Abby Goes To The Outback

It's amazing how an impending deadline can just creep up on you. One moment you feel like you have all the time in the world, and the next it's basically crunch time. This is exactly what happened to me with the expiration date on my Australian Working Holiday visa. I knew I would need to find work in Oz after my east coast trip if I wanted to be able to afford a trip to New Zealand, but as I was traveling the east coast it felt like I had all the time in the world to find a job. Now here I am, with nine weeks left on my visa, and heading to the outback to make some fast money.

When I left Surfers Paradise I assumed I'd find a job in Brisbane, hopefully two,  fairly quickly and have more than enough time to save up some money for more traveling as well as enjoy some time living the city life. But once I got to Brisbane I realized it would  take a little longer to find work than I anticipated, that I actually had really limited time until I had to leave the country, and even if I did find a job I'd really only make enough to finance my living costs in the city with hardly anything to put away for savings. I was financially stressed out and  beginning to worry I'd have to come home without being able to go to New Zealand, an option I really wasn't happy with. I came home from Australia the first time without feeling like I finished my trip and I really didn't want to make that mistake again.

So to solve my financial predicament I began to look at what they call "regional work," which is really just hard work out in tiny little towns in the outback. I knew it wasn't the ideal job (come on, I'd much rather be a city girl!), but I knew it was my only option if I wanted to keep traveling. So I decided to suck it up, go to the outback for 8 weeks, make a lot of money really fast and know that it was all an ends to a mean which would fund even more traveling.

As I write this post I am on a plane, heading to a tiny little town about two hours west of the coast. The town has a population of approximately 284 people (or it did in 2006), it is full of miners and truckers and is about the size of a clementine orange on google maps. Not really my kind of place, but again it's all for an end goal! I will be working in an accommodation village, which can house up to 600 people, basically serving miners and truckers stopping through the tiny town. I'll be doing anything from housekeeping to kitchen work to bar work to possibly admin work. Basically I'll be an all-rounder at a junction cafe. But on the bright side I will be working 45-60 hours a week, so hopefully I will be to tired from all the hard work to actually care that I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.

So here goes. Abby, a city girl who prefers hustle and bustle, getting dressed up and being surrounded by heaps of people at any given time, is taking on the outback. It will be dead quiet, full of redneck Australian miners and cowboys and definitely the complete opposite of a busy city. It might be ugly at times, and probably a little bit dirty, but it's short term and it will be worth it when it's all over.

Stay tuned! This blog has taken a definite turn of direction, and hopefully my struggles (or maybe surprising outcome which turns out to be better than I expect) will make a good laugh for all of you back home. I sure hope the outback is ready for someone like me!