G'Day Everybody!

At the moment I am almost a week at the farm course and it has been almost 2 weeks since my last blog update. So this it what has happened during that time. Wednesday 19 November I checked out at YHA Central Sydney with Lindsay, a Canadian girl with whom I would relacate a camper van from Sydney to Melbourne. It was an Apollo camper van with a maximum capacity of 2 adults and a child. Because of it being a relacation Apollo paid for all of the fuel (if we did not exceed the amount of kms it took to get from Sydney to Melbourne). On top of this we would get 100 dollars for the service. After picking up the van and paying for some insurance, etc. we would actually break even. This was really nice as we had to drive through an awesome scenery. We got 2 days for a +/- 1000 km trip which was off course more than enough in order to be able to do something on the road. Wednesday we decided to drive most of the trip so we would not have to drive a lot on Thursday which would give us the opportunity to do something.
We decided to go canoeing in Albury, a city located 300 kms from Melbourne. The night from Wednesday upon Thursday we spent on a rest area next to the highway. It was a really nice spot. We drank a few beers, made dinner (beans), saw a movie (Tucker and Dale versus Evil) and went to sleep. The next morning we had to drive +/- 120 kms to Albury where we would meet up with a rep of the canoe company in a park with a very difficult name at 10:30 am. We took 4 beers per person and embarked on a 3-4 hour canoe trip. It only should have taken a little bit more than 2 hours but the weather was really good so we took our time. We chilled on the water, drank our beers and stopped a few times to swim a bit. It was a really nice canoe trip. After the canoeing we went to the supermarket and got 22 sausages (deal 22 for 7 dollars) and thought we would be able to finish them all which, of course, we didn't. After this we made dinner on one of the free BBQ spots in the park, which are actually really well organized in Australia. Hands down for that! We finished our 24 pack of beers, watched a movie (Little Fockers) and went to bed. The next day we just drove the last 300 kms to Melbourne and delivered the van. In the city we met up with George and Alex, two other Canadians we met in Sydney. I checked in in my hostel (United Backpackers) which was actually a really nice hostel located in the center. After this we went to Nandos restaurant for dinner and I had a Surpreme Burger which was beyond good. The next day (Saturday) we did some sightseeing in Melbourne. I dicovered that Melbourne is a lot quiter than Sydney, more easy going and just 'nicer'. There is a very different vibe in Melbourne which made that I liked it more than Sydney. At 7 pm I took the FlyExpress bus back to Sydney in order to be Monday in Sydney to get to the Farm Course. Sunday I arrived in Sydney at 6:20 am. I spent some time in the central station for its free wifi. I decided to rent a locker in the YHA Central for a few hours just to be able to get rid of all my luggage for a while (More than 30 kgs starts to get heavy after a while). Sunday I wanted to use to get some things for the farm course. I needed a very cheap pair of pants and a shirt. After a few hours of walking around I finally found a hideous shirt for 10 dollars and a pair of jeans for the same amount of money. I knew I would buy them for farm work so they didn't have to be fancy. At night I checked in at the Red Star Backpackers hostel. In the morning I found out my train got replaced by a bus due to mechanical failure. In the bus I met 3 other people who would go to the farm course: Carolin and Alex(andra), german girls (who would have guessed) and a dutch guy named Gys but during the course people would refer to him as Mike as Gys is very difficult to pronounce when you are not dutch. Sometimes he even got called Norman of Rosco, which was actually an act of teasing. Halfway 2 other germans got on the bus (Alex and Till). I knew these guys already from my first week in Australia during the Ultimate OZ week. The 3 remaining people I would meet in Quirindi. These people were: Ruth, a british girl (Manchester); Edward, a guy from Belgium (Brussels) and Jet, a girl from the Netherlands (Groningen). Eventhough there were 2 persons who spoke perfect dutch, so far we have not spoken Dutch to eachother (even if its would be a conversation between just the 2 of us). I didn't come here to speak Dutch and I have no intention to do so. This works really well for the Dutch guys and me. We try to encourage everybody to speak English all the time as it is kind of not sociable if you speak a language that others persons in the group do not understand. Other than this issue the group atmosphere is really good. The course itself is awesome! Real value for money. The 2000 dollars I spent for these 4 weeks have been really worth it so far. John, the CEO of Total Care Farming, is a really passionate man whos objective is very nobel. He wants to create a farming process which is sustainable and good for the well fare of the animal (sheep). His goal is to bring meat (e.g. lamb) on the market which is accessible to people who nowadays can't afford to buy this kind of meat. All of this with the well being of the animal in mind. To achieve this he tries to adapt his farming methods. For exemple: he tries to get the amount of stress sheep experience during being moved as low as possible by using Lifestock Mental Manipulation. These methods he teaches us (his students) because he believes this is the futur of farming. His second goal is to train people to a stage where they are able to run a farm. A lot of farmers struggle to be profitable. He wants to open a respite center for farmers who are in trouble. In this respite center he wants to reach out to them and teach them how to do things better without forcing anything. Where do we come in (students)? It is almost impossible for a farmer to leave his or her farm for a few weeks in a row. John wants to train people (us - but in a more elaborate course) to be able to care for these farms while their farmers are in the respite center. I think these are two very nobel goals and actually I would be able to see myself participating in such an intensive farm course. Making the world a better place is the nobelest thing you can do in my opinion. Respect for John, his wife Martine and everybody else involved (especially Al and Kate who are really involved in the schooling program). During the first week we already learned a lot of things. Tuesday we got explained the filosophy of the farm and some rules. We had a BBQ for lunch at a hill top overlooking the farm. I felt like being in the Lion King. Being high overlooking the farm and learning where the borders of the farm were located. It was very impressive. If you would walk across the borders of the farm it would take approximately 24 hours to get to the starting point again. After lunch we got a tour around the farm in a 4x4 drive which was necessary. John told us a lot about the farm and his vision for the farm. I learned a lot on my first day. Wednesday we got a Livestock Reproduction Training from Martine and after 'Smokey' (morning tea time) we got a course of Livestock Mental Manipulation from John which was very interesting. In the afternoon we guided as a group a mob of sheep from a yard to one of the paddocks. This was an awesome experience. I learned a lot. Thursday we got a first aid training from kate and afterwards we got a course of vehicle maintenance and basic driving. Friday we learned basic fencing and next week we will be fencing for most of the time as this is one of the most important skills you need to work on a farm. Yesterday we did 2 awesome walks in the middle of nowhere. The landscape was stunning. In the evening we went to a pub to have a few drinks and dinner. Now it is Sunday. Today I will be doing my laundry and relax a bit I guess. I am really loving being here and as I said before: It is really value for money + you live with wild kangaroos etc. + you develop a wide range of skills. I recommend this course to anyone!!! You won't regret it. Sign up for a Total Care Farming course! So this was my blog for now! See you in a few weeks! See yah mates ;)

Cheers,

Thomas