I left Melbourne early Friday morning and in some ways it was good to be back on the road. I’m one of those probably crazy people who actually quite enjoy travelling by public transport. Maybe it’s because I’ve experienced some excellent journeys on train, who knows. The journey to Mildura was entirely uneventful. About an hour or so out of the city it seemed that civilization fell away. There was nothing for many miles, a few kangaroos bouncing away from the tracks, then a few dirt roads, then tarmac then a small town. Eventually I arrived in Swan Hill and transferred to a bus which would take me the rest of the way.

From Swan Hill, it was even quicker to hit the countryside and there was nothing but farms. The soil increased in it’s red colour as we approached the Victorian, New South Wales border at the Murray River. I checked into the Oasis Mildura Backpackers hostel, early in the afternoon; met my new room mate Hans and settled in for a quiet night. The same could not be said for the next day, when on meeting some of the fellow guests, the goon was quickly flowing and the day was spent getting to know everyone and gradually getting more and more drunk.

My first impressions where that it was going to be easy to get a job here, everybody seemed to be working and was quite positive about getting the days signed off in order to get my second year visa, but after a few days I’ve heard nothing. Fortunately, I’ve met to awesome French dudes; Yves and Bastien who found a farm on their own and have invited Hans and I along to work there. Fingers crossed everything works out, we’re heading across the border on Friday to hopefully spend the next few weeks/months working on the orange farms.

There’s a lack of internet access at present and so I don’t currently know how easy it’s going to be to keep you regularly updated but I’ll do my best!