WEEK FOURTEEN

And so, I was back in the city, and had under a week to get everything sorted for Christmas, not really that tricky as I had already posted everything to the UK, so just had a few things to get for people over here, and bake some necessary treats for the festive period. And so I set to it. 


On Monday I went into the City to have a look around for potential presents, it was a pretty weird experience doing it in hot weather, it was a beautiful day, and there were decorations over the roads and in all of the shop windows, but I just couldn't get in the mood, and it really didn't feel like Christmas. Because of this, I didn't feel the panic I should have done, so just wandered around town looking at stuff, but not actually doing anything useful at all. Despite my rather unsuccessful day, I rewarded myself with  Krispy Kreme doughnut (starting to get slightly obsessed by the 'iced chocolate' one), not really sticking to my proposed diet which I set on myself after eating so much cheese, but it is Christmas, so I don't really see the point in trying to hard, I'll still eat the same amounts of junk, but just feel guilty about it, so I put all thoughts of this to the back of my mind, and enjoyed the treat! When I got back I went to Coles to collect the ingredients for Chitty's chocolate cake, and truffles. Stupidly I asked if anyone else wanted anything, and set off with a list much longer than expected, and dragging the old lady trolley. Damn not having a car! I also got all the stuff to make the trifle, so when I got back me and Will started. I had managed to convince him that swiss roll would be a good replacement for trifle sponges, and reluctantly he agreed to try it this year. And so, with jelly and swiss roll at the ready, we constructed the first couple of layers of the trifle, and left it in the fridge to set. After this I felt quite domestic (nothing quite like making jelly and opening cans of fruit to make you fe el like a housewife!) and so decided to get my recipe book up to date. 


The next day I just chilled out in Yarraville and ate far too many sweet treats - all eaten guilt free, as Christmas is now very close, and it is the time to eat and drink too much - that's the rules! I did decide to do a small amount of activity and took the dogs out for a walk so we could all get some exercise, not sure if the dogs needed it, but I would feel mean leaving them at home! When I got back Will decided to show off and make proper fancy real custard for the trifle, but it didn't really work. In fact, it didn't work at all, and refused to set. I had been concerned throughout the whole process that I would somehow ruin it, so was partially pleased that I had very little to do with it - no blame at all! But, it did taste good, even if it did have a rather dubious consistency. So we ate it, much better idea. 


I had a very important appointment on Wednesday at 2pm, for a hair cut. However, before then, I went into Yarraville for a look around, to see if I could find any good stocking fillers, and I managed to get a couple of things, but the $10 limit really does make it trickier than you'd think. So, again, not being very successful on the christmas present, front, but still not feeling any form of panic i headed into the City in time for my haircut. Safe to say I was just a little bit nervous - it's been 18 months since I let a hairdresser near me, and so I put my trust in someone else to sort out the mane that I had. it is the same place Will and Toni go to, and my reasoning was that if they can tame Will's hair they must be able to deal with mine. About an hour later I left, feeling very happy with myself. A great haircut, and I even got 25% off because it was my first time there - bonus. They had given me exactly what I wanted - there's a first time for everything I suppose. So, I strutted around the city for a bit longer, whilst admiring my hair in every shop window possible - when did I turn this vain? When I got back to Yarraville (and showed off my hair) we just pottered about the house in the evening and ate more strange custard. 


With only two more days to go until Christmas I kicked my ass into gear, and me, Will, and our flatmate (complete with his crutches) headed into the city to do some shopping. Will went off with the temporary cripple, and I headed towards the closest book shop to try and pick up some good pressies. After a few hours of 4 bookshops, CD shops, Lush, Body Shop and a magazine shop, I was happy that I had everything ready for Christmas, and was pretty chuffed with my choices. I had been told about the Bourke St. windows, which have a big display every year depicting a different Christmas story, and this year it was the Nutcracker. It was along a huge shop front, and each window had puppets and mechanical presentations, and I was really wanting to go - until I saw the queue, which stretched all the way down the street. So, I got as close as I could without having to wait, and saw the Nutcracker story in it's full glory - only backwards! I spent the afternoon wrapping presents, whilst Will went back into the City to collect his very fancy new bike. A little Christmas present to himself. And I felt cheeky that I bought myself a magazine when I was out! 




We all went out food shopping during the day, as if we didn't have enough anyway, but we got some yummy Leibkuchen (sp?) from Aldi (it doesn't matter where you are in the world, Aldi will always have weird German biscuits!) and whilst we were there we also found some very comfy looking camping rolls, which were one step up from the yoga mat we were all planning on - it even had a little built in pillow. So, we all picked out our favourite coloured ones and paid. And then Will broke a strap off his whilst we were still in the shop, so he claimed it was always broken, and vowed to be more careful. 
Me, Will and Toni all went for a bike ride in the evening with the dogs, mainly so Will could try his new toy out, and we cycled along the river and then walked out along a spit in the water. As we looked out over the setting sun we tried to see if we could spot the 'Spirit of Tasmania' which we were going to be getting the next day. Sadly, we didn't see it, but we did see a huge container ship heading out, which created a wake so huge it changed the tide for about 5 minutes. The amount of water flowing was mad, and I was only slightly scared Joey might see it as fun and jump in to play. As the mozzies came out to play we headed home trying not to get eaten alive. This really did prove to me that I have to get more fit, but I say that every time I do any form of exercise, and once again decided that all would change after Christmas. 


T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. Well, maybe not quite true - we spent the evening partaking in all of the obligatory Christmas traditions; watched 'The Snowman', and finished the night with 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', we even started the trifle, which is against all the rules, but as we were leaving on Boxing Day we didn't want to leave any behind! Trifles really do taste better from a proper bowl too - I am glad I wasn't the one lumbered with bringing it out here though. And, the second round of custard we made worked perfectly, still without the use of custard powder!


One more sleep...


I was woken up that morning at a surprisingly decent time - apparently Will had tried about 3 hours previously and been unsuccessful! And so, once we were all up, we put on some dodgy Christmas radio, and sat down to open our presents. We all got some pretty cool stuff, and I was pretty chuffed with my goodies for the day, including a new Crumpler bag, a lunch box (believe me it is cooler than it sounds!), a bag Dad got me from China, and Mum got me a very cool necklace pendant made from a fork. I am pretty sure I was there when she bought it, but she claimed it was for someone else! We then embraced a Smith family tradition, and, instead of stuffing our faces with chocolate for breakfast, we had a lovely cooked one, complete with bucks fizz. Slightly more classy than half a chocolate santa, and a handful of Roses! We skyped everyone from home to thank them for the presents, and from then on, we all spent a good few hours eating chocolate and playing Tekken 6 on our flatmates Xbox. The last time I played it it was Tekken 3, but I was pleased to see that nothing had changed, and button bashing is still the best way to win. And after we had all had our fill, and I had successfully shown I was the best player in the house, it was time to start creating the feast. And we had a cool six courses to get ready. Course 1 - Prawn cocktail (make that melon cocktail, but we like to pretend). Course 2 - Mustard and tomato pastries. Course 3 - The main meal, with roast potatoes, loads of veggies, and a veggie bake. Course 4 - Muscat and Christmas pudding balls. Course 5 - Trifle. Course 6 - Mince pies. We lost of flatmate around course four and he retired to bed to recover. And then we rested. We did manage to work up the energy to Skype everyone from home again, as it was then their Christmas morning, but we didn't do much else for the rest of the evening. What a perfect Christmas - family, food, dodgy films, and playing games! Although it wasn't stupidly hot, it was still strange having Christmas in even vaguely warm weather - I'm was getting pretty used to having a white Christmas. It was also nice to not have the thought that I would be back at work the next day - ah the joys of working at the ice rink for a few years! And so, we all went to bed, well fed, and happy with our little stashes of presents we had received. 


And so was the morning after the night before, and we started the day with trifle - nothing else would seem right on Boxing Day. We had found out a couple of days before that we had a space on the night boat (we were meant to be leavnig at 9am that morning), which meant we had the whole day to organise ourselves for our time in Tasmania. And so, with a little shopping list, me and Toni headed to the nearest shopping centre, on the first day of the sales, and it was revolting - the whole place was completely packed, but we tried our best to get what we needed, and left with some of the things on the list. Toni got a new sleeping bag, which was the main aim of the game, and we both got a of wellies (or, gum boots), I didn't manage to find a cheap waterproof jacket, but at least my feet would be dry - that'd be enough. We spent the rest of the day packing our things, and them cramming them into the car - and by the end it was pretty full - we did manage to leave spaces for me and the dogs though! And after a final check, we were off to the port to catch the boat. We had the normal boring waiting around, and then finally got through security, and onto the boat. It was at this point we had to say goodbye to the dogs, and put them in the kennels - we were all a bit gutted to leave them there - it didn't seem to nice for them, but it was only for one night. Poor things. But, with them ready for the trip, we went to find our cabin. We were meant to be on the ocean recliners, but when we got the new boat time we also got upgraded to a cabin for next to nothing - it was great! And, with our new abode fully investigated - it even had a shower! - we went to see the rest of the boat. It wasn't really that big, but we did find out that they had a very cute tiny cinema, with a terrible movie showing. Whilst we were wandering about we bumped into some people from the Fringe who were also going to work at Falls Festival - it really is a small world in the festival circuit! The rest of the night was spent watching the terrible film (Date Night - pretty crappy, but at least it wasted 90 minutes of the journey, and I even bought some tacky playing cards with a picture of the 'Spirit of Tasmania' on them, and so we played with them for a while - not the best thing to try and do on a moving ship, and after a while I think we all felt pretty weird (I know I did!) so headed back to the cabin - with a quick detour on deck to play in the pissing rain and winds, and then we swayed and wobbled to our little room, and went to bed, being slowly rocked to sleep by the waves. 


And there we go, I've had a great week, a fantastic Christmas, and ended the week in the Bass Straight heading towards Devonport...


(I do have some photos for this week, but they are on Will's computer, so I will upload them soon, hopefully!)

WEEK THIRTEEN

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...