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Another Typical Stinking Hot Day Again!
Hey All
Once again sorry for the long time between emails but to be fair not much is
happening here at the moment. At the minute I'm just working to save up
for my
travels in the new year to see Dingo, Maz and Emma.
 However,
this is proving harder than expected as I'm with a recruitment agency and get
sent to different places each week working 30-40 hours on minimum wage so I'm
only clearing just under $400 a week which is crap when you take away bills,
rent and food. But I got some ideas up my sleeve so I'll let you all know how it
goes, all being well I'll be in Melbourne for Emma's birthday and Australia day
which should be fun and I can't wait to catch up with our old overseas players
and friends again!
I'm now just entered the 7th month of my travels and I can't believe how quick
the time has gone, it doesn't seem 2 minutes since I was stage diving to the
darkness at my leaving do back in March, (I don't remember the incident myself
but I've seen the video
footage hehe). I bet Caz is happy not having to hear that national anthem of
Debdale for 7 months!!!!
For those people I told that I was staying for
 another
6 months I would just like to say now that that won't be happening, for me to
stay meant doing 3 months labour on a farm, so back at the beginning of October
I drove down to Innisfail (1hr south of Cairns) and started work on a banana
farm. After 5 hours of being knee deep in sludge, bitten, covered in cobwebs and
god knows what else I decided to retire from the farming industry after 5 hours,
I ain't flown all this way to do that. So I'll be home in April friends.
Now, working with this recruitment agency is ok I suppose, I can work when I
want (even though they ring everyday begging me to work). But the only work
available is still kitchen hand work which is crap, I spend all shift cleaning
up dirty equipment, elbow deep in fat and grease, I have to put up with arrogant
chefs that think they're some kind of god of the kitchen that must be
worshipped, etc. But at some places I get a free meal which is ok. I started off
by working 10hr shifts at the Shangri-La hotel in Cairns starting at 4:30am and
finishing at 3pm cleaning up after all the Orientals that stay there and have
bloody rice and noodles for breakfast which welds itself onto the plate an is a
pain in the backside to clean, and the plates are weird shapes which doesn't
make life any easier... God they're so annoying, then you drive home and they
just walk out in the middle of the road, its sooo tempting not to stop!!! Anyway
enough ranting (suppose that's how you get working in a hot kitchen all day).
Next I was sent to Green Island (Green Island is a tiny coral cay lying about
30km from Cairns, and only 12 hectares in area. The island features spectacular
rainforest, as well as beautiful coral beaches. It also lies upon 710 hectares
of reef, making it a
fantastic diving spot. Green Island started to develop around 6000 years ago, as
the waves swept the loose debris from the reef into a large pile. This
eventually emerged from the water, at which time vegetation began to grow as
 seeds
were blown or carried by birds onto the island. Green Island was originally an
initiation ground for the males of the Gungandji people. In Aboriginal, Green
Island is actually called Wunyami which means 'place of haunted spirits'. Green
Island was given it's current name by James Cook in 1770, after Mr Charles Green
who was an astronomer onboard the
 Endeavour)
to work at the resort which meant catching a boat to the Barrier Reef to get to
work which is quite funny imagining some of you waiting for the bus in the rain
and I'm sat looking at the sharks and turtles waiting for my ride home from work
hehe! So I did a couple of week there on and off. I stayed over a couple of
nights and went
for a swim on the reef in the morning but because I didn't have any goggles or
anything I couldn't see much when I opened my eyes.
After green Island I spent a week at the docks painting a prawn trawler which
meant being out all day in the sun, it's hard to imagine having to work quick
with paint as it dries in under an hour out here. But still it was nice to get
out the kitchen and do some other type of work.
Then last week I worked in the kitchen at the Radisson Talltrees Resort in Port
Douglas and at Las Palmas Junior Sailors accommodation for perhaps the cushiest
job ever. All I had to do is start at 10:30, wash a couple of things, deliver
dinners to the Australian Naval Ships at the wharf, come back wash some more
stuff finish at 2 then do it all again at 4:30, needless to say I left my
contact details so I can do this work on a permanent basis as I've lost the
desire to work hard for no money in hot kitchens anymore!
It's now the indoor season here which takes place on a Monday night. This is
great fun and I encourage those of you at North Notts to go and have a go if
there's any games going off. The rules are a bit of a brain explosion but its
awesome for you stick work and keeps you sharp in the off season. I've also
completed my coaching level 1 which is equivalent to a level 2 in the UK I
think, and if I have time I'll do a state level 2 while I'm here as I'd rather
coach than umpire any day. This has been a great experience for me is I'm now
learning how to spot and correct things on a more professional level which is a
benefit to my own game as well as to those I'm asked to coach.
 In
September we had our awards night here where the theme was bad taste so at the
time Shane Warne was in the news for his text exploits so we decided that you
couldn't get any worse than him. As the night passed and the rum flowed, helium
was inhaled and I had an audience with Taggie, explaining in detail about every
creature that has attacked me since I've been here and also how much bigger they
are too. Oh yeah I won a trophy too, most improved player hehe!
I've also discovered some CDs called the 12th Man which is the funniest thing
I've ever heard so you must ask me to lend them you when I'm back. It's
basically a comedy based originally around the wide world of sports (aussie
version of grandstand) then later based itself on Richie Benaud being the
captain of the commentary team. He goes on to talk about Australia vs India and
how the Indian batsmen such as...
Sunil Avascar
Cutiz Arminalf
Mycarza Bitrusty
Rubbish Binny (he was left out overnight)
Mohammed Azabigun
Asifi Giashiit
Asayi Giashiit
Jaravegamite-for-meandad
Ikeemyteef Inajarbesidabed
played. It's funny hearing Richie swear in his commentary. But I'll say no more
so if you're interested I'll burn you a copy. There's also other sports such as
football, weightlifting, AFL, Rugby etc covered.
Now onto the title of my email. We just entered "spring"
here and boy it is hot and humid and I'm told it's only gonna get worse.
Everyday is over 30 but its the humidity that's bad, some days there's just no
breeze and the air feels heavy. I know some of you are thinking why am I moaning
but trying to sleep at night or watch telly and all your doing is wearing next
to nothing and just sat there sweating it gets uncomfortable after a while. But
it's good for back yard BBQ's where we get some people over and get drunk into
the night. Apart from that Cairns is still as beautiful as ever and I'm still
enjoying life here, making new friends and going fishing with some of the guys
from hockey.
So that's it from me until the next time I wish you all well and hope all the
North Notts teams keep winning. I'm always on the net or texting people to
find out how things are going. To be honest I see pics and reports on the
website and I'm missing it so much.
Can't wait for a pint of Mansfield at Debdale.
Congratulations to Jay and Clare on their engagement.
Oh, I've updated my photo's so click on the link below and enjoy
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=84418788733
Take care friends, live the dream
Taggie
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