17.09.2010
Just as I haven’t taken pictures since the end of my tour, I have slowed down in writing as well. Today, a hot Friday in Katherine, I definitely have the time to recap the last few days.
On Tuesday in Darwin, I awoke to a pleasant surprise. I guess there must still be come sort of valid backpacker’s ethical code, which made my thief in the night return my wallet, because after breakfast, a guy from the bar handed it to me, saying it was dropped off. No cash and many useless bank cards, of course, but at least I have my wallet back.
Because I had no read idea of when exactly we were going to leave for Katherine and the guys I asked could only answer me with “This afternoon, or tomorrow morning”, I got my stuff done in the morning, sending off a box of jackets and other cold weather clothes, some brochures, flyers and other scrapbook items as well as my shot glass collection till now (7 in only 5 weeks!) and using the free internet in the library. The rest of the afternoon was once again more or less spent at the hostel by the pool. I did join the guys for a five minute drive to the Op Shop, a second hand clothing store run by a church where one can get really cheap (and mostly pretty ugly) clothes, to look for long sleeved shirts and the yellow/orange jacket or shirt (bright colors used in construction and labor work) we need to be able to work on the farm. This was the first time I was confronted with our vehicle for the trip – a bright yellow, 28 year old camper van, decked out with a sink and lots of cupboards and 2 mattresses, a gas cooker outside, curtains on the windows, some lights and and fans. Of course, everything was kind of falling apart and looked like they had definitely seen better days… But hey, for 100$, what did I expect?
After another few meal at the Vic, I walked around town in the evening, down the very happening Mitchell Street, filled with bars and backpackers, ate frozen yoghurt from Cole’s and then headed back to the Vic for a few drinks with the Swedish guy, the Israeli guy and a Canadian girl I had spent some time with in their room the evening before. It was ladies’ night again and I found myself with a pink tag around my wrist for an hour of free champagne. Before that though, there was a raffle for a 50$ bar tab, a marshmallow eating contest (where you stick more and more marshmallows I your mouth and have to repeat sentences) and a game which I joined before knowing what had to be done. The two guys we were with could win the privilege of being a girl (hence, free champagne) for the night, so I thought I’d do them the favor. Two teams of two guys and two girls each got a giant hose made of stretchy fabric and in pairs, had to crawl in and change clothes. Lucky for our team, us girls both had dresses on and the guys shorts and t-shirt. Next thing I know, I’m on my knees, crawling out of a tunnel wearing quite comfortable clothes and the Israeli guy is walking around in my dress for an hour. Turned out to be fun night of champagne, dancing and the guys complaining about how people were staring at their cleavage.
The next morning, around 11 or so, we piled in to the van – 2 of us in the back on the mattresses – and headed to pick up once more who was staying at a not-so-legal campground. And just our luck, there was a swarm of police cars there, because they had just raided an empty military building that was being squatted in right next to where the few camper vans were parked. So instead of finally commencing our journey, we had to hand in our passports and wait till the immigration officer present had checked out our visas. After that little delay, we hit the road and drove the 300km down to Katherine, stopping every 100km to check the oil (old van and all). We even stopped in Adelaide River, where I had stopped with the tour coming up and visited the pub with the water buffalo from Crocodile Dundee again. The stops did kind of slow us down, but I didn’t mind, because I was curled up on a mattress in the back and slept most of the way, waking up only to stare out the window at the familiar repetitive landscape of the bush. Only this time, the earth and termite mounds became redder and the trees a bit scarcer. It was hot back there and if I had been more aware and awake, I probably would have been uncomfortable, but just bearing with the constant drip of sweat down my temples, my back and chest made it less stressful.
We got to Katherine in the early evening and went straight to Manbulloo Homestead Caravan Park, about 10mins away from the city. Other camper vans, permanent caravans and cottages stood on the grounds, which are walking distance from the Katherine River. Three of us bunked in wit five Asians, also in our team of pickers, and the other two stayed in tents/the van (which by now had been christened “The Yellow Bastard”). The bed is comfortable, there are fans and air-conditioning, a little outdoor kitchen and two fridges and the bathrooms are just a short walk away. Actually more luxurious than I had imagined. It does come at a price of 160$ a week, which is outrageously high, but I tell myself, once we start work and spend 10-11h a day out on the fields, it will definitely feel worth it to come home to relax in a real bed and not have to deal with mosquitoes and heat during the night as well.
Thursday morning we were brought to the Manbulloo Mango farm, just five minutes away from our caravan park. Now here begin the downsides to this job. I found it through the French guys, who had found it through a guy named Matt – a contractor. Meaning, in the end, we are employed by him, not the farm itself. Meaning that we will probably see some of our wages flow into his pocket, instead of ours. Not only that, but we are asked to pay 10$ a day for a bus transport to and from the farm, because “they don’t let private vehicles on the farm”. However, after asking the boss at the farm, we found out that we are most certainly allowed to come by Yellow Bastard… But as we still haven’t met our contractor yet and still have no real details about the job, the payment and all that, I guess I can’t really complain yet…And to be honest, I am turning into quite the optimist. While one guy in our group wouldn’t sop about how bad this whole situation is (and I mean straight forward complaining about anything and everything not optimal at the moment), I have decided to keep and uphold the following frame of mind for as long as possible: at last I have a job lined up for the season through which I can earn back the money spent in the last 6 weeks and save up more for the rest of my travels – no matter how many little things could be better, it could always be worse. I could find myself with insufficient funds for any sort of enjoyable travelling or even end up having to go home earlier than I want to. So, always seeing the upside in things, it shouldn’t be too hard to bear with the little shortcomings.
The farm is one of the largest in Australia with over 42.000 trees, has two more mango production areas in Queensland with another 55.000 trees and exports to many countries in Asia. They grow two different kinds of mango – the R2E2 (hihi, Star Wars mango) and the Kensington Pride. Along with a large group of people who are going to work in the packing shed (lucky them!), we were shown presentations about the farm, mango picking and quality control and went through some paper work. I find the fact that it is a big farm quite reassuring, because it is more probable that the money will arrive on time. I’ve heard too many stories about backpackers working for a lower wage than promised and then waiting weeks and weeks for their payment. Of course, this again depends on our mysterious contractor, which we will hopefully meet on Saturday. Mango picking is said to be one of the tougher seasonal agricultural jobs, because harvest is usually done in quite harsh conditions – heat, insects and unpredictable and usually long hours. Plus, the fruit itself is quite delicate, so extra care must be taken in handling them. When picked, the sap that comes out of the stem for the first 30seconds can be quite corrosive and therefore special techniques must be used so the skin of the fruit and your own skin won’t get burned. Some people also have an allergic reaction to the sap and breakout in pretty bad rashes (for which I already bought the right cream in Darwin). I do hope that what is said about people having had more contact with mango not being as prone to this reaction as those who haven’t is true, because then I might actually be on the safer side, having devoured a fair amount of the fruit in the Philippines. But we will see…
By noon, we were brought back to the caravan park, were told to be there at 9am for training the next morning and had the afternoon off. We spent it in the town of Katherine – a small and bit dodgy town, where one is approached by drunken Aboriginals asking for a cigarette once an hour and can hear them yelling while driving through the streets. It’s not very welcoming and known for bad blood between Aborigines and white Australians. After free Wifi in McDonalds, we drove down to the Katherine Hot Springs (which were not very hot) and relaxed in the comfortably flowing water in the artificial swimming holes connected by the river. It is well made, cemented only on one side, leaving the opposite bank sandy and its flora untouched. There are signs warning about the dangerous saltwater crocs making their way into the river sometimes and about not disturbing the fresh water crocs as they may become aggressive. But with all the backpackers, tourists and local children swimming, wading and jumping into the water, I doubt that any crocs were lurking in the clear waters. Back at home, we cooked up what we had bought for dinner at Woolworths (lamb and potatoes) and that concluded our first full day in Katherine.
This morning we were woken up by our bus driver/guy working with Matt, only to be told that work was cancelled for a day or two because the fruit wasn’t ripe enough yet. Great. So our day has been slow… Eating, sleeping and watching How I Met Your Mother is about all I was up to this morning, making use of the free time, as I believe the next weeks will probably be 7day working weeks. In the late afternoon we drove to the Low Level Reserve, a spot by the Katherine river where you can swim in the rushing water by trees full of flying foxes (large bats) and watch hawks circle the skies above you. The water was warm and the flying foxes loud… After yet another trip to Woolworth, one of the guys cooked authentic Italian Carbonara, which was truly delicious. Too bad our mood go dampened by the news that work will probably only start on Monday. Ugh. A whole weekend in Katherine, spending money on accommodation and food and just itching to get picking. But as I said, I am smiling over my gritted teeth and hoping that we will make the best of these next days.
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