The sun has been beaming all throughout the last couple of days and yet everyone has been acting kind of restless and edgy. Maybe it’s the heat…

It started off by me injuring my foot on the corner of the fireplace. It wasn’t until I realized I was bleeding out of my little toe that I started cursing those stupid metal edges and the ridiculous spot the fireplace had been installed. I mean WHY make sure the metal corners are uneven and position them right in front of an entrance?! Both Rekha and I had hurt our foot on these several times before, I just hit it harder this time…

Then we had to move all the goats and separate them according to mates to properly set off the mating season. But it felt like Rob had no clue of what he wanted to do and was just pairing them up as we went along and then changing his mind or forgetting what he wanted to do. All the while we were blocking or chasing after the goats in the giant paddocks. Then Scotland got really angry and started cursing. I thought he was going to burst and it wasn’t helping the animals’ mood either… I kept on asking for instructions from Rob, but I got nothing and all of us were starting to get extremely frustrated and hot and sweaty. At the end of it all, no one was happy. And I felt like I should go and talk to Rob to smooth everything out, although I really didn’t like his lack of communication throughout the whole process.

Then while Rekha and I started the weeding of the first veggie patch, I got stung by a bee. Not that I wasn’t protected, I had boots, pants and a long sleeve shirt despite the heat, somehow it still managed to get to my wrist. It was the first time I ever got stung so I had no idea how my body would react and I freaked out. Again, I was cursing and I wondered if it was a good idea to have put a bee’s hive in the veggie patch. Not that I know anything about bees. I was just angry.

The next day Rekha and I wanted to continue the weeding there and she went: “you are not allowed on that end, you stay on the other side”. I had every intention of doing as instructed, I entered the veggie patch and ventured to the side opposite the bee hive. It took about 3 second for a bee to get caught in my hair (though I had it in a tight bun) and sting my neck. I was absolutely furious. I had taken all the precautions yet still got stung again and the neck was even more painful then the wrist. I couldn’t stop cursing Roberto and his beehive, especially since the honey isn’t even collected from it. Poor Rob couldn’t understand why I was getting stung, so asked me to do some weeding on the roses patch, which is a little further away. I did it diligently and that kind of helped cooling me down. But then it was Rekha’s turn. I heard the poised and always happy Rekha screaming and jumping when I realized a bee got stuck in her hair as well. Although she was only wearing shorts and a singlet, the bee went for her scalp (maybe we shouldn’t have washed our hair the day before. We should’ve kept it unclean for another week or more) I told her to keep calm, but who was I kidding. We could hear the bee buzzing but couldn’t locate it till we both ran for cover in the house. It was too late of course, and she got the same punishment as me, slap a slice of lemon on the bite.

Another thing that is making me feel quite uneasy is the new kid. A new backpacker joined the ranks last Friday. He’s 18, German and wants to learn English. Yet he never talks to us. Rekha and I have tried to make conversation on multiple occasions, but it’s not happening. Scotland never even tried, with his accent, even I have to ask him to repeat himself 3 times before understanding him. But the weirdest thing is that Germany keeps to himself all the time, even though we mostly all hang out together. His manners and attitude are a little rough when we’re all sitting around the table and he never stays with us if we decide to watch a movie after the news. The strangest moment was when we were all working in the shed together, Scotland had put some music on for us, but Germany put his headphones on. Weird.

All in all, even though there is definitely this strange vibe floating around us, I’m still counting my blessings as the weather is beautiful, the gorgeous birds are still keeping us company, my toenail is still intact (despite Roberto telling me it was going to fall off) and my first bee bite has completely healed in less than 24h and hasn’t been itching at all (again, despite what Rob said). I probably won’t be as lucky with the neck bite, it really hurt like a bitch, but I’ll survive!

And even though the 59-year-old farmer has definitely showed us his pessimistic and uncommunicative personality, I still believe he means well and has a heart of gold. No doubt about that.

And maybe I’ll learn to keep calm when the bees come close… or work on anger management altogether :p

XoXo – from the mountains with Love.

There are some things that remind me how sweet and beautiful life is. Like reading a good book on a hammock balancing to the mountain breeze, sunlight filtering through the leaves, and a little cuddling dog for company.

Then it’s a sporty quad race with the hundred butterflies, for a little blackberry picking and mushroom hunting in the forest. Of course I pick up another heart-shaped mushie.

The menu for tonight is love mushroom risotto and apple and blackberry sweetheart crumble.

Then it’s a massive group-hug cuddle time with the goats. So much baby-donkey laughing on my part, and many tunes sang throughout the day with my new partner in crime Rekha.

“I feel like I’m in a musical.” Mocks Stevie/Scotland.

And when the puffy clouds start showing, we all snuggle up inside and the dogs take turn to make sure we each get our dose of puppy love.

I still can’t get used to the massive flocks of Galahs and almost fluoro Parrots circling around the farm when we start feeding the animals. Such a breathtaking sight. I hope I will be able to take a proper photo of that ballet one day!

And the days go by oh so lazily. I feel like I’m on a constant holiday. It used to be by the beach (surfection and Hunter and Hornet were so much fun I did not notice it was work) and now it’s in the mountains. Can’t believe the government is “making me” do this 😉

And I feel like love is literally being forced onto everyone here. It is the beginning of mating season after all… The goats are so impatient to be reunited, one of the boys escalated the fences and spent the night with the ladies… At least somebody had fun that night! The biggest goat got so jealous he almost tore the fence apart as one of the girls on the other side teased and teased him. It got so out of control Scotland and Rob lifted the tantalizer up and shifted her with the boys. “This is exactly like a bar situation, one girl for three boys.” Laughed Rob. We laughed a little less this morning when two of the bucks fought so hard they were bleeding out of their horns… Tough love hey.

Even Bucca, the horse, came to us for a bit of petting and then galloped away chasing after Flo, the mare. I guess he forgot he was castrated.

We also shifted the half blind veal with the does. The two breeds clearly don’t really care for one another but something quite lovely happened as the three cows and the one young bull that Rob keeps on another field, came together and communicated through the fences. And even now as the sun starts setting, they still call out to each other.

Love truly is everywhere.

XoXo – from the mountains with Love.

It’s been a weird mission to leave the life I’ve spent 8 months trying to build, and go do farm work for 3 months. 8 months adapting to the surf culture and trying to set my career back in motion and all of a sudden, having to stop and drop everything to head to the middle of nowhere and take care of animals.

But that is the deal for us working holiday visa-ers who want to stay longer in Oz. I guess it’s like giving back to this magical country, a good push in the butt to explore new places and, for a little while at least, lead a life I’d never think of living.

Finding the right place to do it though is a pain in the butt. Up until 10 days before I ran out of time, I hadn’t found anything I could like. Yes I was very specific in my demands: I wanted to go to Western Australia (if I have to be shipped off to the middle of nowhere, might as well go somewhere I knew I’d love) and I wanted to work with horses. But after some dodgy owner in Mandurah tried to rip me off and I was running out of time, I started to look for stuff all across Australia.

I ended up with 2 choices: a big ass beautiful ranch near Cairns for tourism horseback ridding, full time work, unpaid and living in a backpacker’s and on the plus side: horses, good weather, near rivers and the beach. Or I could go to the Blue Mountains, on a small hobby farm with goats, alpacas, horses, geese, chickens, ducks, and a couple of cows. I have to pay for food, but there’s only a couple of hours of light work a day and everyone lives in the same house.

Despite what everyone was telling me, I chose option no2. For some reason, even with my original plan of going to WA, I felt terrified of moving away from the Sydney region. I wasn’t scared for one second when I’ve left my home country, my job and my family to live on the other side of the world, so if this time I was trembling just at the idea of leaving, I was going to listen to that gut instinct and just go 3h30min away from my Bondi bubble. Maybe I could come back sometimes on the weekends my brain was saying.

Like I said in my previous post, it was tough to let go, but still felt good to do so.

After one last cheeky paddle in the turquoise Bondi waters and subletting my room, I was ready to take the train with Rekha, a cute Welsh girl with Malaysian origins who wanted to renew her second visa as well. Instantly I felt like this was going to be a fun time. I’ve NEVER shared a room with anyone for more than a couple of days, but I have a good feeling about this.

We arrived at the farm, both not really knowing what to expect. A Peruvian farmer and a Scottish backpacker welcomed us and I suppose it was expected of us to feel at home straight away as nothing much was said apart from a couple of basic ground rules. So we did.

So far the days have been very peaceful. Lots of sun in the morning, start the day at 8-8h30am by feeding the animals, then do a bit of maintenance work: light fencing and weeding/trimming crops and trees for the girls and heavy duty mechanical stuff for the boys, til lunch time. Then we chill out, watch TV with a cup of tea if it’s raining til it’s feeding time again. It’s nice and relaxed, and the farm has a gorgeous view over a valley, which I think will be lovely for some photo taking.

I especially adore those massive black Cockatoos and Eagles flying over the valley, and the swarm of Parrots and those pink Galahs bouncing from tree to tree. I loved riding at the back of the ute into the forest to go mushroom picking.

I’m also so surprised at how friendly the farm animals are, the goats are just begging to be cuddled and one of the duties include feeding milk to a half blind rescued veal. Feeling the baby cow sucking on the teat (and my hand haha) is just the cutest thing!! The three dogs are especially friendly… Way too friendly for my taste sometimes… I’ve ever only had cats in my house so having two beasts jumping all over me (stains of dirt and saliva apply) and a little one begging to come onto my laps every time I sit down, kind of made me dubious whether or not I was going to love dogs as much as I love cats. Then last night when it was time for bed, the leader of the clan, Chui, jumped on my bed and could not be moved. Oh well, he’ll be keeping me warm this winter. #doglove XoXo – from the Mountains with Love