40, 45, 60, 70, 50… Those are the number of hours we worked
in the last 5 weeks. And day before yesterday, from one night to the next, it
was over… At least for the night shift. After taking care of the last
Kensington Pride mangoes during a relaxed and understaffed shift, we were told
that the season was over. Bittersweet – finally working good hours and earning
good money, many were disappointed that it was over. On the other hand, aching
backs and throbbing hands, itchy mango rash and sap burned skin were thankful
for the anticipated final day.
Moe and I, however, were asked to stay and help out the
small handful of people ending the season. A few more varieties, of which the
farm only has very few trees, need to be packed. The shed needs to be cleaned.
Fun stuff like that. So after ending our last night shift at 11pm and finally
forcing ourselves to sleep around 3am, we were back at work at 8:30am yesterday
morning.
There, we found a table full of strange looking oblong fruit
that were shaped more like cucumbers or eggplants than mangoes. Dragon Tooth –
a variety that is supposedly very delicious. Since this mango is so special, we
had/have to pack it differently. Two teeth sitting on a little pink foamy thing
have to be wrapped up in cellophane and decorated with a special sticker (Guess
what… It has a dragon on it.). This, turns out, is such tedious and slow work,
that we still haven’t finished and probably won’t finish anytime soon – despite
having started the 2-people shifts at 7am this morning.
Last night, we – meaning everyone who worked at the farm and
is still in town -were invited to dinner
in the Katherine Country Club. Now don’t go imagining a fancy shmancy “Country
Club”… it’s basically a golf course with a diner and a pub where the people of
Katherine meet to eat, drink and be merry (while the Aborigines scream at each
other out on the streets outside).
The food was so. damn. good! The waiters brought steak after
steak and after steak to our tables (and grilled Barramundi fillet to mine).
Some cake and ice cream to top it off. And while the others enjoyed the
Manbulloo tab at the bar, I sipped an ice cold orange juice – in awe of how
something so simple can be so heavenly. Full and fully satisfied, the many
happy faces slowly left the club and we ended up the final four (with two
French guys) sitting outside in front of the 9 televisions (again, something I
haven’t seen in a while) watching figure skating, the world’s most shocking
police videos, the new X-Men movie, dolphins, cartoons, gaelic football and dog
racing at the same time (the other screen was being used for Keno and dog
racing was on two TVs).
I must say, trying to switch from night to day shift within
one day has kind of thrown me off. Despite only a few hours of sleep, I was
wide awake when we got home at midnight last night. Today, after enough sleep,
I was/am groggy and weak – kind of like after having to get up at 2am to catch
an early flight or something. Jet lag is no fun. And in addition to turning my
body clock from upside down to right side around, there’s the heat. After
working and living in the cool of the night, the actual heat of the day is stifling.
Kind of like on the first few days of living in the camp here. So after wrapping
dragon tooths in cellophane for 4h today, all I can do is lie in our air-con
room and stay occupied so I won’t fall asleep.
The camp is empty. Only a few people remain. I’m one of the
last women left working. And we can’t wait to leave as well… We are just
waiting for the boss to say “Ok guys, you can start heading over” and we will
have our bags packed in a flash. The lists of what we still need to buy and do
before finally leaving Katherine have been compiled. The car door has been
fixed – well, almost, one little adjustment is still needed, but hey, Mechanic
Moe did a pretty good job! And I just can’t wait to drive down that dirt road
for the last time…
What exactly is waiting for us in Queensland, we don’t
really know. But it’s work and that’s good.
So the next blog entry will not concern mangoes for a
change… “On the road again…Just can’t wait to be on the road again”
Pictures of the day:
Moe fixing our car door, so we have a window that goes up and down.
Me working on our list of things to do and buy before we leave. Hello jet lag!
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