Country vs. City Life, or Having the Best of Both?

I have a confession to make...

I'm leading a double life.

I am Jack, and I am Earnest -and although Bunburying does not float my boat- having a country life and a city life seems to!

Monday to Friday I am living in rural Victoria; surrounded by sheep, mountains and country markets and enjoying small-town small talk with old women in second hand shops, which- by the way- have almost ruined my ability to pay high street prices for anything anymore. Almost ;)

Lambing season is upon us, and most ewes are having twins or triplets- good news for the farm!

Come the weekend, I usually venture to the big smoke of Melbourne to get my fix of fruity friends, busy bars and $5 burritos from Gusman Y Gomes, $5 Sailor J's fro Eydie's on Lygon, and whole bags of new clothes for $5 from Camberwell Market. Again, my bank balance applauds me!

That is until I bought a car and a new MacBook Pro, but these things are Life Improvements and thus worth every cent!

Sometimes the benefits of city excitement and country location overlap, like when Lior ventured out to the country for an intimate gig at the Hamilton Performing Arts Centre, which was quaint and surprising, especially the Yiddish gospel song he ended with. 

Triple J favourites Kingswood also played a packed gig at Hamiton pub The Cally last weekend, which was awesome- and full of young people I didn't know lived out here! It's harder to meet friends in the bush than it is in the city, but by saying yes to every invitation, I'm meeting more and more people every week, and some of them seem cool/fun/weird enough to be my friends :)

Festivals, like gigs, are usually part of my city life, but for one weekend last month a small group of us headed to Halls Gap the Grampians Grape Escape Food and Wine Festival.

Unfortunately, the event for me was a huge Disappointment (note the capital 'D'). The event has a strange ticketing system of separate day and night passes, with a 1.5 hour break between sessions. All good in theory, but in reality, festival goers got day-drunk, wobbled back to their accomodation and didn't seem to make it back for the evening, presumably in favour of a nice boozy nap. Perhaps having to pay again to enter ($35) or brave the drizzle put punters off, because the evening 'carnival' was more flump than fiesta. I only recall there being three fast food trucks open and three beer and wine stands- does this strike anyone else as ludicrous for a food and wine festival?! Apparently the daytime session was great with too many food and wine trucks to choose from (jealous-me? Never!).
My cohorts and I almost left but decided to stick it out for a while before having a much better time watching a local singer in a nearby cafe, and ended up with the hangovers we had anticipated from such an event.

Another little dampener on the weekend was my unfortunate fall from grace during a blaze of two-wheeled glory, when I fell off a hired electric scooter and lacerated my hands

--- DISCLAIMER--- GROSS PHOTO APPROACHING---

Thanks in turn to friends' first aid efforts, copious amounts of rum and Betadine ointment, they have now healed well enough to start crafting again- more on that soon- and picking copious amounts of rosemary (don't ask). 

I'm working on making my country life as sociable as my city one, with netball training, fitness classes, going out for dinners and coffees seeming to be the way forward. I also recently attended a Country Women's Association curry night, where- contrary to my expectations- at least a third of the attendees were under 30, and it wasn't all swapping housekeeping tips and recipes. We drank wine, made future social plans and enjoyed great food as local Guest Speaker Pat Cameron informed and entranced us all with her fantastic photography, like this panorama of the nearby Grampian Mountains. The food was so good though, maybe some recipe swapping will have to occur!

I see these mountains every weekday while I'm a country bumpkin out on the farm, but if I didn't have my city weekends to look forward to, I don't think I'd appreciate them as much as I do. 

Hopefully I can maintain this balance and reap the benefits of both lives, because one without the the other is simply not enough for a gal like me who needs her tractors followed by trams and her mountain views chased by city lights, and may my cooking skills improve enough from shared CWA country recipes to stop me craving GYG burritos- though I doubt it!

Adventures in Australia

My Christmas 2013, as it should be, was WONDERFUL- I was spoilt rotten at the farm with presents, roast meats and rum galore, and thoroughly enjoyed my last couple of weeks in sunny Australia.

Sunshine over Christmas for a change!

I ended up helping out on the farm a bit more (just can't get enough of those sheep!), frantically making last minute gifts and cleaning out a caravan that I discovered stashed in a field that I was adamant would make it up to Sydney for NYE- and it did!

Winnie the Winchester- Palace on Wheels

I even made it into the Grampian National Park to Halls Gap for a mini break before Xmas, nipped into Canberra on the way back inland from Sydney, and knocked out a short trip to Hobart just before my flight home- which completes my tour of every Australian state and territory!

The road trip was great- we drove from the farm down to Koroit and along the Great Ocean Road, spending the first night in quaint Port Campbell, then got up early to go fishing in a friend's tinny catching sweep and snapper by the Twelve Apostles. We thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of our labour that evening in Torquay after a good scale, gut, clean, stuff and bake- NOM NOM!

We drove through some less-than-noteworthy towns inland like Warragul and Traralgon to holiday-makers haven; Lakes Entrance, where a broken jockey wheel and a last-minute unpowered caravan site led us to drinking on the beach instead of in town and cooking in the dark- both more fun than our original plan!
 

From there we went up the princes highway to hilly Eden, where we learnt about killer whales at the museum, and on to Merimbula where the local Worker's Club doubled as a Chinese Restaurant, and the Antiques shop over the road was wonderful!

Eden's Killer Whale Museum

We splashed out and stayed in the BIG4 caravan park at Bateman's Bay and had delicious fish and chips from The Boatshed by the waterfront, which was around $15 for a huge portion with a make-it-yourself hot tea or coffee. No frills, just great fish in crispy batter and tea from a polystyrene cup :)

We splashed around in the waves at beautiful Kiama and drove through Wollongong into Sydney, where we ended up parking the caravan in a tyre garage by our friends at the University of NSW, and joining in festivities at a B.Y.O park at Elizabeth Bay for NYE 2014, which was a hoot! We fought off our hangovers with an amazing seafood feast at the Quay building opposite the Opera House, and meandered back to the farm over the next couple of days through Canberra - the most uncharismatic capital I've visited - and Bendigo, which is actually rather great! We even stopped for a spot of metal detecting but only found bottle tops and bullets!

Whole Lobster, oysters, mussels, Moreton bay bugs, smoked salmon and prawns with huge tasty capers, overlooking the Sydney Opera House :)

It was interesting to see how the landscape change across the country: from the touristy southern Victorian coast to the metropolis of Melbourne; the hilly central dairy pastures; the lush green coastal towns in the East; the most glamorous city in Australia and back through to the old gold fields and dry inland farming regions. Australia is so vast compared to England! 

On the home stretch back to the farm

There was one other part I'd been wanting to visit for some time, so soon I was on a budget flight to Hobart on the Australian island of Tasmania :)

My friend and I stayed in Transit Backpackers which is actually pretty good as far as hostels go, with a good outdoor area and quiet rooms. We explored the city on foot the first day, walking around the port and shopping in the boutiques, op shops and markets, sampling Tasmanian wines and ciders (for research purposes) and enjoying delicious meals from the plethora of little cafes and restaurants in the city centre and at Salamanca Place.

We hired a car for Day 2 and drove up the landscape-dominating Mount Wellington which was just breath-taking; 1271 metres above sea level and panoramic views. Photos just don't do it justice!

We tried the beer and cider taster paddle at Cascade Brewery, which is the oldest brewery in Australia if that kind of thing floats your boat, and drove down the Tasman Peninsula through Eagle Hawk Neck towards Port Arthur, stopping off to see the Tessellated Pavement, Tasman Arch and other pretty sights along the way.

A massive highlight of the trip was our visit to the MONA gallery- described by the owner as a 'subversive adult Disneyland', filled with everything from thought-provoking sculptures and titillating videography to interactive exhibits and even a putrid Excrement Machine. We finished off our tour with some wine from the on-site vineyard and listened to live music in the sun-drenched gardens before catching our cool graffiti-covered ferry back to Hobart CBD.

Excrement Machine- oh the stench of blended food and enzymes, and of course the produced waste!

 

Another fun night out left us craving every edible item at Salamanca Market on the Saturday, and devouring more than was strictly necessary, but not regretting one delicious mouthful. I left Hobart feeling like that wouldn't be the last time I visited Tasmania, and after some swift goodbyes in Melbourne I embarked on my journey home, from 42 degrees to 2 degree Celsius in around 36 hours!



Crowds at Salamanca Market

I've been home almost a month now- I spent a few days in London sleeping off the jet-lag and seeing old friends, marvelling at how cheap groceries are and buying all the things I didn't know I'd missed- like Gregg's and Fudge bars and Robinson's Squash! I got to combine delicious food, drinks and Ping Pong at Bounce, and hit Primark and Urban Outfitters like a woman possessed.

All things British that I hadn't seen in a year!

I'll head back to Victoria when I'm granted my second year visa, but for now I'm spending some QT with family and friends and striving towards that ubiquitous task all 20-somethings are concerned with; "Sorting My Life Out". 

Let's see how we go...

Markets and More in Melbourne

There are TOO MANY treasure-filled markets and events on in Melbourne this weekend and over the Christmas period to keep track of without writing them down, so I may as well share the love!

This list includes the Christmas, craft, second hand and random markets, pop-up shops, fairs and vintage garage sales that I've heard of recently, but if anyone knows any others please let me know in a comment! 

---VINTAGE SALES IN BRUNSWICK 7th and 8th Dec---

RetroStar Vintage $10 or less Sale- 7th and 8th Dec - 8am- 5.30pm - 33-37 Stewart St, Brunswick. Right by where I used to live and FULL of treasures! 

Harry Wragg Vintage Sale- Also 7th and 8th Dec until 6pm 18-20 Moreland Road, Brunswick East 3057. Buy 3 items get 1 free!

---MARKETS and FUN STUFF---

The Big Design Market - 7th-9th Dec, Fri 10-9pm, Sat to Sun 10-5pm - Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens. Clever minds and their covetable creations.

Anatolian Cultures and Arts Festival - 8th Dec - 11am-10pm - Fed Square. A taste of Turkey!

North Melbourne Market- 15th Dec - 10-3pm  Lithuanian Club, 44 Errol St, North Melbourne. 

French Xmas Market- 7th/8th Dec- 10-6pm - 51 Grey St, St Kilda. Tres bien!

Scandinavian Xmas Market- 7th Dec- 10-5, 8th Dec 11.30-4pm - 21 St George's Road, Toorak.

NB: German Xmas Markets- There was one on 22nd Nov on Barkly St and another on 5th Dec in Melbourne Town Hall. No more lebkucken in store I'm afraid!

The Sisters Xmas Market- Weekends until 22nd Dec- 12-5pm but until 7pm on Fridays, Dream Tent at QV square.

Christmas on Victoria Green- 6th and 13th Dec- 4pm-8pm - 807 Bourke St, Docklands.

Kris Kringle Night Markets- Thurs 12th and 19th Dec- 5.30-10pm - 189 High St, Northcote. 

Christmas Twilight Markets- Friday evenings until Dec 21st- 4-9pm, Harbour Esplanade by Etihad Stadium, Docklands.

St Kilda Twilight Market- Thursday evenings 5-10pm until Feb 20th - O'Donnell Gardens. The regular Sunday market is 10-5 along the Esplanade with beautiful views of the sea and lots of treasures.

Supper Market- Fridays until March 7th - 6-10pm - Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford.

Coburg Night Markets- Fridays until Dec 20th- 5.30-10pm - Bridges Reserve, Coburg. Follow with the drive-in cinema perhaps?

Chinatown Market Day- Friday 20th Dec - 4-10pm - Heffernan Lane off Lt Bourke between Russell and Swanston.

Festive Foodie Market- 14th and 15th Dec- 11-4pm - Fed Square. Tasty Treats and Xmas Tree Mazes? Yes please!

Young Creatives Market- Sun 15th Dec- 10-3pm - Raglan St Gallery, 14 Raglan St, North Melbourne.

Kensington Arts and Crafts Market- Sun 15th Dec and monthly until March- 10-3pm - Kensington Primary School, 62 McCracken St, Kensington.

Blender Lane Artists' Market- Weds until 26th Feb, 5-10pm - 110 Franklin St.

Colour Box pop-up shop and creative workshops- Until Sat 21st Dec- 236 Nicholson St, Footscray

Mr Nice Guy Pop Up Burger Bar- Sat 7th Dec- 10.30 to 4.30pm, 535 Lt Lonsdale St

And of course, not forgetting the old favourites...

Camberwell Rotary Club Market- Sundays- 7am-12.30pm- This will always be my favourite, especially for the last half hour of frantic bargain hunting when sellers call out things like 'everything a dollar!' Closed 15th and 22nd Dec.

Queen Vic Market- Daily except Mon and Wed for cheap groceries and bits and bobs.

Night Market on Wednesday evenings until Feb 26th- Lemonade and sangria in summer, mulled wine in winter, and paella! Lots of it!

South Melbourne Market- Wed, Fri, Sat Sun for posher groceries and bits and bobs.

Night Market on Thursday evenings until 19th Dec.

Arts Centre Sunday Markets- 10-4pm - Arts Centre Lawn, St Kilda Road. Pop in and check out the Arts Centre 'All That Glitters' Exhibition too, it's dazzling!

Fed Square Book Market- Saturdays 11-5pm, The Atrium, Fed Square.

Rose St Artists Market- Sat and Sun 11am-5pm, 60 Rose St, Fitzroy. 

Coburg Trash and Treasure Market- Sundays 8am-2pm - 115 Newlands Road, Coburg.

Good Old Queen Vic

Going Bananas in Far North Queensland

I've recently returned to my beloved Melbourne from 3 months in tropical North Queensland, and it's time to share a few insights from my experiences banana farming and burning the candle at both ends in Cairns before I embark on a 25-day Mother and Daughter escapade around Australasia.

As all backpackers know, you can extend your first Working Holiday Visa in Australia by doing 3 months (or 88 days) 'specified work' in a rural postcode. Intending to get mine out of the way before Mother's imminent arrival, I traveled to Innisfail, a small banana and sugar cane farming town an hour south of Cairns, to work on a farm owned by a friend's family. Arriving in the rain faced with depressing hostels and even more depressing testimonies from their inhabitants, my mood and optimism plummeted. On being rescued from the rain and checked into the newest hostel 'Backpackers Shack' by owner Nick, then arranging to start work only 3 days later (most others were waiting a fortnight), I was keen to get stuck in!

Here's a crass walk through of the banana farming jobs:

Trailers of bunches ready for processing!

Strong men do the banana 'humping' (yes, you read that correctly) to get the huge heavy bunches from the trees onto trailers and into the packing sheds. The bunches are released from their bungy cords, the bags sheltering them are untied and their stem is chained ready to be hung up- my favourite tasks as you got to move around and could at any time discover frogs, toads, spiders, snakes and other lovely surprises!

They are de-bagged (you will be splattered with rat poo and questionable liquids) before they go through a banana version of a car wash, and get cut into 'hands' and further into 'clusters'.

These clusters are sorted as they move along a soapy conveyor belt to weed out any less-than-perfect bananas- cue judgmental categorization of the ugly, bruised, cut, diseased and freaky co-joined fingers, with different 'grades' and sizes separated at break-wrist speed.

Next- the packers place 14kg of bananas into pre-assembled boxes, a boring job perfect for anyone who likes Tetris. I do not. I also got to assemble the boxes, poke a broken button to dispense glue while it was faulty, and separate boxes that were stuck together by a faulty tape machine- variety is the spice of life and all!

Honestly though, my time banana farming wasn't as bad as everyone complained it was during our regimented breaks, Innisfail wasn't as boring as everyone else in my hostel seemed to think it was, and it wasn't the farm's fault I had to be laid off after two weeks when the harvest was slow. C'est la vie!

I joined a friend in Cairns and after hardheartedly and unsuccessfully trying to find a new farm job, I got sucked into the black hole of Cairns life and have only this week emerged out again; many friends richer, a little fatter and with a much more damaged liver!

Lagoon life :)

Cairns is a city with a small town vibe- everyone ends up knowing each other, you see the same people every day and you can walk practically anywhere you need to go. Most backpackers only really see the Lagoon (sunbathing mecca), the Esplanade (ocean front jogging haven), Cairns Central (air-conned shopping centre) a few watering holes (mostly The Woolshed and Gilligans), Woolworths and BWS.

AKA everything you need; Sun, Sea, Shopping, Sambuca, Sausages and Spirits.

While waiting to hear if I could have my Innisfail farming job back, I started working for free accommodation; most people clean their hostel, I blew up balloons in The Woolshed! Realising I also needed money too, I started selling T-shirts in Cairns Night Market a couple of nights a week for a friend of a friend at xviclothing.com. 

Wanting to fill my time further, I joined the Ultimate Party crew; selling tickets for and running bar crawls around the city on a double-decker bus. Not your average 9-5 jobs I know but I’ve realised I’m not really about that at this stage in my life! The banana harvest this year has been really poor so there was no more farming work to be had, hence staying in Cairns for the fastest 3 months of my life, but working 7 days a week and partying hard has finally caught up with me, so now I’m looking forward to a month off work travelling around with my dear Mother.

Anyone who knows me knows that it won't have been all work and no play though- since I’ve been in Cairns I have tickled turtles scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, felt the rush bungy jumping at AJ Hackett, have driven the Raging Thunder speed boat, zip-lined over a crocodile at Cairns Zoom, hung off the roof of the Casino, partied at Gilligan’s Sinners Ball, eaten delicious food and far too much Baskin Robbins ice-cream, listened to great live music, dived into beautiful waterfalls, rafted down rapids in a $15 K-mart dinghy, celebrated my 23^rd with a big BBQ picnic, watched my friend play AFL at Cazalys stadium, bushwalked through rainforests, partied on Fitzroy island dressed as Santa, marveled at the Circus, browsed through Rusty’s market and laneway vintage shops (Coco Lane- The Best!), salsa danced in a carpark then on the Woolshed tables and made friends I know I’ll be in touch with for years.

Here are some snaps from my escapades!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Millaa Millaa Falls- FREEZING!

The Party Bus!

Bus Life!

Found Crush, AND Nemo!

Boom-netting, tighten your bikini first!

Me- hanging out with friends :p

I've just left the sun to meet my Mum in chilly Melbourne, and though I miss my Cairns family, I'm loving being back to the Australian city I first fell in love with. Wish me luck on the next phase of my adventure; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bali, Lombok then Darwin!

Working Holiday in Melbourne... Part 3

Melbourne- my four months living in your ample bosom have been AMAZING, but- alas!- I have just left to do my three months of rural work in order to extend my Working Holiday Visa for a second year, so I can return to you, you see? You deserve a re-cap of some of my favourite city memories since my last post:

A Pic collage of some city snaps

I've attended some great festivals and events in the last couple of months; Sydney Road's Street Party and a cheeky Sunday beer garden sesh was an ideal arvo, as was watching the fearless waterski jumps, riverside fireworks and jumping around at the sweaty Ball Park Music gig at the Moomba Festival weekend.

Fireworks by the Yarra at Moomba Festival

Future Music Festival was an awesome day too- though to me a festival isn't a festival without a hastily-erected tent to crash in(to) after tripping over a million insivible guy ropes, waking up with a hangover claiming 'hair of the dog' actually works and doing it all again for the next couple of nights. A lot of Aussie festivals end around 11pm, leaving hundreds of people cramming onto the same packed trams or walking miles to find an open bottle-o, only to find themselves in the casino and bailing at 2am. Wish I could go to Splendour in the Grass!

A highlight of my whole LIFE was watching Passenger (a.k.a Mike Rosenberg) perform at the quaint Athenaeum theater  a gig I had bought tickets to around Christmas! He was PHENOMENAL- I spent every strum, stomp and word transfixed at how witty, humble, entertaining, funny, talented (and thus attractive!) he was, even laughing out loud at his Taylor Swift/goat bleat cover, almost crying at Let Her Go, shouting out the lyrics to Holes with the hundreds of other spectators, and holding my breath while he gave an unplugged rendition of Blind Love. He was supported by the talented, hairy and soulful Stu Larsen and another less impressive fellow whose name I forget. WATCH THIS and begin to understand his greatness--->

I had another fun camping weekend in Moama for Easter (complete with egg hunt), and two glorious days spend visiting my camp friend in Torquay where I tried to surf (still a bit of a 'kook' though- someone who can't surf!), leapt off a huge rock into the ocean, ate shark and chips by the sea, grabbed bargains at surf shop warehouse sales, sampled the local nightlife and sunbathed on Bells Beach.

Yeah that's me almost standing up on a baby wave!

Another fantastic road trip took us to Philip Island, where we watched the cute fluffy penguins waddle in to shore at the tourist-fave Penguin Parade, spent time with my friend's Gran (she loved our enchiladas and cards evening!), seal-spotted from the Nobbies and went sand-dune boarding into the sea- NOTE: do this with your mouth FIRMLY CLOSED or you WILL have a mouth full of sand!

So excited for penguins!

At the top of a sand dune- ready to hurtle down it!

Melbourne International Comedy Festival was in full swing from March to April, with a myriad of shows to suit every sense of humour. I saw Neal Portenza's Test Show at the Tuxedo Cat and only endured one moment of pick-on-the-audience embarrassment but many moment of this-is-ridiculous-but-hilarious joy.

 

I started to look at Melbourne in a different way before I left- taking photos of the beautiful parts I knew I wouldn't see for a while and visiting the places I should have already been like the Shrine of Remembrance, the ACMI and the NGV (which has a Monet exhibition coming soon that I'd have loved to have seen, Claude being my fave French Impressionist and all- I've been to his house y'know!) and cool soon-closing events like the People's Market in Collingwood. 

Australian Art in the NGV Federation Square gallery

Interactive Screen Worlds exhibition at the ACMI

View from the Shrine of Remembrance

The Melbourne Museum has an interesting exhibition on the lost treasures of Afghanistan that were hidden in the depths of the presidential palace by Kabul's National Museum staff during times of political turbulence and warfare, but re-discovered in 2003. From intricate pottery to stunning turquoise and gold jewelry, the unearthing of these objects has given Afghanistan back a tangible sense of their rich culture and history, and it was refreshing to experience something positive in relation to the troubled country, as well as just to swoon over the elaborate adornments!

I started attending hip-hop dance classes at the Melbourne Dance Hub, where I worked on improving my "swag"- it's a work in progress! My friends and I also worked up a sweat at the 5K Puma Glow Run along Birrarung Mar; where dance tents every kilometre and a rave-like party at the finish line allowed us to punctuate our speed-walk/jogging bursts with booty-shaking and skanking under showers of glow sticks, all to the backdrop of the night cityscape, and followed by a great night out on Chapel Street. I've been to so many of Melbourne's best (and worst) watering holes that a thorough run-through of my favourite Melbournian nightlife spots deserves a post of it's own- watch this space!

The Glow Run Starting Line

My drink-fuelled escapades and culinary extravagances were funded by another temp admin job I had at Victoria University's Sunshine campus (Sunshine being possibly the most ironic name for such a bleak suburb), with the rest being spent at weekend garage sales, vintage warehouses and op shops, if not on my ever-depleting Myki card.

RetroStar vintage warehouse just opposite my flat in Brunswick- epic!

My next job (and lifestyle) will be wildly different- banana farming in a town called Innisfail roughly 1 hour south of Cairns whilst living the backpacker life in a working hostel! Once I've settled in and had my first taste of banana farming I will reveal all in another post. 

Until then- wish me luck!