Mackay

Half way

So... It`s a month since I`ve entered Mackay.
And 6 months since I entered Australia...
Half year gone, and a half year to go.

The Coffee Club
Asking only workmans wages I came looking for a job, and I found one.
The Coffee Club: they just made their worst mistake ever, employing me to work in their kitchen. I even showed them some photo`s of my place in Almere, where instead of doing dishes 70 times a day it was more like once in a week... if the week is odd....

But to no avail, they still wanted to give me a trial and so I became a dishee / kitchenhand at the Coffee Club. You would think flora on Fraser Island was special... You should have seen the kitchen after me working for 1 week. Due to my 'unique' way of working I created a whole mini-eco-environment. I most likely created some new fungus as well, maybe some worms...

After a few days it became clear where everything goes and the job became pretty easy. No insults from customers about dirty dishes; the only insult I got was from a qualified chef: "can you read english"?... I mean:

WTF - and I dont mean Water Treatment Facility...

So that`s why I got Tolstoy, Fitzgerald and who knows what in my car... It didn`t enter my mind then to ask if she`d read my resume; wit allways comes too late.

I got my personal little revenge later though, when I said the gram scales were calibrated wrong.

She: "calculate".

swwwwwwweet.

But working there is fun, it`s good to finally meet some normal Australian people...
Bwahaahahahaaaaa.

After saying my name more then 30 times (per person) it was decided (by them) that I was to be called V. Pretty lazy eh? But then again, way better then the countless variations I`ve heard over the last 6 months: Walter, Wouder, Waldor, Valter... Valdor, not to forget Wooter...... which isnt bad also because it rhymes with scooter... and worse sounds of which I`m unable to get them down in letters... so V is pretty swell.











Living on a tide boat


















It was also great to see I can get out of bed and get at work on time... I started at 18:00 most days ;-). Also I had the best excuse ever not to be able to come to work:

Me sitting outside on the deck, playing a little guitar...
Phone rings...

Me: "Yhello"?
Boss: "Hey V, Kieran can`t work today, are you able to fill in"?
Me: "Well..." and looks around "not really, unless you want to come pick me
up by boat"?
Boss: "Aaahh, high tide again eh"?
Me: "Uh huh..."
Boss: "Bye".
Me: "BYE".

That excuse also worked against me a few times. The walk to my boat is mostly over a normal paved path. But the last 500 metres is through dune / swamp land... very slippery, and when you arrive at your boat you are suddenly 5 cm taller because of the mud under your feet. But that`s no problem when the tide is low... But I`ve had a few nighs where I strayed through the water, with rucksack and guitar, holding my balance and moving inch by inch through knee-deep water to reach my boat and climb aboard.

And then... ahem,

Of course I wanted to shower after 6 hours of doing dishes, and since my boat didn`t have a shower I filled a few bottles with water and went outside again on the deck... at night... to take a shower...
2 full moons, one shining brighter then the other.

Wouldn`t do for a permanent living, but for a few weeks as 'vacation' .... fun!

Coffee club again
I took the job because I wanted to work in the hospitality sector for once, and to work with other Australians. I think it`s good to do something you initially have a little contempt for, feel a bit too good for. Back in the Netherlands I would have thought thrice to take a job as dishwasher, hehehe. But after the first hour it is not that bad.

So working, except for a few busy nights, is pretty easy. I`m only busy at the start and the end of my shift. In between it`s ... it`s actually the same as my old job; making sure my nose is really really empty and juggling a little. Also playing guitar in my breaks for sometimes a very small audience.

I quitted because of course I dont want to spend the one year I have in Australia doing dishes, but the same reason which I left my other job for would be just as good: it`s boring; especially on the quiet nights you start moving slower and slower... and wait for the last hour when suddenly things get busy again with cleaning up.

Men from Russia
Spending a few days per week doing dishes also made me spent more time in the laundrette. The only good thing about that is that the room is rather empty and silent (when all the washers are off...) making it fun to play guitar then.
And since I`ve still not received a single single from my band I decided to start my own solo carreer.
So here is my first song:

Click!

hehehe, It is that I said I would upload some video earlier...

Eungella
Between working days I went to the national park Eungella, which is pretty good; alltough I need to do my best not to compare it to other parks.