(no subject)
My itinary then was to catch the train from Perth station out to midland, and then a bus out to Chidlow where I’m working on a farm. One of the ringers offered to give me a lift to the station, but when he found out I hadn’t booked a bus, he insisted on taking me all the way to Chidlow, which was great because he gave a low-down on all there is to do in the outback of Western Australia. He’d lived in Perth all his life, and told me watching the seasons change is subtle, but quite special here. We compared Ausi snakes with Taiwanese, He told me about a bush or tree which is shallow rooted and carries a fungus that can kill off some of the trees. He said there is a lot of water in Australia at some times of the year - a huge river which dries up in the summer. He suggested I go to airs rock and kilduni(?) He told me we were about to scale the second highest peak in western Australia, as we climbed up a hill about as high as bath university. Sounds like I’ve got lots to keep me going - shame I’ve only got a maximum of two years to enjoy it. I was picked up by Denise and her daughter Jesse, who gave me a little tour of Chidlow and then their farm. They told me I’ll be working with an English lad and a Taiwanese fellow - what luck!
The Taiwanese guy was out playing badminton when I got there, so I went for a walk with Ian, the English one. He’d been working in sainsburies for 10 years, so had come to perth and was working here to get his second visa. He’s almost finished his 3rd year. The walk took us to the lake, and we chatted while looking around. I’ve just been again, so I’ll tell you what’s there. All around there were lots of plants that looked like fat black trolls with huge spiky green hair, because the trunks were fire scorched and they had long thin spiky leaves. Some had died back and and the burnt trunk broke up to become seeds. There were also ants with purple heads, whose nests littered the path, with dozens of holes for them to come out of. I also saw bats, a duck, big grizzly burnt-barked trees, tall slender trees who shed their bark, a few dead trees, and heard crickets tweeting. Although I was wearing my padded rain coat, I felt a little chilly. As night fell, and I’d just watched a strange sounding duck run from me into the water, I realised it was getting too dark, so I headed back headed back. Nearly home there’s a track through the side of the woods with a large field to the left. I scanned the field carefully, and, as I hoped, spotted a brown hill shaped creature, with a long tapering tail. As I got closer I saw another of these kangaroos hop over the fence and across the path I was walking on. Eventually the one I’d spotted stood up, and then bounded across too.
As for the work, it’s all construction. I’m not sure what happened to their organic crops they’d advertised, maybe they’d given up on that. The house is getting on for finished - we’re fixing waterproof strips on the flat roof and sanding windows. Once or so a week a builder called Ugly (his choice of name) comes around and gives us verbal abuse in the name of fun. He is encouraging and friendly though, I think he enjoys working with all different people. He says fuck every other word and sadly some of his way of speaking is rubbing off on me. He lives in his own camper-van with rent and electricity in exchange for a days work. The family is a classic 2.4 children type (well, one boy and one girl - The boy is working now, the other is mentally handicapped and still in school). Pretty much everyone on the site seem to be men of few words, and the family seem keen to enjoy life a bit more. - going out to the more expensive restaurants once a week for example.
They’re all nice, friendly people, but I don’t feel I have much in common and find it more difficult to really feel satisfied with the work I’m doing. I feel like all I’m achieving is helping a middle class family get a house, So now I’m looking around a little to find either paid work, or a place where I feel more at home with my sort of people.
The Taiwanese guy was out playing badminton when I got there, so I went for a walk with Ian, the English one. He’d been working in sainsburies for 10 years, so had come to perth and was working here to get his second visa. He’s almost finished his 3rd year. The walk took us to the lake, and we chatted while looking around. I’ve just been again, so I’ll tell you what’s there. All around there were lots of plants that looked like fat black trolls with huge spiky green hair, because the trunks were fire scorched and they had long thin spiky leaves. Some had died back and and the burnt trunk broke up to become seeds. There were also ants with purple heads, whose nests littered the path, with dozens of holes for them to come out of. I also saw bats, a duck, big grizzly burnt-barked trees, tall slender trees who shed their bark, a few dead trees, and heard crickets tweeting. Although I was wearing my padded rain coat, I felt a little chilly. As night fell, and I’d just watched a strange sounding duck run from me into the water, I realised it was getting too dark, so I headed back headed back. Nearly home there’s a track through the side of the woods with a large field to the left. I scanned the field carefully, and, as I hoped, spotted a brown hill shaped creature, with a long tapering tail. As I got closer I saw another of these kangaroos hop over the fence and across the path I was walking on. Eventually the one I’d spotted stood up, and then bounded across too.
As for the work, it’s all construction. I’m not sure what happened to their organic crops they’d advertised, maybe they’d given up on that. The house is getting on for finished - we’re fixing waterproof strips on the flat roof and sanding windows. Once or so a week a builder called Ugly (his choice of name) comes around and gives us verbal abuse in the name of fun. He is encouraging and friendly though, I think he enjoys working with all different people. He says fuck every other word and sadly some of his way of speaking is rubbing off on me. He lives in his own camper-van with rent and electricity in exchange for a days work. The family is a classic 2.4 children type (well, one boy and one girl - The boy is working now, the other is mentally handicapped and still in school). Pretty much everyone on the site seem to be men of few words, and the family seem keen to enjoy life a bit more. - going out to the more expensive restaurants once a week for example.
They’re all nice, friendly people, but I don’t feel I have much in common and find it more difficult to really feel satisfied with the work I’m doing. I feel like all I’m achieving is helping a middle class family get a house, So now I’m looking around a little to find either paid work, or a place where I feel more at home with my sort of people.