IN THE OUTBACK!

Hi, I've arrived in the outback at my new home until Christmas. The bus journey wasn't too bad although I now see what people mean about the straight roads for miles and miles and miles! Saw lots of kangaroos as well but unfortunately the majority of them were lying at the side of the road. My bus got into Longreach at 10.15am yesterday morning and it was 39 degrees! Chris wasn't coming into town with the family until 5pm and had checked me into a motel so I had the day to look round Longreach. This gave me the opportunity to visit the Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre. This was good very interesting but after 3hours I was feeling rather tired and headed back for a rest.

Chris arrived at 5.30pm with his 12 year old daughter and his 17yr old son. They are a lovely family and we went out for a meal then stayed at the motel over night. It was breakfast at 5am this morning so that we would be back in time for Sarah to get to school. Their farm in just outside Jundah which is about 215km from Longreach. Thankfully my tasks are indoors mainly as I am going to struggle with this heat! I'm in charge of getting Sarah ready for school and taking her there and back. After school we will go swimming most evenings and during the day I've just to tidy up the house. They don't have any outdoor work at the moment because of the heat. It wasn't the job I was intending to get but the family are lovely and it is going to give me a taste of the outback.

I have been invited to spend Christmas and New Year in Newcastle with the family I did the training with last weekend. I think Mark and I are going to go there and then head to Sydney for New Year. I then plan to travel for a few months and hopefully pick up a job after that when the mustering starts back up again - that could easily change though if Murray comes out to join me!

Anyway I better not spend too long on here. My mobile phone doesn't work out here so no point in sending me messages.

Speak soon.
xxxx