Day 1 (25th June 2006)
Arrived at Philip Island today at about 6 pm. Yeah we started the journey late, that’s why. We initially had trouble finding the place but we eventually found it. It was an endless narrow road lined with tall tall tall trees. It was like the trees unfolded themselves for us.
I was actually very sad yesterday. I had to face the fact that I was going to a place far away when I just finished my exam. I mean, I didn’t even have time to breathe after my 10 exam nightmare and now I have to leave. I’m just so going to miss out on so much fun within that first week of school holidays, and most of all, I’m going to miss dearest darling Neko. That poor kitty is so going to miss me. I bet she’s sleeping on my underwear drawer again. I haven’t been one night from her before, and I’m so worried that she’ll feel lonely and all that. Lucky I found some nice ppl to look after her, and they stay around the block too. So it’s pretty convenient for them as well.
Well, we placed our stuff at the farmer’s place first before proceeding to shwee’s relative’s restaurant to eat. Whao, the farmer’s name was Addi, and he has an Indian wife, Rosie. And they have one of the most beautiful houses I have ever entered in my life. it was beautifully, warmly decorated. Our room had 2 queen sized beds and our own toilet. This was a farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr cry from maffra, where I did my milk farm work.
Then we went to shwee’s auntie’s restaurant. Shwee has so many relatives there. Lucky girl! I felt a little bit like a leech there. Coz I was eating their food and yet I wasn’t really talking to them. Well they all spoke Cantonese or Chinese and both my languages suck! Its times like this that I really wished I made the effort to learn Cantonese from my grandma.
And speaking of my grandma… I drank this Cantonese soup they cooked just now and it tasted just like how my grandma cooked it. awwwwww I miss her so much. I really wish I could go back to Singapore now. But I have to be reasonable. I would do nothing there! I might as well spend my time here learning how to drive and dancing…
Well. Time for work tomorrow. And we only have to wake up at about 8! Hahahahahahah. We had to be up by 5 at maffra. This is just like a holiday! =)
Day 2
Okie, this will be quick coz I’m typing this on day 3 actually…
We woke up at 8.15am on our first day of work. And we had a hot drink in the morning before proceeding to work. Basically, there’s nothing much to do on this cattle farm. First we went to the shed where Addy released the smaller chickens and gave them some food. Then we went around checking all the cattle paddocks. We chased some cattle from one paddock to another and fed some cattle some hay in another shed, and 3 small calves some green stuff… I think it was dried oat or something. But it smelt good, like the alfalfa I buy for my rabbits in the past.
We then went throughout the farm, opening and closing gates to check on the cattle. Making sure everyone of them followed the herd. Then we went back for lunch. Shwee and I drove to the city and we had our own lunch. We sat at the beautiful beach (up where the grass is) and I just closed my eyes to sleep… it was so peaceful… if only another person was here. I mean, I really appreciate shwee’s family letting me est their restaurant food and all that but I’m really very paisei. As in, deep down inside me I kinda feel that the owner, shwee's aunt, is not very willing to give me food. I mean, just look at her face. Her mouth is turned down all the time. No smiles no nothing, and she hasn’t said one nice thing to me yet. I’d really rather go out to eat while shwee dines in her auntie’s restaurant.
Sigh… right now she’s at her aunt’s restaurant and I’m so glad I agreed not to go. It’ll be too painful for me to watch them talk in Cantonese and laugh all day long while I’m sitting there, half wondering what they are talking about and half laughing about some things they’re said that I’ve understand but 100% feel awkward and unwelcome.
Sigh... this is only Wednesday.
Anyway, after lunch, we went back to there farm where we followed addy to a broken fence to fix it. And for once I felt helpful being around. I offered to cross under the fence to collect the broken pieces of concrete when he had difficulty bending down.
Later Addy showed us his olive plantation. Man, this guys is absolutely self sufficient. And he tells me and shwee that all the “fresh” stuff at the supermarket are at least 1 year old. Ahahaha, I find that hard to believe but yeah, it could very well be true.
Then we went home at about 5, bathed, and went to her aunt’s restaurant for dinner again. Lucky she didn’t want to eat dinner with her family at night. I mean, they eat at 9pm, that’s the time we should be sleeping. Also, I feel sooooooooo uncomfortable there. Just wish I could melt and disappear into thin air when I’m these kinds of situations.
We went back ta about 8.15pm, changed and watch a few MTVs, then half of dirty dancing Havana nights.
Day 3
OMG it’s only day 3. To be honest, it’s not the farm that’s killing me now; it’s the thought of going to her auntie’s restaurant. I hate to feel awkward. And besides, all they called me is “ni de pend you” as in “your fren” they never speak to me directly.
We started work very late today coz Addy returned from his first round late. Then we had to wait somemore coz Addy and Rosie needed to do some administrative work. We left the house at about 10 plus. We went to the work shop at the shed and watched him make some hinges. It was fun to bump around there. I choreographed 2 eights there. hahahhaha.
Then we went back from lunch. Hmmm… Rosie cooked curry today. It was pretty hot for me but I really wanted to show them how thankful and appreciative I was so I ate as much as I could. We even had basmati rice with it. hahaha, and Addy could eat spicer stuff than me. I’m such a loser for an Asian. (in terms of eating spicy stuff lah!)
Then we bumped around in the house again. It was such a cold day that even Addy said that he wasn’t going to do much work today. He was just going make the hinges. So we stayed at home. Hahaha, we didn’t even open and close gates today. (well, that’s what we felt we were doing all the time anyway. Hahahha)
Then we watched scary movie 3. Well I continued to watch the whole thing. Shwee wanted to go to her aunt’s place to find them. And I decided to stay here by myself. Maybe I should go out and talk to Rosie. I can tell they’re very lonely people. I dunnoe if Addy has any children but there certainly are no photos of them if they ever existed.
I know he married Rosie as his second wife. And he went all the way to Sri Lanka to find her. And I have a feeling Rosie worked in Singapore before. Well… apparently there are a lot of scandals going down here in this little town amongst all the farmers and longer staying Philip Islanders. There is this one guy to came over yesterday. He’s now married to his 4th wife. Who is from Malaysia and now cannot go back coz she’s over stayed and her passport has expired for 4 years already. This guy is not working and drinks all day, and get government grant. His 2nd and 3rd wife he sponsored from figi divorced him and his 3rd wife even had a child with him. Today this lady, her husband and their grandkid with a stuck up face came to visit Addy during lunch. Rosie told us that she’s been married 6 times. Her 5th husband suffered a stroke not too long ago and so she left him. She’s now a grandmother to 14 kids and a great-grand-mother to 1.
Sigh… I never knew farmers had this sort of shit too. And how shameless can this people get?
Friday faster come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 4
Wednesday… only? Oh well, it wasn’t a bad day. We didn’t do anything much as usual. Hahaha… we woke up at a record of 8.45 today!!!! And guess what, Rosie made some lovely pancakes for breakfast. Whao, they were the best pancakes I have ever tasted in my life. It was just so full of that delicious eggie flavour. I could even eat it on its own. We ate it with maple syrup and butter, and I even tried it with some of Rosie’s homemade marmalade. Well the marmalade wasn’t too bad. It was just a bit bitter for me. But hmmm… the pancakes were fantastic!
Today we just lifted 5 bales of hay to 5 paddocks, and then went around looking for a lost dog. We even met the Philip island fox hunters. Yeah, that was that dog that was lost. It was a cute blood hound. They went around Addy’s farm to hunt the fox with about 6 hounds. We rode our buggi and went to look for them, Addy wanted to tell them where he dog was, but by the time we got there, they already found the dog. Well that’s good for them (I’m starting to sound like Addy himself). Anyway, Addy stopped to speak to the hunter for a while. The hunter was holding a shotgun and as he spoke to us, he held his gun behind him. But that still didn’t hide the fact that he was a killer.
It just really surprised me that Australia would still resorts to this sort of hunting methods to get rid of their foxes. Surely there are other more less cruel ways? It seems to me that everything foreign or not originally from Australia is considered a nuisance. And it doesn’t matter what they do to these animals. They can stuff them and turn them into souvenirs or kill them for lab experiments like the frogs, or hunt them brutally like these foxes, or simply not treat them when they are injured and brought into vet clinics, like some possums.
I asked Addy if they selectively kill the foxes. Like kill only males and not mothers and young ones, and he said no. Well anyway, the british people claim to do that when they fox hunt. Anyhow, to me, it doesn’t matter if you selectively kill of just kill, you are still killing them cruelly and it’s down right wrong. (shit… I really am starting to sound like Addy) some of my fellow vet students from Britain actually still fox hunt. It’s just rubbish! How can they even be vets? Shitheads…
After that, we came home for some rest then shwee and I went out to the town for lunch with her mum in her other aunt’s restaurant. This auntie is a godsister of shwee’s mum. And she’s a whole lot nicer. They even greeted me. So I ate happily and not guiltily. Then we walked around the shops. I bought some natural lip balm and it feels great and smells great on my lips. And then we bought some ice cream for them, so that they can eat it with pancakes. Haha, then we went out with Addy to try to get a chainsaw back form his fren on another farm. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a home. So we went back empty handed.
Haha, we went back home to do nothing again! We ate some pancakes with ice cream for tea, and then I went to shower and arrange some of my photos on my computer while we waited for dinner. Then we ate some fried rice Rosie cooked, and then watched some TV that really stirred up my feelings. Yeah, it was about misogyny. You know how I hate this sort of stuff. plus racism and cruelty to animals and the environment. Okie, shall talk about them some other time.
The warm TV room plus the smell of the wood fire just made me and shwee so sleepy. And it was only 9.30!!!! We retired to our rooms and so I’m typing this now.
Overall, the farm is pretty cool. I mean, Addy doesn’t have any viruses or bugs (except lice) troubling him. Coz it’s just too cold for any mosquitoes to spread arboviruses, too cold for ticks, no fleas, only some small worm problems. (We’re going to do drenching tmr if the weather permits)
Sigh… at dinner, while shwee and I were helping them wash up, Rosie said “you 2 are like his children to him, coz you follow him around and keep him company” whao… I felt so so so so touched. I so know what it’s like to be lonely. And I just can’t bear to see these good hearted people feel lonely. Especially Addy. He’s just so kind and so frenly and so warm. He’s also very un-australian. In fact he reckons the English and Yankees and Australians are rubbish stupid people “sometimes” hahhaha.. what he means of course is the bad things that they do.
Till this point, I’m pretty convinced that Addy doesn’t have children. And my heart just aches to think of him feeling lonely. I dunnoe if he longs to have children and I will never know. But I really hope he lives a good happy life no matter what.
And I really miss Neko too…
Day 5
Woohoo… 2nd last day! Today, so far, was th hardest work of all. And guess what it was… Gardening… yup. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining and it was warm and sunny. The wind was still terribly cold though. We helped Addy oil the hinges and bolts and what not at the cattle crush (for animal idiots, it is a place where cattle are held for inspection, application of medicine etc) in the morning. Then we went out for lunch at shwee’s aunt’s place again (the one who’s not very nice). And for the first time, some of the other relatives talked to me abit. One of them even made fun of me in a non-offensive way. I mean, which would you rather. For them to ignore you for make fun of you? It was nice to sit there for the first time. I didn’t feel too awkward.
Then we went back to the farm early to do some gardening with Rosie since there was nothing to do on the farm already. My goodness… I felt as though I pulled 3 wheelbarrows of weeds but the garden still looked weedy. Oh… did I mention that they had their own bees? Yeah... natural honey, and it tasted so damn GOOD. Anyway, Shwee and I though it was the hardest work so far. And we couldn’t stop laughing about it. I mean… we’re gardening, not doing farm work, and it was harder work. Ahhahahaha
Rosie made some delicious ice coffee for a pre-dinner drink. My my my… hmmmmmmmm thinking of it just makes me drool. She’s a damn good cook!
We went back to our rooms to retire and clean up. Then I went out to see if rosie needed help with dinner. Hmmmm… my nose nearly lead me up in the air. The aromatic smell of whatever she cooked was making me tear. It was baked pasta. But her’s was so good. I don’t know why… we even had some red wine for dinner. Hmmm... Fabulous. I ate so much pasta my tummy bloated up so much I think it protruded more than my boobs.
Then we chatted till it was 10, then we went to bed. And before that. Rose said it again… “we’re gonna miss you when u leave” oh it just tears me up to see these beautiful people sad… clearly, money isn’t everything…
And btw, we learnt that rosie is a rich business women from sri lanka and has traveled the world man… Addy’s ex-wife died of cancer. (I sort of guess it right… coz in the book shelf. There were ao many many books on cooking, traveling, farming but just one odd book about ‘how to fight cancer’) Addy lived for a year alone when his ex-wife died and he was really skinny and sad… my heart bleeds for him
Day 6
friday... at last! sigh... it feels weird to leave unhappily, but i'm kinda 60% sad, 40% happy. coz i know they are so going to miss us. i hope they adopt someday. anywayz, we did drenching today. was really dusty. and 2 of Addy's frens came to help. one of them actually asked us "so which part of china are you from" FUCK! i nearly fainted...
to them, all yellow skined people are from china...
anywayz, we had lunch, then packed our stuff and left. it was hard to say goodbye. hahahaha, in maffra i couldn't wait to leave! sigh... i promise to send them pictures. hope it'll make them happier maybe?
instead of leaving immediately, we went to the rest to pick up shwee's mom. then the mean auntie was there as usual... sheesh... she's really nasty.. shall not spoil my mood by typing them out.
yeah, then we stopped over at shwee's place to pick ur her brother. then they sent me home. (thanks!)
what a week.... this is no doubt the most enjoyablle farm trip ever! they kept telling us to come back whenever we can. yeah sure. i'll bring ni along too. she can do her farm work there. if she makes it to vet that is.
okie okie.. here's a free add for the nice farmers... if you're looking for beautiful accommodation for your stay on philip island during the summer, go stay there!!!!! they have 3 rooms, 120, 130, 150 a night. and Rosie will cook breakfast for you! AU NATURAL from the garden and farm!!!!! honey, herbs, eggs, apples, pear, etc etc...
wink*
This is boisson, the famly farm dog. he's just sooooooooooooooo adorable!!!!!
This is just one of the 5 herds of cattle he has. the one at the front with the patch of prange curly fur on her forehead is Perier. she's just soooooooooo stupid-cute!!!! coz she was once a housepet. then later on the owners dont want her, so they passed her to Addy. so everytime a human walks up, she goes up to them while the other cattle run away. expecting a pat and an apple. heee.. she's soooo cute!!!!!
Imagine driving thru this everyday.... peaceful and refreshing...
