09.04.18 - 06.05.18 Living in Bruce Rock - Farm Life & Farm Work 👍

I believe it's time for me to update my blog again.. 😅🙈

It has been several weeks since my last update and I have experienced quite a bit in this time. 😀

In the first week from 09.04.-13.04.18, I was working on Paddy's farm. He owns 40,000 hectares of land here in Bruce Rock, it's truly amazing. 😯

I spent the whole week with Manon removing and rolling up old fences. 😀

On Thursday, a friend of Manon's, Johanna, came to join us. Now we were 3 girls staying at Ray's place.👍

Since Paddy only needed us for one week, we only had work for that week and had to figure out where we could work next.

On the weekend, Ray invited us to go to the horse races in Perth. He got free tickets from a friend.👌

My first horse race - when I was there and saw all the people, I thought it was like a movie. 😀 The women were all dressed very elegantly and wearing hats, the men were mostly seen in suits. It was definitely a great experience to be there, but I didn't find it very exciting for myself. 😂

On Sunday, the two girls and I took a trip to Wave Rock, which was a one hour drive away from us. It was really awesome there.👍

From Wikipedia: 😀
Wave Rock is an approximately 2.7-billion-year-old granite rock formation that has been shaped into a wave by erosion and weathering. Even the Aborigines called it a wave made of rock. The wave is 15 meters high and about 110 meters long.

On 16.04. - 18.04.18 (Mon-Wed), we were able to work for Ian for 3 days. He owns about 20,000 hectares of land. We all worked together there. Our task on the first day was to pick up old branches and logs from the field. On 17.04 and 18.04.18, Manon and I loaded stones and unloaded them onto the trailer using a loader. 😁👌

Johanna only worked with us for one day, as she had knee surgery 2 months ago and already started experiencing pain in her knee after just 4 hours of work.

It was very hard and exhausting work, but I still enjoyed it. I was outside, getting exercise, and didn't have to sit at a desk all day like in Germany. 😁👍

On Thursday and Friday, we were back at home. On Friday, I got to drive Buckets' car to Perth to look for a car for myself.

I went to various car dealers, but all the cars they offered were too expensive for me. 🙈 I didn't want to spend more than AUD 1,500 (EUR 940) - that was the maximum amount I was willing to spend. Unfortunately, my search was initially unsuccessful until I saw a car on Gumtree for AUD 1,000. I immediately contacted the seller in the hope of getting the chance to see the car. When you see such cheap cars, you have to be very quick, otherwise you have little chance of getting a good deal. And I was lucky. 😁👍 I went to see the car near Fremantle around 6:00 PM.
😁
It's a Mitsubishi Megan-Wagon. 200,000 km - which is nothing in Australia, and the year of manufacture is 2000. I really wanted a wagon so that when I travel, I have the option of sleeping in the car to save on accommodation costs in hostels. 😊

In the end, I got a mega deal because I got the car for AUD 600 (EUR 380), including new tires and a new battery. It's amazing - I was soooo happy about it. 😁😁😁🎉

Now I was independent and could start traveling whenever I want. 😊👍 I just needed to buy some camping equipment.👌

Since it was already late, I stayed overnight in Fremantle and drove back to Bruce Rock around noon the next day. In the morning, I bought a car radio with Bluetooth.👌 Unfortunately, the installation of the radio was not so easy and I had to find someone who could install it cheaply for me.

On Monday and Tuesday (23.04.-24.04.), I was able to work for Ian for another 2 days. This time, Johanna was with us again. Manon found work at another farmer's for the next few weeks and gets to help with seeding. I really want to do that too, maybe I'll get the opportunity as well.

In the two days, we had to pick up stones from the field again, so that Ian could start seeding as soon as it rains.

Wednesday was a holiday here in Australia.

On Thursday, Johanna and I got a 4-hour job doing gardening work, so now I was becoming a Jack-of-all-trades. 😅😂👍
We had to weed and remove dead plants from a bed. In addition, I had to rake the earth free of branches and leaves along a longer stretch. We each received AUD 80 in cash for it.👍

In the evening, I went to hockey practice for the first time.😁 Buckets lent me a hockey stick, knee socks, and shin guards so that I could train with them. 😁👍 He is on the board of the hockey club and easily gets access to the equipment. 😊👍

It was a lot of fun and the girls welcomed me into their team.😁 I think I didn't do too bad for my first time. 😀

I have definitely found a new hobby and will try to get better so that I can support the team in matches.💪😁

On Friday, I had the opportunity to experience a sheep farm for the first time.😀👍 There, I met Derren, my employer, and 4 other employees.😊👍 On that day, a total of 1,200 sheep had to be sheared. My task was to drive them onto the loader and, if necessary, hold them so that they could be sheared smoothly.

It was so much fun and we received AUD 120 in cash for 6 hours of work.😁👍

In the evening, I went to Perth with Manon and Johanna. I was invited to Hennig's birthday party in the evening and also wanted to pick up my car from Fremantle. I had met Hennig online, he is also from Saxony-Anhalt (Weißenfels)😅😂 and has been living and working in Australia for 1.5 years.👍 I took Manon and Johanna with me to the birthday party.

There at the party, I met 3 other Germans again. 😅 I have never met so many Germans in another country as in Australia. It's amazing. 😀 Jennifer and Linda are from Berlin. And Jakob is from near Munich. He really hit the jackpot with Australia. He is a car mechanic and had only been in Australia for 2 days when he got a job and sponsorship here.

Sponsorship means that an Australian company employs you and applies to the government to sponsor you so that you can stay with the company and work for them. This lasts for at least 4 years and there are several requirements for it. After that time, as a foreigner, you have the opportunity to apply for citizenship and live in Australia. 👍👍👍

It sounds easy, but unfortunately it's not, as the requirements have been tightened since March 2018 to prevent Australians from being disadvantaged in the job market.

Therefore, those who are sponsored by a company here and get their sponsorship approved are really lucky. 😀

Most people have an easier time in the trades or the automotive/mechanic field, as there are not many qualified Australians in this area and they are in high demand here. 😉

In my industry (administration/finance and human resources), it is much more difficult to get sponsorship as there are too many other qualified Australians in these fields and I have to stand out from them to have this opportunity. But everything is possible in Australia, so for now, I will wait and see what else awaits me.😀

In any case, I took the opportunity and asked Jakob if he had time the next day to install my car radio. Luckily, he had time and I had one less worry.😀👍

I stayed on Henning's couch and Manon and Johanna drove back in the evening and spent the night in the car. Linda also stayed at Henning's place and they both brought me to Fremantle the next day. We had breakfast together and Jennifer also joined us.😊 Then they brought me to my car and I could drive to Jakob's place.👍
As a thank you, I bought Jakob a six-pack of beer, which he was very happy about.😀👍

At Jakob's place, I met new people from Germany again, it just didn't stop. 😂 I was slowly building my own German community here.😄👍👌

But that was also good because the more people I meet here, whether Australians or Germans living and working here, the easier it might be for me to find new opportunities / exchange experiences or even find new work.👍👍👍 That's why I'm very happy to meet so many new people because there's nothing better than building connections and new friendships.😁👌

I stayed in Fremantle for one more night and then drove back on Sunday because Erika, a very nice older lady, needed our help at her house for a few hours. Once again, we had to do some raking.😀👍 On Tuesday, we went to her place again for 3 hours and cleaned her windows inside and out.😅👍 Afterwards, we received cash in hand again.👍

On Wednesday and Thursday (02.05-03.05), I didn't have any work again, so I decided to go to Perth to buy some camping gear with the money I earned. 👍

Now I already had an air mattress, a camping chair, cutlery, dishes, storage boxes, pillows, blankets, and covers.😀👍

On Thursday, before driving back to Bruce Rock, I made a stop at Kings Park to fly my new drone. 😁👍

I treated myself to it for my birthday, and now it will just take a little bit of time to earn back the money I spent on it.🙈😀 But I couldn't resist, I had to get another drone because the footage and photos I can take with it are simply amazing and incomparable to regular phone shots.😁

So I launched it there and was able to capture some aerial shots of Perth.😁👌

The next day, Friday, we could work for Derren again. This time, we went to another farm with 700 sheep. 😊👍

But I had to start thinking because there wasn't enough work for a whole week and I still have to pay AUD 150 for accommodation at Ray's every week.

So I decided to go to our local pub on Saturday night and take matters into my own hands to find work and make new contacts😀, as the search through Ray was sometimes progressing slowly. At the pub, I met familiar farmers again and also met new ones. 😁👍

Ian was also there and we talked about my current situation with work here. He told me that I could message him if I didn't have any work, he could use me again on his farm. Phew, and just like that, I was safe again in terms of work. 😊
I also got into conversation with his neighbor Harry, who works for Ian and helps him with seeding.

I was given the opportunity for Harry to teach me how to drive the very large seeding machines. I was so happy and all we needed was Ian's approval, which he then gave.👌👌👌 Yayyyyyyyyy, I thought. Once I have experience with seeding and can drive such big tractors, I could earn very good money in Australia, but sometimes you have to work 7 days in a row for 10-12 hours, but in return, you earn a lot of money. 😁

Once I have opened this door and gained experience, I have a good chance of getting a seeding job.👍👌👌👌 These are the big tractors where I can easily sit inside the rims. 😅😁 A new challenge, I'm looking forward to it.😁👍

I also got to know some other very nice farmers, so I hope things go better now and I can find work every day from Monday to Friday.

Hard to believe, but I like this small community in the middle of nowhere and would like to stay a little longer, play hockey, earn and save money.😅😊

Today I found out that I can work for Harold tomorrow, so Monday (07.05.). He was the farmer where I got to ride horses in the first week. So I'm curious about how I can help him and how long he will need my assistance. I have no idea yet. 😅👍

But for Tuesday, I have the opportunity to work for Derren again.👍

So now you're all up to date with me. 😅 I'm doing well, feeling comfortable here, and now I just hope that the work goes better and then I will be very satisfied.😀👍

I will try to update my blog every 2 weeks from now on to keep you somewhat up to date. I hope I succeed.😀👍

Sending you all warm greetings,
Yours Steffi😘