Margaret River Week 3

Mon 28^th November – Sun 4^th December – Normally I get a text from the agency the day before a work day to confirm that I have work and what time I’m starting. I didn‘t get a text for Monday so in the morning I woke up at the usual time and rang the office and they said they must have forgotten to text me and to come in as normal. I went in and they told me they didn’t need me as they just wanted boys for wire-lifting. I decided I could either go back to bed as it was 6.30am or sign up to do a wine tasting with a guy that arrived in the hostel the night before. So that’s what I did. I had wanted to do a wine tour since I got here but everyone I knew had done one already and I wanted to go with someone, so when I came home from work I booked the same tour as Steve who was staying in Margaret River for a couple of days. Steve also went to Loughborough along with me and Andy - small world! I went for a run as my knee felt better and then it was time for the Neil McLeod Margaret River Wine Tour. We were taken to 4 wineries, 1 brewery for lunch, a cheese shop, a chocolate factory, an art gallery and a venison shop. It was a really good tour and I bought some yummy sweet chilli cheese from the cheese shop! I rang the employment agency and they said there is no more work available, and it was not worth coming in to get work as an extra so I was upset about that.

On Tuesday I woke up early and decided to go in as an extra anyway, and it paid off because I was put onto Voyager vineyard and they have work until February! The only problem is the work is even more dull than the last jobs, doesn’t pay as well and we start at 4.45am which means I have to get up at 4am, almost 2 hours earlier than my last job. But it’s still a job so I’m happy. I only have a few more weeks in Margaret River anyway so I can make do. On Wednesday there was a charity event at the local bar Settler’s Tavern to raise money for the victims of the recent bush fire. They had quite a few bands performing, and the manager of the agency Vinepower where most of us work, performed with his band so we stayed to show our support. Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful days. We finished work early on Friday again, (which is the norm in Australia) and when I came back from work, me and another guy decorated 2 Christmas trees for the lounge and kitchen areas.

It was odd getting ready for Christmas when it was so hot outside but I liked it! It’s a shame I’m not in the hostel over Christmas as everyone is doing a group Christmas dinner and secret santa which would have been fun. Waking up at 4am and going to bed around 11 or 12 during the week meant I was shattered by Friday night and fell asleep on the couch for the whole evening! On Saturday we hung around the hostel and played Monopoly during the day. It was the first time I’d played since University! In the evening we had a really fun night as everyone was in a party mood. On Sunday we watched films and one guy couldn’t believe I had never watched “Cailfornication” so we watched a few episodes of that.