I woke up in Melbourne, thinking I was going to be going back to the sticks at lunchtime, however, after a quick phone call to her to find out what time I was pleased to find out that she had another meeting and that we wouldn't be going back until tomorrow. Much better! And so, after spending the first part of the morning pottering about the house, I decided to go into the City for a look around and not waste my day entirely. And so, once again becoming a tourist, I sat in Fed Sq. with an iced coffee and an almond croissant and enjoyed the fact there was so much going on at once! Ahhhh, city life. I had aso been given a misison by Will and our flatmate to hunt down some free Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and with my vouches in my hand I managed to get 6 without an issue. The next problem was that I had to go to another outlet to try and con them about of another 6, so, I jumped on a tram, and headed in the right direction - putting in my trust in Google Maps, however, I saw it, I jumped off, and then I had to try and think of a plan. Sadly, it didn't get much past wrapping the box I had in my jumper (rather unsuccessfully!) and hoping for the best. It worked, and with my mission complete I went to buy a Frankie magazine and have lunch at Bimbos. I'm not sure if I will ever get over $4 pizzas. I tried to contact a few people I knew in the City, and with plans to meet any of them made, I headed back to the train station. I did however notice that on the side of each doughnut box, was another voucher, for another free doughnut, so, ripping it out I thought it was worth a go. 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts seemed enough, and I headed back to Yarraville, looking like a right greedy bitch! That night we had pizza for tea (yes, two in one day, maybe I am a greedy bitch!) and I was pleased to see that no veggies went anywhere near the microwave. I'm not sure why my farmers insist on microwaving all vegetables, but, they do, so, for this one night the vegetables got cooked in a conventional oven. Novelty. We all went out that night to the cinema to see Harry Potter 7: Part 1, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. We all stocked up on our goodies, and sat down to be entertained for 2 hours. Surprise surprise, I loved it, but I am well aware that I am slightly Harry Potter obsessed, and even if it was crap I'd probably still enjoy it! Roll on part 2! And so, I fell asleep that night hoping that something else would come up, and my host would have to stay down another night.
I woke up bright and early just incase my host arrived to pick me up, however, plans changed again and I had the morning to myself, as long as I was ready to go by lunchtime. Annoying though this was, it meant that I had time to go to the post office to collect the parcel they tried to deliver. Easy. But, I swiftly learnt that Australia Post are just as useful as the Royal Mail, and despite the fact they tried to deliver it the day before, they no longer had my parcel, but it may arrive in the next van in 45 minutes. So, off I went with the dogs to waste some time (and drink some more iced coffee) and returned an hour later, thinking it will be out of the van by now. However I was told it still wasn't there, and I should go back the next day. I tried to explain to them that I wouldn't be in Melbourne, but they didn't seem to pay attention and after I vocalised how terrible I thought the service was, strangely enough they found my parcel. Bunch of bastards! But, with that saga over, I headed back to the house to wait. She actually arrived relatively close to the time she said she would, and we were off again - northwards for a few hours. Within minutes I had been bitten by a mozzie, just a lovely reminder of where I was again, and I was pleased that I only had 4 days left. My host spent most of the evening crying in her room, which was just a tad awkward as I could hear her from the living room. My other host was talking to her, so I didn't just ignore her, but it was an odd experience - am I that bad? Whilst all this was going on, I did decided to break into the biscuits I had been eying up since I got there, and as they hadn't been touched I didn't feel too guilty - they would be replaced when I left. All in all, a bit of an odd evening, but I was back, and I may as well enjoy the next few days.
I spent the next day cleaning the guest room and hoovering - I even got the mow the lawns - again! I could repeat my grumbles about these jobs, but I am getting bored of writing how tedious these jobs were. I did get to drive the tractor again in the afternoon which was great fun, and we even got it all finished - a grand total of 589 bales had been moved. Pretty impressive really! Once all that was done I was hoping to go into Shepperton with my host, but instead she asked if I could stay, hoover their bedroom and mow the edges of the drive - yes, exactly what I wanted to do! So, these jobs got done. I won't say anymore. Again, as it was Wednesday we all jumped in the car and headed into Numurkah for dinner at the pub, and I was in for a treat! The chef had decided to go all out, and I had 3 fantastic courses served to me - I think all the meat-eaters were quite jealous with their chicken parmagiane (sp?) and dodgy steaks. That'll teach 'em! During our lovely meal one of my hosts friends came out of his shell a bit, and proceeded to loudly tell a rather racist joke in the middle of the pub - things like this really do remind you that you're in the country. Although I will never get any where near P-C when it comes to humour, this really shocked me - not the actual joke, which was rather run-of-the-mill, but the people's reactions to it - they genuinely believed the sentiments in the joke. On our drive home we did however spot something in the middle of the road, and getting rather excited I knew it'd be some kind of cool animal - and it was, a beautiful fluffy possum, squashed. Why is all the wildlife I see dead?
Thursday was spent doing more housework, nothing else to report really, I really was just counting down until I got back to Melbourne. I was pretty chuffed at the fact I was earning money and not really spending any though - a chance to give my bank card a bit of a rest!
Under 24 hours to go until I get on the train back. I was meant to be leaving onSunday with my host when she goes down to Melbourne on Sunday, but as they had practically run out of cheese they weren't able to go to the usual market, and so I was heading back one day early, no complaints here. We all headed into Shepperton in the morning, and I went to the park to take photos of all the painted cows there - with the instruction they'd be back in 40 minutes. So, I spent my time wandering about, taking silly photos and then I lay down to enjoy the heat. Slightly too much, and soon after had to go and try and find a drink nearby - it had been about half an hour at this point, so I quickly ran to the nearest shop and got an iced coffee (I can't stop - it's an addiction!) and headed back to the park. And then I fell asleep in the sun, only to be woken up by my phone ringing, and it was them saying they'd be there in 10 minutes, after checking the time I realised that their 40 minutes had turned into 2 hours! Nothing changes! But, I had a lovely time just chilling out and lying in the sun. Once we got back to the farm we all knuckled down to do some more cleaning - for a change - and I was given the task of cleaning the windows. Hurray - not hoovering!
My train back to Melbourne the next morning was at 7am, which meant leaving by 6:30am, or, as we did it, left at 6:45 and drove like a maniac all the way there. I did manage to get the train, and settled down for the journey. Unlike the regional train I got to Ballarat, this one had a buffet, so, I went to investigate, and came back with a tea and a muffin. However, on my way back to my seat I saw my friend from Uni who was also on her way back to Melbourne, so we had a little chat, and, I quickly realised that no matter how bad I thought I had it on the farm, if I was actually working at a commercial fruit pickers I would have had a lot less free time and, ultimately, the same amount of money. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all! I left to watch my bags as I didn't quite trust the dodgy guy who had been eying up my laptop bag since he got on. I got back to Yarraville, and after showing me all the cool new fancy technology they had bought since I had been there, they left for a wedding and a night away. I will admit that once they had gone I did consider having a beer, until I noticed it was still only 11am - it felt like it should have been beer o'clock, but, I do draw the line at drinking in the morning - unless it's a special occasion! So I pottered into town to buy some yummy snacks, and returned home to spend my afternoon watching the final couple of episodes of 'The Apprentice' online. I went into the City that night to mee tup with a friend from the Edinburgh Ice Rink, and we went from pub to pub having a pint or two, and a few hours later I left his flat, substantially more drunk than I imagined I'd be. I rang Liz on my way home as it was her birthday, and had a lovely drunken chat with her, and when I eventually made it back to Yarraville I was shocked to see all the take-away places were closed, so I headed back to the house to have a baked potato - not exactly the junk I was wanting, but I'm sure my body appreciated it more than spring rolls and chips!
On Sunday I woke up pretty late -owing to my beer-fulled night, and partly because I was in a bed and not on the sofa) and really did very very little for the day - I was just really enjoying having some real me-time and not having to think about all the stuff I should be doing - of course I had lots of stuff to do, but I avoided any thoughts regarding them! At some point in the afternoon Will and Toni came back and we just pottered about the house wasting the day.
And so, that is the end of my time at Locheilan Farmhouse, they did say I was welcome back at any time after Christmas, but I'm pretty chuffed that I have stuff sorted for the first few months of next year - you never know, if I get desperate, I might go back, but for now, I am in the City, enjoying it, and it's only a few days till Christmas...I really should start buying some presents...
No comments:
Post a Comment