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Australia
  • Paul Jefferyes
Feb – Oct 2014

Australia

A 252-day adventure by Paul Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 11, 2014
    Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    The first weeks in the Valley

    February 11, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Brisbane’s most lively party quarter is known to the locals as ‘the valley’. My first hostel away from home was Bunk backpackers, located centrally within this Valley, or Fortitude Valley if you are looking for it on a map. The hostel itself was 5 floors high, with a colourfully painted interior and typically Australian dry humour staff at the reception. I checked in with Amy into a dorm room for a week to settle in and get acquainted with the surroundings. As I’m writing this just over a year after I arrived first time in brissy I can’t quite remember all I did during my first few weeks there other than settle in with the other travelling backpackers and start hunting for a job. I managed to get a working for accommodation position in the kitchen at bunk but this was 26 hours a week, unpaid. Not enjoyable. I didn’t really get on with the main chef either, I don’t think many people did but there was a second chef, another traveller from England called Ben. He was a lot more chilled out and relatable because he had been in the same position as me. Eventually I got to know and hang with the bar tenders and glassies there that ran the place and learnt how a bar works behind the taps. I was asked to work as a glassie myself one evening eventually and got given an actual paid position doing it finally, I realised it was stupid to work for accommodation when you can work for money and pay for a room and still have left overs for food. If you’re not being paid, you’ll still need to pay for your own food and drink etc. And the main hobby that I wanted to pick up was kitesurfing, which wasn’t cheap.

    Working in the bar though was a lot of fun, the music was good enough to dance to most of the time and the staff there were great. I’d not worked in a bar environment before so it was refreshing and new and exciting, nothing like working behind a desk from 8-5, so I loved it!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    The Breedlove

    February 16, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Bunk was great, I met lots of great people there, but it got to the point where the work for accommodation area was too crowded and unclean. It was mostly French people actually, fanny and her friend, and couple of French guys. The guys ended up getting kicked out in the end for stealing bottles of alcohol from behind the bar working in the kitchen there. There was a girl called Penny who worked behind the reception and another girl from the Netherlands I think, she played guitar as well and one night came back from a night busking with 140 bucks! That was enough for a whole weeks rent and a few meals! In one night! I was determined to get my own guitar and keep practicing and work towards busking for my own upkeep in Australia! I did a lot of browsing online and searched in local stores for second hand guitars but nothing felt right. You can tell a great guitar the first time you hold it. It has a certain sound; deep, resonant, warm. Nothing I tried was what I wanted, everything under 200 bucks was good for first timers, but I wanted a guitar I’d be happy to carry the length of Australia with me, and ultimately take home. On Gumtree of all places I found a few options and then one came up for a second hand breedlove. Advertised for $390 it was a little above my original price range, without having a solid income yet and after spending a large chunk on kitesurfing i was running low on funds fast already but I still wanted to get my hands on the guitar. The description was perfect, electro acoustic so good for playing gigs and it looked like no other acoustic guitar I’d ever seen. I arranged to meet the seller and as soon as I held it I knew it was the guitar I had to have, with guitars I always go with my gut and I’m so glad I did. I’ve ended up busking across the entire length of the Queensland coast line with it and it has paid back for itself at least 4 or 5 times over. And I recently discovered that it’s actually worth just over a grand to buy a new one. One day I’ll write an email to Breedlove and let them know how far this one guitar has travelled and how much I adore their workmanship. I’d be heartbroken if anything happened to it. I’ve got to survive riding a bike through Vietnam with this guitar on my back over the next 3 weeks. Wish me luck!Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    The first day job

    February 20, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    I met a lot of other backpackers at Bunk, a lot of fun and friendly people. The more you travel, the more you get to trust other travellers, I’d only been in Australia for a few weeks but I started worrying about the job situation. One or two shifts as a glassie per week at Bunk, I needed to get more funds in order to break even.

    I picked up a couple of manual jobs here and there, a crate unload one day was a nice introduction to Australia's heat (see photo attached, it was hot as hell in there!)

    A few other guys at the hostel were working as removal men so I gave that a go for a couple of days. It’s funny how after managing to move about three houses worth of stuff in one day, it makes moving house seem less stressful than a lot of people make it out to be. It doesn’t take as long as you’d think. Unfortunately though I ended up pulling my back out deadlifting with Ben in the gym and I don’t know what happened to my thumb but I couldn’t put any weight on it and it still bothers me to this day. I got it ultra scanned up in Cairns about 7 months later and I’ve got a ganglionic growth between the bones or something that needs surgery to fix but it’s a really risky op, so 1, it’s expensive and 2, if they fuck up I’ll be a lot worse than I was to start with. You use your thumbs a lot, especially if you only have a phone to type onto when you’re on a 30 hour bus from Vientiane to Hanoi!
    Anyways, back to history.
    At this removal job I spent my first few days working with a crazy Brazilian dude, can’t remember his name but he was fun to work with. We picked up heavy stuff from out of houses and storage locations, it would have been a good job if not for the injuries. I wouldn’t have needed a gym membership at least.    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Kite surfing!

    February 26, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Sandgate Beach. Give me flat, shallow waters, and wind in a good direction, and let me kite surf!

    This place is perfect for learning how to fly a big ass kite to pull yourself along the water with. The first time I went was with a couple of guys from Bunk Hostel, and got my first lessons from surf connect. I'd wanted to head to Australia in the first place to pick this hobby up properly, and I can't wait to get back to it. It's one of the most technically challenging and rewarding sports I think I've ever tried. It's also hella frustrating if you unhook the kite with the safety leash unhooked, but that's another story!

    The first lesson was on basic kite control, wind direction and safety. The second lesson was getting out further to sea and getting up on the board!

    The first time I tried to get going however, I ended up giving the kite a little too much power, launched myself a good couple of feet out of the water, and then used my unfinished training to gracefully fail at the landing, and subsequently lost the gopro that was strapped to my head.

    If anyone picks that up, I'm sure they'll have some interesting and exciting footage!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Moving homes.

    March 12, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    From moving other people’s homes to moving my own.
    The work for accommodation job really started to suck.
    24 hours a week with no pay took the energy out of you when all you did when you got off shift was hunt for other jobs. And the free accommodation you got was far from 5 star. Not even 2 star. In fact it was crawling with ants, I had no personal space for any of my stuff and the chef I worked with was a bit of a dick.
    I’d heard about Base backpackers at the centre of Brisbane from a few different people, and they had the down under bar underneath where we went drinking on Wednesdays sometimes (as well as more wet T shirt competitions) I was still working in Birdees as a kitchen hand and a glassie, but I was being paid for my glassy hours. I decided to move out, quit the kitchen hand hours and just do the glassy shifts. So I didn't lose out on the wet t-shirt privileges. I turned out now I potentially had two if I wanted.

    The money from that could just about pay for a weeks rent at Base so I picked up my stuff and checked out. I was 5 minutes up the road before I got picked up by an off duty bus and ended scoring a free ride. Win.

     I remember the main entrance to Base smelt a little stale and the walls were peeling but the reception staff were cool and the people staying there were chilled out so I settled in really fast. I ended up meeting a guy in the downstairs computer / desk area one night after playing Dota 2 with my brother till God knows when and he was just finishing up his work for acomm position in the down under bar kitchen! He told me to go and speak to Oli or curt to take over his time slot!

    The next day I went down and spoke to Oli who took me in for a trial shift on Sunday afternoon. I got there on time and did my thing and secured my place at Base for free! This time only working 15 hours a week!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    X Base, Central

    March 14, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I met two rad Germans while I was staying at Base, Hugo and Max. Hugo was leaving aus soon so was sleeping in the TV room without paying for the first few times I met him and Max was looking for a job at the time I think. One night I remember was daring Hugo to snort salt for 5 bucks which he agreed to without hesitation. If you’ve ever tried it you’ll know he immediately regretted it.

    Anyways Max was working as a solar panel salesman door knocking around the suburbs of the city for a company called biosolar. I wasn’t getting enough hours at Birdees so I asked him to hook me up with an interview.
    I had been to a couple of other interviews, one charity one which seemed more about making money and giving people a career than actually helping the charities. I still donate to the world wildlife fund for nature when I can, and maybe one day I’ll head to South Africa and set up a black market demand for poacher skulls. One day.

    But anyways, biosolar. I emailed in to the contact Max gave me, I thought he was pulling my leg at first because I thought Justin Mabutt was one of those names Moe calls out for in his pub on the Simpsons. But he was a real person, and a genuinely nice guy as well. I got called up for an interview with short notice and I had to ask the chef Oliver to leave early on shift to get to the interview on time. A lot of people seemed scared of Oli because he had a short temper, but when you are a chef you have to get things done right, cleanly and quickly for the satisfaction of customers,but so long as you respected his kitchen he was a good boss. Anyway, he let me go for it.

    The interview was at the biosolar headquarters in wooloongabba, along side a vegan health food restaurant and yoga studio, run by the ceo’s fiancé. I felt like this place was cool already, and authentic. Leather sofas, a water dispenser and a cute receptionist at the desk in the entrance area accompanied me while I waited. They also had a few rows of old solar panels stocked against the wall so you could get close to the technology.

    The interview itself was a simple arrangement. Personal introductions, a group chat, sell us this object as a team in front of everyone. The energy in the room emanating from the main manager, Sunny, was evident and made me feel excited to actually join the company. I think the guys were impressed by my education and accent and confirmed my place after I spoke to them personally after the group interview was over. I’d never felt that getting a job was being like welcomed into a family before but at biosolar, that’s what it was like.    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

    April 8, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    While at Base in Brisbane I joined in on the Sunday BBQ one day and ended up winning a pair of tickets to the lone pine koala sanctuary south of Brisbane, the girl that picked my number to win was cute so I invited her to come with me, it seemed only fair. I’m glad I invited her now as well as we crossed paths on Phi Phi island in Thailand and just bumped into each other again in Vienna!
    It was a great day out and well worth going to visit if you’re in the Brisbane area. You can feed kangaroos and meet some awesome birds of prey, as well as some wild rainbow parakeets around 2pm that fly in to get fed! You can even get your photo taken with a koala, there are a tonne of famous people that have been there with their photos on the walls in the main shop, I distinctly remember George R.R. Martins face being one of them!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    The Biosolar Life

    April 16, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    I got the t-shirt. Navy blue polo neck with white stripes either side and the company emblem. I looked good. A fresh faced Biosolar employee. I was proud.

    When I started I joined a team called the Soul’a Shakers, ran by the coolest hippy environmentalist I’ve ever met, Pete vdr. The team name came from Bob Marleys soul shake down party, and this was our Van theme song. On the first day I was actually a little disappointed that I was put into a team that was so… calm… When leaving on the first day I remember Max’s team rolling out with loud music blaring and Max hanging out the window raving with the rest of his team. I was pretty jealous. I thought I kind of wanted a party vibe. Not to mention my team didn’t have any girls in it. Pete, Tim, Chirag, Ubed, Rashid the doctor, Alex the stockmarket trader, and me. It didn’t take me long to warm up though and grow to love these guys, they really took me under their wings and showed me the ropes. I’d never worked in a sales position before so it was a steep learning curve for me. And I grew to love the calm chilled out, confident vibe the team had. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t pressured, it was stress free and confident. Unlike any working environment I’d had in the UK.

    Before long the team had a few changes in the dynamic.. Alex left to pursue his trading ambitions, and Tim became a team leader for a new crew. Ubed had left to join him and help him train his new recruits, so we had some new members introduced to keep the van full. A couple of French guys, one called Tank who ended up having a little bit of an anger problem when he didn’t do so well. A German called Roman who had already had sales experience as a charity team leader so was great fun and sociable and hit the ground running with the job. Another Roman joined occasionally, a Jose Roman from Mexico, who always held the most serious of stares a little bit too long for comfort.

    Training was given each morning along side acknowledgement of the previous days/weeks successes. It was a very positive and encouraging environment, it was motivating to be part of the family and see my results change positively to help improve the success of the company.    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Having 5 Jobs

    April 21, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Alongside Biosolar, I still had my evening shifts as a glassie at Birdees, learning to dance while holding a tonne of glasses above my head or against my chest stacked up as high as my torso would support. I wish I had videos/photos of it. After a while working there I was offered a transfer shift at Family one night after the place got packed out and they didn’t have enough staff. It was part of the same katyrzyna company as Birdees so there was no drama adding a few extra shifts into the schedule at the weekend when Birdees was quiet. Family was huge, 3 floors of dancing and a roof terrace. I ended up helping Bunk’s resident receptionist Smiley on the top floor after finding him in trouble with glasses up there my first night. It was a gay night and he was there beaming with his top off making a killing on tips! I ended up clearing the area fast enough to help out behind the bar myself and when he went for a smoke, I followed suit ? I’m not homophobic and I like tips so it was good fun. Plus I wanted more behind the bar experience. The bar manager ended up being a bit of a bitch though! Nowhere near as cool as Melanie at Birdees. Anyways, the Family shifts added a few extra bucks..

    I still had my work for accommodation gig at Base as well on the first three days of the week, before and after my Biosolar shifts. So I had a job at Birdees, Family, Biosolar and Base.. Job number 5 was still possible…

    One afternoon on a shift with Biosolar around the suburbs of Brisbane, I approached a house toward the end of my day at the end of a small but beautiful little cul de sac and knocked on the door. A young woman came to answer, a little sick from a cold and holding back her dog from escape. She wasn’t interested in solar or in talking to me at first but I told her my immune system was on point and it’d only take a couple of minutes. I ran my pitch and booked her in for a lead but at the end of it she pitched me. Impressed by my approach she asked me if I was looking for extra work. I had a pretty full schedule as it was but did not refuse the offer and she explained her husband had been looking for someone to help with his real estate business in Algester. I was curious about the field and wasn’t against getting more experience in the housing industry so I agreed to give her my details. I arranged an interview and told him I could fit in a day shift on Mondays and that was perfect for his amount of workload required.

    I’m really glad I accepted this position because the other guys there were great, Joel, my boss effectively let me write my own script and work the hours that I could because he knew of my other commitments. I ended up writing an online data collection tool for him to use while showing off open homes. I could be a software developer if I put my heart into it, but it wouldn't be my dream to work behind a desk all my life.

    One of my colleagues there, Ryan, also hooked me up with a farm work contact out in the middle of Queensland, which was a massive help for me and secured me my time in the outback! I needed to do 3 months of regional work for my second year visa and that was how I eventually got to start my first chunk. Thanks Ryan!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Toowoomba Road Trip!

    May 19, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Toowoomba was a town to the west of Brisbane by about 2 hours. The Soul’a Shakers team had topped the performance board for a few weeks, collectively we’d smashed it and consistently had good lead and levels of sales of solar panels, so one week we were rewarded with the privilege and responsibility to travel to relatively untouched territory and catch new leads for biosolar in Toowoomba. It was a beautiful town of flowers up in a Highland area of Queensland.

    We were put up in some really decent apartments in the centre of the town, lush sofas, big tv’s, even fur rugs. The rooms unfortunately were double beds and we had to share! I ended up getting to know Chirag a little better after that week having to split a bed with him ?
    Apart from the one night where I met a cute little Canadian cheerleader studying on the outskirts of town and ended up at her campus ? For some reason I always end up with Canadians, I just love their accents and their attitudes, they’re always so much fun to hang out with.

    I’d put in a decent effort that week, skateboarding up and down the hills of the area covering decent turf, and getting decent leads. The last day I made it back to the team in a taxi from the campus in time for the Saturday lead hunt. With an added spring in my step I think I got 7 leads that day, one of my best days, a solid effort and went back to Brisbane with the team really satisfied with my personal performance.

    There was a competition on in the office for quantity of sales, and each week, the highest scorer won a place a spot on a ‘Mystery’ trip. The next week on Monday we had the morning meeting and Sunny went to announce the scores and I found out that my leads had topped the board for sales! 32 kilowatts! I’d never expected to win a place on the field trip but the toowoomba territory helped me succeed in getting a place and a free weekend holiday!! I’d gone on business trips before, but never a business holiday!! I was chuffed!    Read more

  • Paul JefferyesAustraliaPaul Jefferyes

    Tambo, Queensland

    August 30, 2014 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The bus from Brisbane was 13 hours. A horrendous length in English terms, but in Australia, that'll only get you half way across one territory. And that was still half the length of one of the bus rides I took from Laos. It was bareable in the end none the less. I had my guitar with me on the coach to keep me occupied at the back, and a group of Canadian chicks joined in and travelled with me for half the journey. They were probably the last females my age I'd see for 2 months.

    I got the job offer after making some phone calls to the contacts Ryan had set me up with at my real estate job. The company was Usher Pastoral and they arranged for me to join a family out near Tambo on a ranch called Truno. I arrived early in the morning on my first day and got picked up at the local petrol station by a very Australian sounding man, Ronnie Haffey, who drove me, my heavy backpacks, and my Akubra cowboy hat to get settled in on the ranch.    Read more

  • Trip end
    October 20, 2014
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