WWOOFIN All Over The World, Ruby, Victoria, Australia

The time has come for us to finally get the last of our 88 farm days plus some. At least that will be another thing to tick off our list. Not really sure if the second year is worth it when you consider all the hassle we had and how much time you lose by doing it. That said, we've done most of our days, so I'll make sure we finish it. On an up, we didn't think we would be going to a farm so soon after we arrived back in Oz and we thought we would have to spend a lot of money travelling somewhere such as Queensland just to get the last of our days. Our angels are definitely on our side.

With only a very brief stint on the bus, we arrived at our destination in East Gippsland in rural Victoria. As we disembarked from our vehicle, myself and Jason were kindly greeted by Jim, Leanne's husband, whom we were going to stay with for the next few weeks. Upon arriving at their lovely home, we were warmly greeted by Leanne and their gorgeous two kids, Reuben and Johanna. Poor Reuben was a little bit shy at first. It would take the two of them a couple of days to get to really like us. I think I was their favourite by the end, but don't tell Jason!

After a brief tour of the house, we were both really impressed. We even had our own private room together in a little cottage facing the main house. It was so nice having our own private room where we could just snuggle up together and watch a bit of TV. Oh the simple things in life!

That evening, Leanne prepared a lovey family dinner for us. For the whole time we were there, we were made to feel as if we were part of the family. Amazing meals were prepared each night for us and the whole family sat around the table with us chatting and enjoying Leanne's amazing cuisine. We even had lamb once or twice. It's so nice to have proper home cooked meals. I really miss not having an oven so you can cook things like a Sunday Roast. Leanne's delicious meals are something that we would look forward to each evening.

The following morning after our first night, we were greeted by an amazing sunrise. And when your up in the mountains overlooking the mountain ranges, it's bound to be epic by all proportions. Myself and Jason are very lucky that we found such a lovely family in such a beautiful part of the world.

Of course, the main reason why we are here is to get the last of our 88 days, so with all further a do, it's time to get stuck into some proper manly work. Well, work we did do, but I wouldn't say it was that hard. Leanne and Jim had two areas they wanted us to do our magic on. The first is the orchard where we had to do a lot of weeding and mulching of trees. The second area in our domain was the veggie garden which I'm sorry to say had seen better days. That required most of our love and attention. And believe you me, that's exactly what we gave it. The whole area was all over grown. By the time we had finished, we had it looking like brand new with new beds created, pathways rediscovered and the whole area covered in mulch and bark.

WWOOFING isn't all about hard work, it's also about meeting new people and getting to experience the more real, authentic side of the country down under! With no work the following day, (After all, Sunday, I've only recently discovered, is a day of rest) it was time to let our hair down with a true Aussie dinner party. Ok, there may not have been anything cooking on the barbie, but the food we had was mouth-wateringly delicious. And with good company in the form of our lovely host family and their lovely neighbours, we all had a really good night. Myself and Jason got chatting to the neighbours who proved to be very interesting characters. The husband was a truck driver. You want to see the truck he owned. We would have loved to have seen it in reality as we only saw photos. It looks like a beast of a thing, and it even has living quarters built in. It looks incredible. All in all, everyone had a really good night!

I can honestly say that Leanne made a huge effort to ensure we really enjoyed the whole experience. Not only did the whole family make us feel right at home with tasty tasty meals each day, on Sunday, Leanne brought us out to see just what Gippsland has to offer. The first stop was a visit to the local shop that is run by the community that allows them to sell their produce to the public. From their we drove down to the beach which the two kids were really excited about. I think they were more excited about visiting a cave than the actual beach itself. To be fair, it was a really cool cave which was probably the highlight of the whole day.

Think lasagne and you will automatically think of that lovely Italian dish which instantly satisfies your taste buds. It will probably surprise you that I am talking purely about veggie patches and hoe to make them grow better. A lasagne in the garden, what ever next? All it is, is firstly a layer of damp newspaper, with a layer of horse manure poured over it, then a layer of straw, topped off with a final layer of mulch. Come on all you gardener wannabes, it's time to create your own lasagne. Maybe have one in the oven to as a nice little reward when your done. My sister's lasagne, mmmm!

When it comes to apples, I'm always at my happiest. So spending a couple of hours with them was a no brainer. We started off by putting our fruit picking skills to good use by taking all the fruit of the two trees the family had at the front of the property. All the bad fruit that didn't look the best but still tasted really good were sliced up and dried by putting them in a special dryer that would remove any moisture from them. When they were done, they tasted simply, amazing!

After only a couple of days, Reuben and Johanna were beginning to really like us. I would mess with Reuben by asking him what his name is, he would reply with 'Ruby.' Then I'd ask him where he lives and he would say 'Ruby.' We all got a good laugh out of that one. Reuben thought it was really funny to. Johanna is a lot more adventurous than her older brother. Her favourite thing to do is to climb. I used to pick her up and put her on my shoulders so she could touch the ceiling. Of course, she absolutely loved this and couldn't get enough of it.

It was great to see the kids completely relaxed with us and just being themselves. They got plenty of joy out of a CD their mam got free at a library. Lets just say the songs on it were very catchy including, but not limited to 'My mam is the best, my mam is the best.' They even had their own DVD which had really catchy songs as well . The catchiest was the one about the trains that would list the colours of all the train really quick 'Green train, blue train, purple train, pink train, red train wooo hoooo...' I think Jason enjoyed it just as much as the kids, if not, more!

While Leanne and her family were busy preparing for their trip to Germany, Leanne arranged for us to help her friend Diana out. She was getting ready to move from her cottage into a large caravan, which the council forced her to do as they wanted the cottage turned into a B&B. It was our job to ensure it was nicely painted. While I've had a lot of painting experience from my lovely mother, Jason has had very little. I took charge and directed him on what needs to be done and how to do it. It was like teaching a child to ride a bike. Teach them once and they will never forget. Not sure if I would trust him to paint our whole home by himself, but, to be fair, he did a really good job.

To say Diana is a character is an understatement. She is certainly a larger than life person. One evening, on the way back to Leanne's, Diana took us on a drive through the wonderful country roads all the way up the mountains. There was only one problem, there was very little petrol left in her ute, which meant we had to coast the vehicle all the way down the mountain. With Diana's laugh being so infectious, even though most of the time we would all be laughing, but we wouldn't know what we would be laughing for, it's safe to say that myself and Jason really enjoyed our little scenic outing. And by the time we had finished painting the caravan, we were both really proud of it's transformation.

When both of us reached our 88 days, Leanne organised a lovely meal for us and a celebration cake which was beautifully decorated by the kids. Reaching 88 days of farm work was definitely a good reason to celebrate and we couldn't think of anyone else we would rather enjoy it with than the person who allowed us to compete the last of our 88 days. It was such a lovely thing to do and it made us feel very special.

As a farewell gesture, myself and Jason cooked the whole family a lovely 'Irish Stew' with fresh herbs from the garden which everyone devoured. That was topped of with a homemade apple pie with orange zest and juice and very tasty tasty raisins soaked in rum which Jim very kindly donated. Of course, no apple pie is complete without a nice bit of ice cream. I can honestly say I was completely satisfied. And I reckon everyone else was to. Leanne was even enjoying the stew the following day as well, which is a really good sign.

After a wonderful few weeks with the lovely Leanne and her gorgeous family and their three cute alpacas, it was time to say goodbye. We are going to miss them all including spending time with the two kids and reading them stories. Our WWOOFING experience has been the best part of our whole farming experience. Not only to be welcomed in to their home but to be made to feel part of their family is a very special feeling. Myself and Jason enjoyed every part of our time in Ruby. We wouldn't change it for anything. Saying our goodbyes, Leanne handed us a card with a very generous gift that would allow us to purchase one of our visas. She is too good! Our first WOOFING experience will remain close to our hearts for as long as we live!

88+ days completed! Whooooo!

By Andrew

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