Tag: #travelblog

Whales: A VERY close encounter

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‘I was eternally grateful of our position on the catamaran as I saw excursions drop sightseers on the glowing sand, only for them to leave an hour later. Mark knew some of the locals working on other boats and one young guy came over to chat. He was skippering a boat loaded with National Geographic photography students. After a day of picture taking, they had put down their cameras and were off to play cricket on the beach. We declined an invitation to join them, as I was currently unable or unwilling to remove myself from the comfy cocoon of the hammock. Who needed cricket when we could enjoy dinner overlooking the water, watching turtles pop their heads up.

Lei spotted a whale in the channel between the beach and another island. Through the binoculars we could see the top fin and a small piece of its back hovering above the water. It wasn’t moving which seemed rather unusual and twenty minutes later it was still in there. Concerned that it might be injured or beached, Mark asked if we wanted to have a closer look. I wanted to jump up and down with excitement; in fact I think I did. It was illegal to get too close to whales, but we were going to keep at the regulated distance with our motor off. Hopping into the dingy we headed out.

By the time we had crossed the channel, the whale had turned upside down leaving only the end of its tail standing upright out of the water. I joked that she should put on more of a show, but as the minutes past all was still. In awe we silently looked on. All we could hear was a gentle splashing as the wind whipped the ocean and suspense began to build. Still nothing happened. I was beginning to wonder what we would do next and whether we should give up and return, when patience finally paid off.

Breaking the surface a baby suddenly appeared alongside its mother. We presumed that she had either just given birth or had been feeding. I was delighted as the baby repeatedly jumped out of the water, landing with a splash. After ten minutes of this energetic display, side by side mother and baby began to move.

We were a little concerned to see that they were heading our way. Then the mother nosed up and turned downwards, appearing to dive and we waited with anticipation to get a view of her huge tail. Then the unexpected happened. About a hundred meters from our little dingy, the adult whale’s barnacled head emerged in a froth of waves. She was massive and as if in slow motion, she rose up out of the water, revealing more and more of her incredible bulk. The black shiny body dwarfed the precariously rocking dingy. We sat frozen, half in awe, half in fear as the huge mass of mammal, propelled herself further up and into the air, displaying her lined, white belly. The fin on her side must have been larger than our boat and it shone sleekly in the sunlight as her whole body cleared the water.

And what did I think during this magical and yet dangerous moment. Well I believe I uttered, ‘Ohhhhhhhh fuck!’ while waiting to be launched into the water.”

What happened next?

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Want to work in the outback? Live on a hippy commune?

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Want to work in the  Outback? How about running a cattle station or trying life on a hippy commune?  Here’s how….

Someone just asked me about my experience of trying to find farm work while travelling in Australia. I guess it depends on how much time you have and how much money you need, but one thing is for sure, it doesn’t need to be boring.

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WWOOFing

Luckily I wasn’t desperate for cash and was therefore able to use voluntary work towards my 88 days. WWOOFing (willing workers on organic farms) was a great way to do this. There is even a book which lists farms involved in the scheme. It was a fantastic way to try new experiences while only having to work very short hours.

I spread the work over the course of my trip, working on a banana farm (along side the mentally insane – see my previous post), a cattle station (very, very Aussie and the opening scene to the book), a hippy commune (as I’m sure you can imagine there were some perks to that one) and vegetable farm (a little dull after working with animals, hippies and mad people).

By doing 2 – 3 weeks at each place it allowed me to try new ways of life without getting bored of the work, however to spread it out like this you need to have plenty of time left on your visa. It can also be hard to find placements.

 

Work Hostels

As you will read in ‘Kangaroos and Chaos’ I originally found a work hostel which charged over priced rent, with the promise of finding me work. However, after talking with other travellers I found that there was never any guarantee of getting a job. In fact, they had been sent to stand on the street at 6am every morning while farmers came to chose them! I can’t say this is true for all work hostels (I’ve heard a few positive stories too, so ask around and try to get a recommendation. The backpackers forum is good for this – Link at the bottom of the page), but it certainly put me off. Apparently it made them feel like hookers without a decent wage!

On the plus side, I stayed in a rural hostel in Victoria and got local contacts such as the hostel owners and other working backpackers, to ask around for me. After gathering some phone numbers I offered to work free trails to learn the ropes on dairy farms. Through this I eventually found a job. Having a car was a big help and already being in the area apposed to calling from the city most likely helped too.

 

Don’t Despair! 

If you had told me at the start of my trip that I would spend 3 months on farms, I would have laughed it off, but not only did I do it, but it turned in an insanely random adventure.

To reader more about my experience click here