Before we move on to all things
Tasmania, I don't feel that my blog would be complete without paying
tribute to the job I had for the majority of my time in Sydney:
selling strawberries. Finally, I have sold my last punnet! I've said
that before (and gone crawling back to it) but I really, really have
this time as I move on to Tassy and my crazy Irishman boss Baz takes
his venture over to New Zealand in October. Sydney is now as
saturated with strawberries as it is possible to be; the market is
flooded, it's the end of the season and no one wants to buy them
anymore!
Despite my protestations (long hard
days picking strawberries up at Flemington market, then walking
several kilometres going door to door carrying 15kg worth of punnets
at a time) the job has had its moments. Aside from being surprisingly
lucrative ('red gold' Baz calls it) it has also taken me to almost
every single suburb of Sydney and beyond, giving me a much greater
appreciation for the city and its diversity. I feel like I know it
better than many locals, and definitely better than the tourists who
only ever see the harbour, the CBD and the beaches.
I must also do a shout-out to my fellow
sellers who went through it all with me (the blood, the sweat, the
tears...being chased by the council, or being completely ignored, and
the days when the strawberries were a bit mouldy but we had to sell
them anyway). In particular, my two lovely Italians, Cesare and
Mattia who made the whole thing not only bearable but fun!
Also a thank you to the anonymous
hundreds of people who would make the job worthwhile: who would
actually stop and talk to me, give me a smile, or ask me how I was
doing that day. You will never know just how grateful this poor
English girl was on those days to have a sympathetic word and be
treated as a fellow human being! Getting to know particular people,
knowing that I would be received warmly, and knowing where to go to
sell and keep my morale up (thanks go to the office blocks of
Parramatta!) kept me on the job. Through you, I re-discovered the
value and pleasure in basic human interaction and friendliness.
And so to Tasmania! Leaving Sydney was
harder than I thought, despite knowing I'll be going back to enjoy my
last month or so there. I had a fantastic house and a bunch of great
friends, in particular at Circus Arts, and I was sad to say goodbye!
So now I am in Launceston, and have
just finished helping out over the two weeks of school holidays at
Circ's'Cool. We've had the kids from 9-3 every day and it has been
quite intense, but also good fun. The school itself is in an old
church, and has the space for an indoor flying rig and rock-climbing
wall.
I am staying with the family who run
the school, and it has been quite a change to my Sydney lifestyle!
However, I
have been made to feel very welcome here and met (yet another) bunch
of lovely people. Their house sits outside Launceston in Swan Bay on 80 acres of land.
Beautiful scenery but somewhat isolated (and no wifi!). This is the view from my bedroom window...
