18.09.2004
HELLLLLOOOOO Oh my
god a computer
...is
so scary - just took me 10 minutes to log on as i couldn't remember my password
- think have dropped a few more brain cells somewhere!!
Well my gorgeous hunks of flesh let me fill you in on my little adventures..think
the last time i wrote i was just leaving Perth so shall do a little retrack.
Went to the pinnacles and a few other places enroute and then sat on the
beach and watched the sunset whilst drinking a nice chilled glass of cheap
wine - marvellous, all very romantic!!!! 
Next day got up at stupid o'clock and went to Kalbarri gorge, now when there
check this ladies and gentleman - i went abseiling.....
I know, I know what the hell has happenend to me!! Out of a group of 15
people 5 of us said we would do it...now walking along with a very attractive
harness strapped round my fat arse and a beautiful builders hat strapped
tightly around my chin i wondered just when exactly i became one of the
adventrous group - i mean this is me we are talking about, the most exercise
i normally do is lifting a pint glass to my mouth. Anyway for some bizarre
reason i can still not figure out i went over the side of an 80 foot cliff
with a piece of string as back up. But oh no oh no the stupidity doesnt
end there, i then went forwards, yes FORWARDS over the same cliff - why
oh why oh why, not only did it mean that i had to climb back up the bloody
thing again i then threw myself forwards over the bloody thing - christ
almighty - only one other person did it aswell - like hello Ceej where is
your brain?! Anyway despite the beautiful vocabulary that came out of my
mouth whilst hanging over the cliff i am very proud of myself none the less!
This terrifying experience was then followed by 2 hours of rockclimbing
- before you think it, yes i was officially in a lot of pain the next day!!!
After about 2 hours drive through....nothing..... i then arrived at the
"Overlander Roadhouse" now to explain the overlander through an email would
not do it justice, just picture the dustiest, scum hole you can imagine
and yer basically that is my home. I live in a room on my own, although
in all fairness "room" is a bit OTT it is a shed with a tin door. Now my
bed, the frame - cossors sale wouldnt even look at, they would probably
laugh in disgust at what junk people leave for them and walk off and the
mattress, well all that can be said on that subject is i am very glad i
have had a lot of injections in my past otherwise i'm sure i would be dead
by now.
I quickly put sheets on the bed to try and disguise it and spent the next
10 minutes convincing myself that i am not a princess so therefore can just
sleep on it - all well and good until i pulled back the top sheet later
to go to sleep and the whole thing was covered in bugs
- charact er building?!!!
The next morning i got up at 4am to start work at 4:30 ....yes 4:30 and
my first job is to clean the outside toilet block, now that was the one
job i have always said i would never do in my life so it pretty much looks
like all jobs are now open for the taking. Now naive little old me was thinking
that a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere would be nice and quiet and i
would be sat round waiting for a truckie to come along, oh how wrong i was,
i spend 10 hours a day running (and sweating) aroung like a pig, it is ridicoulous.
Day ends and i then - do nothing....cant believe have survived this long
with no mobile, no tv, no computer - am figuring it is all very good for
my inner spirit!!! There are a couple of other backpackers working there
but as we all do shifts you never really see anyone although i have now
managed to perfect the art of talking c*ap even more than before!!!! So
in order to occupy my time in the arvos i decided to take the dog for a
walk (have a pet dog, cat, 2 goats and 4 kangaroos!) now this all sounds
well and good but i hadnt quite realised how out of my depth i was out on
my own in the"bush" until a few little incidents occured. Firstly i'm walking
along looking rather like an eythiopian due to the number of flies on me
(although just a tad on the larger side!) when i hear a rustling noise and
yes you guessed it saw a snake dissapear off in to the distance - marvellous.
Next day am walking along when i see two "creatures" coming towards me,
the little country bumpkin girl inside me says to herself "oh look pretty
deers, oh no horses" hang on a minute i'm not in Wiltshire now. Oh holy
cr*p before i know it there are 2 gigantic bloody Emus standing right in
front of me, now they are not like the ones you see in the zoo let me tell
you they are the size of a bloody house, i officially cra**ed my pants and
then realised how out of my depth i was i mean there was no point screaming
- theres nothing for miles and miles and i had no idea what to do are you
meant to run, to stand there, let them just eat you alive, well after what
felt like the longest minute of my life with them staring at me as if to
say 'look at this stupid english girl' they ran off in to the distance and
i was left standing there wondering if it had really just happened!! On
my return to the Roadhouse i was informed that they would never attack as
apparently they would of been more scared of me than i was of them - now
that i find debatable!!!
Despite living in the middle of nowhere everyday is a drama, mostly due
to my encounters with the many bugs i come in to close proximity with every
day - cockroaches are so a thing of the past and now seem like cute little
kittens in comparison to some of the other things i've come across. Namely
the "stink bug", my first encouter with one of these beautiful green beetle
type things was when i felt something down my top (and so not in a nice
way!) so quickly moved it to be left with a beautiful aroma on my skin.
Yes stink bugs really do stink, when you scare them or kill them and the
smell despite endless scrubbing stays with you for longer than necessary!!
Now not so big an issue you would think - just avoid them - well not quite
so simple due to the fact that as soon as it gets dark there is literally
a carpet of them all over the ground and oh yes they fly. You constantly
hear this noise like a heavy drop of rain which is actually one fo th e
little buggers falling from the sky - normally on to you.
This topped with a great deal of other beautiful little insects led to me
nearly having a heart attack constantly the first few nights. But dare i
say it you do actually become used to it - or so i thought - the other night
was sat on the bench having a fag (yeah,yeah) when i suddenly felt very
proud of myself, there was literally about a hundred stink bugs round my
feet and in front of me was the biggest spider i have ever seen in my life
" am so brave" i was thinking to myself, cant believe am just sat here.....until
that is i saw something move out the corner of my idea and looked down to
see that i was not in fact on the bench alone but happily sitting next to
me was a killer spider, so decided was not too brave after all and would
go to bed. So went to the bathroom and sat on the loo but as i pulled my
trousers down out fell 3 stink bugs.........gives a whole new meaning to
the term ants in yo ur pants dont you think!!!
Yesterday was yet another eventful day at the overlander, was merrily running
in and out to the petrol pumps and cooking up bacon and egg sarnies for
my happy punters when someone ran in the shop screaming "snake bite", my
initial reaction was to ask if that was a half or a pint but luckily realised
before i spoke!! Now there was something i was not expecting! A girl had
been walking past the petrol pumps when yes she was in fact bitten by a
snake, before we knew it her leg was strapped up and the snake had been
caught. The flying
doctor had been called but within half an hour my boss decided to drive
her the 2 hours to the nearest hospital as she started to shake, have slurred
speech and blurred vision - all incredibly dramatic and nothing like a normal
day at the office! After the comotion had died down a bit i asked if i could
see the snake which i know had been put in a bucket of ice. Only to then
discover that my boss had set it free out the back....ummm...like hello......thats
where we all walk round....but according to him it would not be right to
kill it. Fab - now have to walk around constantly looking at my feet hoping
i am going to live to tell the tale!! So today i have a day off and managed
to get a free trip with one of the bus drivers to the nearest village which
is an hour and a half away - not much here but get to (obviously) check
my emails and go into a supermarket for a day which is suprisingly exciting!
Is also on the beach so am planning to go and lie in the sun in a minute
although think may be a tad too hot for my little Englkish skin - we shall
see!!!
Am planning to leave my hovel in the middle of nowhere on the 8th October
and begin heading up to Darwin so wonder what little situations i shall
incurr there! So, phew thats about it, hope you are all well and having
some sun. Wiltshire - peeps i hope you all had/have a great carnival and
that the hangovers don't last too long. Missing you all lots, lots of love
from the fish eating, abseiling, bug loving outback girl! xxxxxxxxx
Mum- sorry if i sounded abrupt when i was saying goodbye but someone kept
picking up the phone! xxx
Alex - was discussing the crazy cost of calling you and woman at work said
she has free mins on her phone i can use so will borrow it off her next
week and give you a call. Did you get the text i sent - how cool is that?
miss ya pretty boy xxxxx
Ellie - hows things chick? Seems like forever since i last spoke to you,
miss you loads xxxx
Sam Bam - will try and call again - you're never in!!! xxxx
Rallyrabbit - thanks for email babe - made me smile xxxxxx
Doze - hope you're alright xxxxxx Sarah - glad to hear life in Marlborough
is as fab as ever, hurry up and get saving little one so i can meet you
in NZ!xx
Han - Alex said you've gone home - what happened love? Hope all is good
xxx
Jeff - thanks for the emails great to hear all the news and Happy Birthday