Ballengarra (03.02 - 10.02.2019)

Since we had two weeks left in our travel planning and we were ready to work again, we decided to do some woofing. This involves working on a farm as a volunteer in exchange for accommodation and meals.

Day 1: Marie had already invested in an app that lists addresses of farms, so we chose an alpaca farm near Port Macquarie. Kathryn C. lives there with about 40 alpacas. We were excited to be doing something productive and helping someone out. When we arrived, we were asked to fill out a form. Unfortunately, it mentioned a woofing number which we didn't have. When we explained our situation to Kathryn, our host, she said we had to become members of the app. We didn't realize that the app was essential for volunteering. She said she would clarify the situation with the organization because she was also unsure. One of the farm rules was not to use the toilet flush. This was a shock for us. She said she had water problems. Alright. In the evening, we started our first task: mixing feed. The grass was so dry, the alpacas needed supplementary food in the summer. After 4 hours of mixing and the evening feeding (refilling water, sweeping up alpaca droppings, and feeding), our first day of work was done. We asked her if there was Wi-Fi. Kathryn said she didn't have Wi-Fi. However, there was the "Kathryn Home Network". Since she was elderly, we thought maybe she didn't know that Wi-Fi meant internet, so we took matters into our own hands and turned over the Wi-Fi box to find the password for the internet. We didn't think it was a big deal and went to bed looking forward to the next few days.

Day 2: On the second day, we had to wake up at 5:30 am so that we wouldn't have to work in the heat of the day. At 6:30 am, Ben and I were in the field sweeping leaves. After four hours of sweeping leaves, it got so hot that we took a break. We used the break to take a short nap. We were very tired and had to get used to getting up again. When the sun wasn't so strong anymore, we got back to work. We cleaned the feeding bowls and water bowls. This was necessary because they hadn't been cleaned for over a month. Then we had a nice dinner and relaxed in the evening.

Day 3: The days were similar. Wake up at 5:30 am, sweep leaves. Take a break before the sun gets too strong. Today, Kathryn was meeting friends in Port Macquarie for a movie. That's why she dropped us off at the Koala Hospital. We enjoyed the time and took a tour, visited a museum about the so-called Roto House, a historic house of a wealthy family. After a good two hours of education and being tired from work, Ben and I waited for two more hours on a bench outside the hospital for Kathryn to return. When we were back on the farm, we got back to work. But after work, we quickly went to bed.

Day 4: On Wednesday, we had to clean the gutter. It hadn't been cleaned for an unbelievable 3 years. There were even plants growing in it! We wondered why she didn't keep it clean if she had water problems. But now it was sparkling clean. That day, she also put sacks of alpaca droppings out on the roadside for sale. And she actually sold them. Amazing. After lunch, we spent the day playing board games. Since the farm is in the middle of nowhere, there was nothing else to do. Kathryn had visitors that day, and we had a nice chat with them.

Day 5: On the 5th day, we had many small tasks to do: sweeping leaves, picking up branches, sorting hay, cleaning the garage, sweeping up more droppings, cleaning the remaining water troughs, and much more. In the garage, we even found two half-decomposed rats. Disgusting! We wondered how long they had been there. But we didn't want to know the details. In the end, the garage was clean and tidy, and we were tired but happy that it was cleaner now. Then we had a lunch break. Kathryn had visitors again, but we were so exhausted that we rested in our room. In the evening, fate took its course... Kathryn didn't call us for our evening work, which was very strange. When I asked her what and where we should work that night, she answered me rudely and disrespectfully. Then she asked us for a talk. In the afternoon, she received a message from her internet provider saying that about 50% of her internet had been used. We told her everything, which made her explode. After a small outburst of tears, she demanded that we pack our things because she wanted to take us to a hostel and we should give her $15. After apologizing many times and giving her the $15, she calmed down and said we could start fresh. We agreed and were glad to be able to help her a little longer. Then it was offline time, but we saw the positive side of it. Maybe it would do us good.

Day 6: The atmosphere was very tense, but we put on a brave face. We spent the whole morning sweeping leaves again. Kathryn seemed more withdrawn and came across as very derogatory. Well, it was our own fault, but we had hoped that by acknowledging our mistake, apologizing, and compensating her with the money would make things better. But in vain. From then on, she portioned our meals. When doing physical work, you sometimes get hungrier. But as long as we were somewhat satisfied, we didn't want to argue with her. From that point on, we felt uncomfortable and unwanted. Our goal of doing volunteer work to make someone happy seemed to no longer be appreciated. After completing our remaining tasks (feeding, etc.), she really wanted to go dancing. It was her passionate hobby. But we were so tired and not in the mood for dancing, especially after being ignored. So when she asked if we wanted to come along, we said no. She said she couldn't leave us alone anymore and decided to stay home. But okay...

Day 7: The atmosphere didn't get any better. Ben, in particular, was affected a lot, which made him hurt and thoughtful that day. Since we felt like "the bad guys" now, we weren't surprised by our upcoming task. The alpacas live in a stable that is carpeted. Especially at one spot, their toilet area, the carpet was already so disgusting. I noticed it on the first day and was glad that I spent most of the time sweeping leaves. On this day, we had to shake out the carpets and lay them back down. We started removing the old carpets. We had to take breaks occasionally. It smelled terrible. The last cleaning was SIX MONTHS ago, as I found out later. So we hung up these really disgusting carpets. I'll spare you the details. To our surprise, she helped for the first time, but only with the less disgusting carpets. Nevertheless, we eventually finished. We just had to dispose of them. I was in complete horror when she said, "Don't be squeamish, it's just droppings and urine." We were so relieved when we could start sweeping leaves again. By the way: yes, we are willing to clean up after animals, it's part of the job. But to clean something so gross only every six months, that made us feel sorry for the animals. After our portioned lunch, Ben and I sat on the floor and made a to-do list of productive things we could do to avoid feeling bored. We sat on a blanket on the floor because we were only allowed to shower once a day and we didn't want to sit on the bed after such work. When she saw that her blanket was on the floor, she got angry again. She took the blanket away from us, so we sat outside. We talked again about quitting the volunteer work, but we were really unsure. The work was good for us, we had something to do, and we couldn't get a worse job than the disgusting stable. After dinner, she said very little and offered us dry toast or even the leftovers in the bowl. Our mood was at rock bottom. Since we had already exceeded the weekly hours, we asked if we should work tomorrow. She said we could sleep in or help her with her thousand things. But the way she said it made us feel like it meant: either help or leave. To avoid another argument, we got up at 6:30 am in our work clothes and went back to the field.

Day 8: After searching for her for 10 minutes in the dark in the morning, she said we should sleep in. It was very strange. However, she gave us many tasks. Ben cleaned the balcony and I cleaned and vacuumed the house and did laundry. But she rearranged all the laundry because she said I had done it clumsily. Kathryn even cleaned everything again, which I couldn't understand. But okay. After a short break, we went to Port Macquarie. She had an appointment with her mother, and we were supposed to wait for her. Since she had time, she kindly drove us to "Tracking Point Lighthouse". The view was very nice there. Then she dropped us off in the city center, and we enjoyed having Wi-Fi again. We thought about what to do, and since Ben had been completely written off by her, we decided, after much consideration, to go to a hostel in Port Macquarie the next day. It was a difficult decision, and we spent 5 hours thinking about how to break the news to her gently. We didn't want to hurt her, and we felt sorry for everything that had happened. After doing some more work on the farm, we had dinner. She never cooks on Sundays, so Ben was supposed to grill. But for us, it wasn't a problem, we did everything for her to avoid further conflicts. After dinner, we dropped the bomb. We told her how uncomfortable we felt and that we could go to a hostel in Port Macquarie tomorrow. She put on her biggest smile and said it was good and fantastic, that she had a better idea, and that we should pack our things and disappear from the farm. We were shocked by her reaction, but we got up, packed our things, and waited outside for her. At the farmhouse, she insulted us, shouted at us, and even took pictures of us. Still speechless, we wanted to avoid further conflicts, so we only defended ourselves half-heartedly. We were relieved to be sitting in the car on the way to Port Macquarie. She drove very fast and turned the radio up to full volume. I was just scared. The 30-minute drive felt long, and when I saw the sign for Port Macquarie, I felt a sense of relief. As a farewell, she whispered derogatory things in my ear, and there we stood. First, I had to recover from the shock. I was trembling all over and couldn't breathe properly. Luckily, the hostel still had two beds and welcomed us warmly. We made phone calls to our families and were just exhausted and worn out from everything.

Despite everything, farm work was fun for us. We enjoyed helping Kathryn and her alpacas. Now we have to let everything sink in and look ahead to our last weeks in Australia.