Waiting to Exit

Hey guys

Well when last I wrote I was still in Rainbow Beach, and let me just say I miss it. It was cold, but at least it had a beach.

Right now I'm in Bundaberg at the Workers and Divers Hostel. and I've just finished my first day of farm work. and let me say this, I dont think I could do it for 3 months straight. I'm glad I'm only here for a month!

but first, let me tell you a little story about booking your busses ahead of time.

So I managed to get onto the Oz bus leaving Rainbow beach on very short notice (the day after I got back from Fraser) which suited me just fine. I figured I'd have a day or so in Hervey Bay to find a bus to Bundaberg since Oz bus didnt go there. Well along the ride, my driver happened to mention that the next day's schedule would take him through Bundaberg and 1770! Awesome! thats two of the stops I really wanted to make that werent on the original bus schedule.

I managed to get booked into Koalas (on the beach) for the evening, and I figured I'd be able to book for the next morning heading out to Bundy. Wrong! I got stuck in Hervey bay for 3 days!! Now let me tell you what exactly there is to do in Hervey Bay. ... Zip. The only thing people go there for is to go to Fraser Island. Oh yeah and people go to hervey Bay to die too. its a retirement community >.< and its really spread out. It took me an hour to walk into the CBD which I did every day. I got to see Fantastic 4 though

Anyway, I finally managed to get a bus for early Sunday morning, and with very little fuss, managed to get to my hostel in Bundaberg.

I got picked up in an old beater car, and while I was being checked in, the dude at reception decided to give me the 5th degree on surviving in Bundy.
Rule 1.) Do not leave the hostel alone after dark
Rule 2.) Do not ever go to the pub, any pub, alone or your drinks will be spiked
Rule 3.) If sexual harassment happens on a farm, do not confront the farmers, tell the hostel.
Rule 4.) Do not ever confront a farmer about something, tell the hostel, they will deal with it
Rule 5.) There is no drinking aloud in the hostel except between the hours of 5pm and 7pm on Friday nights, and only if the staff allow it.
Rule 6.) Do not walk off the job at a farm. You will lose your job, your bed, and your deposit.

Sunny happy place huh? its kind of intimidating, but once you get to know some of the other backpackers here its not so bad.

That having been said, yesterday's newspaper ran an article including an interview with 3 of the boys in the hostel here about the recent backpacker beatings. Unfortunately, violence in Bundaberg is a very real thing. Its sad really, since the locals are driving away a large percentage of the work force here, and I know the farmers are angry about it

Well at this point, I've been herer for just over a week, well actually almost 2 weeks now (yeah its taken me a while to update, but i have time now) and I'm working at packing sweet potatoes. Its not too bad, just really really boring.

I've gotten to know some of the people here, and i'll be starting a dive coruse soon with a Swedish girl named Maria. I might also hit a Kareoke club with a bunch of the people from the sweet potato farm this weekend which should be cool.

The hostel here, despite being strict, has decent enough facilities. There is a common area, pool, laundry, internet and the usual. Also, I'm staying in a "unit" which I share with 3 other people. Basically we have our own little house with a full kitchen, living area, bathroom/shower area and cupboards. I'm sharing the unit right now with a French guy and 2 sisters from Hong Kong. It makes for interesting nights some times with the bazar mix of accents around the hostel. I can honestly say this is the first place I've stayed that has a variety of accents other than the usual English and Irish. Theres lots of Scotts here too which is cool

well I wont write too much more yet, i'll wait till I have more to say on the subject of Diving and the Rum tour (hopefully taking that on Sunday) and when I have some new photos to upload.

Oh yeah, and the weather has finally improved! yay! no more rain
Ciao for now!