Time to artificially breath my blog into use again :)
As some of you may know, a LOT has happened since last spring and my last post. If I remember correctly my last post was from Shanghai more or less in the halfway of my time there. Well, the rest of the spring went really well and I manage to travel around China also a bit; Yellow Mountains, Hainan tropical island in the South and of course Beijing with the Great Wall. In some point I may share the pics from these adventures but not right now.
Because now is time to reveal last 4 months which I have been in -ta-da-da-da-daa- Australia! Last June when I was already thinking about returning home and finishing my studies I got to thinking what I really want in that point. After couple of weeks of serious brainstorming I came into conclusion that studying just wasn't the thing for me anymore. So I decided to have a year off and just concentrate what I want to do. Then just before my 25th b-day I realised that Australia and Working Holiday visa would be the once in a lifetime opportunity for me in exactly that moment. Couple of more days of thinking and the decision came by itself; I got the Visa in less than 20 h from application and everything was ready to go. Next thing I realised was that actually I had no need to return to Europe in between but I could fly straight from Shanghai to Australia. Of course this wasn't that easy but you get the point ;) In reality, I had to take an 18h train from Shanghai to Shenzen, then walk to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Manila and finally from there to Sydney.
So there I was, 150$ in my pocket and adventurous mind. But I have always believed that when you have the will and right spirit you will find a way. Of course the first thing in the mind was to find a job from anywhere, as long as it was paid. So after first night in Sydney it was time for tremendous job hunt. This took 3 days and we found ourselves perfect job in the outback, 800 km west from Brisbane in 200 inhabitants town called Augathella.
Skipping now some things but let's just say that after Shanghai, Augathella was definitely an experience one of a kind; from one extreme to another. We worked there for exactly 3 months to get the days done for the second year visas. When on a Working Holiday Visa you need to do 88 days of rural work in the certain field of industry and in certain postcodes to secure the 2nd year visa.
I don't know yet if I want to have the 2nd year visa but at least now I only need to apply for it if I do decide that I want to come for another before turning 31. The work in Augathella was at the Roadhouse/Motel&Caravan park so basically almost everyday at the week we were doing different things; gas station, reception, cooking, kitchen hand, cleaning, etc... Time there went super-super fast but let's just say that during the last 2 weeks I was already looking forward to end our term and head to Cairns to meet our friends there.
I also experienced couple of "only-in-Australia" adventures there; like roo-shooting (kenguru shooting) and pigging (hunting wild pigs with dogs and driving around in the forest like an insane person).
But this was just a catching up post. Next one will be from Cairns (Great Barrier Reef and skydiving as my highlights) and then some more life in Outback since in couple of days I'm heading again "into the wild", eg. outback this time working on a cattle and sheep farm at least until christmas.
Stay tuned ::)
As some of you may know, a LOT has happened since last spring and my last post. If I remember correctly my last post was from Shanghai more or less in the halfway of my time there. Well, the rest of the spring went really well and I manage to travel around China also a bit; Yellow Mountains, Hainan tropical island in the South and of course Beijing with the Great Wall. In some point I may share the pics from these adventures but not right now.
Because now is time to reveal last 4 months which I have been in -ta-da-da-da-daa- Australia! Last June when I was already thinking about returning home and finishing my studies I got to thinking what I really want in that point. After couple of weeks of serious brainstorming I came into conclusion that studying just wasn't the thing for me anymore. So I decided to have a year off and just concentrate what I want to do. Then just before my 25th b-day I realised that Australia and Working Holiday visa would be the once in a lifetime opportunity for me in exactly that moment. Couple of more days of thinking and the decision came by itself; I got the Visa in less than 20 h from application and everything was ready to go. Next thing I realised was that actually I had no need to return to Europe in between but I could fly straight from Shanghai to Australia. Of course this wasn't that easy but you get the point ;) In reality, I had to take an 18h train from Shanghai to Shenzen, then walk to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Manila and finally from there to Sydney.
So there I was, 150$ in my pocket and adventurous mind. But I have always believed that when you have the will and right spirit you will find a way. Of course the first thing in the mind was to find a job from anywhere, as long as it was paid. So after first night in Sydney it was time for tremendous job hunt. This took 3 days and we found ourselves perfect job in the outback, 800 km west from Brisbane in 200 inhabitants town called Augathella.
Skipping now some things but let's just say that after Shanghai, Augathella was definitely an experience one of a kind; from one extreme to another. We worked there for exactly 3 months to get the days done for the second year visas. When on a Working Holiday Visa you need to do 88 days of rural work in the certain field of industry and in certain postcodes to secure the 2nd year visa.
I don't know yet if I want to have the 2nd year visa but at least now I only need to apply for it if I do decide that I want to come for another before turning 31. The work in Augathella was at the Roadhouse/Motel&Caravan park so basically almost everyday at the week we were doing different things; gas station, reception, cooking, kitchen hand, cleaning, etc... Time there went super-super fast but let's just say that during the last 2 weeks I was already looking forward to end our term and head to Cairns to meet our friends there.
I also experienced couple of "only-in-Australia" adventures there; like roo-shooting (kenguru shooting) and pigging (hunting wild pigs with dogs and driving around in the forest like an insane person).
But this was just a catching up post. Next one will be from Cairns (Great Barrier Reef and skydiving as my highlights) and then some more life in Outback since in couple of days I'm heading again "into the wild", eg. outback this time working on a cattle and sheep farm at least until christmas.
Stay tuned ::)
