Australia: Part Three (Bush Workaway, cont'd)

The following week our work included finishing up with the fence posts and repositioning soil in the garden, and cleaning around the house. We also spent a few days over at the neighbor's property as an arborist had cut down some trees on David and Rachel's property that had fallen near (or even on!) the neighbor's fence-line. We took over handsaws and loppers and spent hours hacking everything back and moving the woodpiles to a more remote spot. We saw some wallabies on the property and out on an evening stroll. Other random things included alpacas on the porch, chickens hiding from Jazz on the grill, and a couple of strolls into town to check out the general store, and nightly "Wallaby Walks" to try to spot the kangaroo-like creature (spoiler alert: we did see them!).

That week we also decided to do some cooking so that Rachel could have a break after work. The meals were very hit-or-miss. We started with a BBQ chicken mac-n-cheese with a made-from-scratch cheese sauce and fried onion straws on top. It was all-good until we popped it in the oven to finish it off. The oven got much hotter than expected (cuz of all the Celsius) and burned the onion straws...but otherwise the meal was pretty good. That night was also Nicole's birthday! Kyle wasn't really able to surprise her with anything (like she had surprised him on his B-day in Argentina) but we still celebrated with brownies (from the box this time, not from scratch) and ice cream. (He also made her breakfast in bed, so that counts for something too!)

The next evening we made a a pot of chili in the crockpot and a side Greek salad. The chili was delicious...but WAY too spicy. One bite in and all of us at the table were coughing out chili powder. When we recovered we still spent the rest of the meal wiping our noses as we were in full sinus-clearing mode. We served the chili with what all good Nebraskans eat their chili with: cinnamon rolls, made completely from scratch (we're building some baking skills that won't be good for our waistlines when we get back home). Our next meal was homemade Runzas (made, again, completely from scratch) which turned out great...until that damn oven burned the tops of them again. Still, we salvaged most of them and David and Rachel seemed to enjoy them and our stories about Husker football and stadium food too. That night was also the State of Origin Rugby League deciding match. The State of Origin is a best-of-three series of all-star Rugby League players. Each are split into teams of where they grew up or played junior rugby, either in the state of New South Wales or Queensland. The game was wild, with multiple vicious hits (3 players left with injuries in the first two minutes), a down-to-the-wire finish, and a brawl of which the announcers said they hadn't seen the likes of "since the 80s." It was a great introduction into Origin, and it's definitely going to be on our yearly watchlist.

On Thursday that week we were due for some nice weather again, so we headed back to Byron Bay. There, we spent some time catching up on blogging (like this post here!) and planning. Our first coffee shop was unsuccessful as they did not have Wifi (which is strange in a boutique, expensive town) so we headed to the public library. The library had tables, charging stations, and awesome Wifi. It was a great spot to play catch-up, and we're wondering why it took us nearly a year to think of using one. The only downside was that we bought 4 books from their sale rack, and we really don't have any room to carry them. After the library we spent the afternoon enjoying leftover Runzas on the beach and then headed back to our favorite old-railway bar for a couple of beers. When David picked us up from the bus station we went to another brewery in Lismore called Two Mates, which was also in an old railway station (we love the theme, it would work well in both Omaha and North Platte). There we shared some beers and laughs, and ate steak sandwiches and sausages wraps from the local food truck (the rotate out food trucks and food types every day!).

We spent Friday painting the fence posts and planter boxes that we had built the previous weekend. On Saturday we picked up dirt in Lismore with David in the morning, filled the planter boxes, and made a late afternoon trip into town to pick up more building materials (they call 2x4's "sleeper logs" here). For lunch Rachel brought in some savory minced-meat pies from town. The savory meat pies are a huge thing in Australia, and every bakery, grocery store, and street-stand seems to serve them. That evening we were in for a real dose of Australian entertainment, with a double feature of classic Aussie films. The first one we watched was called Red Dog. It was about a famous dog in Western Australia that roamed the wild and frequented a mining town called Dampier. It was based on a real-life dog and there is a statue in Dampier for him! It was a tear-jerker so we were ready for some laughs afterword. The cure was The Castle, a hilarious story about a family trying to save their home from eminent domain. We would recommend both movies to everyone reading this! The movies included some Bundaberg rum and cokes, a tradition for David and Rachel and really for Aussies everywhere.

On Sunday morning we went on a 6-mile training run through the valley. We spotted a couple of wallabies along the way and heard the kookaburras and cockatoos squawking away as the sun crept up over the hills. After we got back, David and Rachel dropped us off at Minyon Falls in the Nightcap National park to attempt the hike to the bottom and back. Because of the flooding, the park had recently just re-opened, and the hiking trail was technically still closed. We had heard that the neighbor completed the hike the day before, so we decided to give it a go anyways. It was a beautiful hike through the forest, but there were several sections that where the trail was completely washed out, and even a couple of landslides that had taken out chunks of the mountainside. It took some effort (and self-encouragement) to find our way around these, but lunch under the falls was well worth it. We also passed another couple who offered us some polenta cakes on the way out...we maybe should have declined the offer of baked treats this close to Nimbin, but luckily we had no trippy after-effects on the way out.

On our way back we messaged David to come pick us up, and we walked from the top of the falls to a nearby camping area along the Boggy Creek. After the long morning run and complicated afternoon hike we were ready to relax that evening...but first we spent the waning daylight hour clearing out the gutters from the shed, where full bushes and mini-trees were growing. That night we watched another Aussie-classic: The Rabbit Proof Fence. It was the story of three Aboriginal girls during the Stolen Generation, who were taken from their home to a sort of whitewashing boarding school, where they had to escape and attempt the journey back. It was another emotional movie, so we had to finish up with some clips from Australian comedians (if you're ready for some vulgar humor, check out Jim Jeffries or the skits with Chopper Read. If you want something more mild, check out the outdoor adventure show with Russell Coight).

Monday was our last day of work. We finished with some more painting of the sleeper logs (the next Workawayers will build more planter boxes with them to complete the garden) and power washing the decks. We had one incident where Jazz chased the guinea-fowl into the house, and it took us a solid 20 minutes to get it out. These things just don't happen if you stick to the cities! We had one last dinner with David and Rachel, packed up our room, and were off at 6:30am the next morning to catch our bus to Brisbane. Thank you so much, David and Rachel, for the absolutely amazing experience. We will never forget it (or Jazz)!