Hmmm, I wonder what I should start with. So many things happened within one week (almost) of me arriving to Australia, that even though I am all good and settled down at my place now, I still need to wrap my head around it.
What happened when I just landed in Brisbane, or as Aussies say, Brizzy? Firstly, I was startled how cold it was, 12 degrees at 6:00 am in the morning is no joke. Then, I was kinda surprised at how similar the view of empty fields and highways reminded Canada – but to be fair, aren’t they all same everywhere in the world?
1 hour by train and a 15-minute walk took me to my hostel, where I unpacked and did some grocery shopping nearby.
Feeling a little bit lost, I started opened my Facebook (where is the support chat for social media addicts?) just to realize I had tons and tons of messages from employers (I posted an ad that I was looking for a job just before boarding the plane). I started reaching out to all of them, who seemed like something that I was looking for, and paused my search when I reached Georgina – a lovely lady in Moree, 4 hours away from Brisbane, who was looking for someone to handle client communication for their print shop.
We had a lovely chat and decided I would talk to her manager on Monday (it was Friday at that time). In addition to that, I also called a “sales person needed ad” on the board in the hostel, had a similar chat with another lady who asked for the resume, which I quickly sent over.
I gave a few other calls to employers, but quickly figured out the jobs (and employees) disappear quickly, probably just as quickly as the ice cream at the nearby café on a hot sunny day. Most of them wanted the answer right away, and really needed some help ASAP – so I stopped stressing about work that much and realized that, hey, I can actually cherry pick something that I really like, instead for settling down for something “better than nothing” (this applies not only to jobs, FYI).
Saturday and Sunday were quite quiet – job search wise. I sent out a couple more resumes, texted a couple more people, and called it a day; but boy, was the weekend fun! One of the backpackers, Rom, also recommended me a place near Sydney, we started and realized we both just arrived in Brisbane. It was only natural to go out for a couple of drinks, and we got to see most of what Brisbane at night has to offer. Sunsets were especially pretty, unlike our bus that never came to take us to the other side.
The municipality made all transportation 50 cents only, so one of the days that followed we also had a nice ferry ride (spoiler alert, my phone tap feature bailed, and I rode absolutely for free – not that I am proud of it).
We became good friends, and while Rom was working at construction during the day, I was sending out the resumes; afterwards we would just chill together in the evening. It was very nice to find the person to share the experiences of exploring a new place together – especially considering I travelled solo for 5 months before that. Later in the evening we would grab the groceries and make something in the common kitchen at my hostel – some heartwarming memories I will carry on.
I had a very successful interview on Monday with the manager from Moree – however I also found out that they had another interview and would let me know the decision on Thursday. It was already sort of a red flag – should have known I should move on with someone else, since other employers did not drag their decision-making process like that. BUT, the potential place seemed good, so I waited.
As if life does not teach me anything, HUGE eye roll here. Had to turn down another nice offer from an extremely, extremely nice lady Carol – a hospitality position at a remote station, with accommodation included and a good pay. I went to an interview for the sales position – turned out to be sort of a legal scam. No real ‘interview’, they tried onboarding me right away, not to mention their office was under the different name and I had to wait for somebody to show up before the front desk figured out whom exactly I was looking for. They never mentioned the pay before I asked them directly – and even then, there were some conditions, with no real answer as to how much I would be earning per week.
The salary depended on how many people I could sign up going door to door. Overall, it seemed like they were trying to sell me this position the same way they were trying to sell their products to potential clients. I was cherry picking the perfect job, and it was nowhere near ‘perfect’ for me.
That evening we had a free pizza night – Rom and I made friends with another French people – Solange and Oscar, both WHV workers (like all of us, to be honest). No wonder they were also French (just like Rom) – half of the hostel was French, and the other half was Italian. I didn’t fit into the cultural map of the place, haha. Who knew you had to learn French or Italian coming to the former British colony? A propos, is it former, anyway? FYI, my dear Canada is still officially the territory of the crown.
Since everyone except Oscar and me were busy the next day, we decided to go see the Stradbroke Island, where I was promised some whales, kangaroos, and probably dolphins. I gladly accepted the offer of hanging out together – and it tuned out to be a wonderful trip, even though I did not see the whales.
We took the train and walked to the pier, where the boat took us to the island. The nature and landscape there blew my mind – the real Australia is like that, wild, unknown, true to its “endemic” label. I shared my impression of being submerged into the Avatar movie with other backpackers, and they all agreed. Everything in Australia seems a bit out of this world – maybe this originated here, on planet Earth… But the longer you look at it, the more you think that maybe it didn’t.
And yes, plenty of kangaroos – especially mama kangaroos with their Joe’s (lmao, did I even spell the baby kangaroo right? Somebody pls check my aussie slang).
We sat for an hour or so, hoping to see the whales, but they never came. However, one of the tracks along the abyss led us to a hidden bay, where water looked to be satin blue – with a sea turtle, floating there like an expensive black pearl. Magnificent, or as French people say – pas mal.
Next morning I gave a call to the Moree lady – I bluffed and said I got another offer and am hoping to see if they can give me an update. She promised me an update till 2:00 pm, and at 1:45 pm I finally realized it was all a bubble from the beginning. I gave a call to Carol, but she had already found another girl to take the position (remember ice cream on a hot sunny day?). An hour later, Moree gave me a call back just to say they first gave the job to the other candidate who was able to stay with them longer (as they were not on the WHV), but she declined, and so would I please accept the offer.
Well, I said no. This situation really winded me up – the waiting, the uncertainty, as well as no confidence that if I sign the job offer, they will not call it back the next day because they found a third candidate who can stay longer than 6 months.
I was feeling really down when I received the call from my work destiny Will – two weeks ago I emailed the resume in response to a petting zoo position near Melbourne but never heard back. As it turned out, they hired a couple, but the girl did not stay for personal reasons, and now they were looking for replacement. It was him and his wife Nat on the phone – and even though their farm was a bit far (in traditional sense, not for a person who regularly hiked for 20 km as their morning exercise), the opportunity sounded amazing, and they were so friendly… It was late in the evening, and I did have to refresh my memory on where they were located – so we decided I would give them a call back shortly the next day.
Honestly, not sure why I did that, as the decision was already made in my head. I was going to Melbourne.
* * *
To save on my hostel and commemorate my last days in Brisbane, me and Rom shared the gas and travelled the Gold Coast in his truck (tent is secured on the roof and is easily assembled for the night). First day was kind of rainy and we went on a hike to see the Witcher’s Falls at Tamborine Mountains later in the evening, after the rain changed to light drizzle. As I mentioned previously, the plants were literally out of this world – so… different. And thus, so magnetic. I swear I could get lost among the trees and turn into some kind of fairy that lives in those woods – and live happily ever after in those woods.
On our way back we (well, I) took the wrong turn. The path was going down, we were tired, and obviously, lost. Thankfully my guardian angel takes his job seriously, as we did not NOT just fall down the hill, got bitten by anything, or simply continued wandering, but even met an Australian girl with her friend – they gladly made a conversation and offered to give us a ride back to our car.
Funny enough, the girl did WHV in France and just returned home.
Anyway, we made it out alive. Wet, cold, and absolutely miserable – but alive.
On our way back we (well, I) took the wrong turn. The path was going down, we were tired, and obviously, lost. Thankfully my guardian angel takes his job seriously, as we did not NOT just fall down the hill, got bitten by anything, or simply continued wandering, but even met an Australian girl with her friend – they gladly made a conversation and offered to give us a ride back to our car.
Funny enough, the girl did WHV in France and just returned home.
Anyway, we made it out alive. Wet, cold, and absolutely miserable – but alive.
The next day weather was much in a better mood than the day before, and we set out to Gold Coast, where we stayed at a pretty I-forgot-the-name beach town, and had an aussie barbie in one of the parks. Rom made all our French dinners before, but as a Canadian I felt like I ought to make the BBQ myself – and haha, it did turn out well! We even befriended Jonathan, just a random guy who happened to chill around (okay, he was a traveller with no planned stay for the night, so he just hang out in the park). We feasted on the grilled capsicums, mushrooms, zucchinis, cheese, and some bread, and it was so crazy good… No worries about the future, no regrets about the past – just living the present moment and singing along to Jonathan’s Clandestino accompanied by Rom’s guitar.
I drove back to Brisbane because Rom was high – with happiness, of course 😊
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