First off i would like to apologize for the delay in this posting. I attempted to finish it before our Outback excursion but now here i am.Ā This is the entry for Team Awesome, which includes Krysten, Caroline, Ruby, Avery, Dan and Myself (Matt). After getting picked up in Brisbane, we headed to our destination of Tenterfield, New South Wales. Since Queensland (where Brisbane is) doesnt use daylight savings time, our driver named Dee told us to switch our watches an hour; this was kind of wierd since we were driving due south. Once in Tenterfield we got to go grocery shopping for our meals for the next three days and buy and supplies we would need. Then the fun began…
For the next three days we would work for Jerome. I wont go too much into Jerome but needless to say, he was not the most appreciative man to work for. We were working on his 4000 acre farm, 80 km from the closest town, and guess what we were doing? Yup, we were 1/2 mile long fences! We had the pleasure of driving hundreds of steel posts into the ground, then running wires through them to create beautifully crafted fences. I think our whole group can agree that the saving grace of our CVA experience was our coworker, Brian. Brian was an authentic Australian farmer, who shared our dislike for our host and helped us build those perfect fences. Besides battlingĀ the work, flies, heat and Jerome we actually managed to have a great time!
After working on the farm, Brian took us back to his property to meet his partner and just relax after a tough couple of days. His farm was beautiful and his partner was incredibly bubbly and seemed to counteract Brian’s mellowness. He gave us some juice and snacks and we got to hang out with his huge horse, Sovereign. Then they took us on a little tour of their property and we got to have our first experience with kangaroos! Needless to say the girls in the group had a little bit of a freakout.
At the end of our volunteer time for the CVA, our group was definitely ready to reunite with our other groupmates from “Team Scoop” and actually seeing them back in Brisbane was awesome! We all got to talk about our experiences together and just catch up, which was much needed. On our second night back in Brisbane, our great friends Emma and Eleanor from the farm came to visit us and it was amazing seeing them one more time before heading off. I think that pretty much sums up “Team Awesome” and our experience. It seems like the time is flying by and before we even know it we are going to be back home. Love and miss you all family!
-Matt Schafer