Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Hey Everyone,

We are alive and well in Birdsville! We had a great last few days in Brisbane before heading out. We got to watch some Rugby League playoff games with Woody and some NFL football with Ryan, as well as see some sights in Brisbane. We took a city cat boat tour along the river in Brisbane one night, which was beautiful with the water front all lit up. There was also the Brisbane festival going on, with light shows and other attractions, but we didn’t make it to anything because we had some rain. But Brisbane was a great city and we are excited to have another chance to see it once our adventure in Birdsville is over.

So, now to the nitty gritty. We left Brisbane on Tuesday, September 17 at 7pm on the overnight train to Charleville. Oh man, was that a hilarious night. First of all, it is a 17 hour train ride west into the outback – the line is called the Westerner and we learnt while we were on it that they may be shutting it down soon because not many people use it anymore and because it is OLD! It sounded like it could have used some oil on it because it squeaked and squawked all night long. Also, there were two options of tickets – since ours was bought for us by the people running the caravan park we were in economy with all the rif raf. We had one gentleman who coughed a gross phlegmy cough the entire night long and screamed out randomly, just for fun it seemed. There was also 2 little kids who ran up and down the aisle and screaming, stood on top of chairs to turn the lights on and off constantly and stole a pen from a man near us and started drawing on seats. Needless to say, their grandmother wasn’t very good at keeping them in line. We may spring for a sleeper cabin if we train back to Brisbane J

The train only goes as far as Charleville these days, so we switched onto a coach bus for a short bus ride to Quilpie, which is a town of about 300 people. The owners of the caravan park also own another park in Quilpie, as well as the Heritage Inn hotel. So we stayed at the Heritage Inn for the night before our flight out to Birdsville the next day. Quilpie was a cute little town though – we went for a short walk around and saw a little museum about the area, as well as the town pool, pub, grocery store, post office and coffee shop. It only took us about 20 minutes to do all of that!

On Thursday afternoon we finally boarded our last mode of transportation to get us to Birdsville. Laura, you would not have enjoyed this! The flight starts in Brisbane but makes frequent stops landing and taking off again in small communities along the way – including Charleville, Quilpie and Birdsvile, as well as 5-6 other towns. Man, were the landings and take offs rough!! I think I almost broke Dave’s hand grabbing it so hard out of fear – and were my hands ever sweaty! Once we were in the air it was okay and the view was pretty amazing, but I am not excited to do that again on the way home! But we successfully made it Birdsville by mid-afternoon…we had arrived to our new home for the next 3 months!

 

We immediately got a tour of the town and a run-down of its history from Neil, one of the managers of the caravan park. It probably could have been summed up in about 5 minutes but man, can Neil talk! We were out there roasting in his Ute (his truck) for about 30 minutes getting driven around the town, which only consists of a bakery, police office, hotel, community centre, info centre, gas station (which also doubles as the post office and bank) and the caravan park. Apparently, the population of the town is 80 people, except on the weekend of the Birdsville races (which happen on the first weekend of September). The population of Birdsville increases to almost 7000 people who camp all over the town to enjoy the races.  The best part of the tour was when Neil mentioned that the community centre had a gym. Apparently the Australian government and donators like to donate random stuff to Birdsville and one of those donations was money for a gym and two tennis courts. The tennis courts only ever have 4 people who play on them and the gym has about 4 pieces of equipment, but we should be able to do a little bit of stuff there, and it’s got A/C!

So, since being in Birdsville, we have settled into the Roma (our caravan) and had 2 days of work. We have been working with Barb and Steve cleaning the caravan park – they are so very sweet and very helpful! They retired about 3 years ago and have been travelling around Australia ever since. They go from little job to little job and travel the rest of the time. You should see the set up they have in their car! They even have a satellite dish with them and TV so they can watch over 300 TV channels. We went to watch another National Rugby League (NRL) playoff game with them last night!

Our job at the caravan park is basically trying to keep the desert clean! We have to do a lot of laundry, clean all the rooms and cabins they have on site, as well as keep the amenities clean. It’s not hard work, but it is exhausting doing it in 30+ degree heat – and the temperature is only supposed to climb while we’re here. Oh yeah, and one exciting feature of working in Birdsville is constantly being attacked by flies! They don’t bite, but they sure are irritating, especially when they try to fly into your nose and eyes!

I think that’s it – sorry I’m rambling! I hope you enjoy hearing about our small town outback life. We will continue to post updates when exciting things happen – so you may not hear from us for a little bit because we’re not expecting many exciting things to happen, hehe!

Oh, and for those of you who read about Birdsville on Wikipedia, they caught the fresh water crocodile a few weeks ago…don’t fret J

We hope everyone is doing well and we’ve really loved reading your comments and emails!

And It Begins...

How Ya Goin'?

We just wanted to say thanks for coming to check out our blog. This is where we plan on updating you all on our adventure's during our year abroad!

So, it all started in Toronto, on September 7, 2013. It took 2 car rides, 3 plane trips, many sleepless hours (that is, until we got some Gravol in our system), countless movies watched and 2 days to get us to our destination...Brisbane, Australia. We have never been so happy to see a familiar face waiting on the other end of that journey. Jeff Woodroffe (or Woody) welcomed us into his home with open arms and has been a spectacular host since we arrived. He has given us free reign of his house, his internet, his permanent address and maybe one too many beers :)

The first few days were spent setting up bank accounts and cell phones and starting to hunt for jobs and apartment. During our travels we stumbled upon Travel Bugs and a friendly Australian named Patrick - this is where the craziness began. So, Patrick's main job is to find short term employment in rural Australia for backpackers. We weren't too keen on the idea of rural Australia, but figuring we had nothing to lose, we sent him our resume's and contact information. Before we even had a chance to think things through, Patrick had called with a UNIQUE experience for us. Has anyone ever heard of Birdsville, Queensland? Nope, neither had we and neither had most Australian's we've talked to since then. Well, Birdsville is a small town of approximately 280 people in very rural Queensland - by rural I mean 1700km inland from Brisbane...I know you're starting to chuckle to yourselves and think...WHAT?!?! We were doing the same thing! I dare you all to now google Birdsville and say a short prayer for us.

So, Patrick proposed this opportunity: work in Bridsville for 3 months at a caravan park and help Trish, Margie and Troy with reception work, housekeeping, gardening, etc. We had a chance to think things over and chat with Margie and Trish, who were absolutely amazing in answering all our questions and reassuring us that this was do-able and actually a really great opportunity to see a part of Australia that most Australian's never have the opportunity to see. Only a few tears were shed (by Steph obviously) and the decision was made - Birdsville here we come. The deciding factor came down to what we like to call "Our Year of Yes". Our goal this year is to never say no to an opportunity presented to us (within reason of course) and see where it takes us. So far, it's taking us on what we hope is a pretty unbelievable experience in the Australian outback.

We leave on Tuesday, September 17th, so the next few days will be spent setting ourselves up for what's to come - loading up on sunscreen, hats, downloading TV shows and movies (recommendations are welcome!), ensuring we have enough data on our plan to survive three months in nowheresville and seeing some of Brisbane before we head off.


But that's not all the fun and excitement we've experienced in the past 5 days in Brisbane. We have also seen and learned a few interesting things about Australia that we thought we would pass on. First, every one is so nice! The thing we have been most impressed with is how appreciative and pleasant people are to the bus drivers in Brisbane. No one gets on or off the bus without saying "hello" or "thank you". It really is amazing! Also, we knew that people drove cars on the other side of the road in Australia, but didn't really think about how this would impact walking around. Dave learned this the hard way when we were in the New Zealand airport bathroom and he was trying to enter the men's room. Being from North America, he kept walking on the right hand side of the hallway leading to the washroom, but he kept bumping into people coming out of the bathroom. He tried to stand his ground before he realized that he was in the wrong. Not only do they drive on the left side of the road, but they mirror that when they walk as well. That took some getting used to!

Lastly, we have had the opportunity to spend some time with some other transplanted Canadians in Brisbane, care of the lovely Ryan Latimer. Latimer is doing med school here in Brisbane and he has been extremely kind in inviting us along on some adventures. We've thrown rocks at a wild turkey that was trying to set up a home in his backyard. We've spent an afternoon in his pool. We've been able to go out to a cool bar called Archive to celebrate his birthday. And we've met some of his great friends, who were all so nice and welcoming.

All in all, we've had a fantastic first week on our adventure in the South Pacific. We will try to keep you all up to date by frequently blogging about our adventures. But, if anyone want's to get in touch with us you can email: stephgardonio@yahoo.ca, dibrown2@hotmail.com, or add us to Skype (dibrown2).

Thanks for stopping by and reading - please know we miss you all already!
xoxo