Hello world, are you listening?

hey all! I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEE! no more stanthorpe, no more toothless allans, no more pruning, or 6am mornings... no more cold weather... no more painkillers. Now I'm in Brisbane, until 9:40 tomorrow night when we hop on another plane up to Cairns again...paradise babayyy!! can't wait. I love that place, and I'm very excited, anticipating our trip down the east coast of australia. We're staying in Cairns until Thursday the 6th now, because 3 or 4 of our friends will be there, so that gives us time to hang out with them, do the reef, laze by the lagoon again, and see harry potter!! haha.. I figure I would write out my bus schedule for all those interested (mostly my family) so you can keep up with me and know where I am at all times :) haha. especially considering many of these beaches and islands do not have proper cell phone reception or accessible internet, so I might be unreachable for a few days this coming month haha. Just remember I'm 14 hours ahead of you Canadians when you're checking what place I'll be in!

Rightio...haha, the man in Stanthorpe who drove us to work and managed the hostel said that basically 500 times a day.
Here's the sched, and the probable hostel names for accomodation at each place. Hope it's helpful!

So like I said, we're in Cairns from the 1st til the 6th at 7:25 am when we take the bus to Mission beach, where we arrive at 9:25am. We're hoping to stay overnight there on that beautiful beach at a place called Scotty's Beach House, which is apparently right on the beach (we've heard that before--cape tribulation, and it lied, so we'll see). Then from there we leave on Friday the 7th at 9:25am for Airlie beach, which is a long ride... we'll arrive in Airlie at 5:25pm on the 7th. We will stay at Magnum's hostel that night, and then in the morning we will depart on the first part of our package deal (other than the Cairns stay) to WHITSUNDAYS!!!!!!! I can't wait for this, it's going to be gorgeous. We're staying on Koala's adventure island (there's a website, google it) until the 11th, when we head back to land at Airlie Beach.
From Airlie on the 11th we depart at 5:25pm and take a bus overnight to Hervey Bay. We arrive there at 5:55am on the 12th (delightful time isn't it?). We will hop on a boat and go to Fraser Island that day, for our 2 night 4 wheel drive safari. When that's done we head back to Hervey Bay where we stay at Koala's (we booked a Koala's package if you can't tell) for two nights there. Then on Sunday August 16th we leave Hervey Bay at 5:55am for Rainbow Beach where we arrive at 7:40 am. There we plan on staying at Pippie's Beachhouse for the night. The following day, monday the 17th, we're heading to Noosa at 7:40 and arriving at 10:10 am. I'm excited about this place because we're staying at Gagaju Bush Camp where you actually stay in the bush, still in dorms, but there are campfires and native traditions and lots of wildlife. It will be a great Australian experience. On August 18th we're taking the bus from Noosa to Brisbane, and switching buses, taking one from Brisbane to Surfers Paradise, where we arrive at 2:25pm. We're staying at Trekker's Backpackers Resort there for one night, and then departing on the 19th at 5:45pm for Byron Bay, where we arrive at 7:30 that night. We're planning on staying in Byron two nights since we get there so late. We'll stay at Cape Byron Lodge for those two days, and get free pancakes for breakfast! :) (a few of the places we're staying offer free breakfast which is nice). After Byron Bay we're heading back to reunite with Bonnie, Amber and the others in Sydney ....that bus is an overnight drive from august 21st to the 22nd, when we will get there at 6:40am.
so thats that! hope youre well xoxo miss you all

My Plans

hi all you devoted readers. I'm sorry I've been slacking... this weeks excuse is that stanthorpe...IS BORING. haha. I know I've used that before... let's see....what's new...

I've been working for 4 weeks, can you believe it? I sure can't. This past week has been the worst one yet, and I almost quit about 3 times. I cried twice at work, I was that frustrated and angry. Also they were pushing us like crazy to work faster, and I'm sorry, I know I'm tall and can reach high on the trees, but I'm weak... I can't carry a metal ladder while running. I can only move so fast. I snapped at one of the men who works there because he treats every backpacker with ZERO respect, and like he's king of pruning the trees...what an accomplishment. he's been here for like 8 years or something ridiculous.... i've been here for 4 weeks.... obviously I'm not going to be as good... plus he walks around doing nothing and taking his sweet old time. The only thing I've learned at this job is new ways to swear at trees when they poke you in your eyes, scratch up your arms, or hit you in the head.

BUT GOOD NEWS! My last day at work will be this coming Wednesday...then we're going to Brisbane til Saturday when we fly back up to the paradise which is Cairns for 4 days, and do our reef dive/snorkel on the great barrier reef. Then we will head down the east coast to the Whitsundays, Fraser Island and Hervey Bay. I think we're staying in Airlie Beach, possibly Rainbow Beach, Noosa, Byron Bay, and Surfers Paradise, before heading back to Sydney for our last few weeks in Australia to stay with our girls bonnie and amber again (miss them so much!)

so my spirits will be lifted, I"ll have the money I need to travel and hopefully all my scratches and bruises will heal, and I can work on darkening my tan again. I'm going out karaoking with the Stanthorpians one last time tonight.....can't wait to leave.

love you all.

Journal from a working girl...

So Stanthorne is a really small town, with like one main road. Everything closes by 5:30 except for the Woolworth's supermarket...which is the highlight of all the working backpackers' days. Pruning trees really isn't all that bad, we have air powered snippers which makes it easier to cut the branches. The really thick branches are harder to cut, but normally my muscles don't hurt too badly. Friday I had to go to the factory and pack apples for 8 and a half hours instead of pruning, and my back kills and my hand is enflamed and sore. I'm going to try to get out of that duty this coming week and onwards because it's too painful for me. I'd rather be pruning. Let me tell you about the silly workforce in Australia farms. Workers smoke DURING work...right beside the trees...which by the way, if you've seen any news coverage, ARE capable of catching on fire, nimrod....as well as in the factory by CARDBOARD trays....also flammable. They also frequently use the F word in common sentences and are therefore allowed to swear at the trees and pruners all they want, and no one turns a head. One man in particular, we call toothless Alan, for obvious reasons...he has about 3 visible teeth in his mouth...possibly some hidden molars. He is an all-round hick.. he's had 2 live in commonlaw wives in his life. He was telling Trish and I that he has 3 kids from the first, and they are all in foster care, and a baby from the second, who is with the mom. When they were living together they ended up having to live in separate housing just to keep the kid...that was a bit shady...he said he's not allowed to leave the country either. So I'm thinking he's a felon. I've got a great imagination, so I think he's probably a fugitive. haha. Anyways, he's the nimrod to whom I was referring earlier. He also likes to take 30 breaks during the work day. Another thing about pruning trees is there's no bathroom...so you pee behind whatever rock or bush you can find. Lovely. I'm going to learn to appreciate life more when I go back to Canada. After months of living out of a bag, travelling from bed to bed, sometimes with horrible pillows (pillows need to be just right for me or I won't sleep properly), and no toilet at work....I love my mom and my home. haha.
SO....As long as the weather is nice we prune 4 or 5 days a week. I made $510 in four days, and technically I made more than that because the taxes were taken away. That made it all seem worth it, but honestly I would rather it be a bit warmer. I'm going to lose the wonderful tan I started in Cairns. I miss Cairns...mostly the weather, and the people. I miss Bon Bon and Amber, and my 3 boys. The fab 5. But we're all writing our own adventures. I just hope the paths cross again. They are all currently looking for work so I suppose I should be thankful that I have a job. It's just not a wonderful place to be when I know all about the other beautiful spots in Australia which are warmer and more glorious. But this job is a means to an ends -- money for travelling, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. And to be honest, I have met some of the best people through this experience. Being separated from Ashley for 5 days was really difficult, but I learned a lot about myself and about this journey because of it, so I know it happened for a reason, just like everything does. I'm learning a lot of life lessons, finally. That's what this trip was all about for me. It sounds cliche to say "soul searching", but I guess thats sort of what I'm doing. I'm learning to have faith in humanity again. Some people do a really great job at being wonderful, loving people. So it's opened my eyes because while my truth is right for me, I have to accept that not everyone else out in the world are messed up, not all of them have bad intentions (I did know that on a small scale because I have some amazing friends), and not everyone treats other people like crap. Within the backpacker world there is a lot of helping others going on, even strangers who I've never met before will offer a helping hand. In backpackers world we look out for our own. It's like a family. But it's my third family. I have my family (&friends included) at home, and then my second family is my 6 - Ashley gets to be in two categories here....Ash, Dean, Nic, Glen, BonBon, and Amber are my second family, and then finally my third, backpackers in general. Everywhere you go, you meet new people, most with similar stories to yours. I love it.
Well that's enough for this chapter.... bis spater (see ya later, in german.)

xoxo Michelle
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Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia

Hey,
so I'm terrible at updating, but i have a good excuse-- I dont have my laptop plug so I can't use it. Ashley has it...and we've been split up. heres the short version. we both had jobs pruning on a farm in stanthorpe, then ashleys farm closed over a family dispute-- retarded really- so she didnt have a job... but we need the money, and its the only job I could find so I still took it...because she told me to.. and she went to bundaberg where she was told she'd get work...but still hasn't. So we're desperately trying to get her in to my working hostel but she has to wait until a girl quits so she can take her spot. likely that wont happen for another week or so...which is frustrating, so she's looking into this other farm where you work for food and accomodation only, but its in the same little town that i'm in... so we're trying....

Stanthorpe is in the middle of nowhere, 3 hours from Brisbane, and is the only place that it SNOWS sometimse in the winter.. OF COURSE!!!!! so the first day it was absolutrely freezing and I wasn't impressed in the least bit... I had like 3 layers of clothing on. but it's warmed up since, I got a sunburn on my face despite wearing lotion 3 times a day. Work is 8 hours long, pruning trees, and you have to carry around a heavy ladder.. so my back aches and my fingers cramp up halfway through the day, but its not terrible....and I get about $600 a week that way...guaranteed 39 hours a week unless it rains or snows. So that's nice... I'm going to try to keep this job as long as I can .... but I'm already wishing I was anywhere but here. it would be better if ashley was here...dean's trying to get in as well because he really needs the work...but i dont know how lucky they'll be.

I miss home because I'm alone. the people here are REALLY nice and most are travelling alone anyways, so you make friends easily, but its not the same...

Anyways....that's what I'm up to... sorry for the lack of communication. love you all.