12th November – 11th December
Flights Taken: 1
Flight km’s Travelled: 2313
Trains Taken: 0
Buses Taken: 1
Bus km’s Travelled: 1117
Photo’s Taken: 665
Amount Spent Overall: $1539.10
Amount Spent Per a Day: $51.30
This has been a month of up and downs: it started with the end of the travelling and making a life in Melbourne only to uproot a week later and turn our plans upside down! Still the month began with our last day trip – to the Daintree Rainforest and then a 14,000ft jump from a plane – Yes! I finally skydived. After being so desperate the whole trip, let alone the whole year, I finally got my chance the day before we left Cairns, and what an amazing experience it was – watch this space, video coming soon. The morning before we left saw us enjoy the Cairns Total Solar Eclipse. Despite some cloud during totality we still saw parts of the partial eclipse and a few seconds glimpse of the diamond ring. Had we have gotten out of Cairns we could have seen more but we only know that in hindsight.
We flew into Melbourne later that day and suddenly felt very overwhelmed with being back in a large city and it being so cold again! We started job hunting straight away, hung out with travel friends who were going home and I finally got to see a friend from my South Africa trip who I hadn’t seen in two years. Albert Park was exciting given its F1 history and the St Kilda sunsets were beautiful, but the rest of Melbourne felt disappointing compared to what I had imagined. And I’m sure you have all read about our next move to Waikerie and a life of orange picking. Week one was tough and week two saw me fall off a ladder (thankfully with no major injuries) and our crazy but lovely Chinese boss sack the supervisor. Still, all in all our skill was improving and we may make some money out of this yet – especially if we carry on eating budget food and not drinking! Week three takes us in to the end of the month and sees our skills only improve more.
What Has Been My Favourite Bit?
Without a doubt the answer is SKYDIVING. A tick on the bucket list, a wish for over two years and just one incredible experience like nothing else, ever. Free falling from the plane and then the parachute opening, it being so quiet and still, then slowly landing back down on the ground. If I could do it again I would go now.
The Worst part?
We had a fair few downs this month: travelling the east coast was over, applying for jobs we really didn’t want and sometimes being rejected, but my biggest disappointment was not liking Melbourne. I had read blogs, guidebooks and countless other literature about the city and its café culture and beautiful sunsets but in the end it turned out completely different from what I imagined. Perhaps this is the problem with reading in to a city so much. I really tried everything but it just felt like a city that could be anywhere else in the world and I really wanted somewhere that felt Australian!
What’s in store for next month?
With the next month comes Christmas and New Year – we still haven’t fully decided where we will be for that. Then there’s the question of how long we are staying here. To which we have no answer and no clue. We have applied for a winery job which is better pay than oranges so fingers crossed but failing that we may leave if we find a better paying job. I’m sure whatever happens over the next month will only add to this crazy adventure.
