Jude was friendly, and although a little 'airy-fairy' about some stuff, was very straightforward about telling us about what she wanted us to do, when she wanted to be left alone, and how we should make ourselves at home because she already had one child (almost 3-year-old Sam), and didn't need two more! The result of this was that we became pretty comfortable in her large, old Queenslander home (moved from Lismore on the back of truck... they do that in this country! Like the house but no the location? Solution: move the house); sorting ourselves cups of tea etc. whenever we felt like it.
Our own residence was in a comfy caravan across the grass clearing from the main house; under cover, with it's own covered decking area, it was perfect for sitting outisde in the morning or evening, with cups of tea, listening to the birdsong (including the ever-present whip-birds, with their distinctive male-female call and response) and spotting the adorable plump wallabies which grazed near by, and the stalking bushturkeys with their bright yellow-and-red ruffs. The windows of the caravan were surrounded by trees, so we woke up faced with greenery and green-tinged light every morning.
Jude shared her piece of land with Russel, who live in a studio across the clearing, and Steve and Petra, who live in an old bus in a clearing reached through the trees. She also had chooks, who peck about free-range during the day, and two horses who belonged to her neighbours grazing in the paddock next to her house. Across the large clearing from the house was a fire-area, where we sat a few times to eat dinner or drink chai in the evenings. When the sky was clear you could see thousand of stars scattered across the segment of sky trapped between the walls of the valley; it was really a beautiful and peaceful place.

Our work, howver, was not quite so peaceful! Since Jude and her husband both worked part-time as a counsellor and a pyschologist, respectively, one of her main aims when getting WWOOOFers and helpxchange-rs was to have help looking after Sam (not that we were told this on application, which grated a little bit to start off with!). So we took alternate days, one of us looking after Sam, playing with and entertaining him, and the other doing whatever chores or work Jude had lined up for us. We started late, which was nice, around 9am at the earliest, but it was a full-on day after that, particularly for whoever was looking after Sam, who was fairly 'easy' to look after but, like an 2 year old, noisy and full of energy. The key seemed to be to get a firm grasp of all the Cars movie characters, Thomas the Tank Engine trains, and Dora the Explorer Songs (not hard once we'd watched the same show segment about twnety times... we're still singing them now!). Neither of us are exactly used to children, but we did ok, I think - the fact that Sam would latch onto us (Nik more than me!), eager to play, the minute we came in for breakfast was some indication!
Our work was mostly house-related chores - cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, clearing cobwebs, putting cardboard on the veggie garden, helping Jude sort out her bedroom for when her friend came to stay, clearing out under the house. Though it was a bit stressful at times, mainly because of the normal chaos of the house and the energy required to look after Sam, it was fun, and Jude was so nice and happy to have us there that it was a good experience overall. One night she and her husband even went out for a meal at a restaurant five minutes away, leaving us to mind Sam for an hour. We were pretty terrified, but the level of trust they demonstrated in us was amazing. (though Jude left the phone number of her neighbour in case we couldn't deal with nappy-changing... luckily it didn't come up).

We went off to Byron for a few days holiday early on in our WWOOFing with Jude, but when we came back it was full-on again. Towards the end of our week her friend came to stay - brining with her not one, but two children - a 3 yeard old and an 8 year old. Needless to say, the house didn't get any calmer or less chaotic - the sound of two children crying in tandem while the older one tried to tell us endless stories over the din was quite something. At that point we were very happy to be leaving in just two days!

written by  LizIsHere on September 14, 2010 from Mullumbimby, Australia
from the travel blog: New Zealand & Australia 2010
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Прикольная статья, главное полезная :)

written by  Полиграфия on October 10, 2010

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