My bunk house, the "female quarters" or sometimes "Lucy's house," as it is called, is set in the far corner of the little campus that makes up the Station. It is a small, plain building with once-white siding and bushes of pink, purple and yellow flowers that are putting in a special appearance for the Wet. The house is elevated about 2 feet off the ground, accessible by a small red set of stairs that seems to be more dry rot than wood. This height is to keep it safe from even the highest flood water and also as a deterrent to the creepy crawlies. It's only a mild one though, as there is a tireless stream of ants hard at work on something in my bathroom and every once in a while one of the 4-inch grasshoppers invites himself in for the night. I'm acquiring a new distaste for bugs.
Inside there is a long breezeway that runs the length of the house, both the inner and outer walls of which are made mostly of windows. All of the windows here have what I think are called "louvers" which are like the slats on shutters except much bigger, aluminum (pronounced Ah-loo-MIN-ee-yum), and adjustable to serve either as a wall or to let the breeze in. Insulation is not much of a concern here.
Off of the breezeway there are 4 doors. From left to right they are 1. a mysterious locked room, 2. Lucy's room, 3. Mine, and 4. a sitting room. Lucy is a fellow jillaroo who worked her last year and will be returning at the end of March, so right now it's just me in the house. The sitting room has 2 old upholstered chairs, a small set of drawers, and a TV that gets far more channels than I had expected (15?). Through this room is the bathroom ie ant workshop.
That leaves my room. Like everything else, it is off-white and very plain with bare walls and white curtains. It has a small iron bed with a pale pink cover, 2 small sets of drawers, and a tiny walk-in closet full of shelves. ("Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed.") Overhead are the air conditioner and ceiling fan that make existence in this weather bearable.
Outside the house there is a yet-to-be-hooked-up washing machine, a clothesline, and a large beige cistern that catches rainwater from the roof and serves as the house's water source.
So that's wear I'm living. It's simple and the whole place makes noises like someone's walking on the roof, but otherwise it's pleasant and comfortable.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Station
The Station consists of roughly a dozen structures arranged in an open-ended rectangle formation. The Homestead, or the House, as this part of the Station ais referred to, is only 1.5 km off the paved highway. Fortunately this means that it is almost always accessible, even after heavy rains. Many stations in the area are not so lucky, set 30+ km down dirt roads, so once it starts raining they are essentially stranded, trapped by an impassable length of mud.
As you approach the House, you first pass the cattle yards on the left. This is where they work (brand, ear tag, etc) the "weaners" as they muster (round up) them. Ajecent to that are the horse pens, including a round pen and small sand arena where they break their colts. The Station has 100+ horses and, as far as I can tell, they are all trained here. As you continue up the driveway a large horse paddock boarders the left side. Since it is the Wet season everything is green and muddy, although I;m assured that will quickly change once it stops raining at the end of March.
As you pull in, the first building is the main house. As one would imagine, it is the nicest building here. It is home to the Fulchers who run the place- Cameron and Felicity and their 2 children, Ton (10) and Lucy (8). It also serves as the Walhallow office.
To the right of the main house are a cold house for meat storage, the Walhallow Recreational Club where employees can for for a drink from 6-7 after work (also home to the computer!), and then another storage building for dry goods, vegetables, and sundries.
Turning the corner from this last building you come to the Shed, the heart of operations here. If you look up Walhallow on Google Earth, it is the long building with 'Walhallow' painted on the roof. It is a maintenance shop, consisting of 3 large bays and the saddle shed at the far end. In front is the generator, a large building unto itself that powers the whole Station and always sounds like a low-flying plane. Behind the Shed is the motor pool, a long covered parking area for the half dozen trucks, 2 tractor trailer cabs, assorted other vehicles and, oddly enough, 2 boats.
Next to the Shed is one of the males' quarters, next to that the females' quarters (mine!), and finally the house for the helicopter pilot who is kept on retainer throughout the season.
On the other side of the compund are assorted bunk houses, including one for the younger men, some family homes, and one for the pilot. Wedged in the middle is the school (which has only 2 students- Tom & Lucy), overseen by Millie, an 18 year old govorness from Queensland who is here on a gap year.
There is also a runway and a hangar, a dump, and some smallish horse paddocks in the immediate vicinity of the House. Apart from that we are alone. There is no passing traffic, no airplanes overhead, barely even any radio stations. As an American, it is hard to even conceive of such isolation, even while experiencing it.
As you approach the House, you first pass the cattle yards on the left. This is where they work (brand, ear tag, etc) the "weaners" as they muster (round up) them. Ajecent to that are the horse pens, including a round pen and small sand arena where they break their colts. The Station has 100+ horses and, as far as I can tell, they are all trained here. As you continue up the driveway a large horse paddock boarders the left side. Since it is the Wet season everything is green and muddy, although I;m assured that will quickly change once it stops raining at the end of March.
As you pull in, the first building is the main house. As one would imagine, it is the nicest building here. It is home to the Fulchers who run the place- Cameron and Felicity and their 2 children, Ton (10) and Lucy (8). It also serves as the Walhallow office.
To the right of the main house are a cold house for meat storage, the Walhallow Recreational Club where employees can for for a drink from 6-7 after work (also home to the computer!), and then another storage building for dry goods, vegetables, and sundries.
Turning the corner from this last building you come to the Shed, the heart of operations here. If you look up Walhallow on Google Earth, it is the long building with 'Walhallow' painted on the roof. It is a maintenance shop, consisting of 3 large bays and the saddle shed at the far end. In front is the generator, a large building unto itself that powers the whole Station and always sounds like a low-flying plane. Behind the Shed is the motor pool, a long covered parking area for the half dozen trucks, 2 tractor trailer cabs, assorted other vehicles and, oddly enough, 2 boats.
Next to the Shed is one of the males' quarters, next to that the females' quarters (mine!), and finally the house for the helicopter pilot who is kept on retainer throughout the season.
On the other side of the compund are assorted bunk houses, including one for the younger men, some family homes, and one for the pilot. Wedged in the middle is the school (which has only 2 students- Tom & Lucy), overseen by Millie, an 18 year old govorness from Queensland who is here on a gap year.
There is also a runway and a hangar, a dump, and some smallish horse paddocks in the immediate vicinity of the House. Apart from that we are alone. There is no passing traffic, no airplanes overhead, barely even any radio stations. As an American, it is hard to even conceive of such isolation, even while experiencing it.
Drive to Walhallow
Well, after many long days of travel, I finally made it to Walhallow Station on Monday afternoon. On Sunday at noon I took the Greyhound from Darwin to the HiWay Inn, a roadhouse 9 hours into the Outback down the Stuart Highway. A roadhouse is like an oasis of shelter along an endless highway of absolutely nothing. Sometimes they're situated in tiny towns, but more often, like the HiWay Inn, they are the only mark of civilization for hours. They generally consist of a gas station, sparsely provisioned store, a grill, bar, and a motel plus RV hookups.
I knocked around the roadhouse until about 11 on Monday when a yound guy named Matt came from the Station to fetch me. It was another 5 hour drive down the Tablelands Highway (11), mostly in the rain. The Tablelands Highway, like many in the Outback, is a one lane road. Not one in each direction. Just one. Although you rarely come upon another vehicle in such a desolate place, when you do iy quickly turns into a game of chicken. To add to the excitement, the highway runs through several Stations so there are cows all over the roads. These creatures are so close to ferel that they act as if they have never seen a vehicle in their whole life.
We got to the Station around 4 and I was quickly settled in and then taken to meet everyone. All 11 of them (that's counting the 2 children). Everyone is very nice and all moderately confused as to why a young American would want to work in the middle-of-nowhere Australia. The explaination of "Because it's Australia," which so much sense in America mostly draws blank stares here. Oh well.
I knocked around the roadhouse until about 11 on Monday when a yound guy named Matt came from the Station to fetch me. It was another 5 hour drive down the Tablelands Highway (11), mostly in the rain. The Tablelands Highway, like many in the Outback, is a one lane road. Not one in each direction. Just one. Although you rarely come upon another vehicle in such a desolate place, when you do iy quickly turns into a game of chicken. To add to the excitement, the highway runs through several Stations so there are cows all over the roads. These creatures are so close to ferel that they act as if they have never seen a vehicle in their whole life.
We got to the Station around 4 and I was quickly settled in and then taken to meet everyone. All 11 of them (that's counting the 2 children). Everyone is very nice and all moderately confused as to why a young American would want to work in the middle-of-nowhere Australia. The explaination of "Because it's Australia," which so much sense in America mostly draws blank stares here. Oh well.
Internet
It turns out that the internet is a little less reliable than I had hoped. There is 1 computer that you pay to use and sadly it fell victim to a rogue can of Coke. Not only did this fry the mouse, but it also encouraged a nest of ants to take up residence in every nook and cranny of the machine. My boss and I spent the morning cleaning and fixing it, but even still there are bugs coming out of the keyboard. Ew. So that explains the lack of posts. I'll put up the ones I have written in the meantime and try to get online every once in a while in the future. Oh, also do to the computer available I won't be able to post any photos. Bummer.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Darwin
G'day from Darwin!
After a very long day (days? I'm not sure...) of travel, I arrived in Darwin, NT yesterday afternoon. I left CT on Wednesday and got to spend a lovely, if all too short, 22 hours in LA and the Thursday night I boarded the plane for Sydney. While very long (15 hours) the flight was extremely comfortable. I flew Qantas on their gigantic Air Bus. Mercifully I was able to get my center seat switched to the window, so I had plenty of room, a great view, plus there was no one next to me, so I could really stretch out. The people on Qantas love to feed you! We had 2 meals, supper and breakfast, plus any time they saw you so much as roll over in the night, they would ply you with cookies or hot chocolate or some other snack.
I landed in Sydney at 8:30 and got fairly worked over at customs. Apparently someone accidentally brought equine encephalitis into Australia a few years ago and it demolished the horse racing industry, so farmy folk like me set off all sorts of red flags. They washed my boots for me and made sure I was 100% dirt free before letting me through. At least they were very nice about the whole thing.
I then zipped over to the next terminal to catch my flight to Darwin (on which they fed me again!) and 5 hours and I short nap later I was here. Darwin is an interesting city. Although it's the largest city in the Northern Territory and popular with the backpacking crowd (especially those of the surfing variety), it is still tiny, consisting of only about 2 main roads and a beach. I checked into my hotel and then went walking. It is outrageously hot (30 C, who knows what that means?) and so humid that you sweat as soon as you step outside and your hair is impossible to tame. As I was walking, I noticed some clouds rolling in, so I decided to head back. No sooner had the though crossed my mind than I was caught in a torrential deluge. This season is called The Wet, and boy do they mean it! Within seconds the streets were flooded and I felt like I had fallen into a pool. The rain only lasted about half an hour though, and when it passed, the whole city was filled with birdsong and the smell of tropical flowers.
In a few hours I hop on the bus to Daly Waters, a 9 hour drive from here. Tomorrow morning someone from the station will retrieve me from my hotel and take me to Walhallow. I'm looking forward to dropping my bags, settling in, and getting to work. While Australia is pretty accessible, all of this travel has me very tense.
That's all for now,
Jena
After a very long day (days? I'm not sure...) of travel, I arrived in Darwin, NT yesterday afternoon. I left CT on Wednesday and got to spend a lovely, if all too short, 22 hours in LA and the Thursday night I boarded the plane for Sydney. While very long (15 hours) the flight was extremely comfortable. I flew Qantas on their gigantic Air Bus. Mercifully I was able to get my center seat switched to the window, so I had plenty of room, a great view, plus there was no one next to me, so I could really stretch out. The people on Qantas love to feed you! We had 2 meals, supper and breakfast, plus any time they saw you so much as roll over in the night, they would ply you with cookies or hot chocolate or some other snack.
I landed in Sydney at 8:30 and got fairly worked over at customs. Apparently someone accidentally brought equine encephalitis into Australia a few years ago and it demolished the horse racing industry, so farmy folk like me set off all sorts of red flags. They washed my boots for me and made sure I was 100% dirt free before letting me through. At least they were very nice about the whole thing.
I then zipped over to the next terminal to catch my flight to Darwin (on which they fed me again!) and 5 hours and I short nap later I was here. Darwin is an interesting city. Although it's the largest city in the Northern Territory and popular with the backpacking crowd (especially those of the surfing variety), it is still tiny, consisting of only about 2 main roads and a beach. I checked into my hotel and then went walking. It is outrageously hot (30 C, who knows what that means?) and so humid that you sweat as soon as you step outside and your hair is impossible to tame. As I was walking, I noticed some clouds rolling in, so I decided to head back. No sooner had the though crossed my mind than I was caught in a torrential deluge. This season is called The Wet, and boy do they mean it! Within seconds the streets were flooded and I felt like I had fallen into a pool. The rain only lasted about half an hour though, and when it passed, the whole city was filled with birdsong and the smell of tropical flowers.
In a few hours I hop on the bus to Daly Waters, a 9 hour drive from here. Tomorrow morning someone from the station will retrieve me from my hotel and take me to Walhallow. I'm looking forward to dropping my bags, settling in, and getting to work. While Australia is pretty accessible, all of this travel has me very tense.
That's all for now,
Jena
Monday, February 15, 2010
Travel Prep
Only last night I got home from horseshoeing school outside of Dallas after two very long days of travel. Now I have two very short days to rest and repack before jetting off to... Australia! Honestly, the reality of moving to the Outback for 6 months has barely set in. I think the station (ranch) where I will be working is very large (3 million acres), very remote (5 hours from the closest town) and very hot, in spite of being there in the winter. All of this makes me exceptionally unsure of how to pack.
I leave Wednesday (the 17th) at noon. I start with a 9 hour flight to LA, where I'm staying overnight. I leave again the next night for a 15 hour flight to Sydney. Due to the magic of timezones, I get on the plane the night of the 18th and then get off it the morning of the 20th. Yikes! I'm in Sydney for just long enough to make it through customs and then I hop on a plane again bound for Darwin, which is at the central northern tip of the country. I spend the night in Darwin on the 20th because there is only 1 bus out of town each day and it leaves at noon. So I get a little break before my nine, that's right, NINE hour bus trip into the outback. At the end of this drive, I hop off the bus at a hotel where, hopefully, my new employers will meet me and drive me the several hours to the station. Oh boy! 4 days (5 on the calendar) of travel! Let's just say I'm not expecting anyone to come visit me. Wow.
View Australia Travel in a larger map
I believe I will have fairly constant internet access during this adventure, so I would love to hear from anyone and everyone. If you would prefer, my mailing address will be...
Jena Clarke
PMB 12
Tennant Creek, NT 0862
Australia
I will try to keep this up to date and take plenty of pictures.
Love you all,
Jena
I leave Wednesday (the 17th) at noon. I start with a 9 hour flight to LA, where I'm staying overnight. I leave again the next night for a 15 hour flight to Sydney. Due to the magic of timezones, I get on the plane the night of the 18th and then get off it the morning of the 20th. Yikes! I'm in Sydney for just long enough to make it through customs and then I hop on a plane again bound for Darwin, which is at the central northern tip of the country. I spend the night in Darwin on the 20th because there is only 1 bus out of town each day and it leaves at noon. So I get a little break before my nine, that's right, NINE hour bus trip into the outback. At the end of this drive, I hop off the bus at a hotel where, hopefully, my new employers will meet me and drive me the several hours to the station. Oh boy! 4 days (5 on the calendar) of travel! Let's just say I'm not expecting anyone to come visit me. Wow.
View Australia Travel in a larger map
I believe I will have fairly constant internet access during this adventure, so I would love to hear from anyone and everyone. If you would prefer, my mailing address will be...
Jena Clarke
PMB 12
Tennant Creek, NT 0862
Australia
I will try to keep this up to date and take plenty of pictures.
Love you all,
Jena
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