On Sunday the 8th of February it was going to be our 6 month anniversary (I can’t believe 6 months of being a married couple has passed already) so Adam and I had decided to celebrate on the Saturday instead by going to a local restaurant called the Citadel. We paid $35 each for a dinner and movie. The restaurant had an outdoor cinema set up and they would be showing James Bond-The Quantum of Solace that evening. We arrived there about 7.30pm and were looking forward to our meal outside.



The dinners had been organised in 3 shifts to accommodate all the people that had reserved a table. The starter was an anti-pasta plate which we devoured and were then waiting to be called up for the BBQ, however that day they had a swarm of European wasps which meant we then had to go and collect our dinner plates from the kitchen. Adam and I were very disappointed with the meal. With 2 types of different meats both which were very fatty and a small salad next to it, our plates looked empty and when we finished what little there was our stomachs were empty too. However we didn’t let that ruin our special evening and as the film started we cuddled up next to each other to enjoy the film.



Half way through the film there was a break for coffee and cake. Adam bought me some cheesecake which was the best food I had all evening – as you can imagine I ate it in minutes, yum yum!

Clare Valley Week 1

On Thursday I called Ryan the supervisor at Ackland Vineyard Services (AVS) to confirm our attendance for the induction for the following day and then Adam and i made our way to Clare to have a look around. Clare was pretty much one road that had a few big named stores like Target, Subway, Cheap as Chips, Telstra and the rest were mostly privately owned places such as cafes, a toy store, newsagent, book shop.



And the most popular places were the 3 pubs-The Taminga, The Middle Pub and Bentleys which as we found out is where most people would frequent after work, weekends, pretty much whenever they could. We soon learned that as there was not a lot to do in Clare or the surrounding areas most people including the women would spend most of their wages in the pub or at the pokies. Adam and i continued looking around and decided to get membership at the local dvd shop, Mondays was going to be our dvd nights as it was only $4 for the hire of a new release. We also found out that the local library had wireless internet and so that was to be our second home.



Friday was the day of our induction at AVS. We turned up at 10.00am. We sat down and started to listen to the do’s and dont’s of working in the vineyards, how AVS operated and what was expected of us. Towards the end a man asked the question, if the temperature went above 40c were we still expected to work ?, the response was a sharp Yes. They also informed us of how bites from spiders and other insects could occur and that we would most likely snip our fingers a fair few times. I was not looking forward to grape picking! After the induction Adam and I went to buy some high visibility shirts from Cheap as Chips (now my favouritest store ever) and gloves, ready for the big start on Monday. On the way back home I had seen a sign displaying Bingo at the local CFS hall in Sevenhills (Community Fire Service) and persuaded Adam that we should go. So at 8pm we turned up to see what was going on.



There were about 20 people staring at us as we walked in but we were quickly welcomed and given our bingo books. We sat next to a couple of “regulars” who showed us how it all worked as they did their own little games within Bingo. The caller welcomed everyone and started to talk about how it was the Bingo club’s 31st anniversary and that monies raised go to the local cricket club and then we started. And if you’re wondering if we got a chance to call BINGO, I can tell you we didn’t and a couple of weeks on we have still not won a single game.

Welcome to the Clare Valley

The next morning we set off at 10am to go to the Clare Valley. I had arranged for us to stay with a family who ran a B&B. Trying to find cheap accommodation in Clare proved to be more difficult than I had thought. The caravan park was fully booked on most weekends, the local pubs wanted $75 a night which was pretty much what we would be earning in a day and so when I phoned Brian and Yvonne the owners of Bryvon Homestay they kindly offered us accommodation of $100 for the both of us per week a lot cheaper than then $100 a night they were asking for on their internet site. She let us have it cheap because we would be there for about 5 weeks and explained that we would be grape picking and therefore not earning much money. We arrived at Penwortham (just outside of Clare) at 4.30pm and met Brian and Yvonne. They were a lovely couple who were retired. They had their daughter and her children living with them but in a separate part of the house – the double garage had been converted to accommodate them.



The property was large and was actually designed by them with the help of an architect. It sat high above on a hill surrounded by 10 acres of land which consisted mostly of trees and bushes and as we found out later a family of kangaroos. Yvonne was telling us that the last time they had rain was back in December which meant water was quite precious and therefore our shower times were restricted to 5 minutes each. The other house rule as such was to try and limit rubbish. The whole family shared the rubbish bin and so it tended to fill quickly and there was no other place to take rubbish so trying to condense any packaging etc was a must. It was interesting to live by these rules as we had never had to have restrictions on anything before.

Clare Road Trip Day 2

We left Wagga Wagga at about 9.30am and continued the next leg of our journey to Mildura. Deano and Leo whom we had met at Christmas time were grape picking in Mildura and Kesha another friend of the Girl’s worked in a pizza restaurant so we had decided beforehand to stay the night there and pay them all a visit. On the long drive there we stopped at a little town called Hay where we enjoyed lunch in an old style cafe, it had car reg plates and old style posters up everywhere. The lady there was very friendly and even advised us to move our car as we had parked into a bay facing the kerb but apparently the law says you have to have your car facing the road.



After the quick stop we carried on with our trip. Again there was nothing much to see on the way, just lots of fields and on occasion another car or two. We arrived at Mildura at 4.30pm and had booked into the caravan park that Deano and Leo were staying at. Our cabin turned out to very different to the one we had stayed in the night before. As the past couple of days had been very hot (40c) air conditioning was a must, but this run down, old unit was very cramped, the air conditioning was useless and whatever little cold air did come out seemed to escape through the massive gap in the front door which didn’t close properly. But we were only staying the night and the bed looked ok so we made do. We emptied the car and went to find Deano and Leo who were playing table tennis . We chatted with them for a while and asked how they were getting on with the grape picking.



They told us of how picking in the heat was hard work, early starts and only getting $1.20 per bucket and sometimes only picking 10 buckets an hour. They also mentioned how they had seen a red back spider whilst lounging next to the pool one day which was a normal occurrence. Country life was definitely starting to sound less appealing. After catching up on what we had all been up to they showed us the caravan they were living in. Their caravan looked old and tired and really should have been knocked down. They were paying $50 a week between 4 of them to live in a hell hole which had no air conditioning. Now im prepared to put up with some things but having to sleep in 30c heat at night with no air conditioning is just unbearable! A little later we decided to visit the city centre and try and see if we could connect to the internet at the local Macdonalds as our 3USB stick no longer had a signal we were definitely in the middle of nowhere now. We popped into Macdonalds but the wireless didn’t work so as it was dinner time now went to find the Pizza cafe that Kesha worked at. 

The Pizza Cafe was very busy which was a good sign and we saw Kesha who sat us down at our table. We had a quick catch up but as she was working couldn’t talk for long. We enjoyed our meal and after saying bye to Kesha and then later to the boys went to bed.

Last day in Sydney and Road Trip Day 1

A couple of weeks earlier Adam and I had made the decision to try and do some harvest work so we could apply for a 2nd year working holiday visa. So as I had not been able to get a job I had been busy looking for fruit picking work. I had tried calling the National Harvest Line to be told that there was nothing available so I started to search on the internet. Eventually I found a company who were looking for grape pickers in the Clare Valley (2 hours north of Adelaide), it was a bit further than we had intended on going, ideally we would have liked to have worked in the Hunter Valley which is only 2 hours north of Sydney but it was not meant to be. So the change of plans would mean that as we would have to do 88 days worth of harvest work we would have to cut out some of our travel destinations to fit in the 88 days. We made the decision to leave Sydney on the 2nd Feb and do a road trip to get to the Clare Valley.
The girls helped organise a leaving party for us so on the Saturday Adam, Frank and I left our apartment and made our way to Bondi Hotel (where Lisa now worked) and the rest of the gang would be. And as you guessed it the drinking began. We stayed there for a couple of hours as Lisa was working behind the bar and then eventually made our way to the Tea Gardens club at Bondi Junction. We partied until 2am and said farewell to some people that we would not see again and organised to have dinner at the girls’ on Sunday.



The following day Adam and I collected our rental car from Hertz which was a nippy little Toyota Corolla and made a quick stop at Emma’s to say goodbye. Emma and Matt had mentioned previously that they didn’t have any drinking glasses so as a farewell present we had stopped at Ikea and bought them 6 glasses which Emma seemed to be very happy about. After returning to the apartment to do some last minute packing we then drove to Bondi to have dinner at the Girls’. After dinner we presented Lisa, Roisin and Sally with a picture frame each which contained various photos we had of them and us and a jar of Hellman’s mayonnaise for all the other girls to share too (the Aussie mayo was horrible and Hellman’s could only be bought at select Coles Superstores). We got big hugs off everyone and said a sad farewell to our “Girls”.
On Monday we also said bye to Frank and thanked him for everything with a picture we had taken of all of us in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then started our road trip. We had decided to go to our first destination (Wagga Wagga) via Canberra.



We stopped off at the Canberra Information Office and got some advice on what we could do within the 2 hours we would be there. One suggestion was to visit Parliament House. I called the information number and promptly booked us on a free tour.

The tour took about an hour and it was fascinating listening to the stories and going into the various chambers. After the tour we then drove up to the Australian War Memorial which houses a museum covering many conflicts which Australia was involved in. Looking at the history and hardship some people went through was very thought provoking. After spending about an hour there as well we then made our way into the City Centre to have a look around and a grab a bite to eat. We found a little cafe and enjoyed our lunches whilst people watching, it had been a lovely stop but we had many hours of driving ahead of us so we eventually left (a little later than we had intended). We drove for about 5 hours only stopping to fill the car up.

The journey was long and the scenery started to become tiresome and predictable but the time in the car gave us the opportunity to try and catch up on our blog. We finally arrived at the caravan park where we would be staying in at about 9.30pm in Wagga Wagga. The cabin was a little dated but very spacious. It had a kitchen and lounge area and a bedroom with ensuite. We caught the end of “The Devil Wears Prada” and went to sleep.