Time for a holiday

Highlights	Less of a highlight
Clear skies - both	Missing Kyle and his family – Kate and Poppy who got more hellos on Facetime from Lily than Grandma did!! – What the???
Sun on our backs - both
Having a plan for the next month - both
Creeks and gums - Kate
Meeting Merle and George (not their real names) – Kate

A paw paw flower

Our first five weeks in Queensland is drawing to a close. Since arriving we’ve given a hand to farmers who needed it, learnt new things and experienced new places while having time to look for paid work for Will, while mostly staying warm! Will starts paid work on Monday – 22km southeast of Texas Queensland, any further south and we’d be in NSW.

We think this bird is in the Drongo family - photographed on the pumpkin farm

So, here we are, sitting in Texas, just next door to the coldest town in Queensland – Stanthorpe - looking at 0-degrees overnight. Have we lost the plot? Didn’t we come to Queensland to feel the sun on our back and to be warm through to the bone! Yes we did, yes we have and yes we will again soon!

We left the pumpkin patch 5 nights ago, to give ourselves a holiday before we head to the next work location. Our pumpkin picking farmers thanked us profusely and asked us to keep in touch. They even suggested we check in with them to see when the pumpkins will be ready for picking next year. Keeping in touch – yes, picking more pumpkins, probably not!

Phonics old style

Since leaving the pumpkin patch we have popped out to Laidley Pioneer Village where we saw a different tractor, a Linn which was used in tree clearing at Mount Misery. Apparently, there are only 3 of them in Australia. It’s always nice to find a unique gem for Will to see. It was also cool to see a huge band saw blade and other logging tools; they remind me of dad.

After that we settled into a bush camp for two nights. It was just what I needed! Gum trees, a creek and lots and lots of birds. We both enjoyed reading books, watching tv, collecting wood from along the creek bed and just chilling. It was all going great until Will suggested we go four-wheel driving! Aggh, my stomach dropped, my anxiety rose; I just couldn’t deal with it. It was our Moree Artesian Bore moment in reverse, I even suggested Will go on his own and I do sudoku! Thankfully Will understood and instead of going in the ute we wandered up the creek with my dad’s old tomahawk that we ‘look after’ for Kyle. Will worked up a sweat and we came home with enough wood for a great campfire.

After our two nights out bush, we headed to the home of people we met through pumpkin picking. George came to give a hand on the farm. When he saw me doing housework and spending time with Betty, he offered me a paid job as companion for his wife and housekeeper for them both. His wife Merle, spends most of her day in bed, often not feeling well but without a definitive diagnosis. George was hoping to find someone to accompany Merle for coffees, to take her shopping for makeup, someone to spend some girl time with her. Merle has been a maths lecturer for primary teachers, so I was confident that we had some common ground. I drove up to their home twice during the last week at the farm. I did some housework, found ways to start conversations with Merle and then took her to some appointments.

Will and I returned to their home and parked up after our bush stay. This allowed me to work Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with Merle before we headed south. We had brunch out, discussed teaching theories, shopped on-line and laughed together. Merle is quick witted, funny, easy to chat to, an attentive listener. Yet, she seems more comfortable with a paid companion than ‘doing all that stuff’ friendship requires.

George and Merle both explained Merle’s addiction to alcohol and how this has made life difficult since retiring – that’s when it started apparently. It felt weird being paid to be nice to someone, and I considered doing it for free but after spending time with Merle I could see that payment made our relationship ‘simple’ for her - it was a contract, a business arrangement. Merle is comfortable with those sorts of relationships, so that is what it is for now. I hope to find a way to keep in touch, to continue our conversations either by phone or by fitting in a few more visits while we are up north but we are now 2.5 hours from them. Time will tell if we keep in touch.

This morning, we spoke with Greg, Bill’s soon to be boss. We met Greg about two weeks ago when he was returning from a trip to Brisbane. He came via Gatton to meet with us having read our ad on a Queensland Farmer’s Facebook page. We heard about Greg and his family’s farm. They grow lucerne and cotton, both which need to be delivered with their own b-double, but their driver has just left due to family needs. They grow peanuts sometimes too but not this year. They need an excavator driver to finish off a dam and they wouldn’t mind having a worker that can ‘tinker’ a bit or knows how to weld. Hmmm, I think Will might have plenty to keep him busy. As for me, well, there is apparently a creek with lots of birds that sing in the morning, a cottage we can live in or whose bathroom we can use if we’d prefer to keep hanging out in the van, and Texas is only 22km away. The town has a library, café’s that often need workers, a hardware store. It’s about time I found a hairdresser – hope they’ve got one of those. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

So, tomorrow we head out there for four weeks, to see if it works for all of us. If it does, we’ll be welcome to stay until we are ready for home or ready for a holiday before we head home. If it doesn’t work, well, we’ll find a bush camp or a beach caravan park where we’ll take a deep breath while figuring out our next move.