10 - Mission Beach

First of all, back to Cairns-Central, the list of things we have to bring to the farm is long:

Work clothes, gumboots, sun hat, special water bottle, etc.

Then quickly stuff everything into the already overcrowded car and off we go on the wild ride!

Arrived at the new accommodation, the first thing to do was plunder the mobile data, as the whole town was experiencing a power outage, in order to complete the Yellow Card for the banana farm.

It wasn't that difficult..

"If you find a poisonous snake while working on the farm, how do you behave?"

A. Run away in panic.

B. Chase and kill the snake.

C. Immediately inform a supervisor.

D. Ignore and continue working.

"What do you do if a fire breaks out?"

A. Run away in panic as quickly as possible.

B. Quickly but calmly proceed to the emergency meeting point.

C. Talk with colleagues over the weekend.

D. Hide under the banana trailer and wait.

And for that we had to each pay 50 dollars.. well, after the cost of the new equipment, it didn't really matter.

In the evening, our new boss came with the contracts, and the next morning it was supposed to start.

So shake hands, a little bit of small talk like "Where are you from, where have you been.." and then.. disappointment.

First on his face and then on ours..

Those who have been in the Northern Territory are useless for work on banana farms in the rest of Australia.

The outbreak of Panama is supposed to be inhibited.

No work then.. for none of us.

The price for the hostel also climbed from 22 dollars to 31.50, the non-employee price.

About 10 minutes later we were back in the car looking for the next campsite.

Now it was a matter of braving the rain and not opening the door to bad mood and disappointment.

Whenever the sun broke through the cloud cover for a few hours, we got into the car and went to the next waterhole, the next rainforest walk, or the beach.

The rest of the time we are currently spending at the campsite, but that should pay off, because today the operator and I got to chat and she knows a prawn farm nearby that is always looking for workers.

She will give them a call, let's see..

Today, during the rain break, it was off to the "Alligators Nest Swimming Hole"!

I mean, who could resist that name?

Beautiful swimming hole, but unfortunately we didn't have it to ourselves.

Thousands of mosquitoes also like to spend their time there and came to have a little snack with us.

After 30 minutes: 4 bites on my face alone.. dozens on my back, arms, and legs.

Back at the hostel, we were greeted with good news, Jeffrey (the shrimp farmer) actually has work for the three of us, we can start in 2 weeks.

Not ideal, the pay is rather lousy than great, but oh well.. for my part, I'm just happy if it ever works out and lasts longer than a week...