A lot has happened #TravelDiaries

It's been a while since I've written a travel diaries post but I think when you read how much we've been doing you'll realise why. We've been incredibly hectic over the past weeks and it doesn't show much sign of slowing down but that's not really a problem for us. We love being busy and getting stuck in and it makes our Sunday's off a whole lot more enjoyable.

We've been doing a lot of mustering over the past weeks. If you're unsure what mustering is it's essentially herding cattle in the cattle yards so we can draft them, often into bulls, cows and weeners (calves that are ready to be weened from their mums) and then letting them back out into paddocks accordingly. 

With mustering comes weening which takes 5-7 days depending on the weeners. It's a lot of time spent in the yards educating them to walk around the yards in the right direction and not get crazy and cranky. It also involves a lot of leading them out of the yards to make sure they walk and not trot or run when they're being mustered in the future. Weening is also the time when any weeners that haven't been ear tagged get all those things done. Once that's done they're let out into a paddock immediately to avoid infection. 

We've also been mustering to send cattle off to feed lots and meat works recently so we've been drafting cattle by weight. It's a little more fiddly and time consuming but when you've got two pens of cattle at the end of the day with the right numbers and weights it's a good feeling. 

This sort of drafting normally involves loading and trucking as well. Loading is normally done as quickly as possible so the trucky can get on the road quickly so the cattle are in the truck for the least time possible and also so the cattle don't get as stressed. However cattle unfortunately don't understand that so it can be a bit of stressful experience. 

All in all though it's really good fun mustering and drafting and trucking and weening. It's also the part that Jack and I enjoy the most as it's nothing like we've done before and probably would never have done otherwise. 

In similar but other news, we got the bulls into the yards this week on their own for sperm testing. And yes that involves exactly what you think it does. I won't go into too much detail as I'm not sure how many of you would enjoy the read but you never know I suppose. Essentially the bull has probe up it's bum and the vet holds a funnel under it's penis to catch the sperm to inspect them to ensure they're behaving as they're meant to. Oh and guess who got to hold the probe, yes yours truly. Quickly onwards. The vet also makes sure the bulls are in general good health.

We've been having a really interesting time recently and we'll be back to it in the coming weeks which is good. 

I hope you've all been having a good few weeks, let me know what you've been up to and what you're thinking of my recent experiences in the comments.

Until next time,

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Busy, Busy, Busy | The Travel Diaries

Since my last travel diaries, a few weeks ago now, I've been very busy but it doesn't feel like I've got much to say. That's one of the things about the outback and rural work, you're constantly busy doing all range of things but when you looks back its hard to remember what you've done and it sometimes feels like you've not done a lot but you always have.

Jack and I are still out enjoying outback life and all that has to offer. We've been doing a fair bit more cattle work in the past week which is something we both really enjoy doing. It's always a knackering and dirty day when you spend it on the four wheelers and in the cattle yards but it's often fun, if sometimes stressful and you always feel like you've done a good days work. We've also been doing general farm maintenance as well as always which despite what I'd have though doesn't get tedious, or at least hasn't yet.

We celebrated Jack's birthday here last week. He turned 21 so it was a big one but spent quietly which suited him perfectly. He build a BBQ, got his favourite cake made for him and ate steak and drank beer so he says he had a really good day which I'm happy about. 

He said he didn't want anything for his birthday which some of you may know is the most annoying thing to hear. However, we're going up to Cairns next Friday so hopefully I'll be able to get him a good present then. Something he'll treasure. So I suppose Cairns is the next exciting piece of news.

We'll be chasing the warm, sunny weather up there next Friday for a week. We've got lots planned and lots we want to do but there will be a blog posts about it all so I won't spoil it now. I'm definitely looking forward to the sun and the sea for a few days. After that back to the farm for a little while to help with the big yearly muster and weening.

And after that, well that's anybody's guess.

Until next time 

Emily x

P.S. Jack's dad and a group of his friends are cycling from The Royal Oak/'pink pub' in North Bersted, a local village, to Paris. They're doing it on bikes they bought for £25 or less and for the Snowdrop Trust which is a great charity. If you want to know more or want to sponsor them just based on that, which you should cause it's a great charity and they're doing a great thing, visit their just giving page and sponsor generously. Thank you :) 

https://www.justgiving.com/pink-pub-to-paris/

88 days outback

If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram, or even if you've been following the blog for a while, you'll probably know that I've been spending an awful lot of time in rural Australia. A lot of people think we're a bit mad spending so much time in the middle of nowhere when there's so many beautiful, relaxing and cool places out here. So today I thought I'd share with you my 5 top reasons you should make sure rural life is on your to do list if you plan to venture to the sunburnt country.

T H E  P R A C T I C A L.

A lot of people don't realise, but your first working holiday visa allows you a maximum of 12 months in Australia, and head my words that 12 months goes in a flash. More than likely you will want to apply for a second year visa, if you can, I don't know why you wouldn't if you're entitled to one. However, to do this you have to have worked a minimum of 88 days in a certain area of work. One of these areas is farming and it can be any type of farming. Vegetable farming, fruit picking, sheep, cattle, dairy anything. Jack and I have worked exclusively on cattle farms and have loved every second however there's a lot to be said for a ol types of farming. 

O N E  O F F S.

There is no where else I can think that I would have been able to do the things I've done. Drive a tractor, herd cattle, load cattle onto a double deck, double trailer humongous road train. I've learnt to weld, fix pipes, and cook different and new things. I've learnt more practical skills in just over a year here then in an education I've been through. And the same can be said for other types of farms. 

S A V E. S A V E. S A V E. 

It's an oppurtunity to save the money to visit places you want to visit. Not all rural work is paid, some is based on accomodation and food, but if it is paid it's likely you're only outgoing will be food which, if you can budget well, doesn't have to be a lot. Therefore you can put money away for a reef dive, the bridge climb, a great ocean road drive. Whatever you want. You'll find in a big city your money doesn't go as far.

B E A U T I F U L  C O U N T R Y

Yes there's Byron Bay, Albany and Cairns but there's no other landscapes like those in outback Australia and they're beautiful. Unspoiled and natural. They're the perfect landscapes for putting things in perspective, relaxing and learning about yourself. Basically great for some philosophical stuff.

T H E  P E O P L E. 

The people we've met have been exceptional. Kind, hard working and inspirational. I've never met people with so much grit and such big hearts. We've been welcomed into homes and families and made to feel at home. And you don't get those sorts every where. We've been lucky but it's not uncommon. These are the people that will teach you about hard work and what it really feels like to be shattered at the end of the day. 

There's a quote 'At the end of the day your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.' Of all the places I've been in Australia I think the outback has done this for me every day. No it's not for the front hearted but I don't think anyone would do badly from this experience.

So why not put yourself out there and have a go? 

Back to Business | The Travel Diaries

Well it has been a while ey? I write this from my phone, after downloading the 'Blogger' app which seems a bit dated and took me all day to download but alas, is better than nothing. So yes, writing this from my phone, in our little quarters, on a farm in central Queensland.

Yep, we're back doing that farming thing and we're loving it again. Of all the things I've done so far out here the rural work has definitely been the best experience I've had and one of the things that makes me glad I decided to come out here, among many others obviously. I think people who decide not to do the rural work missing out big time because this is the only place you can experience working on farms in this way. I'd highly reccomend it to anyone but it's not for the feint hearted, but more about that in a future post I think.

We left Brisbane nearly three weeks ago no, crazy how time flies. And we've been out here in the outback mustering, decorating and all the fun things that rural life entails. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for regular photo updates. Unfortunately I can't put links in on my phone but all my social media is in the side bar so make sure you check them out and hit the follow button for more regular updates.

Now I've got this app though hopefully blog posts will be more regular as well. 

I hope you're all well, remember to tweet me and comment below letting me know what you've all been up to. I hope you like the photos below and I'd love to see photos of your travels and happenings. 

Beautiful outback sunset

Our renovating efforts

Another beautiful outback landscape

Seeking cattle for mustering

Me and the still unnamed puppy 

Until next time,

Emily x

In the outback

In the five months I've been in Australia I've seen a lot of Queensland and most of that has been outback Queensland. When I left the UK I didn't think we’d be spending too much time away from the coast, that’s what everyone pictures when they picture Australia right? But being out in the outback for roughly four of my five months has been the best Australian experience I could have had. 

Jack and I quickly realised, after my arrival, that we wanted to stay in the country for longer than we’d planned and to do that Jack would need to get himself a second year visa. To get this elusive entity the Australia government requires you to do three months work within certain industries within Australia, one of those is rural industries. Luckily for me and Jack we fell into rural work quickly and haven’t really left it alone yet, save a week or so on the coast. 

Back in May we put an advert on Gumtree essentially selling ourselves as ‘young enthusiastic backpackers seeking rural work’. Yes those are the exact words we used to grab potential employers. We weren’t really expecting a response as there are thousands of ‘young enthusiastic backpackers seeking rural work’ out here for the exact reason we were. To our surprise we got an e-mail from a man called Steve offering us three weeks of work in return for board and wages. Three weeks was a good start and would give us some cash to get us going. So off we trundled to a little village called Toobeah in south Queensland not far from Goondiwindi (you should find that on a map a bit easier if you’re interested).

We spent three weeks in Toobeah on Steve and Yo’s farm, Alamagordo. We had the best time, we got on really well with Steve and Yo and were so grateful for the experience they gave us. To top it all of they found us our next batch of work, north west of them, on a friends farm in Augathella. So after three weeks of fencing, general farm maintenance, stair building, veranda renovating and a bit of cattle work, oh and tractor driving not forgetting un-dioreah-ing a horses bum, we left Steve and Yo to head north. 

We’d heard rumours that the more west and more north you go the more wild it all gets, so I was little nervous heading north west (how many times will I get that baby’s name in this post I wonder?). Driving to Augathella the roads got dustier, the land more barren and greenery more sparse. We were in outback Australia and there was no going back.

After I got over my initial Wolf Creek-esque fears, we had an amazing time. We spent three months at Newcome with Robin and Bash (Ian, everyone’s got a nickname out here) and we did so many things we’d never have got the opportunity to do otherwise. We mustered hundreds of cattle, went through two lots of weeners (calves that have been taken of their mum and are being trained to go through the yards) learned to weld, drove tractors, graders, quad-bikes and had over all, a generally great experience and again met some lovely people. 

We headed back to Steve and Yo’s after three months, yes three months, out in Augathella at Newcome. We did some house sitting for Steve and Yo for a week before heading just twenty minutes down the road, a very short trip compared to all other trips we’ve done, to work for Steve’s cousin and his wife, Ian and Rae on their farm, Kondar. 

Again we were so lucky with the people we were working for. They were so lovely and kind and despite the fact they were paying us  and we were doing jobs for them we didn’t really feel like we working at any point. We were knackered at the end of the day but the days are so fun and relaxed and easy going that a days work isn’t a struggle. I got to do a bit of horse riding at Kondar, we looked after a potty calf christened Lucky and we got to watch some camp drafting as well as going along to a couple of social events with Ian and Rae alongside the work obviously. 

We’ve been so lucky with our outback experience so far and all the people we’ve worked for have been kind, generous and so easy to get on with and we’re keeping in touch with all of them which is so nice for us. From our point of view, as backpackers, we probably wouldn’t have come out to any of these places unless it was a requirement for our second year visa and do and see all the things we’ve seen and done so we both think it’s a great idea as it gives us a chance to do those things we wouldn’t otherwise. I know the people we’ve worked for love the idea too as it can be difficult for them to get the people in to do some of the jobs that us backpackers do so it’s a two way thing.

Obviously not everyone out there is as lovely, kind and normal as the people we were lucky enough to work for so it’s important to be careful when you’re going out to the outback as it’s unlikely you’ll have phone signal out there. If you find work from a site like Gumtree, try and check the people out first if you can. Most people are on Facebook now a days so it doesn’t hurt to take a look, but don’t panic if you can’t find them just make sure you let people know where you’re going and ask your employers if you can give someone their details for contact purposes. Also be sure to give your employer a next of kin just in case something goes wrong. We’re lucky that there’s two of us and we have a vehicle. I’m really not sure if I’d have done these things on my own without a car but that’s just me. 

Oh, and don’t watch Wolf Creek before you go out there.