01.04. - 08.04.2018 Perth / Fremantle/Bruce Rock 😁👍

Hello everyone,

I am happy that spring has finally arrived for you, and now you can enjoy the wonderful sunshine just like me. 😁👍

A lot has happened to me in the past week, so let me start. 😁

From Saturday to Tuesday, I stayed with Sharol. On Monday, she had a day off and we did some activities together. She showed me Fremantle, a suburb south of Perth, and then we went to Kings Park, which has a great view of the city of Perth. There was a street festival in Fremantle, where we sat at a cafe and enjoyed the music of street musicians. 😃

I really enjoyed it there, and since Sharol was going back to work on Wednesday, I decided to stay in a backpacker hostel in Fremantle starting from Tuesday.

Before that, I had considered going back to Asia, but the flight prices in the next few weeks were so high that I decided to stay in Australia for now.👍

So, I needed a plan B.😃 I posted an ad on Gumtree on Sunday, looking for work.😃👍

Gumtree is a website similar to Amazon, mobile.de, and Monster. You can buy and sell various things and also post ads.👌👍

On the same day, I received 3 job offers. I didn't expect to find a job so quickly and easily. 😅😄

Well, not all the job offers I received were really legitimate. 😄😄😄

But I was confident about one of the 3 offers and I accepted it. $20 - $25 per hour, depending on where they need me, whether it's farm work or tractor driving. $150 per week for accommodation including food and drinks. A great offer to start with.👌😁

So, on Tuesday, it was clear to me that I would drive to Bruce Rock, which is 2 hours east of Perth, and live and work there for now. 😁👌 In the middle of the Outback, with only 700 residents.😄👍

When I arrived in Fremantle on Tuesday, I went to a bank first to make an appointment to open a bank account.👌
Then, I went to South Beach. The cool thing was that you could use 2 buses there for free, one within the city and the other one a bit further to the beach.👌

In the evening, I returned to the hostel and met some other backpackers. 😊 Most of them were Germans, I had never seen so many Germans in a hostel before.😄

On Wednesday afternoons, I had my appointment at the bank. Since I wanted to visit Whiteman Park before that, I took the train and then the bus to the park, which was 1 hour away. Usually, I'm not a big fan of zoos, but I really wanted to pet a kangaroo.😍

After spending 1 hour there, I had to go back to Fremantle. However, the trip was worth it for me.👌

Then, I went to the bank to open my account. It was quite quick, it took about 30 minutes and my account and online access were set up.😊👍

Now, I just have to wait for my credit card to be sent to me. The cool thing is that I can choose my own PIN. 😄

In addition, I also received the account for the pension insurance, which I still need to activate with my TFN (Tax File Number).

As a backpacker, I only have to pay a 15% tax, which is a dream compared to taxes in Germany.😂👌👍

So, bank account opened.✔

After that, I visited Fremantle Prison and booked a tour. It was really amazing, I got goosebumps walking through the corridors and looking at the old cells, it was my first visit to a prison.😁👍 The incredible thing was that the prisoners transported from the UK to Fremantle actually built the prison themselves, their own homes.😅😃

After the 1.5-hour tour, I went back to the hostel. There I met the others again and we sat together in a cozy round and talked.😊

And then it was already Thursday.
I received a message that my tax number had arrived. Great, now I had everything I needed to start working.😁👌

In the afternoon, I was picked up by my farmer Ray. The good thing was that I wasn't alone. He picked up Manon first - she arrived from France at the Perth airport, and then he picked me up. Manon has already spent 1 year in Australia and is now in her second year.👌

I got along well with her right away, we have a lot in common, which is good.😃👌

Unfortunately, our farmer Ray is in a wheelchair since he had a serious accident in his late 20s. But he is a very nice older man who knows many farmers in the area and helps us get jobs. 😊👍 In the beginning, I had some difficulty understanding everything he said because of his accent.😄
Gradually, it's getting better.😂👍

On the way to Bruce Rock, we went to the grocery store, where we were allowed to choose what food we wanted, and he paid for it.😁

We arrived in the evening, inspected our rooms, and then went to bed. 🤔😃

The next day was Friday. We didn't have to start working until Monday. 😁👌

We were out and about because of Manon's car and then went to the pub at the sports field in the evening. There, we met some other farmers. Buckets offered me the opportunity to use one of his cars as long as I'm in Bruce Rock. Isn't that amazing?😃 Where else can you find such friendly and helpful people?😃😁👍 This was the second time in Australia that I was speechless, and of course, I happily accepted the offer. 😁😁😁

Another farmer invited us to come on Sunday, and he would pick us up and take us to a horse farm where we could go horseback riding. We gladly accepted the second offer.😁👌
It was all going like a dream, I thought I did everything right. 😃😁

On Saturday, Buckets picked me up and we went to his place so I could pick up his car. 🤩 It was such a great feeling to have a car again and be independent.😁👍

He asked me if Manon and I had time in the afternoon to help him with fishing. I agreed, of course.😊👍
He picked us up again and drove us for about an hour through the Outback until we arrived at a huge field where a small pond was visible. There were a lot of crayfish living there, which we caught with a big net.
Then we sorted the big ones from the small ones and put the small ones back in the water. They were probably happy that they didn't end up as a meal.😂🙈

In the evening, we were invited to Buckets' and his wife Merridith's BBQ, where we had the delicious crayfish for dinner.😅🙈 I had to try them, and they laughed at me because of my facial expression when I tasted them.😅😂🙈

Usually, I don't eat things like shrimp or crayfish. So, it was a big challenge for me to try them.🙈🙈🙈

The meat was very tender, I was a bit surprised afterwards, but it won't become one of my favorite foods.😂😂😂

The next day (Sunday), we were taken to the horse ranch by the other farmer, who owned about 5 horses. Unfortunately, we could only use one of them because the others had just been ridden.

Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun, and it was great to be able to ride a horse again. I love these animals.😍❤

We returned in the afternoon and didn't do much. Then we went to Paddy's farm, where we were going to work the next day, just to familiarize ourselves with the way to work.👍 After that, we relaxed and had dinner together with Ray.😊

The next morning, it was time for me to get up at 7:00 am and start work at 8:00 am.😅🙈🙈🙈 Yay, I was so excited because I love getting up early. (Sarcasm off) 😂😂😂