Nov 2007

Well, by now Im sure that most of you have decided that I am either dead or that I've dropped off the face of the earth. and While iam creatainly not dead, I think i very well may have visited another planet in the last two months, as I dont know where else you could have found what I did in Elliott!

so, while I was busy running out of money in Darwin, I stumbled across a job in the remote NT, in some place called Elliott, It was as a bar and chamber maid with free meals, accommodation and Air conditioning (thats what really got me, was the air con) Anyway, a short phone call later and the job was mine. Now I'm not one to usually stem into situations entirely unprepared, so I before hopping onto a 12 hour bus ride, I did a little googling. Well basically the only thing I could find out was that Elliot had a population of about ... 700 give or take. That and a rough location as being roughly half way between Alice Springs and Darwin. Exciting, no? But hey, what an opportunity! Here I have an honest chance to save some serious cash, and actually meet some aboriginals, so why not? Well 12 hrs later, and the bus drops me off on the side of the highway, litterally! Next to what I can only describe as a tin shed with visions of grandeur. And atop this shed, a simple sign proclaims it to be "Elliot Hotel" Oh dear. The bus driver gave me an understandably funny look as I slowly slunk off the bus, wishing over and over in my mind for there to be 2 Elliott's and for this to be the wrong one. This hope was shattered, however, when a little green car with a lasy and a funny looking dog pulled up to claim me. Enter Lena (a Germanic Zambian) and Rowdy (a Rotti-shepherd cross) Lena helped me load my stuff and drove me around back where i could unload. Then it was inside to meet the new bosses.

Sitting inside the "bar" was one new boss, Peter who looked kind of like Santa Clause .. but in shorts ... and drunk. It wasn't long before I learned that Pete starts drinking some time between noon and 1pm and doesn't generally stop until the bar closes. Nice guy though. Enjoying the evening alongside Pete were Mark and Vanessa, the two young owners of the Post office. Within about 20 mins of arriving, I knew Vanessa's whole life story and then some. Nice girl, but wow could she talk! (It might be interesting to note that neither Mark, nor Vanessa remembered meeting me that night and I re-met them the next week) Sadly though, after 12hrs of sitting on a bus I wasn't much for talking, and excused myself to go and unpack and see my room.

Despite outward appearances, (it looked like a miniature portable class room, like the ones from Elementary school) I have to admit it was actually quite nice. It included a wardrobe, my own bed, a tv, fridge, microwave, a chair and a couch! Pretty fancy considering where I had been before.

The next morning was to be one of many early starts as I joined Lena at around 8am to start cleaning the rooms. The hotels routine was pretty standard, rooms in the am, and working the pub at 5pm, with free time to do what ever in between. Lena took me for a tour of the town, which took about 15mins and included such sights as the golf course (which had 9 holes of mini golf too!) the clinic, police station, library (only open between 1pm and 3pm like 2 days a week) the post office, and the gym (which was infested with spiders) At some point, I was introduced to the rest of the staff, which included Simon, our Yardie, Mark, our cook, and Phil, my other boss. All three were great fun, and many long evenings were spent joking around and generally messing about.

Well needless to say, with days spent napping in my air conned room (it got up to 45 most days!) it wasnt long before the only way to tell days apart was by what was on tv. Monday nights were marked by Criminal Minds and Boston legal, Tuesday was Law and Order, Wednesday CSI Miami and Torchwood, and Thursday Stargate. The other 3 days only played movies really.

Most days at the pub were pretty dull and generally consisted of watching alot of news casts, which has subsequently led to my being more well versed in the current Australian election campaign that I ever was in the last Canadian one. (And let me tell you, both parties seem exactly the same)

Thursday and Friday nights were almost always hopping though, as it was pay day for most of the locals. Some of those nights got pretty rowdy, with more than a few visits from the police. To relate ever one of those amusing events would take way more time than I have at the moment though, so I'll spare you

After a while, I discovered that Desperate Housewives was on TV, followed by Oprah in the mid afternoon, so I started watching those instead of sleeping the afternoons away.

As a nice way to break the heat, we did visit the lake (which is larger than all of Elliott!) on a couple occasions. Once i went with Lena to take Rowdy for a swim, and another time I went with Phil, mark, Simon and two of our coppers, Ryan and Ben. (Ben had a thing for me ) Turns out one of the other police officers owned a jet Ski, which he was letting Ryan borrow in his absence. Ryan took me for a ride a couple times, amusing all my co-workers on shore by throwing me off the back, some times as far as 5 feet! It was great fun we also took Phil's speed boat and towed a tube behind it. After watching Ben tear his ear though, I wasnt too into the tubing action.

Somehow between the occasional visit to the like, and the comparative metropolis of Tennant Creek, two months almost flew by.I know at the time the days were long, but looking back I dont honestly know where the 2 months went!

So finally, it came time for me to pack up and leave my quiet, if slightly dull, sanctuary, and an amazing thing dawned on me. I was sad to be leaving! After 2 months of complaining and having nothing to do but watch tv, i was actually going to miss Elliott. I had made great friends with my co-workers, met some great and interesting people, remembered what it was like to have dogs around, and had a surprising amount of fun. it was really great to work in the Northern Territory, because its like a world of its own up here. Hotter than hell, and full of all sorts of people, many who are looking to hide from something, and many who are just ... there.