Australia

Merry merry christmas and happy happy new years. Sorry I've been so long in updateing but I've been a bit cut off from society for the last little bit down south of Sydney at our christmas cabin. It was as good a christmas as could be had but certainly didn't feel like it. New Years will be much better as we're getting a spot on the Sydney Domain (which overlooks the harbor, you can see the view in one of my first pics with the huge beard with the opera house and bridge in the background). They shoot fireworks from the bridge and the Opera house and its supposed to be one of the best Display in the world. Ill be taking pictures so that should be cool. Its nice to be back with the guys, Nick and I are together again for the next couple of days till he heads out to NEw Zealand. Sorry no pictures this time, can't do it on this computer, but in the next couple of days I'll get the last of New Zealand and New Years up. Hope everyone's new years is great.

Well I'm back in Sydney, this city really is great. Only a couple of hours till I'm off to New Zealand and man am I excited. Just talked to the rest of the gang still up in Bowen and they've quit work cause the season is ending and the fruit is too crap to make it worth is anymore. Its funny, but being back in the city makes my miss DC a bit. Rode the subway in from the airport and couldn't help but nostalgically thinking about pullin into Roslynn for the long cold walk across the Key Bridge. I'll definitely be playing The district sleeps alone tonight on my way back for the first time next fall. Next time I post will be in Auckland so get ready!

Finally I've escaped Bowen and the hell that it is. To be fair to all Bowenites (or whatever it is that you might be called) you seem to be well into your farming and cattle and by all means stick to it but god am I glad to be outa your little town. I've made Townsville and things are looking up. Its a small town still (though the third largest city in Queensland at 150,000 peeps) and its got an air of growth to it. Apparently about 10 years ago a big cyclone (hurricane) came through and took the beach and the first road with it into the ocean and the city, a once florishing tourist hub, is in the process of regrowth and rebuilding. As a result pockets of new and exciting looking attraction sparatically pop out of an otherwise dull and dusty construction mess. All in all it looks like a city that will be awesome to visit in 5 years or so but untill then will remain as the launching point to Magnetic Island. I'm bummed that I won't be able to get to the island its supposed to be amazing, some of the best beached in Queensland. Anyway, I fly out tomorrow morning and can't wait to escape the heat. Now that I have a little more time on my hands I can finish my laundry and get ready for New Zealand. I forgot to update about my last 2 nights in Cairns really. The last day we got to do 2 dives on our own and had a great night out with out group and instructors as promised.
our group was really diverse, we had Spain, Mexico, Germany, Ireland, England, US, Denmark, Sweeden and Australia represented and everyone was so great. The Irish lads were some of the most fun, as I'm finding out is a general rule. The Scots and the Irish are fun to have around.

this is the lot of em with me and Jan (the german from before) in the background. Its really fun to by them a stout and watch them cringe and gag at the absolute horror that is exported guiness.

rosa on the far right was born in Tuscan but moved to Mexico when she was young and is really cool. The spanish guy in the class was in the process of learning english here so not only did he have to deal with the information on the PADI course but had to do it in a language that he struggled with and she helped him a lot. It pertty amazing the things that people endevour even without great english, makes me feel like I should try more with my limited language skills. Jan is of course in the middle and Amanda, an artist from Vancouver, on the left.
Its great meating so many people, its just more and more free accommodation as your travels progress and yes mom and dad, you may need to expect some knocks on the door in the future of crazy foriegners asking you in broken English if this is where Brock lives. Its a florida thing, not as many people are excited about visisted DC, sorry.

Alright, so it was my last day of work yesterday. We stopped picking 2 days ago and started the cleanup phase which is pulling rows of plastic up out of the ground. The plastic is put down to hold the moisture into the roots of the plants and is absolutely buried and covered in dirt and dust and god knows what chemicals that they put on the plants and it all comes up as your pulling it outa the ground not to mention the stuff the truck kicks up while its pattering along behind you stuffing it in as you go. I could hardly see last night my eyes were so irritated but its better now except that all of us looked stoned all the time (hopefully that wears off before customs) Anyway tomorrow I take the bus to Townsville and fly outa Townsville on the 30th for Sydney where I leave for Auckland the next day. I'm pretty excited about New Zealand, it should be a nice break from this weather which is about 98 most of the time. The sun is so intense over here, I thought it was bad on the Florida beaches. The whole in the ozone is supposed to be over Australia and you can definatly tell the difference, its crazy. I'm sure I'll be updating from Townsville and Sydney as I'll have 2 days to kill while I wait for the next stage of Travel so I'll keep you updated plenty. Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!!! Love you

Sorry for the slow updates, internet is scarce out here in the boonies. I've been picking tomatoes for the last 2 days and it sucks. About 7-8 hours a day in the sun on hand in knees sometimes through lines of vines, whats worse of all is that you're paid by the bucket not hours so if your on a crappy team or if the picking is bad that day you might only make 10 or so $ and hour. ITs funny too, we don't pick the ripe ones that look good. We pick the green and yellow hard ones that are of a good size then they put them in a gas room to slowly ripen them so that they get to the shelves right on time for the best looking tomatoes. Funny thing is that they still aren't really ripe, they're just the perfect color so get organic and fresh local grown ones as much as you can. Also you wouln't believe the amount of chemicals on these plants uhh.
Getting outa here in three days to get back to Sydney and then New Zealand so that'll be nice. A lot of people are here for several weeks even months. Happy Happy thanksgiving to everyone! It was great to talk to some of you and the ones who I didn't I miss you tons. Hope that it was a good one. Hopefully I will have more fun updates soon, not much fun is being had right now. Wake up around 4:45 a.m. hour drive to the farm get off around 4 or 5 then and hour ride home cook dinner and in bed by 8 at the latest. It certainly is making me appreciate the labor thats done in the US for cheap, although technically speaking we're making some of the best money that can be made by unskilled labor. There is a Korean team on the farm that picks about 16 bins a day which is about $140 a day. Tom only made 120 in 2 shifts as a Pizza delivery boy. Anyway enough of that we can talk politics and social reform when I am back but you better eat every last tomato you start cause it sucks to get em to you Hope everything is great at home.