G'Day Melbs
- Jun 5, 2015
- 4 min read
The time has come to leave our part of the world for a place that is feeling increasingly like our second home. If only Australia could be closer to home, that would be perfect. Considering Australia's geographical location, it's hard to believe that we will be on the under side of the world in less than 24 hours!
For now though, it's in we go to that big flying metal object you often see flying high in the sky. At least were flying with Emirates so it should be a nice flight. And it was, apart from when we got to Dubai and we had to change planes. It was all rush rush rush! We weren't given very much time to go through security and find our new gate. Luckily for us, we managed to make it. There was a group of French tourists that were supposed to be on our flight but unfortunately for them their flight had arrived late and we couldn't wait for them! As we were finally able to taxi over to the runway, hit the accelerator and fly like a bird, it was time to sit back and relax. Of course, it would be rude not to take advantage of the free in-flight entertainment. The only disappointment is that it's a Qantas flight instead. Qantas is a really good airline to fly with, however, when you have flown with Emirates, nothing will compare. The food just wasn't as nice and there were no stars during the night throughout the aircraft. Oh well! Believe it or not, before we knew it, we had touched down in our beloved Melbourne. Were we upside-down, down under? Don't be absurd!
As myself and Jay gathered all our stuff we jumped in a bus that would bring us bang into the centre of Melbourne. As the bus drove closer and closer to the CBD, it was nice to finally be back. And as the bus turned into Southern Cross Station, it became clear that 'The Big Adventure' lives on!
Rather than catching a bus down to the lovely 'Urban Central' we decided to walk instead. It doesn't take that long and a bit of fresh air did us the world of good. As we arrived back at the hostel, it was like being back home again. At the front desk, Marku was there to welcome us back, while Dave offered us a free drink in the bar. After waiting so long to go home, it was now officially over, we were back at Urban Central, and make no mistake about it!
I think we settled back nearly straight away. It was as if we had never left. A lot of our friends from last time had left, but we quickly made some new ones. Talking about new friends, we were greeted by a new roommate, Matt from England. As we say in our Emerald Isle, 'He's pretty sound.' For something different to do, all three of us decided to watch an AFL match in the MCG stadium. Melbourne were playing against Collingwood. Cool stadium, but boring match. Instead of two halves, there are four quarters. Each team has their own cheesy jingle (When I say cheesy, I mean cheesy). Was there a good atmosphere at the Melbourne Cricket Ground? Let me put it this way to you, there wasn't even a bad atmosphere. To be fair, what better way to see a stadium than to experience what it was built to do!
The main thing we knew when we returned was to remove that horrible heavy weight, one calls 'Eighty Eight Days of Regional Work' from our shoulders! Since we arrived in Australia last August, we have always had it hanging over us. Thankfully we are finally at the last hurdle. Lets just hope we get over it! Based on my farming experience in Shepparton, or lack of, I decided I wanted more of a guarantee, an insurance policy you could say, that would allow me to finish my farm days and get extra ones without being messed about. The answer was staring us in the face all along. I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner. Our prayers had been answered! Its time to join the 'WWOOFING Society.' For those of you who haven't got a clue what I am talking about, 'WWOOFING' is a society of small organic farms all around the world who look for volunteers to help. In return for their services, they are rewarded with free accommodation and food. After ringing a few farms, we eventually found the one that Jason and myself were getting really good vibes from. Leanne from Ruby in East Gippsland seemed really nice and quite genuine, which is hard to find as most farmers just mess you about. However there was one slight problem, if we went down to them, we couldn't apply for our visa online as they didn't have an ABN, Australian Business Number, which raised doubts in our minds. After a lot of thinking and discussions we eventually followed our gut instinct and decided to take a chance and head down to Leanne and her young family. We were later informed that Leanne had found a solution to the lack of ABN, so everything was fine! A new milestone in 'The Big Adventure' awaits! Will we find our happy ending? Here's a hoping!
By Andrew
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