Now it’s the start of 2017 and still feels the same, actually maybe feel the aftermath of such a magical day. The crew woke up at all different times. For the last part of volunteering we had to collect to bags of cans to enjoy the staff party. An amazing concept and you get to find cool random shit or food. Yummy. Knowing we had to work the next day, Ben and I said we’ll leave somewhat early. We all went to the party and got food. The drinks were unlimited but was only after water. The rain came as usual, what a summer. It was getting late and Lily offered to stay over at hers, so we did. This meant we had to wake up and hit the road by 5:45 am to work at 8. Ben had the day off and we made it there on time. It seemed to be busy and Ben later got called in.
We got off early, much needed my eyes were burning out of tiredness. The car was filthy so drove to town for some internet and gave the truck a clean out. At the library we learned that NewKind Festival was interested in us and our taco project. The festival was told to us by Victoria our flat mate from Darwin. The festival was about sustainability, no waste, a new society and a bunch of other shit that seemed our style. Over the next days, called them up and got a spot to do a workshop, the tricky thing is the festival was a week after our visa expires. So now it was a game to see how we can extend our stay.
Work was now full on, and we took advantage of getting knock off drinks. The rules were soon changed to just weekends for drinks. Rules tend to change at many places once we come around for some odd reason. After work we spent our time in Evandale living at the market grounds. We found a flat but never finished early enough to check it out. During this time it was also Beth’s our workmates last day and we went out for drinks. It was great to mingle with the workmates outside of work. Friday we finished early enough to check out this flat at a farm near Evandale, where we were living. The guy’s name was Dave an old, grey, bastard as he said to describe himself. We had to find him in the pub. It was this pub that we went looking for accommodation as there wasn’t anything for us in town.
The lady gave us a card and said to call the owner, the owner then gave us Dave’s number saying he was a regular and had a self-contained unit. And this was a start to an amazing friendship/connection. So Friday after work we checked it out, Dave then told us how to get to Hobart as we were headed there to meet up with the Falls Festival family. We had the weekend off. The drive was in the country and so exquisite. The first night was in Hobart and the next day drove down to Cygnet where the others were staying at Lily’s parents place. It was the Folk Festival weekend, the biggest thing in the town all year. We wanted to cook tacos by the festival but ended up doing a private catering to the homies. It was a night of smiles and laughs. The next day though was an early start, a three hour trip to Launceston for an 8am start again.
Work was going well, both of us getting the hang of it. Soon it was Ben’s birthday and we cooked up a bomb curry with some Josef Chromy Merlot to pair with it. Just a normal day in our life down at the Evandale market, it would be our last night there. The next day after some staff drinks a few of us continued down at the river and later to Michelle’s house. After a wild and wild as in the place we went had weird vibes and we ran as fast as we could to the town not knowing where we were. Still to this day neither of us know where the house was because we ran so fast. Michelle was so nice, we stayed at her house for nearly a week before moving into the farm. In return we painted some doors, she’s renovating her house. During our stay here and knowing there was a Beer Festival going on, we did some taco prep at Michelle’s. This time we made blue tortillas and set out to feed the happy people.
Now that we were settled into a place after living out of the truck the past three months, it felt peaceful to just get home and relax. It also sparked new ideas, we came up with doing a Raw week. Not cooking or buying anything that was cook. We found a bulk store, our favorite and bought a bunch of ingredients to create our meals for the week. Funny thing on the walk back to the car, there’s a person running through the street turns out to be Theresa. Our friend from Darwin and whom we met up with in Brisbane, small world. Chatted for a bit and knew we’d meet up again. Towards the end of the week we were ready to be done with it just because we knew we can have something even better if only we cooked one item. It was a challenge though that we accomplished, it led to us soaking and sprouting our own beans and seeds.
During this time was also Triple J’s Hottest 100, which they spoke about for the whole month leading to the countdown. We listened to the start of it at work and later in our truck at the farm like weirdos that we are. Tom, Dave’s son saw us and said to join the barbecue, so we did. It was great to hang out with the others on the farm, especially Georgie who gave us some tea. Georgie’s the daughter of Dave and Sally the owners. That night she also gave us some of her home brew. This was summer, the days were nice and hot but the nights and mornings were chilly. We were using electric blankets to heat the bed up before sleeping like weenies.
The days off for both of us were never together anymore and we paid visits to the library for internet. Eventually we got library cards and started a book collection at home. The days were also spent creating a menu for the festival as somehow we were told to be the head chefs for the entire festival. One day after work and chilling in the back seat, we called Erfan to check in and he said the hospitality coordinator step down and now we’re in charge without asking if we wanted. It didn’t bother us as we thought everything would be ordered and organized and all we had to do was show up and make food for 400 people. Soon we learned absolutely the opposite.
It was crazy, we had to make the menu and change it many times as they didn’t want items in packaging. We had to source everything, and try to get it for free. It was shit but we believed in the cause of the festival. This was all done while living on a farm, no internet and not so good phone signal to go along with working full time. The days were just flying, it was now February and it seemed like all we were doing was working.
Theresa had scored a job at Josef Chromy and moved in with us. During this time we organized to cook dinner for the farm family. Dave was blown away that it was plant based, he ate three bowls of the pasta we made. Theresa though didn’t enjoy the work, said it wasn’t her style. She came at a time when Ben and I were empty in the brain and just needed to get away. It also happened to be the Super Bowl on a Monday since we’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Before the game, we went our own way and Theresa went to a friends. After the game, we bought the biggest size of wedges and drove far away, ended up at a beach. This is just what we needed.
The weekend before, we made it to the Evandale market, the place we used to sleep. It was a great market though only made it 60 metres in before getting drawn into a stand with these incredible marbles. Theses marbles were captivating, so much that we were late to work. It was an art master piece in the marble, some were dubbed the Universe and lived up to their name. They were filled with planets, nebula, galaxies and just awesomeness. We were sold and bought a few.
Meanwhile at work all was well, but then I thought I was crazy and thinking work had strange vibes. I convinced myself I was making it up, during this time Ben and I didn’t work many of the same days. Finally it reached a point where I didn’t want to work there anymore, which was bad because the place was incredible. With this feeling, I spoke to the bro and he said he felt the same. Not sure why but the vibes were out of tune and we didn’t know how to tune them back. But since we’re just two happy California guys, we brushed it off and made it fun anyway.
Needing to see some familiar faces, the Falls Festival family came over for a visit. Since Ben and I had the day off, we chose to make a camping trip to Liffy Falls. It turned out great, we spent the night there celebrating life and the following day went out for dinner with work. The dinner, strange as we eat plants only and the concept was a shared dinner with several courses. After this we said we will no longer join people for dinner because it seems to be that eating a plant based diet can be a weird concept for people. Often times they just make the atmosphere uncomfortable.
It was now a month until the festival, and it seemed every few days or so a new bomb would be dropped on us of what they wanted. It was getting to a point where we didn’t want to be a part of it. We had to figure out the visa situation as well since we were set to expire in a few weeks. Finally though, the menu was finalized and said no more changes. Andy came back to Launceston and asked for a job at Josef Chromy and got one, simple as that. His company is comforting and told him to stay with us since we had an extra bed. He’s on the same vibe channel as us.
Wanting to learn about farming and just wanting to do something different, we gave Sally a hand on the farm. We were also hanging out with Georgie a lot and just soaking up the farm life. It was getting towards the end of summer and the sunsets were incredible. There was now two weeks left of work and three to go for Borneo. Nearly forgot to mention, the wonderful package Ben’s mom sent. A munchie box as we referred to it. During our time at the farm it made us recall junk food we ate back in the states. We started writing a list and told family back home if they can collect some goodies for us. Ben’s mom came through with the munchies. There were Hot Cheetos, Captain Crunch, Funyuns, and much more. The Hot Cheetos hit the spot and devoured the first bag on the first day.
Photosynthesize. 