23rd November – 2nd December
It’s the 2nd day in December and I woke up 6am to a feisty cat and torrential rain but now the cat’s napping, it’s dry again and it's getting hotter by the minute. I’m 2 hours out of Brisbane, in Toowoomba (yes, that’s what’s it called) and staying with Jahna in real Australian tractor country. She’s promised me the authentic country experience and as always, she’s come through with the goods!
But going back a week, I flew out of Sydney last Monday after an amazing 4 day weekend with a couple more of the London crew. It started on the Thursday with a lunch date in North Sydney before heading across the harbour bridge to Darling Harbour Crowne Plaza where Priscilla was starting for her Christmas work do (it’s about 30 degrees – I have never felt less Christmassy!) The plan is to meet her for the after party so I a good few hours to relax, get into my new unaffordable but irresistible silk dress and enjoy another 4 star hotel with views over the water. The after party is tamer than imagined, but not without the usual office party gossip, and the girls are knackered so we call it a night after an hour or so. Pris has the next day off and what would you know, it’s hot outside, so we meet up with a London mate Dave and have a good catch up afternoon in the sun. Keeping it quiet that night, Pris and head home and drop Dave off at his Gran’s place nearby and the next day we meet his lovely Gran and pick him up again for the drive to the lovely Penrith (think bullet proof glass) where we crash a 1 year old’s birthday. This is actually in aid of visiting Marty’s mum and his ever growing family, which now includes 15 month old Amity. The last time I visited the twins were tiny babies wrapped up in those cocoon like blankets and now they are little people with beautiful manners and opposite personalities. This might come as a shock from me but I’m ever so slightly taken with them... The birthday party turns out to be some kind of naming ceremony, which I think is some kind of non-religious Christening. We attempt to watch respectfully but Dave gets in trouble for throwing a ball to the boys and their dad, Kev, keeps Pris and I on the edge of our seats by pouring water down our backs every few minutes. From the ‘Riff, we drove to Erskinville to a friend’s brand new bar where we’re staying that night. The upstairs has a collection of bedrooms with one toilet (unplumbed) and a master light switch. The wooden floors are uneven and the walls are damaged and we’re sleeping 5 people to 1 room with shared mattresses and covers (not needed in this heat!) but it’s full of character and is clearly going to be a lot of fun. We drop off our stuff, get changed in the bar toilets and meet up with everyone before cabbing it to Bondi Junction for a Brazilian meal and entertainment. By this point Steve and Chris are here (both London) and Dave has a group of Sydney friends so there’s a good crowd and it’s a wicked night. Sunday comes round a bit too quickly, we’re all completely unslept and looking worse for wear due to the heat and I’m bummed about leaving the next day but we pick ourselves up, head to the Coogee Bay Crowne Plaza to freshen up and then we gather up a few friends from our much loved beer garden by the beach down the road and head back to the hotel pool. More and more London people show up and I take dozens of photos and have the best time and half way through the day, I decide, once again, this isn’t it. The next day, I book another week in Sydney before New Zealand and head off to the Gold Coast.
Ads picks me up that night, barefoot and exhausted (him not me), and drives us back to his amazing unit, equipped with pool, and only metres from the beach. I foresee a good few days of relaxation ahead! Of course it goes by so quickly but Ads and his cousin and I manage to chill out on the beach, win our lunch money back on the pokies, play crazy golf (I’m rubbish), eat at the local surf club, have a long overdue catch up with Greg (yup, more London) and even drive home from volleyball where the wheel fell off the car. Who knew that actually happened? No dramas apparently, the car was fixed the next day and the day after Ads and I gave it a test run and drove up the Coast to Brisbane for a housewarming BBQ. This is a couple who met behind the bar in the Shepherd’s Bush Walkabout – she’s Kiwi and he’s Aussie and they’ve just bought their first house together. More proof that the crazy times in the walkie and reddie really can produce something more than a red tongue and filthy feet! The party goes on until morning and Greg picks me up the next day for a night at his place watching Carl Barron stand-up comedy (if you haven’t see it then get it!) before I head into town and bus it to Toowoomba to see the wonderful Jahna.
I hopped off the greyhound from Brisbane at 3pm and we drove an hour out of town, across the flattest land I’ve seen since I visited the outback 5 years ago, to a depot to pick up Matt, her trucker friend and head to a country bar to meet Dave, an English guy who’s traded life in Lancashire for a caravan in Queensland. Jahna treats us to dinner and we spend the evening talking about music and photos and drinking rum and coke from cans. Jahna and I crash out in Dave’s campervan (I’ve escaped the Ute & swag situation once more) and sleep until dawn with a little group of biting ants.
So my first day waking up in the country starts with Dave greeting us outside the campervan with a glass of orange juice – it is 5.30am and broad daylight and gorgeous. We wash up in the bathroom block before the drive back to Toowoomba where Jahna heads to work after organising for me to jump in on Matt’s cattle run. The truck is 72 tonnes with the 2 trailers attached and I get some interested looks as I hop in when he stops at the traffic lights – I’m clearly standing out here as I’ve already had someone drive right onto the pavement just to make sure I wasn’t lost when I was waiting. So with the engine breaks on, we head off down the hill (mountain?) at about 30km/hr, picking up speed on the flat when it’s no longer quite so dangerous – I feel like I’m about 12m off the ground and those signs with the trucks tipping over have never looked quite so prominent! I’m super impressed with the radio, which Matt finds hilarious, and I try and translate the country Australian each time a truckie within a 15km radius says something. I only get a few snippets on road conditions so Matt translates the funny commentary on the women they must be passing (summer’s here!) and with music blaring and the occasional poor cow on his last journey sticking his heads out the trailer, we drive to Brisbane. I’ve never been to an abattoir – most people haven’t I assume but I was quite pleased that the animals were in pens outside and not in some death row stinking shed like I imagined (considering 2000 animals go through here each day, that would have to be a pretty big shed). Matt helps and I watch as our trailers are unloaded via ramps before being rounded up by actual horse-mounted cowboys and afterwards we stick around and help some other guys from the same company - all of whom probably wondered why some random Scottish girl in denim shorts was there amongst the truckies and cowboys but were far too polite to say (at least to my face!) I love this random life and I’m having tons of fun but it’s pretty sobering to be at that end of the food process and actually watch these animals move from pen to pen getting closer and closer to the end of the line, literally, and sadly, one of ours was sick and unable to follow the group so they shot him where he stood. Fortunately we were done as that was pretty much enough for me so we hopped (Matt hopped, I climbed) back in to a much lighter truck and headed back to Toowoomba.
It sounds like I should be exhausted but I’m far from done! Much like everyone else, I can’t believe it’s December already and out of 52 weeks, I only have 22 left (financially, this is great news!) but it’s far from over. I’m a little bit in love with Queensland again and although along the way on this trip I might have wished for a couple of changes, I really can’t complain :)
