My friend Adele drove up from Hobart for a weekend getaway, arriving in Tarraleah on Friday night so we could set off early the following morning. We didn’t have an exact destination in mind, we just planned to head west and see where the road took us. As we began our journey, my eyes felt …
Tarraleah. The town that’s not a town. At least, not anymore. Originally built in the 1930s to house employees for the local Hydro plant, an automation of much of the machinery resulted in a drastic cut in the number of workers. Now, the ‘town’ is all one property owned by a local family and has …
I spent the first couple of days after leaving Woodford trying to will my tired mind into creating some direction as to what I would do and where I would go next. Should I stay near to Brisbane, keeping transport costs low, head north toward Cairns, or south to Melbourne, or Tasmania? All I knew …
The second part of Woodford, so different, but just as great as the first. I struggle to find a way to put my experience into words. So much that I gained from the place was from the energy and environment around me, rather than something physical. That said, the finished product, seeing all of our …
Just a short train ride south, Woodford is a world away from the life I lived in Bundaberg. In the country, surrounded by greenery, the suffocating packing shed is but a distant memory. Having found out about Woodford Folk Festival through a friend, I secured a volunteer position as part of the setup crew. Working …
A few days ago I left Bundaberg, looking toward new experiences that would hopefully improve the negative feelings I developed for Australia whilst there. The way backpackers are treated both by the hostels and the farms in that town leave so much to be desired. Things became less shocking and the accepted norm, as one …
Bundaberg – like the ginger beer, except not at all… True, it is the place one of my favourite drinks is made, but this resulted in my mind creating visions of the city quite far from reality. In fact, the city seems nothing more than a functional settlement, its sole purpose to provide a base …
I left the flat with the intention of heading to the local cinema, however as I walked in the pleasantly warm evening air, I found myself being drawn towards the river and the pedestrianised gardens along its border. It is a hub of activity for joggers, cyclists, cycle taxis, holiday makers, social gatherings… a place …
So what’s it like, this sunny, city life? Very different from anything I’ve experienced over the last year and a half that’s for sure. Safe to say when I first arrived I felt sufficiently overwhelmed. Exhaustion induced from lack of sleep, along a steep increase in temperature, did nothing to help my transition from rural …
And so after my four month sabbatical, I am once again here to grace you with my presence (/words). As I write this, I am two days into my new Australian adventure, but before I embellish, I’d like to recap on my final few months in New Zealand, my home for the last year and …
