PS. We love...

Even though the small town of Eidsvold had a pool (outdoors!) we never took the time to visit it let alone have mini-Underwater Rugby session between the two of us. Especially Sonja was missing the pool and her beloved sport. Naturally she was excited to get to practice with her Sydney tournament team, Canberra. On a cloudy Saturday we headed out to the (outdoor) 5m deep swimming pool. Pia didn’t participate in the game (even though with all the attempts to lure her into the depths) but was geared with Captain Canberra’s GoPro and filmed the practice for the team to watch and learn from after.

After our time in the outback we also wanted to return some culture into our lives and visit some of Canberra’s museums. We hadn’t yet decided which one to visit since Canberra has several of them - The National Museum of Australia, Canberra Museum and Gallery, The National Gallery of Australia and even Canberra Railway Museum to name a few. (Wait, there were trains in Canberra..?)  While shopping a new phone cover for Pia we made a new friend at the store and after a quick bonding asked him for recommendations. “Hmm, do you happen to like dinosaurs?” What a silly questions...”YES!” “Oh cool, I actually work in a dinosaur museum. I can take you there if you’d like.” “YES!!!” Talk about luck!

So the next day Mr Dinosaur picked us up and drove us to the National Dinosaur Museum. We were like kids in a toy store. Even the statues in the front yard of the museum would have been enough for us. 

We spent the day wandering around the museum thrilled about the fossils and minerals. The end of our tour we spent in the museum’s gift shop where Mr Dinosaur even got us our own fossil pendants as souvenirs. Could this day get any better? Yes, because he took us for ice cream later.

When we decided that we'd stay with Captain Canberra during our stay in the Australian Capital Territory we realised he would come up with loads of stuff for us to do. And most likely something to do with sports. On our second day he was very disappointed to realise that we had stayed the whole day inside. (Hey - 3 months outdoors, can we have one lazy day inside?) So right away he put us into shape and rushed us out of the apartment to a small pier at ANU (Australian National University). Next thing we knew we were strapped to a two-person kayak and our first ever paddling experience was about to start.

We synchronised with our paddling quite quickly, most thanks to Sonja who was in the back seat and hence had to match to Pia's paddling speed. Sonja was also in charge of steering since the steering paddles were located in the back of the kayak. Our paddling was even complimented! Apparently newbies don't sync so quickly. Obviously over four months of travelling together so far has worked its magic. We can even read each others' minds sometimes (Great Minds!)

Kayaking on Lake Burley Griffin turned out to be a fun and relaxed way to enjoy Canberra. The freshwater lake had a beautiful nature around it and you could see the surrounding mountains. The evening was nice and cool despite the clouds. Couple of hours went by quickly and we definitely felt the exercise in our arms the next few days.

The next day we decided to not upset Captain Canberra and went to explore Canberra Centre area - whole day outside! When the Captain returned from work he suggested we go for a walk with his housemate - sure why not. We also thought that will be a good way to contribute to our once-a-week-run -promise that had been postponed at the outback. Little did we know when jumping in the car that he would park below Mt Ainslie and rush us to the top of the mountain, through steep and narrow walking path. Up we go and back down! We decided then to take the next step and jog downhill at a steady pace.

After spending a week in Sydney we decided to keep our promise and visit team Canberra (underwater rugby). In a week our stuff sort of exploded all over the room we were staying at.. as a matter of fact it all exploded in just 30min first we arrived there.. Nonetheless we had to pack up all our stuff again into our Kia and pick up a Californian guy for the road with us (he answered our gumtree ad). Sharing stories with a fellow backpacker, always a plus. Making new friends!

The ride there was a quick 3,5hr one (Australian standards that IS quick). We knew we had a full itinerary for the whole week's stay but the most astonishing was Captain Canberra's apartment we got to stay at! 20 stores high, pool and gym to use for residents, super neat and clean. Everything after constant dirtyness in the outback seemed overly luxurious. On our first day we decided to do absolutely nothing. The whole day we were just lazying and enjoying the modern comforts of a luxury apartment (cleanliness, fast internet, proper kitchen equipment. Did we mention cleanliness?)

4,5 stars. Where the .5 star went? Well, on our first morning we decided to prepare some rice porridge but could not find any cinnamon from the spices.

New Years in Sydney! That was the wish when we left Finland. Now we got a car to drive, a place to stay (close to Bondi beach!) and awesome company to celebrate with.

The BrisVegas Finnish Stockman Chickens meet in Sydney!!

First pit-stop; pick up the Savonlinna team from Coolongatta and overnight stay Byron Bay. Soon as we reached the greater area of Brisbane on our drive down, the rain started pouring like nobody's business. Hey rain! Go inland - please! And our car did not go without any problems.. We first realised in Brisbane at our fuel stop that the car does not start without a jump-starter. Same story when we stopped at Coolongatta. Now - let's just drive down to Byron Bay, stop somewhere safe and then try starting the car. If it does not start we need to call someone.

Once we reached Byron Bay and managed to find still open Gas/Mechanic station we turned our Kia off and tried to start it again - with no results. Then just needed to get the number for NRMA road assistance, call, get ourselves covered for a year (in any car!) and bought a new battery. And the car started with no problemos! Next was to find a place to park the car, where sleeping in the car is allowed. Since backpacking and campervans have become very popular in Australia, most cities have banned sleeping in cars due to littering. We found a spot that didn't prohibit sleeping in a car, but still were a bit anxious.. Luckily woke up the next morning quite early as there was a lady knocking on car windows and giving out fines. "No, we weren't sleeping here - just parked and now stretching our legs and back on our way, thank you!" Close call.

Next pit stop was between Byron Bay and Sydney - hmm, Port Macquarie seems quite between those two. What's in there? Don't know, lets go and see! Adventure!

But first things first! We've spent months in the outback and been away from a very dear thing to us - the ocean! As soon as we woke up, we headed to the Byron Bay beach which was starting to fill up with early Sunday morning surfers despite the grey clouds and the sad-excuse-for-a-rain. We crazy Finns also went for a swim. The water might have a been a bit cold but oh so refreshing. Ready for the next length of our drive. 

The rain continued the entire day so we weren't able to do any sightseeing in  Port Macquarie. So the plan for the evening was just a relaxed dinner at a Chinese restaurant where we couldn't help but notice that several women were wearing similar clothes as Sonja. Did they raid her wardrobe a.k.a. her backpack while we'd been eating? Did we forgot to lock the car?! Obviously not but nonetheless the women in Port Macquarie have good taste. After dinner we returned to the car for another night of anxiety. "What's that light?" "Is it coming this way?!" "Okay, everybody relax. It went past us."

Dear L and N,

It is sad to leave Eidsvold and if we could have it other way, we would have stayed longer. But the day has come to leave and say our goodbyes. Rather - see you soon again!

This experience would have never been the same without you two. We thank you for your patience with us, our countless "stop - photo time!", new skills you taught us and just the numerous daddy jokes and good times you shared with us. We will never forget this experience. Everyone will know our stories from the Outback - and you two will be the stars of the stories.

Thank you! We will see you in the future one day!

Never have I ever bought/owned/dealt with any cars – well, except for driving one. That sentence was for the both of us. But not anymore!

Since arriving to Australia we were thinking how we would like to experience all means of transportation. Flying is fast, but then you can't see any country. Trains are fast as well and you see the country but rarely stop between A & B. Busses are great to see the country and stop on the (longer) ways, but you are restricted to timetables. One option we hadn’t explored yet was driving, ourselves, long distances. Isn't Australia the promised land of road-trippers? But how would we do that without a car?

Luckily an acquaintance of Papá came by one day and told how he had a car that needed to be driven down close to Sydney. Awesome! We would be leaving December 27th and he would get the car by 29th. Done deal! Then came the rain for five days and we never heard from him. And when we finally got hold of him – he just informed us that he is already driving down “but no worries, you still have a week to figure it out”. How in the middle of nowhere, no internet and during public holidays do you expect us to “figure it out”?

Then few days before our due-departure date from Eidsvold, Sonja and Pia were on horseback droving cattle. All of a sudden a white car starts honking at us and driving like a maniac. Sonja was about get off the horse and punch the driver, when Pia noticed that it was Papá! He had talked with the guys at the Eidsvold dump and they had some cars on sale. So Papá had been listening to us, asking our price range and went to look for the best option for us.

We test-drove the car. Automatic, A/C working, registered until May, fairly new engine, new tires… The car felt like luxury after our broken “start with a screwdriver” ute. We don’t know much about buying cars, but the one we had at hand seemed a great and reliable one and hey – you have to start from somewhere. We discussed the price and decided to place both 1,5month of earned money at the outback into our car.

Then all that needed to be done, was to change over the name in the registration. And Pia got a first hand experience of the Australian governments paperwork, small print, nibble-dip. “It will just be a quick visit to the local council office”, they said. Quick… Well, since Pia apparently is not a citizen of Australia (duh!) changing the registration comes a bit more complicated. You have to apply to be a new customer for this council, basically get a social id for Queensland. For that you need three different forms of identification, such as foreign passport, student card (of course Pia had left hers at home – in Finland), medicare card, also an Australian bank card will count as one. But in addition you need to have a permanent address in Queensland. And to prove that you need a signed authentication from someone you’re living with stating that you’re actually living with them. Wait, what? All that just to change a name on a car? Thank you, Australia, for making this easy on us.

But all is well that ends well. After the bureaucracy war our lovely Kia is now registered and when someone says, “never have I ever owned a car” in a game, we’ll take a drink.

Christmas in Australia differed from what we were used to back in Finland by a couple of qualities. Primarily the weather was completely different than at home. Back in Finland we have snow and it’s cold. The weather’s the opposite over here. It’s warm and sunny and we’re begging for a breath of fresh air. Also in Finland we celebrate more on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day. However we wanted to keep to our traditions.

The most important thing about Christmas is of course the food. In a traditional, Finnish Christmas table there’s always loads of different casseroles, such as potato, carrot, Swedish turnip, liver casseroles, and a delicious ham. Ham is easy enough to come by when you’re living on a farm and casseroles are pretty easy to make yourself. So we chose our favorite, the carrot casserole, and got the ingredients ready. We realized the hardest part would be the rice porridge since it’s not a usual food item on an Australian list of delicacies. However we figured that we’d be able to improvise it by using normal risotto rice. We just replaced the water with milk. The result was perfect! Our improve rice porridge was so good we decided to eat a little just as it is with some sugar and cinnamon. Now it truly started to feel like Christmas! Plus Pia decided on the measure of 2 cups rather than 2dl. There was loads of porridge.

The rest of the casserole came out good as well. It took quite a while to cook it, and Pá was getting hungrier by the minute. Finally our Finnish style Christmas meal was completed; ham with hot applesauce and carrot casserole. Everyone enjoyed it and on Christmas Day we packed the leftovers with us to take to Papá who had spent Christmas Eve on the road with the cattle. He was pleasantly surprised with the different Christmas meal and even more surprised when we gave him and Pá their Christmas present; a framed picture of us. We were as equally surprised when we got a present from them as well; beautiful mugs that we’ll definitely take with us back to Finland.

This is how you start a car in the bush.

For those who don’t know, droving is basically moving or guarding cattle on horseback. It’s faster than on foot and easier than on a quad bike since horses are more quiet (don’t scare the cattle) and more agile (turn faster and don’t mind logs or holes as much as quads). It’s also totally cool! We look like classic cowgirls with our hats and our plaid shirts. This was what we dreamed of doing back in Finland and now we get to do. How did we get so lucky?

Although we love droving there’s one part of it that we hate more than anything. Since Papá’s cattle is not on a huge cattle station we usually drove them among trees that are on the side of the roads. Weaving through the trees is easy enough especially because Papá’s horses are quite well trained campdraft horses. That’s not the unwanted surprise we’re talking about.

As you all realize when you’re on a horse you’re much higher than lets say on a quad bike or on foot. You’re a lot higher than the cattle that walk in front of you. It’s just you up there and you’re busy keeping your eye on the cattle, making sure no calf gets left behind and on the ground so that your horse doesn’t step in to a hole or barbered wire. Sometimes you forget to look up.

And that is when it hits you. Or you hit it, either way you want to look at it. Yes, we’re talking about spider webs. The sticky, thin line latches on to you which is gross enough but that’s not what you’re worried about. You’re more scared of the inhabitant. And it’s the big ones, the ones that are the size of your hand, the huge webs high in between trees. We were told over and over again before we got to this country that Australia has the most dangerous spiders in the world. Even though people say “the smaller, the more venomous” you still don’t want the big ones on you. Hence, our horses got loads of practice on stopping really quickly and turning while riding through the woods. And we became masters of the acrobat art (limbo anyone?).

He was first introduced to us on our first week at the outback. Papá had by accident ran over him with the 4-wheel motorbike and his head had swollen from one side – almost shutting his eye. But he had survived and seemed fine – even with the minor beauty fault. Papá’s friend (who owned the dog originally) decided to give the dog to him/us to see if he could be any use as a cattle dog (his breed is for pig-hunting). After looking at him and his character we decided to call him Eddie because he looked like an “Eddie”.

Eventually the swelling went down and he started to look “normal”. Pá always called him the hairy bastard or “Sactly” (because he looked exactly the same from the behind and front – #daddy joke). We grew fond of him! Sure – he was not a good cattle dog (barking), but good enough for us. Pia even started to daydream about taking Eddie back home to Finland even though she knew she would never be able to actually take him. He loved the bike that had run him over (shouldn’t it be the quite opposite?) and was always excited to be able to work. Papá even admitted that would he have been at his previous work place he would have trained Eddie to be a wild bull catching dog.

Few weeks before end of our Eidsvold-stay it rained heavily.  We had left the dogs at the camp while getting some water for the cattle. Pia and Sonja had then continued back to the house, while Papá went back to the camp. He found Eddie attacking one of the calves, Spock. As soon as Papá got out of the car, Eddie met his fate. Dogs that attack calves are not worth keeping, and that was the hardest lesson we learned.

Sure we knew that Eddie wouldn’t have lasted long after we would have left. We were just hoping that we would never know it for sure. That’s why we got to the habit of always taking him back to the house when we were not staying overnight at the camp, but that particular evening we didn’t and do regret – for Eddie’s sake as for the calf’s as well, who we then lost the next morning.

When the drought continues some cows can’t handle it - especially the ones with calves. The calves suck out all the goodness from their moms and in some cases the cows die. So who are taking care of the calves? Us – of course! (and we even named them)

Meet Newt. He got his name from our favourite character in the Maze Runner book series. We were moving the cattle from one road to another and his mom slipped on a rock and fell down. After couple of days of leaving him and the mom alone we found the mom still lying down on the same position and even with helping her couldn’t get her up. So we decided to save the calf and he became our first orphan. He is now always following Papá around and hits his head between Papá’s legs whenever he’s late with the milk.

Nicole (brown colour) then started to hang around our camp close to Newt, moo-ing for her mother but all the cattle was on the other side of the road. Pia and Sonja then took her one day to the herd to see, if she goes to her mom. None of the cows took her as their calf and soon the next day Nicole was hanging around our camp again and we decided to catch her. Not an easy task so we only caught her at the next camp. Later we found out that her mom had fallen down to a gully and was never able to get up (yes, the smell gave away). She has the most attitude. Whenever she is hungry you might be able to touch her and pat a bit, but as soon as she has had her milk, don’t even think about going near her and she is far gone.

Tony (red one) got his name after his founder. One day Papá gets a call from a friend that they had found a calf around one of his dead cows, took him in for a few days to nurse him but eventually decided to give him back to Papá. Papá would have let Tony (founder) have the calf, but they were going away for a week. He is the most easiest calf of them all, in a way. He is the biggest and strongest so you have to tie him up in order to give the rest even a chance to get the milk.

We also ended up rearing Alfie from her mom, as her mom started to look poorer and poorer. (We mentioned her on our previous post.) However it seemed we came too late. She didn’t want to drink any of the milk, only few sips, and one day after meal time we found her dead. Her mom is still skinny but at least she has a chance to survive.

Wait, what? A day off? You mean we don’t have to go to work? Whaaaaaat…?

Yes, that is correct. Papá surprised us by giving us a Sunday off after two days of moving the cattle on horse back more than 30km. We couldn’t have been more confused. A day off? We haven’t had one since… oh well, since we started working for Papá. Animals don’t stop for weekends/holidays, you know.

What are we supposed to do with ourselves and our new found freedom? Since there isn’t much to do in Eidsvold (we say this with all the love for this little town) we immediately started to come up with places to go. There are a fair few small towns within a driving distance but instead of spending our day in a café we wanted to do what people normally would want to do on a hot, sunny day. Go to the beach!

As the coast is a bit too far away we settled for the next best thing and went to the Wuruma dam, only a half an hour drive away which out here means “right around the corner”. We also got to borrow Pá’s Car. That’s right, Not the ute, the Car that has air-condition. Can you say “heaven”?

Wuruma dam also turned out to be a little piece of heaven on earth. There were practically no people around us, only a few caravans scattered here and there. We picked out a shady spot to park the Car, spread our towels on the sand and ran to the warm water. We had a great time at the dam, swimming, sun bathing (in the shade though, direct sun light would’ve been too hot but you can also tan in the shade), listening to music and taking funny pictures. This was just what we needed to relax. Thank you, Papá!

Though we are enjoying our time in Eidsvold there’s one thing that sometimes bothers us – where are all the people of our age? Especially the men. We don’t mean to offend the male population out here but the only cute guys we’ve met during our stay here have been two other backpackers (one from Germany, the other from UK), so not locals. Where are the cute Aussie boys everybody warned us about?

Our luck turned when we heard that an Australian striptease group called The Sydney Hotshots was coming to perform in the local pub.  Finally some male beauty out here! It’s about time for a girls’ night out!

And what a night it turned out to be! Probably all the women of Eidsvold, the young and the old alike, showed up at the pub, all dressed up in party dresses and full make up on. Already during the first songs we were all excited about the show. We especially loved the music! The performers were dancing to so many good songs we couldn’t help but jam along in our seats.

Even though Pia would have also loved to see the rodeo, a weekend in Brisbane sounded just like what the doctor ordered. After all, you may take the girl out of the city but you can’t keep her out of there for too long!

Even though Brisbane is only approximately 300 kilometers away getting there turned out to be an adventure. Busses to and from Eidsvold go only twice a week and of course they do not go straight to Brisbane for that would be too easy. With all the transfers the journey from Eidsvold to Brisbane would last over eleven hours (!!)

But luckily we have connections! Papá has a truck driver friend who happened to drive the Eidsvold-Mundubbera-Brisbane way. So Pia got a ride on a cattle truck. What an idyllic way to travel! And this way Pia would reach Brisbane in only six short hours. The journey included only one quick pit stop (while the engine was kept running), loads of beautiful Australian scenery and a lot of anti-tired-driver signs like the ones Sonja had seen on her way to Warwick. “Stop – Revive – Survive” These Aussies take their road safety seriously.

Besides doing some of those supply shopping we mentioned in our previous post Pia met up with some old and new friends, caught up with her family back in Finland via Skype and just spent time wandering around the hustle and bustle of BrisVegas. There’s just something about cities that makes her feel like home; the people, the cars, the noise, the smell.

The one thing Pia missed about the city above others was of course the food. During the weekend she made sure she stayed clear from mash potatoes and pumpkin feasting on thai noodles, Korean food, barbeque (the proper barbeque, not the bush version), sushi (Oh, Papá hadn’t heard about sushi before he met us!) and some Finnish rye bread with cold smoked salmon. Mmm, yummy yummy in her tummy!

Returning to Eidsvold was another adventure for Pia. Instead of another cattle truck we decided that she would take the Greyhound to the town of Childers where Sonja would pick her up. Now Childers isn’t exactly a neighboring town of Eidsvold, located about two and a half hour drive away. So why did we come up with a plan like this?

Well, to reunite with the crazy Finnish girls we met back in Brisbane when we first got here, of course! Two of them are working in a working hostel in Childers, planting avocado trees and such, collecting their farm days for the second year visas, just like us. We spent an awesome afternoon with our girls, walking around Childers and checking out the place where our friends are living. Finally we drove back to Eidsvold in the evening. Time to get back to the cattle!