Christmas in the outback

Well I have to say it was a very weird christmas in 100 degree heat and not snow but it was a good one. The hotel has been very busy leading up to christmas but now it's been pretty slow at night at the pub. I spent my Christmas Day with bob and Deli's family and Carlotta. We had lunch in the dining room downstairs and opened presents. I gave the boys Kobe and Ashton (bobs grand kids) a soccer shirt, some American coins, a medal and a koosh each. They were excited. It was a really good meal and after we ate it started storming and raining. I went outside and played in the rain with the boys. It was lots of fun. Later that afternoon bob came around the hotel and picked Carlotta and I up to go to his house and have a few beers with him!

On Boxing Day (day after christmas) it was Kathleen's birthday. She's a German backpacker that got stuck here in cunnamulla because she got pregnant... Haha. She's awesome and loves it here so it was a good thing. Anyways, she came and picked Carlotta and I up to go over to her house and hang out with her on her bday. We sat around, drank some beers, went "swimming" in her baby pool, watched a movie while she made us dinner... Etc. She seemed to enjoy the day, I don't know if I would like having my friends over drinking all my beer then having to make dinner for them but it was good. She works with us at the hotel but is slowing down a bit because she's due in 7 weeks!

Today is Carlotta's birthday and we plan on just hanging out, being big bums and watching movies. We both have today off so it'll be nice to sit back and relax.

Bonjour Julie

These past couple of weeks have been very busy for me. I've been working a lot and I'm also house sitting right now for a friend. I'm watching my friend geoffs house and having to let his dogs out, make sure the cats alive and water the lawn when I can. My friend Carlotta, the German backpacker who works with me has been staying over at his house with me. We've been having fun there!

There was a group of French bikers who came through two weeks ago and fully booked the place. They were only here for one night but some of them didn't speak English well at all so they spoke some French to me and to my surprise I was able to communicate with them pretty well. In the morning they were all saying "bonjour Julie", haha it was funny. I guess all those French classes were useful after all.

I feel like I've been living here forever now, I'm getting to know the locals pretty well. It's a nice little town but very different from a small town at home. Over half the population here are aboriginal and they can get stir up a lot of trouble. Whenever anyone starts to seem crazy at the bar I always go get Bob and tell him to keep an eye on them or kick them out. Nothing too bad has happened though, just a few small fights.

There are now a group of grape pickers staying at our hotel and they're so annoying. I was so happy to go stay at Geoff's house so that I could get away from them. Lets just say they give Carlotta and I a lot to clean in the morning and are very noisy. They'll be here for another 2 weeks or so. Depends on the grapes! Anyways, that's all the updates I have for now!

Stubby of mid

Things are getting real hot here in cunnamulla. This week the temperature has been in the 100s. I have nothing too spectacular to report. We got a new cook here at the hotel and I have obviously befriended him. Gary keeps me full! Haha. I'm also getting to know the regulars pretty well. Our pub opens at 10am and we have people that come in then too. Mal and Bruce are two of which that are exception smartasses. The other day Gary asked me to change the chalkboard we set outside that show our dinner specials. So as I proceeded to clean and write on the chalkboard. I was just about done when the phone rang, I answered and it was Mal. He said "hey Julie, it's Mal. I could use a beer at the bar." Then of course I tried to give him the wrong beer, I handed him a stubby (bottle) of heavy instead of mid... Woops! I must have been off that day. Heavy is what Bruce drinks. These are just two of the many locals I have to deal with! They're super nice though and I enjoy it, most days.

I've been working a lot in the bar, normally at night and in the morning I've been helping Bob and Dellie with projects since we're in the quite season. In march, the tourist season starts up again and it'll get a lot busier. We just recently fixed up a flat that needed a ton of work. I painted nearly all of it and after Dellie patched up all the walls. Their little grandson Kobe is following me around all the time still. He recently found out how to take pictures on my phone so I have heaps of random pictures that I go through everyday. Haha.

Cunnamulla Hotel

Hey folks,

I've been pretty busy out here these last two weeks in Cunnamulla. It's been good being here and working at the hotel. I've had a lot of fun and experiencing so many things that I wouldn't be able to do in a city. People here live a very relaxed and hick life doing things like going on motorbikes/four wheelers, pigging, and fishing in their spare time.

So far, I've gone to a rodeo, which I think I mentioned in my last post. My boss Bob took me to a sheep sheering shed one morning. My friend Jeff took me and the two other girls I work with - Fiona(Canadian) and Carlotta(German)- swimming in the river and later to a track to ride the motorbikes and four wheeling Sunday.

I also went with Jeff one night Roo(kangaroo) shooting. It was quite the experience. The Roos here are like deer, they are somewhat of a problem here in the area so there are a handful of people around here who shoot Roos for a living... Jeff shoots, guts, and sells them for meat. You go at night when they are out and about. Jeff has a spotlight on his truck and a whole huge bed in the back with columns of hangers to hold up the dead Roos. It's pretty crazy.

Anyway, life has been good. Currently I am helping Dellie (Bob's wife) fix up the back flat. There is a flat that needs repairing on the walls and to be painted. We're starting painting tomorrow morning. I also started working at the Bp gas station down the road. They rang Bob and asked if any of his backpackers could help them out a few hours a week, Carlotta and I are taking turns going over there and helping with their little ready to eat stuff mainly. The owners there are very nice and friendly people.

The weather here is hot and just keeps getting warmer. It's around 100 everyday now and super dry. It's going to be a bizarre Christmas that's for sure. I'll be spending it with Bob's family. He has a grandson named Kobe who's the second cutest kid ever, first being my nephew wyatt of course! Kobe is now starting to stalk me at work. I don't mind though, he keeps me entertained! I'll leave you with a few pics from my last two weeks adventure here...

Australia travels

Hey folks, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been traveling a bit and have finally settled down in Cunnamulla, Australia. It's been a good journey to get here. I started in Australia in Brisbane for a few nights. From there, where I went to a xxxx brewery tour, I headed to rainbow beach. It's a quite beach town and very pretty. I was with a group of people traveling so it was really fun. We were at rainbow beach for three days or so.

On one of the days I went on a tour of Frazier island, the largest sand island in the world. It was crazy, we were driving on sand and it got a little bumpy at parts. Australians are used to driving on sand all the time though, they drive on the beach all the time. We went swimming in Lake Mckenzie, walked through the subtropical rainforest, saw the colorful sands and shipwreck, walked through Eli Creek, and even saw a dingo! I went on the tour with a Swedish friend I made on the trip named Olivia. She's real cool and I'm still keeping in touch with her.there was another backpacker at rainbow beach named Oda from Norway. I got along very well with her. We are pretty similar. It was fun talking to Oda and Olivia and learning more about Scandinavian culture and the similarities I have with them.

After rainbow beach we headed inward to goomeri where they have training farms where we were going for a week to learn all about how to work on the farm including riding motorbikes, fencing, mustering, etc. I didn't get to stay at the farm long though because I was needed at my job right away. I only rode the motorbikes one afternoon which was challenging because its a manual and I'm not used to that. I made it to Cunnamulla, the town where I'm currently living and working after my 12 hour bus ride from Brisbane. I'm here working at Hotel Cunnamulla for Bob. Bob's the owner and boss, he's really nice. The people here are very welcoming and hospitable. I had to be here for last weekend because it was the annual rodeo that's the largest event in the town. There was even an American cowboy, Leroy, who came for it - he was quite the celeb. Ended up he was from Eureka, Montana. About 40 miles north of where my sister Angie lives now in whitefish. The old man and neighbor of the Montana cowboy, John, who brought Leroy is from Australia but has lived in the US for 30 years now. He banks at whitefish credit union where Angie works now. John said he'll go see Angie next week to say hi to her from me! Haha. Small world.

As for my next 3-4 months go I plan on working here. There are three other backpackers here at the moment; a German girl, Scottish guy, and Canadian girl. They're all pretty nice. So far, I've been working at the pub, bit of cleaning the rooms and dining room, and right now that the chaos is gone from last weekend Bob is starting to want to fix up the place. The hotel is 90 years old so there's quite a bit of fixing up to do. I'm looking forward to it. Hope to write sooner than later!

Kaohsiung

Taiwan has been awesome, Kaohsiung is the city where Kalie lives and where we've been spending most of our time. I've been busy hanging out with Kalie and getting to do some fun things. I got comfortable using the scoot after a few times out and its awesome. A couple times that Kalie had to work, i went with her and took the scoot out on adventures! It was so fun roaming about. Life here is very different from Korea. I think it's easier to live here because things are more normal to us. For instance, people aren't all about image here, they dress very causally and they all ride scoots which leaves no ones hair looking fantastic. They eat a lot healthier, don't put spicy red pepper paste on everything like Korea, and they drink a ton of tea rather than coffee, you see a lot more people out exercising. It's also more English friendly, more people speak English including older people.

It's a pretty fun spot that Kalie's living in here. She's super happy about life here and even just acquired a cat named shou-me from one of her students (the brother was allergic). It's very nervous right now but I think she'll come around soon. Kalie's boyfriend Kris cooks for her all the time which is awesome. He loves to cook, she loves to eat! I'm getting fat hanging out with those two... Haha.

The National Science Museum - it's next to Kalie's school.

Kalie's school for Halloween

Yoyo - this kid gives Kalie a headache!

Best costume!

Camera Street

A few cool things that we have done around town is go to a festival at lotus pond, a very traditional area. We hung out there, walked around the lake, ate some street food and drank some yummy iced tea. We went to an island where we took the scoot on the ferry and looked around the island. It was small but cool. We also went to monkey mountain right by the ocean, it was fun to see the monkeys in the trees hanging out in their own habitat. I had such a great time in Taiwan with Kalie and want to go back already!

The scoot lane!

Iced Tea Shop!

Lotus Pond

 

Crazy little monkey - while we were driving, one flew across the street and landed on a unsteady branch and almost hit Kalie's head. It was quite comical!

The drive through monkey mountain - very pretty!

Scooting around!

 

 

Kalie and I spent our Saturday together going to the Alishan National Forest located in the middle of the country. It took a while to get there. A little less than 2 hours of a train ride then a two our bus ride through the mountain. The bus ride claimed to be scenic and pleasant but it was rough. It was very scenic going through the mountains and seeing all the lovely oolong tea fields but we got the worse bus driver who I swear almost threw us off the cliff. He was very jerky and aggressive. Both Kalie and I were dying, it wasn't just us ever. Two Taiwanese people threw up. Once we got to the forest it was good though. It was very pretty and smelled amazing. It was a very fun trip, and although it was long to get there it was every entertaining because we just chatted the whole time.

Tea fields on the drive up the mountain!

At Alishan National Forest

Snack break!

Teppanyaki!

Shou-mi - Kalie's new cat

I'm  now off to my next adventure. Next on the list is Australia. I just got word that I'll be working at a hotel/pub in the middle of nowhere outback! It's the last stop on the railway line. It's a very small town called Cunnamulla - should be quite the adventure. I'll be there by Wednesday next week, there are a lot of events going on there and they are in need of help! Before I go, I will be spending time in Brisbane and a weekend in Rainbow Beach. I'll post when I can!