Home on the Range

The last few weeks have been so fantastic to say the least. We've been here at Carnarvon for about 3 weeks now, and I've just been so enjoying living in this new place.

Anyone that was expecting new locations every week and jam-packed-ultimate travel blogging well...that's just not happening right now. For now, I'm still getting used to working from 7:30-16:00, doing laundry every other day, and living on this beautiful property in the Australian bush.

It also takes getting used to the fact that we truly haven't left the homestead for 3 weeks. Most days are spent between the cottage, the schoolroom, and the family house and a night out always includes a barbecue and perhaps rum and Coke's on the verandah, rum and Coke's by the fire, or rum and Coke's looking at the stars. Basically if you're into rum its a great place to be.

The newness definitely keeps me from getting stir crazy...but even 6 months from now I have a feeling I'll still be just as floored by the amazing sunrises, beautiful sunsets, and those giant stars that make you feel completely insignificant and utterly special at the same time. And truly, it isn't just the scenery. The folks here just blow me away every day, just the absolute easiest people to get to know. It probably helps that we're the only people around to get to know, but I fancy us quite an amiable bunch.

Right now I couldn't be happier that I'm doing what I'm doing. This is how I love to 'travel'. I like to go and experience what real life is like in a new place. I like to go to local supermarkets, ride public transit, go to a movie theater, try and figure out Southern-Hemisphere constellations. Bond with the wildlife sharing my cottage, be chased around the yard by the cow, realize how muddy everything gets when it rains, get stranded here because of said rain, shoot guns and make moonshine. Just normal stuff. And right now, I'm just in this perfect position to appreciate all the little things not mentioned in travel guides and must-see lists.

But you're reading this and really in need of a travel tip? Find some people, sit around a fire, tell embarrassing stories, discuss questions big and small, share some music and laugh. This ritual is literally one of the earliest things that made us human. You'll feel the rightness in your DNA.  

Kuh-nah-vin

We left Emerald for Carnarvon Station just over a week ago, but already I feel like I've been here for ages. The name of the station is one in a series of words that can only be properly pronounced with an Australian accent, so instead of saying Car-nar-von it is rather like Kuh-nah-vin. Enjoy that one, they sure got a laugh from my American pronunciation.

The trip was a long one in the car, though not so far as the crow flies. The last three hours of the four hour journey were on dirt roads through neighboring properties and national parks accompanied by sightings of kangaroos, bush fires, and at least 100 woo-boys (essentially gigantic speed bumps that help drainage should there be flooding). As the bank man on the phone said when he was taking my new address, “Woah, you really are in the thick of it.” And he was Australian.

We were lucky enough to arrive during daylight, and I found myself surprised by the environment we have here at the station. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it definitely was a surprise. Big rocky hills and mountains, broad grassy plains, and very dry dark soil. It really looks the way South Africa is portrayed in films...dry, plains, scrubby trees. The area is going through a drought (this should be their 'wet' season and its hardly rained at all!) so I suppose its a bit less lush than usual.

As far as accommodation, there is a sort of base camp about the size of a city block. The site includes houses for the manager and his family, the property ranger, a sort of barracks for visitors and the cottage for myself as well as an office, a big garage, and a few various sheds all within an easy walking distance.

My cottage, which I've already taken to calling my house (as in “We've been in the schoolroom together all day, you are not allowed in my house for at least three hours”), is next to the visitor barracks and is, in the nicest way possible, a very nice rustic dwelling. My bedroom, a spare room, and an open kitchen/living room make up the main of the house. Still connected though having to access by going out the front door and into separate doors will bring me too the pantry/laundry room, showers, and an outdoor toilet. Sure its not 5 star and there are some things that will take getting used to...being one with the bugs that are sort of unavoidable, the drinkable water coming out of a spigot outside, ordering groceries on the phone and having them delivered twice a week by mail (and having to say 'to-mah-toes' because they asked how many pounds of potatoes I wanted when I said 'to-may-toes').  

But I'll manage.  A few nights ago I was sitting here reading about Dana's next adventure, though, and looked around thinking, this is really a pretty grand set-up...it could be a lot more challenging. The one thing I am a bit worried about though is this sucker:

That's a big fire place. That's like a 'I make a mattress out of blankets in front of this so I don't freeze while I sleep' fireplace. While the Watson's did mention before I came about how it gets cold here, I just sort of mentally went, “Right, sure I bet its freezing. I've spent the last 7 winters between Germany and Scotland...I'm sure it'll be so much worse than that. I might have to wear a hoodie...the horror” Well. I guess there is a reason Uggs come from Australia. I have two pairs of jeans, one pair of sweatpants, a hoodie and a rain-jacket...might need to do some unexpected winter shopping sometime soon.

Besides teaching and settling into my little cottage, life on the station has been a blast so far. We've been here about 10 days and have had three 'barbies', movie night, pizza night, and entertained a family who came out to camp for the weekend. The Watson's have two dogs, Peggy the playful poddy calf, three 'chooks' (who lay eggs randomly all over the place) and a rooster. The girls also briefly found a pet baby python, which they named Kaitlyn, though they decided to let her go.

Snags on the barbie with a few XXXXs.  Australian classic!

Peggy and The Cottage in the distance!

Evenings and free time usually includes putting on some bush clothes, hopping in the back of the truck, and heading off with the family for some little adventure somewhere on the station.

My trauma-nurse mother's worst nightmare.  

Climbing 'Fig Tree' an absolutely gigantic tree (there were 10 of us climbing in it at once) and the oldest fig on the station.

Cave paintings of the Bidjara people, anywhere from 300-40,000 years old.

For now, I couldn't be happier with the family or the location. When I was looking for governess jobs most were on cattle stations or farming properties, which would probably be great...but just different. This family though...they're my kind of people. We just enjoy going out, having a little adventure, not really minding if we get dirty, and just enjoying the nature around us. I'm really happy they're keen to include me, hard to imagine asking for more!

Emerald

From Brisbane I took a very easy domestic flight to Emerald, Queensland. I'm not sure what domestic travel is like in the US, but Qantas beats Ryanair (Europe) in full. Plus they even have my favorite ginger beer in wee cans for free!

The metropolis of Emerald boasts a two room airport with both male and female toilets, a snack bar AND exceptionally speedy baggage return. This is where I met and was collected by the Watson's. The first few minutes were a little bit awkward, as it can be when all of a sudden you meet someone you're going to be working and living with for the next 6 months.

That lasted about 5 kilometers. Before long the girls were asking all sorts of questions and telling me about what life was going to be like at Carnarvon. Once at our accommodation, it took about 10 minutes to get into our 'swimmers' before we hit the pool which washed away any unfamiliarity that had existed. Note to self: Make new friends by swimming with them for two hours straight. Really relieved to say that since then the girls and I have got on famously with statements like, “I'm so glad you're our governess” “You should live with us forever” and “Can we pretend your our big sister” within the first few days. D'awww.

We spent two days in Emerald for a school workshop attended by most of the families in our distance education program. After the girls fought over who would get to introduce me to their friends first, they went off with classmates and teachers, while the home tutors had a workshop of our own to familiarize ourselves with the program. The school looked a lot like my own middle school – but the design fits a lot better with the climate here than Philadelphia!

Probably the best part of our time in Emerald was getting up early with the girls to have a visit with the locals. We happily dined with sulphur-crested cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, and an old scrubby kookaburra on our last night!

The bashful kookaburra

Mr. Cheeky Cockatoo who stole a whole piece of bread

With the truck packed to the brim we headed out on a four-hour trip for the station right after school on Wednesday. If nothing else, please take the following from this post: it is always a good idea to ask “Is X tied down to the roof?” because sometimes people put things up there and completely forget about them. The face of realization is also not to be missed.

I'm at the station now and will be updating you guys soon on my first few days here...much to action packed for one post!

Brisbane

The absolute best thing about “Brissy” was that it was never as hot as it was the first day I arrived. Fine, fine fine. If you pulled my leg, I'm sure I could maybe come up with some other high points. Brisbane is a river city made up of a large Central Business District and many smaller surrounding villages on a landscape of rolling hills and beauty. It boasts a cool bridge and an efficient public transit fleet that I rode everyday (buses, water buses, trains) in some form or another.

Story Bridge

To be honest though, my favorite activities while in town weren't technically in Brisbane.

The first big outing was to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where I successfully saw...koalas! While the park was really well laid out and had lots of interesting and cute critters, I started feeling uncomfortable about halfway through my visit. At some point in the last few years I've developed a much larger appreciation for natural life, and I think seeing all these beautiful creatures in cages on display just rubbed me up the wrong way. I just sort of of sat there thinking, “I'd rather spend a whole day hiking around looking for stuff and seeing ONE wild creature than seeing loads in a cage.”

Mommy and baby  joey koala!  

Which is exactly what I did next! The next day I headed off at a very early hour to Moreton Island with a local guide company Bushwacker Eco Tours. We “enjoyed” sandboarding. By which I mean my tour mates enjoyed watching me ride down a gigantic sand dune on a slab of waxed wood and face plant quite a few times. There was honestly so much sand in my clothes afterward that I walked straight into the shower with all my clothes when I got home at the end of the day.

Those dunes are tricking you, they were massive.  It was like a giant sand-bowl and here I'm at the top.

Before that, however, we went snorkeling at the Tangalooma Wrecks where we spotted loads of fish, a friendly Woobegong shark, and the endangered hornbill turtle. Fun Fact: fish will swarm around you and eat will eat tortilla wraps out of your hands. Also a fun fact: Birds will see this and gobble up whole fish right in front of your eyes. Teamwork.

The Tangalooma Wrecks.  Purposely shrunk whaling ships that now host corals from the Barrier Reef.

I was quite tired the next day from Moreton shenanigans, so strolling around Brisbane's Southbank was exactly my speed. A nice little Saturday market, fresh sushi, and some fro-yo on the riverside set me up quite nicely to enjoy my favorite cultural activity: going to the cinema! And I must say, while Chris Pine isn't my favorite Jack Ryan, the movie was pretty good. I mean, you can do a lot worse than Kevin Costner in dress blues. Once you love someone in Waterworld, you never go back.

My last day in Brisbane was spent with the same eco tour company, but this time we traveled south of Brisbane into the Hinterland to see some sub-tropical rainforest. I absolutely adored this tour. Our morning started off at Natural Arch with some rainforest bushwalking, little ecology lessons, a waterfall through a cave, water dragon, eel, and strangler figs.

The Strangler Fig: An epiphyte who grows on top of other trees for centuries, but eventually strangles its host to death.  Lovely. 

Natural Arch

We also made a stop to see glow worms which usually only live in caves. A local created a man-made cave where the worms could live in darkness full time (and visitors could see them during the day). No photos were allowed, but the site of them in the pitch blackness was exactly like like looking at the stars in a clear night sky...if stars trapped mosquitos for breakfast!

[Note: My camera died somewhere during the day, so while there aren't many good photos currently of the following, some tour mates took some and I'll update this post when they email them to me!]

After a lovely lunch where we discussed my other favorite aspect of culture, language differences, we went on a nice long hike through Springbrook National Park. The hike wasn't so long, but we all were in need of a little break for rest and photos when we reached Twin Falls. Now when presented with the following waterfall, I ask who among you would not immediately take off all your clothes and go for a swim? Bit cold, but completely clean, no unfriendly water creatures or mushy plants – and nothing is ever going to erase the image I had floating on my back looking up at this waterfall at the Australian sky.

Twin Falls from my crappy mobile camera...more pics to be uploaded later!

Once I decided clothes were in order again, we scaled the cliff and checked out the source of the waterfall, a spring so pure you could drink from which was delicious! Filled my water bottle twice. We had another little detour when we spotted a huge human hand-sized blue crayfish, to which I immediately turned to the guide asking, “You gonna catch that for me?”. Long story short, good thing I chose to go for a swim already, cause I fell in the creek in our pursuit, but we eventually caught the little bugger (ie – I told CJ where it was, and he risked his digits catching it). Fearsome little beast, could chop off a finger with those claws! Endless thanks go to CJ for indulging the waterbaby of the tour.

Brisbane was a great city, and an even better city to use as a base to explore the areas around it. I have a feeling I'll make it back there soon. With Brissy done I'll be in Emerald for a few days where I'll meet the family I'll be working with and doing a little two-day induction with the girls distance education school.

Internet has been shaky the last few days, but once we get to the reserve properly (end of the week) things will definitely be more stable. Leave some comments would love to hear from you guys!

Welcome to Brisbane

I'VE MADE IT!  Three planes, a train, a bus and a nice wee walk have set me quite happily in Brisbane's New Farm area. You can imagine the length of stories from a nearly 30 hour our trip AND my first day in Australia, but let's focus these five little nuggets.

1. Sleep on the plane. But be smart about it. I'll let you know if I develop jet lag, but I doubt I will because I planned ahead have super powers. The boys next to me slept at the wrong time. They slept when they were tired. Instead, you must sleep when your destination time zone is tired. This may coincidentally be when you are tired, but chances are it won't be, and for that I suggest a warm meal, headphones/ear lugs, an eye cover, melatonin, and Zzzquil (or other over the counter sleep-aid). All legal and non-prescription so you can force yourself to get on the correct sleep schedule. Essentially, you want to be in whatever state you'll need to be in at the time you land. I got in around 10 AM so I had to be ready to be awake all day as soon as I got off the plane. Not really a party trick, but I'm sure someone would be impressed if you were a jet-lag master.
2. Air travel is an exercise in queuing. There will be lots of queues for what seems to be no reason. Be one with them. Learn their ways. Accept them as a part of life. Know that when there are 300 people being processed by one border control agent, you are not alone, and heavy sighing and dirty looks just make every one more frustrated because there is nothing we can do. Also know that heavy sighs and and dirty looks are completely appropriate when you're holding every one up in the security line because you are passionate about not throwing this water bottle away. Bring peace to the queue.
3. Australia is really hot. I sat next to these really cute kids on the plane, and even they warned me,“You better strip down some of those layers or else you'll be boiling.” Though everyone tells you how hot its going to be, it really is hot as shit. Brisbane is also very humid, so its the kind of heat that makes it feel like you're walking through jello. It's hotter than you think. It's hotter than you can really plan for. Maybe melting is some weird sort of assimilation process. Either way, I do not advise walking into center city in the midday sun as your first activity. To those concerned at home: Yes, I wore sunblock. To the lady at the hotel desk: Yes, I wore sunblock.
4. The people here are really nice. Thank you ticket agent who told me which combo would be the cheapest train fare. Thank you random dude who saw my slightly confused face and made sure I knew where the bus was going without me asking him. Thank you really nice bank man for shaking my hand and smiling and introducing yourself when I was a red faced sweat monster. Thank you Vodaphone lady for literally suggesting and giving me directions to other mobile stores when you found out the town I'd be living in wasn't covered very well by your network. Thank you awesome lady sitting next to me on the bus for some pleasant chatting and laughing just as hard when I pointed out my new favorite hats (to be fair she was originally from New Zealand).



Do you see their hard hats?  They have wide brims.  ITS LIKE A COWBOY CONSTRUCTION HAT.  Perfect. 

5. Traveling alone isn't so bad. There are some moments where I'd wish someone was here to experience what I'm experiencing, but so far its been pretty nice. I almost feel a bit guilty about that. Not that I don't love traveling with others! Its just...you can really do what you want. Sometimes you want to take the dirty city bus instead of a taxi. Sometimes you want to just take a swim and read by the pool instead of site-seeing. Sometimes you're just sweating buckets and need to walk around the air-conditioned super market for an hour and a half. You can do all these things. I'm sure I'll miss companionship at some point, but right now I'm enjoying the solo-travel life.

All in all a rather relaxed flight and first day. Nothing too crazy going on, but that's alright by me. I made it here in one piece and everything has run smoothly so I'm proud of that and a happy gal. Watching and listening to a big thunder/lightening storm rolling in, catch you guys later!  Update a few minutes after typing this: THIS STORM IS AWESOME.  Update a few minutes after that:  I forgot my towel was outside.  

On the Road

People deal with emotions in all sorts of ways.  These last few days, I've seen the differences between my parents, family, friends, and acquaintances.  I tend to be strongly positive.  I avoid having formal goodbyes, and opt for parting with the best wishes of seeing each other again soon.  And by strongly positive, I of course mean I'll hug you and be the strong one, and then will go cry in the bathroom when you've gone.

More than anything I try as hard as a I can to be aware of the magnitude of what's happening, without letting it overwhelm me.  Sometimes it does (pacing around my room at 3 AM last night organizing my carry-on baggage) but at the very least I try to recognize it and let the feeling pass.  Know that I'm getting nervous, know that I probably didn't pack everything I need, know that my parents will cry at the airport regardless of what I do.

I also tend to revert to my own sort of scripture.  The last few days have seen a sharp increase in my quoting of The Desiderata, Jackson Browne, films I've always loved but only recently realized are all about going on adventures.  Part of me knows that these things won't change.  I can watch my favorite scenes anywhere in the world, and the same songs will make me cry regardless of where I listen to them.

The hard part is the people.  What a species, I'll tell ya, they drive you nuts but you love 'em anyways. 

Well, I'm getting a bit sentimental now.  We're heading to the airport in about half an hour.  The internet went out at home so I'm posting this from the airport!  1 free hour of wifi, you go Frankfurt.  Despite all the rest, the hardest part of leaving for me is the drive away.  After we were out of site of our house, we were on the road - the journey has begun.  But those few moments where you're leaving and you're looking back are what always gets me.  It happened when we drove away from our house in Philly.  It happened when the cab pulled away from my flat in Edinburgh.  And it happened again in Landstuhl as I drove away from our home of 7 years.  All three images overlapping, or perhaps blurring together through the tears.  

I'll leave you with this, Jack Kerouac said it a lot better

“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” 

The sadness of leaving and goodbye is real, but let's get this crazy venture started.   Love you Germany, love you friends, love you family!

26+ Hours of in-flight entertainment, here I come!

Warning: Learning Ahead

In the run up to departure, I'm trying to keep myself from getting over anxious by focusing on the ins and outs of the actual job I'll be doing eventually instead of mulling over whether my toiletries are properly organized. Governessing is going to be daunting and interesting and definitely going to be a rich experience regardless of what happens. Recently, however, I've started wondering about struggles that might arise – like when I went to university in the UK and all the laboratory equipment had different names.

What if teaching a kid to read and write is done differently in Australia? Do they do PEMDAS or is there some other acronym for orders of operation? Will we do world geography or just Australian geography? Colours? Or Colors? While my first reaction was to be a bit worried, I soon got over those nerves in a very simple chat with one of my best friends, Raymah.

We (okay, I) had been postulating how cool it would be if there were buried civilizations in Southern Asia similar to Atlantis, but buried in sand dunes and no one knew they were there. Without even hesitating Raymah told me all about Mohenjo-daro, an archaeological site she'd visited with her school back in the day, which was pretty much exactly what I'd been imagining.

I was immediately jealous. I'd trade all two dozen class trips to the Liberty Bell for one chance to see a nigh 5000 year old city. Not sure she'd appreciate the reciprocal, but I'm sure there are parts of the founding of the US that British kids probably never got exposed to.

All this is getting to a point, promise. This little conversation opened my eyes to a truly wonderful aspect of growing up in different cultures – one that I hope I'll be able to share with the girls I'll be teaching. Not only do I get to experience new people and ideas and views when out exploring, but I get to hear how other peoples experiences/education/culture have shaped their views which could include things I've never been exposed to.

It's a subtle difference. I've only just fully realized it, though I've probably enjoyed seeing the world through other people's experiences and education for a long time.  Catch me at the pub and my favorite game is pointing out differences between language use, cultural practices, and so on. But it's a step further. It's pointing them out, and understanding why they're different – and why different is kind of cool. It's realizing that I'm 22 and created this fantasy lost-sand-dune-buried-city because I'd never learned about a real one, and Raymah was chillin' out in the real thing when she was in primary school. 

So go find people with different perspectives. Listen to them, try to understand and appreciate that while similarity might make you compatible, dissimilarity is the really interesting bit. I guarantee you will have a lot more fun if you just approach most situations sort of accepting that yours isn't the only way things are done.

Watch out though, you might just learn something.