More boredom

Has anyone noticed how enthralling peeling off your sunburnt skin can be? (I got caught minus sunscreen on a 6 inch section of arm, mudsplattered and quite amusing, apart from the pain) Also isn't it incredible how you find out things that you never knew about people you've know all your life? I just read my sister's blog and discovered that she wanted to be an astronaut when she was young. And here was me thinking that was just me...

Heat and Christmas

Good grief but it's HOT! It's the kind of heat that you get in the tropics that hits you like a wall when you walk out the door but minus the humidity. It's trying to decide whether to be a storm or just massively windy out there at the moment. Quite frankly I'm backing the storm as I'm not sure I can cope with getting up at 4.15am tomorrow morning in order to get to work by 5.30am so that the poor plants don't frazzle in the heat. We were due at work by 6am this morning so were not best pleased when having been awake for all of 2 minutes at 5.10am and lacking my life saving morning coffee we were informed that they had infact started planting already and we were due there quarter of an hour before. Cue the fastest moving possible by barely awake coffee-lacking, sleep needing backpackers. We were at work by 5.30am. I, for one, was quite impressed! Oddly enough I don't object to getting out of bed around 5am (although 6am is nicer) as it's really really easier to work in the cool of the morning. However I do object to having to witness any hour of the morning that begins with that unholy number 4 or under. Added to that it's still dark when we get to work at that time which makes planting a liiiitle more difficult (there are lights on the back of the tractor so you can see but given the lack of awakeness this doesn't really make much difference). Finally, I don't know when I'll be able to get to a computer again (if I'm working tomorrow it'll be a 10-12 hour day, oooh fun) so I'm getting my Christmas greetings in now. Merry Christmas to one and all! Have fun people :)

Games to play when really bored...

Type "[your name] looks like" (with quotation marks) into Google. Apparently Ellie is a nice horse but colour isn't everything...and did you know you can make your own Eleanor? I'm mass produced, I KNEW there was something my parents weren't telling me... :D Yup, definately very bored! (It's too hot to plant tomato plants, the poor dears frazzle, not to mention the planters)

The evils of drink

As per usual, I have, within the last 48 hours, sworn never ever to touch alcohol again. This resolution lasted approximately 12 hours but the intentions were good! Every time this particular evil enters my life in excess I think that next time I will learn. If the hangover isn't enough to deter me for long then surely, SURELY the recollection of me dancing would be enough to put me off for life. Obviously this is not the case (which is surprising given my complete and utter lack of ability on the dancefloor...) and not only that but I seem to think that it's a GOOD IDEA at the time. I sit here in silent astonishment that without fail this miracle of madness occurs everytime I indulge myself. Ah well, thankfully it doesn't happen THAT often! I'm not sure anyone would survive the carnage if it did... The party was definately a good one although I'm fairly certain that the sight of Don dressed up in a long blonde wig, pink lacy singlet and skirt will haunt me for a very, very long time. It's not really sunk in yet that I probably won't be back there for a while. The DZ at Nagambie has been like a second home to me since I got to Australia, Don and Lou took me in and have treated me well and I'm going to miss the place. I'm sure that I'll find new friends in Adelaide though :)

Time to cheer up

I realised that I've been boring everyone with being stressed out recently so am making a concerted effort to cheer up. This so far has not been difficult. I've been in a supremely good mood for the last couple of days. My birthday was yesterday and despite the fact I spent 10 hours sweating a lot in a hot paddock weeding tomatoes and then planting somemore (a better job as you get to sit down on the back of a trailer) I remained in a stupidly happy mood :) Even the fact that I'm now the wrong side of 25 (but still the right side of 30, haha!) couldn't get me down ;) Yesterday did go really well, after work we had a bbq at the backpackers (yes, I'm still in Murchison, they finally came through with work, woohoo!) and people bought me beer, which was nice! I've been discussing my visa situation with some others here and they've all been informed that even though I've not been working it counts as full time because that's all that there has been so I should be out of here by the end of January! This is very good news. Also, TAB DID remember to call me yesterday and wish me a happy birthday. Things are going slightly better for him too as he's got a new job as a consultant in Adelaide so the money will start coming in again and he can pay his bills which has been really stressing him out the last 3 months so that's all good. I'm supposed to be going to Nagambie this weekend, I was going last night but with the bbq and the beer it just never happened. Unfortunately I now don't have a lift and the V-line (bus and coach company) don't really run convenient timetables at the weekend (it's just like being back in Wales!!!) so am going to try and beg a lot at the backpackers until they give in and give me a lift. I even asked if they had a bicycle I could borrow (it's over 20kms to Nagambie so those who know me and my lack of exercise drive should be suitably impressed by the fact I was willing to do that!) but there wasn't one. Thanks for the birthday wishes \Amy they just made me smile even more. And a big hug to all those out there who sent me emails/txts and birthday wishes, I love you all! I also got to hear my nephew burble although the attempt to make him say 'happy birthday' did fail slightly. I'm sure that he's very precosious but possibly asking him to say that at only 6 weeks old may be a bit much... Hope everyone out there is having a lovely smiley day too xxx

Shit

I've been deliberating whether or not to give Nagambie a miss given that I really need to be working and head up to Mildura where there are apparently lots of jobs. The Mildura plan sounds the most viable. I'm really in a bit of a tight spot though. I've just read the updated - again - immigration website (not that it's the easiest website to find your way around and it frequently contradicts itself) and it seems that they've decided that one I've had 2 visas I can't apply for another whilst in the country (I would double check this but I can't even find the damn page now) apart from in exceptional circumstances. So I'm going to have to come home in 2007 (that's if I get THIS visa extension!) no matter what. Work to apply for another working-holiday maker's visa also has to be full time. Given that I've worked four and a half days in the last 3 weeks I think that that isn't going to be really counted. I've wasted a MONTH because they keep promising us work here and then there isn't any, or they don't place me and the 2 German girls in work. I'm screwed! I need to get out of here NOW.

Going away

This may be the last entry for a little while. Work has yet again evaporated into thin air and they don't think there will be any work for at least a week and a half so, to save money, I'm going to go and stay in the caravan at the DZ for a week. There's a training camp on so there will be people around and I won't be alone which is nice. So, if no work appears (or even the promise of work) very very soon then I will disappear for a week and spend some time with my friends, being jealous that I can't jump, and having a great time on my birthday :) I do feel that I must apologise for the last blog but one. I know you must all be fed up to the back teeth with me being pathetic over the current situation with TAB (and I'm not even going to repeat some of the other names people have come up with for him). The truth is that mostly, the good times do outweigh the bad. I did cheat on him for which I am truly sorry, if there was anything I could do to erase that particular bad decision from my life then I would be doing it before I'd even thought about it. It has been really difficult with me being away for quite a while, for both of us. I have this nasty little green eyed monster that rears it's ugly head every time he mentions ex-girlfriends who stay over or friends that he sees a lot of. It's not pretty and it's not a nice trait, I just can't help it. Despite that, he hasn't actually gone off with someone else. I know him well enough to know that he would actually tell me, of that I can be sure. This doesn't change the fact that yes, generally, he is commitment-phobic. This in turn helps fuel the little green monster because, as some of you know, the last man who I really liked was also commitment-phobic (or at least, he was with me) and then proceeded to go with another girl while I was away on holiday. The one before that already had a girlfriend. My relationship history is by no means pretty. The main reason that all of this hurts so damn much is that I really do care for him. It hurts when I'm not with him and I'd give anything to wake up in his arms rather than on the really quite uncomfortable single bunk bed I'm currently occupying. I smile for hours whenever I get messages or phone calls from him (apart from the one telling me he wouldn't be around for Christmas). I am, in short, totally and utterly gone on this boy. So, despite the fact I can see the faults I can't let go at this moment in time. Rather pathetic I know and I'm probably letting myself in for more heartbreak but I can't help myself. I'm also a hopeless romantic who has been reading FAR too many Mills and Boon books for her own good.

Four seasons in one day

They say (though who 'they' is is a question that occasionally haunts me when I really don't have anything else to think about and my mind is rambling through pathways that I ususally reserve for extremely drunken logic) that the phrase 'four seasons in one day' was coined about Melbourne weather. I'm inclined to believe that this should be expanded to include all of Victoria. The other day it was hot and a little bit windy but generally a nice day. Five minutes after this observation you could see the clouds blowing in. Ten minutes after that there wasn't a patch of blue to be seen, the clouds had come in (that gray type which hurts your eyes to look at but because there's no sun it's not bright enough to wear sunnies) and then the rain came. Huge amounts of cold, lashing rain. On with the jumpers and coats and everyone starts commenting about how cold it was. Half an hour later it was back to the sweltering heat and clear blue skies. Today is no different. The weather forecast this morning confidently announced that central Victoria would have a temperature of 31 degrees today. I'm sure that somewhere it does but right over us it has yet again decided to be cold, wet, windy and generally miserable. I could almost believe I'm back in Britain!

Exam time

Question: If you are living with someone for nearly 7 months but they still refuse to actually call you their girlfriend, introduce you to their friends, family and still count themselves as single, can an indescretion on your part near the start of the 7 months be counted as cheating? Or merely tactless in the extreme? If said person who is refusing to be classed as 'boyfriend' gets upset about the indescretion in question is he counted as 'having his cake and eating it' due to denial of relationship in the first place? (For the purpose of answering the question, please assume that the denial of the relationship has been going on since the beginning and was in actuality a main factor behind the indescretion in question) Please attempt to keep answers from containing the phrase 'I told you so' if at all possible.

Christmas fever...

It's everywhere! Everywhere that is apart from Australia, and Namibia. In the last couple of days people blogging all over the world have felt the need to comment on the fact that it's coming up to Christmas and all sorts of Christmassy things have been happening. For me, here, sweltering in the heat, it all seems a bit surreal. Walking to the train to come into Shepparton today (no work as apparently girls can't do any of the stuff that's available) we noticed that they are putting up the most horrendous plastic Christmas decorations on the main street (and I use the term losely) in Murchison. This is so far the only sign I've seen in quite a while that it is approaching Christmas. The post office and local supermarkets haven't had Christmas cards stocked to the rafters for the last few months, nowhere appears to be playing Christmassy music (although I tried to go a way to remedy that by singing that old classic 'Let it snow' whilst wondering through the vinyards) and because of the heat it simply doesn't feel like Christmas. This may change in a couple of weeks but somehow, I don't think it will. This year Christmas will be very strange indeed.

Wierd things

I was just checking on the other blogs I read, as you do, when I came across this post from Amy about running into someone I used to know way back when. This world is a very small place. Just today I was talking to someone who arrived at the hostel last night and it turns out that they know people I was working with back up in Queensland. Stories of co-incidences always remind me of the story my father used to tell about running into his younger brother in Ostend years ago. I lived with someone in Melbourne who knew people back home and in the same flat was a girl who had only been to one place in Wales, once, and it turned out to be the village next to mine. Everyone has these types of stories, running into people they havn't seen for years or who turn out to be related to them at some random place in the world. These things happen ALL THE TIME to EVERYONE. There's a conspiracy afoot I'm sure...

It's summertime!

Since the last post things have definately been looking up. I've had work for the last couple of days and now things have really started to pick up so I shouldn't be out of work again and if I am it will only be for a day or so, woohoo! I've only got the time to come on the internet now as now it's summer, it's decided to piss it down and being in the middle of a vinyard which is basically 140 acres covered in wire isn't the best idea in the middle of a thunderstorm... :) This job is going to do wonders for my thighs (I know you were all dying to hear that) as we're walking about 20k's a day up and down and up and down the rows lifting wires (good for the arms, excellent!). Who needs the gym when you can just work a gruelling 9 hour day in the heat with the flies and mozzies (I can't tell what size my ankles actually are) lifting wires and vines to the top of 6ft poles ;) Things with TAB are ok, the day after that last post I left him a message asking him to come up which he duly did the very next day, which was nice. I've got used to the fact that I won't see him for either my birthday or Christmas, he couldn't really do much about it. Anyway, there's a Christmas party at Nagambie the day after my birthday and I've just been invited to someone's house for Christmas day which was lovely :) I met this girl working today, we'd just got past asking each others names and things like that when she asked me what I was doing at Christmas. On hearing that I was intending to spend it at the pub she wouldn't hear of it and I have to go round her house for a meal and they'll put a pressie under the tree for me. Cheered me right up that did :) We had a rather surreal moment last night, we were all gathered outside after work, beer in hand, listening to the merry zip and zing of mozzies frying on the exterminating light thingy, celebrating the first day of summer and listening to Bing Crosby sing 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow'. Well, it is nearing Christmas after all!