Current Occupation: Orange Packer

Apologies in advance for probably the most depressing blog post to date.

I'm now working in a factory. And living here too. In the arse end of nowhere. With absolutely nothing to do.

My brain has been temporarily out of order since I arrived in Waikerie, South Australia in mid May - hence the lack of blog posts, and the increase in Facebook updates about how shite life is.

My current occupation: Orange packer. Well sometimes lemons, and occasionally 'mandys' (questionable nickname for a mandarin). But basically I'm packing fruit Monday to Friday for sometimes thirteen hours a day. Life.

And why am I here? I keep questioning that on a minute by minute basis. Packing excessive amounts of oranges in the outback of Australia was something I'd never pictured myself doing two years ago when I graduated, or even one year ago when i was teaching those delightful Vietnamese six year olds. Life plans change, and I am the prime example of that. 

Typical daily jobs at the factory include:

- Sorting shit fruit from good fruit

- Stabbing mouldy fruit with a nail attached to the end of a stick (actually quite satisfying)

- Pushing down box lids, as the machine that does this is broken. Sometimes these lids are down already, so you just have to give it a 'confirmation stroke'. Jesus.

- Sticking stickers on boxes.

- Packing oranges in boxes. Although on Friday I got threatened that there was no job for me if I didn't pack quicker, so we'll see how that goes. 

- Finding really weird shaped fruit 

I need to keep remembering that there is a point to this prison sentence. In order to get a second year visa in Australia, I have to complete 88 days regional work -  basically anything that contributes to the country's agriculture. Definitely embracing those Norfolk roots. 

This work has obviously been made better by the fact that they're soon scrapping this evil necessity, and those applying for a working visa in the near future can enjoy two years straight up. Fucking fantastic.

I am moaning a lot. I moan even though I should consider myself pretty lucky. I'm earning a shit ton of money, and after arriving only 7 weeks ago, my bank balance is the healthiest it's ever looked. What I got working as an ESL teacher for a month, I could earn in just a few days as an orange packer.

You also hear some pretty horrific stories where plenty of backpackers are taken advantage of just get those 88 days out of the way. People are falsely promised work, and told they can get signed off as long as they pay their rent. So I probably do need to be a little more grateful.

It was a spur of the moment decision to do my farmwork. Originally Australia was only meant to be for a year (actually it wasn't ever reeeeally suppose to happen at all) but a friend of mine who was already here said there was a spare space and asked if I fancied it. I said I'd give it a few weeks to see how it was. It is pretty bad, but I'm doing it and I'm persevering.

Waikerie itself reminds me of a really rubbish version of Swaffham. There's a Woolworths, a chemist and a library and that's about it. Going on a run here sometimes feels like being back in Go Vap, Vietnam. Getting stared at because you aren't local happens regularly. But whereas in Saigon it was a friendly curiosity on who I was and why I seemed to be the only white girl in the district, here it's probably because they're in a crystal meth coma.

I'm just over half way and that feels bloody great. My savings are looking good and I've got plenty planned to spend it on! I'm off to Sydney for a long weekend in a few weeks, and I'm also going back to The Philippines for a month in September. There is a light at the end of this very tragic, orange tunnel and I need to keep remembering that this isn't forever.

More importantly, my flight back to the UK has been booked after postponing my visit home for over a year. I keep picturing the emotional reunion at Heathrow arrivals and how Tony and Lou are going to think that I'm some sort of weird mirage. I'll be back for two months and after that I haven't quite yet decided.

No word of a lie, when that bell rings on the 88th day, it will be the happiest day of my life. Better than graduation, better than passing my driving test and better than the day Dominos started doing gluten free pizzas.

So this is me. Day 45/88, officially half way through and officially now dressing like a teenage boy. 

I'll see you on the other side.

East Coast Road-tripping

Soooooo, at the end of March I sold my car, said goodbye to Melbourne for a second time and set off on my travels. Again. 

I met Billy, Conor and six other friends in Byron Bay. I flew up there to join them in their van which they had been travelling down in from Cairns. It was so great to see everyone, as the previous month of working full time on top of being semi homeless wasn't the most ideal of months.

Ready and prepped for a few days of tanning in Byron Bay, it seemed I had actually arrived in a climate similar to that of Swaffham, though with a few more bare footed hippies wondering around.

Luckily the weather picked up and I was able to get the tan back and embrace what I had always pictured Australia to be. It was quick to see how much more breathtaking the beaches up the coast were compared to the crystal meth-esque sands of St Kilda.

We spent our time in Byron on the beaches, heading up to the lighthouse and passing the most eastern part of Australia! We stayed in the arts factory in our tents, and soon learnt how one dreadlocked guy had been living in his tent there for the last seven years. Fair. 

Whilst in Byron, we drove over to Nimbin, a little hippy town which hosts those that didn't want to leave the Aquarius festival back in the 1970s. A few characters were definitely stuck in some weird time warp, but it was a funny day out.

After leaving Byron after four days, we headed south to Coffs Harbour to set up camp. Travelling with seven other people is something I'm definitely not used to after travelling mostly on my own. It was a good experience, however when it came down to decision making was a bit of a nightmare. Though, everything did work out in the end.

It was good to stop in this little town as there is a big chance I'll be cucumber picking here for three months! Bit of a curveball life change, however Sophie did hers here and she's coming back out in May for her second year visa. If I didn't do my farm-work, I wouldn't be able to travel Australia with her after September. And plus, in one year I haven't seen half as much as I wanted to. I don't think I realised how big Australia was. 

Travelling in a van down the coast rather than on a greyhound bus, meant we stumbled across a lot of little beaches which were absolutely stunning! The photos really can't do these views justice.

After Coffs Harbour, we then set off to Seals Rock where we nearly all died of hypothermia. Not even an exaggeration. Our camping equipment between 8 of us consisted of 3 x $5 tents, a tie dye scarf and a Brazilian flag. Conor and I slept in the van this night and it wasn't much better. Well... until we turned the engine on for some heating (we weren't too popular the following morning. Whatever)

This quickly confirmed we weren't going to be camping at our next destination, the Blue Mountains. We would have genuinely died. We checked into a cute little hostel which seemed to transport us to some south of France ski chalet. It was delightful. The Blue Mountains were stunning.

Our next and final stop was Sydney. We spent a week there in a wonderful little house thanks to an Air B and B find. We stayed in some professional skateboarders house, who was friends with snoop dog apparently? This didn't come without drama though, when we locked ourselves out of the house and had to break in. Oh also I fell asleep in an uber and got charged $120, but that's another story. It was such a treat to unpack and stay in a room where you weren't woken up by the guy on the bunk above you making weird noises.

My time in Sydney before was pretty short, so it was good to spend longer than 24 hours wondering around the city. We did all the typical tourist things, Manley, Bondi and Coogee beaches and also the walks around Circular Quay. Oh, and a drag queen night too. We did all consider maybe living in Sydney wouldn't be so out of the question, but then realised how much we bloody love Melbourne.

Now we're back, living in a hostel and realising how much we miss that Air B and B. Luckily we quickly found a beautiful house in South Yarra, a great area which I'd never even considered living in before. The move in day on Wednesday cannot come quick enough! 

I know I'll be back in Melbourne for a month at least, but I'm having serious farm work dilemmas. Do I do it or not?  Doing it would mean I could stay in Australia past September, so I could travel with Sophie. Going home to start real life again doesn't fill me with happiness either. But 3 months. 88 DAYS OF PICKING CUCUMBERS. Really? I have no idea. Fingers crossed the next blog post I write, I'll have made my mind up. 

No home, no phone, no worries

Its safe to say the past few weeks back in Melbourne have been pretty hectic.

Since the end of February, I've moved from Richmond to Southbank (via a crackden hostel) and now to St Kilda. It's really made me miss mine, Billy and Conor's little Hotham Street flat! It was all a little stressful, but I'm now in a house by the beach with some friends for the last two weeks. On top of all this I had no phone and was working full time so it was all a bit of a nightmare and pretty tiring too.

In other news, I sold my car! I came to the realisation that it was very much needed. The money I could use from this could fund so many fun experiences in Australia. Of course it would be good to go back to a car, but I'm not heading back anytime soon and I'd rather have the memories.

Selling my car has meant that I can fly up to the Gold Coast and meet Billy and Conor etc in Byron Bay on Sunday and join them for the final leg of their road trip. The money has also (finally) given me this little upgrade. 

In the month I've been back in Melbourne, I've managed to get a heap of shifts compared to just before I left. One of which I spent 6 hours measuring the centimetres between a napkin and fork on a table. My degree coming into full force there. 

I'm still not sure what April or May will have in store for me and farm work is definitely not off the cards. I'm really craving to stay somewhere for at least a month to give me time to unpack and stop living out my suitcase. 

It's now been over two months since I've been able to hang my clothes up, and my suitcase is crying out for me to empty out the rest of that Philippino sand.

Though at one stage I had no home and no phone, everything has managed to semi sort itself out... for now at least. And the news that Sophie is coming back to Melbourne in the next couple of months means that everything is bloody great! 

Sydney!

The Philippines

"I know this one guy who knew a girl who got shot in the face by her taxi driver"

"Oh yeah, when I was in Manila, I saw some guy holding a gun against someone"

I mean, hearing stories like this two days before Manila didn't really put me in the best frame of mind. I've lost count on the times I heard "wow you're brave travelling the Philippines on your own". Which wasn't ideal.

But anyway I took my flight to the country's capital, and as expected, it wasn't great. I'd planned on only staying there for one night anyway before heading up to the north to see the rice terraces. 

My hostel wasn't in a great area so I did feel a little on edge - however I was sharing a dorm with some 50 year old Japanese "dancer" who was bloody adorable. To waste my time before my 14 hour night bus I really embraced the Philippino culture and went to the cinema...twice. It past the time and I felt safe so it was a productive day. 

I took the 14 hour ride up to Sagada through the night (I forgot Asias night bus motto: death by air con and struggled to fall asleep in my t shirt/shorts combo). Many Philippinos in Manila warned me of the arctic conditions in the mountains. I was like yeahhhh I'm from England, I can handle it. I couldn't, and it was then I realised I'd actually avoided winter for the past 13 months. 

I stayed in a little homestay, which was lacking western comforts of wifi and hot water. But it was a price I had to pay for the beautiful scenery! Sagada was stunning, and I managed to do a couple of treks through Eco Valley (during which a group of 6 year olds tried to put a dead lizard in my bag). There weren't many tourists here, considering it's pretty difficult to travel to. It really was worth it though, but make sure to bring a coat or two.

I then ventured over to Banaue for the next night, where this time there was no ATM. The 3 hour jeepney ride with 30 other Philippines and a dog in a box taught me the cruel way to always research on whether somewhere has cash points or not!

I tagged along with three French girls and did a two day trek of the rice terraces here, and stopping in Batad Village to sleep. It was an intense two days, with not much sleeping, not much washing and a lot of sweating. This was definitely the least developed place I'd visited, but most beautiful. The rice terraces are described as the "eighth wonder of the world" and you can definitely see why.

After a week of trekking through muddy fields, feeling like I was back in the UK rather than Asia, I was definitely craving a beach. I only had a week left of my time in the Philippines, which wasn't long enough. I took a flight to the tourist destination of Boracay. People I met in Banaue were like "Omg why would you go there it's full of tourists?". Well maybe that's what I wanted. And that's what I did. People that claim they hate tourist areas and hate when people describe them as a tourist rather than a "traveller" need a slap and to stop trying so hard.

I'm pretty gutted I couldn't get to Palawan, but knowing what I do now, I shall definitely plan ahead. 

Travelling The Philippines can be a bit of a struggle, purely because the transport is either very expensive, very long, not very frequent or you're having to sit on some locals lap for half the trip. Not for any other reason. It's a beautiful country with beautiful people, and to all the doubters: I survived. 

Unfortunately it's that time again where I've run out of money and need to start working again. I'm taking a very quick Sydney pit-stop on my way back to Melbourne, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to my seventh Air Asia flight within 5 weeks...

Asia you've been great as always. I'll see you for round three on my way back to the UK soon.

Fallen in love with Melaka

So my two day planned Melaka trip ended up extending to eight days. It was the most relaxed and friendliest place I've been in Asia, and after the eighth day I still didn't really want to leave. Seriously, my updated life plan now involves starting up a hostel, adopting all the stray cats in the town and just eating curry everyday. The dream.

By not wanting to leave, it's meant that I haven't made it to Johor Bahru or Singapore. I'm not too gutted, there's always next time. There's no point in regretting rushing somewhere that you want to stay.

I stayed in Jalan Jalan Hostel, which has been so great. I've stayed in a heap of hostels over the past year and this is quite honestly one of the best. It's been a really sociable place to stay even though I'm currently the only one in my dorm. Paying for a dorm, staying in a private. Perfect. A local guy is also pretty helpful and tells you about things you probably would have struggled to find on your own.

On my first evening, I took a little bike ride with some people from my hostel to a floating mosque for the sunset. It's been a long time since I've ridden a bike and probably wasn't my wisest idea cycling with no lights and ignoring the fact that I needed stabilisers big time.

I packed my first few days learning about the history of Melaka, going to a couple local museums, The Straits Chinese Jewellry Museum and The Baba and Nyonya House Museum. I had a little tour from a Malay lady who showed me some beautiful traditional wedding outfits and jewellery. This golden spoon was used by the bride and groom, and apparently if they are able to eat rice from it without chewing then they will have a fab relationship. If they have to chew, then I guess he ain't the one.

Theres so much history, with families in the town originating from all over Asia including China and India. This meant the food here has been bloody great - apart from this Melaka sweet treat pictured below which I was told to try. It was genuinely like chewing on a sugary bar of soap.

In between trying to be a productive traveller, it's been good to chill after busy busy Kuala Lumpur. Melaka is the perfect place to do this- hence why I've stayed so long!

On the Tuesday morning, I had a bit of a surreal one. On Monday night, some people from my hostel and I got talking to a local man who told us about the Thaipusam Hindu new year festival. He invited us to go along with him, so we thought why not.

We got up at half 5 to bike to his house to have some chai tea, and then took an hour long bike ride to the outskirts of Melaka in Batu Berendum. There was a pretty lively procession with some individuals looking in a whole world of pain. When I asked why, I was told they had 'God inside of them' and that they were in some kind of trance. 

It was an experience, and probably not one I will have again anytime soon. The colours of the outfits and in the temple were amazing! We got a free meal too, though eating a meal with a similar consistency to mash and gravy was a little tricky.

I really am enjoying my second trip around Asia. It's difficult not to compare, but I like the fact I'm not following the typical backpacking route as much as I was with Asia part 1. Maybe going to Australia and back to the western world made me miss how different Asia was to home and how great it is learning about a new culture

I've managed to do things a bit off track - speaking to more local people has resulted in doing things I could have never planned. It's been interesting too, talking to people I never normally talk to! Yesterday I had an hour long conversation with some toothless 70 year old Malaysian man who wanted to swap stories about our home countries. It was great. 

My last couple of days in Melaka I spent going to a food market, and also to a Chinese medicine bar (spot the Chinese character in the background pictured below). Celebrations in Melaka have been in full swing my whole time here for the Thaipusam Hindu Festival, and it appeared my visit was good timing.

I've had a beautiful three weeks in Malaysia, and I'll be back for sure. But it's now time for my next stop: The Philippines! Via a little airport sleepover. I've got a rough plan on where I want to go - the North of the country, up to Banaue Rice Terraces, and then down to Boracay Island. Maybe Cebu too if there's time. But no doubt my plans could change, who knows.

P.S Sorry Mum. I got my nose pierced for $3

8 ways to work around the world

Many people sometimes spend years saving up for an around the world ticket and enough dollar to fund them for months on end. However if you're a little impatient like me, and want to get away sooner rather than later, then working abroad can be the best way to see the world.

For me, the past year has been a working-travelling-working-travelling pattern, simply saving enough money to fund my flight tickets and adventures. I've loved every second of it. It's allowed me to travel each country in depth, stress less about money, and working sometimes shitty jobs makes me appreciate each trip a lot more.

So here are my top eight ways to get you around the world:

1. Tefl

Teaching English as a foreign language qualification could be perfect for you. It allows you to earn a good amount amount of money whilst living in a brand new culture. Dependent on your contract, you could take trips away to other countries during school holidays. A minimum 120 hour course is recommended and ones that include residential courses too gives you a good experience. I used the Tefl Academy, but there are heaps of different ones out there.

My friends Heather has had three different TEFL jobs around Asia and explains how teaching overseas allows you to transplant yourself into a completely different culture.

'Travelling is fun, but interacting on a daily basis is so much more exciting'

'It may seem like a big jump from traveling for a month to living overseas for a year, but it flies by. Since I've started teaching I've been to ten new countries and lived in three. You're not stuck in the country you're living in and it's a hell of a lot closer and cheaper to fly to Taipei for a weekend than it is from home. Teaching English is a gift for us native speakers. We speak what's becoming the lingua franca; we're in demand'

Heather gives a little straight to the point piece of advice, which I 100% agree with:

'Stop complaining that you can't find a well-paying job at home. Or that life is so boring after university. Or that you wish you could get out of your hometown. Do your research, make the necessary preparations, and go'.

Preach it sister.

2. Hospitality in Australia 

In Melbourne especially, there are loadddds of jobs within hospitality. It was a bit weird at first earning double as a pot washer than as a teacher, but seeing that first pay check I really didn't care. And now of course I have a new found love for pot washing. 

3. Farm work

Sounds grim, probably is grim and something I don't really want to do, but it can give you time to save money for future travels. In Australia, It could also count towards your 3 month regional, giving you a second year visa!

4. Au pairing

Being paid to babysit in a brand new culture sounds ideal and gives you the opportunity to live in a new country and earn money. It's on my to do list. 

5. Ski season

My best friend Sophie completed one on Mount Buller in Victoria, Australia last year and she's applying again this year. She loved it and got to save enough money to buy a car and travel up the coast. Though I can't ski (apparently this doesn't matter) I may be applying for one with her this year, as there's potential to earn money to travel the Australian East coast with!

'Ski seasons allow you to have a good amount of work to earn heaps, but also have fun at the same time! It makes no difference if you're a pro skier or someone who's never seen a snow flake fall... it's the best experience - especially if you're looking to earn while you travel!'

6. Use your skills!

If you've got a special talent... share it! Maybe you're sick at origami, or maybe you've got some sort of flare for flower arranging. Put an ad on gumtree to offer lessons/services! There maybe someone out there who wants to learn your skills... you never know!  

7. House sitting

My Melbourne housemates lived with a family in Brisbane and stayed rent free, occasionally baby-sitting and cleaning. Though they didn't get paid, but they had a roof over their head and it's a great chance to see a new place if you're lacking in money.

8. Board and keep

Many people work in hostels in exchange for a bed to sleep in and food. Though for me, this seems a bit of a rip off if you're working more than 15 hours a week, it is always an option if you're looking for a more stress-free way of life.

There's so many weird and wonderful jobs around the world, and perfect if you want more money security whilst on your travels. So don't waste time, GET SEARCHING.