Mon 12th – Thurs 15th December – On Monday my team at work started a new job, dropping fruit. We had to walk up and down rows of vines and cut off any grapes growing on weak shoots, as they wouldn’t ripen in time for the picking season. This was hourly pay which I was pleased about and my two Dutch roommates Anne and Anne were also put on that team for the day as extras so it was nice to work with them. I left early because I wasn’t feeling too well and had a rest back at the hostel. We watched “The Mask” in the evening. On Tuesday I had a bad day at work, my supervisor said I was working too slow and when I got back to town I got a text from Vinepower saying my supervisor didn’t want me in the team anymore! I went back to the office and asked them to put me somewhere else, and an hour later I got a text saying I was put in a new team. The nice thing was I didn’t have to start until 6.30am which meant I could have a lie-in the next day! The work on Wednesday was leaf plucking which was so easy and paid well! One of the Anne’s was also put on that team for the day too and we only worked 4 and a half hours but made over $100 so it was a good day! We were back at the hostel by 12.30 and the other Anne made us a pumpkin soup for lunch, and it was really nice to come home to lunch already made, like she was our wife who spent the day cooking for us whilst we were at work! Me, the two Anne’s and Pauline had a nice lunch together. The work was only for one day and I was worried about whether I would get work the next morning as an extra because I knew the two Anne’s would also be up early. On Thursday I got to the office at 5.45am and the two Anne’s were there already! One of the Anne’s got work on my friend James’ team and me and the other Anne waited around for a while before the manager said 2 people were needed in one of the vineyards so he drove us over. We ended up going to Anne and James’ team anyway! We were leaf plucking again, but the work was a lot slower than the day before so it wasn’t as much money but it was the most fun I’ve had on a vineyard. As I was working with the two Anne’s and James we spent the whole day chatting and working alongside each other so the day went really quick! I asked the superviser if I could work the next day and he said we all could work on Friday and it would be hourly pay so I was happy I got work for my last working day in Margaret River. In the evening I realised I had run out of food and didn’t want to do a big shop just for a few days but James offered to make me a vegetarian carbonara which was really yummy!
Fri 16th December – Today me, one of the Anne’s, James and Oskar did leaf tucking. The work was a bit slow and we were confused over what the supervisor actually wanted from us as he kept contradicting himself! We knew it would be a short day so we were expecting to finish by 12 and me and James had been talking about getting a pizza from Eagle Boys after work. However at 11am, our supervisor yelled at all of us, said we were doing it wrong and told us all to “knock off” and he would find another team for Monday. I was happy as we still got paid for 4 hours and it was my last day anyway so I was glad to finish early! When we got back to the hostel and Oskar said instead of paying $15 for a pizza from Eagle Boys, he could make us pizza for cheaper. It took a couple of hours but Anne and Oskar made amazing pizzas for all 4 of us!
Well-deserved after a “hard” 4 hours on a vineyard and getting fired for the second time that week! The pizzas were huge and I couldn’t eat anything the rest of the day! In the evening a few of us went to Settler’s and then hung around the hostel afterwards enjoying my last Friday night here.
Sat 17th December – Today was a really fun day. Scott, who works at the hostel, had spent the week arranging Beer Olympics for today. We were all in teams of 2 representing our nationalities and we had to do all sorts of challenges throughout the day. In the morning most people worked on their costumes (best fancy dress won a prize). Me and my partner Josh made crowns out of gold card, and pinned red ribbon on white bed sheets to look like the England flag, which became our cloaks so we were the King and Queen of England! The winner were the Dutch girls though as they went all out with their costumes, wearing lots of orange and spent more on their costumes than the actual prize money! The Olympics started at 12 and by the time we did the last event it was 4.30. It was such a laugh and everyone agreed they should do this more regularly.
Most people got involved and we all bonded so well. Even the Italian guys who had moved out of the hostel came by and one of them took part. We all went to the local reservoir for a swim afterwards and then came back to the hostel to get ready to go out to Settler’s for the evening.
Sun 18th December – This was my last day in Margaret River. I’d put an advert on gumtree a couple of weeks ago about needing a left from Margaret River to Adelaide so that I could catch my flight to Sydney on the 23rd. I got a reply from someone about a bus tour with Australian Overland Adventures that was leaving Perth on 19th December and was going to Melbourne with a stop in Adelaide. I spoke on the phone to the organiser and he said the bus goes through Margaret River and they could pick me up from my hostel, and we would be in Adelaide in time for my flight. All I needed was to bring a sleeping bag as we would be camping, and my own food. So today I went to a camping store and bought a sleeping bag and went shopping for 4 days worth of food.
I would have liked to do something at the hostel on my last day there but everyone was so tired from the Olympics the day before. So we all just chilled, played chess and I said goodbye to everyone.
Mon 19th December – I packed my bags and texted the bus tour guy to ask him to let me know when he’s half an hour away so that I can check out of the hostel and gather my things. I got a text back at 10am saying the bus was meant to be going tomorrow (!), and everyone else has cancelled so he will let me know if he finds more people to get the bus running. I started to panic and tried ringing him but he didn’t pick up. I’d already packed, said goodbye to everyone, and now it seems I wasn’t going anywhere! I spent almost an hour stressed out, looking at flights from Perth to Adelaide and looking on gumtree to see if anyone was driving that way. I found one girl called Marina who was leaving from Perth the next day and she said if I could get to Perth tonight, we can set off tomorrow morning. She wanted to be in Sydney for Christmas so assured me we’d be in Adelaide before the 23rd. At 10.50am I booked onto a bus from Margaret River to Perth, which was lucky as they don’t take bookings after 11am for same-day travel. The bus wasn’t until 3.30pm so I had time to relax, and return the sleeping bag I bought yesterday as Marina said she had a campervan with a bed. I booked a hostel in Fremantle (where Marina told me to stay so she could pick me up tomorrow), but Marina then called me to say I’d have to take a bus in the morning to another town as she didn’t have time to pick me up in the morning! She sounded stressed out, and I told her I didn’t want to go on public transport in the morning with all my bags and asked if I should stay somewhere closer to her. She offered me to stay at her friend’s house where she was also staying and offered to pick me up from Perth station tonight. Things were working out perfectly so far.
I saw a few people from my hostel as they came home from work so I said goodbye again and some of them walked me to the bus stop. Bye bye Margaret River.
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