Good Times @ Grass Valley

So after I had left Cairns and spent time being a tourist in Perth I decided that I needed a job. (Australia: still expensive). I had already added a women on my facebook named Danielle Prowse - in addition to being a photographer she also sources backpackers for bar jobs around rural Western Australia. My timing lucked out and I managed to land a job working in the Grass Valley Tavern in Grass Valley, Australia.

 Although I had completed a bar skills course in Sydney and worked the bar a little at Ala Turka I hadn't actually worked a full time bar job before Grass Valley, so I was a little apprehensive when I started. Turns out the most difficult part is pulling a pint, and it's actually pretty easy. Within a week I'd pretty much settled in. I lived with the family who owned the bar in a twin room with the other backpacker Lauren:

I spent 8 weeks living and working in the Grass Valley, as well as picking up some shifts at the Riverside Hotel in Northam which Jenny and Adrian also owned. There I got to make coffees and serve food as well which felt a little more comfortable as I'm used to waitressing - plus on Friday and Saturday night it turned into a cocktail bar!

The overall experience was quite new to me - not only working in a bar, but to be so rural and to be surrounded by Australians! As much as I love Cairns - and I really do - the only people I met were other backpackers. Being in WA felt like a much more authentic experience and I got a real taste of Australia. Although some of it could be a little unpleasant (it was extremely hard to bite my tongue at some off-colour remarks), most of it was amazing. All the regulars at the bar were so lovely and genuinely interested in your life and travels. Often they would offer to take you on trips around the area. We got to see sheep shearing on a local farm, as well as Hilary Boat Harbour and Cottesloe beach.

I would say the best part of working here was drunken Thursday nights. The pub ran a Jag the Joker game, with the money rolling over every week and it was an excellent excuse to get extremely drunk. Not that I need much excuse in Australia apparently - it's gotten to the point that my father has discreetly asked my sister if I might have a drinking problem!

I spent 8 weeks at the pub and I loved it. Every time I encounter a backpack that's a little low on cash or looking for a new experience I always tell them to go work in an outback bar now. Just I was writing this Danielle Prowse put up a new ad on Facebook looking for a barmaid a certain Grass Valley! Looks like someone else gets to have the cool experience I did!

(We had a rule - if the song 'Mustang Sally' came on the jukebox we had to stop what we were doing and dance on the barrels. No one seemed to think this was strange).

Beautiful (expensive) Perth

So let me tell you what I've been up to since my last update! Originally I posted that I was heading to Innisfail to attempt to do my farm work - shockingly, that didn't happen. Nothing ever really goes to plan when you're travelling (or in general, I guess). So rather than spending 3 months doing boring, difficult work in sweaty Far North Queensland I escaped to the other side of the country and ended up working in a country pub in rural Western Australia.

When I first landed in WA I decided to spend 2 weeks in Perth to check out the city and what it had to offer. It's a really lovely city and I much preferred it to Sydney. Although it's a decent sized city it doesn't have the loneliness or lost feeling that I associated with Sydney (which in fairness can probably be attributed to homesickness) and I just think it's super cute. Lot's of culture, a good nightlife and just really pretty.

Because I didn't have a lot of time to spend in Perth I decided to pack in as many tourist-y things as possible such as:

• SciTech, which is a really cool science museum - but it is very much a children's museum, something  I didn't realise until I got there - bit awkward! 
• Western Australian Museum, I love a good museum and there were two excellent exhibitions while I was there - a cute, slightly frivolous one on the history of wedding dresses and a thought provoking one on the history of the Western Australian Aborigines population (some info if you're interested).
• Perth Mint, admittedly my least favourite stop, but worth a trip to see a gold bar smelted and then re-moulded. 
• King's Park, really nice place to chill out, with amazing views of the Perth harbour plus home to the DNA tower (a lookout point shaped like a strand of DNA).   
• Fremantle Prison, undoubtedly my favourite place - the prison is a world heritage building built by convicts in the 1800s and served as a working prison until the 1990s. Really interesting history.

A random hodge-splodge of photos from my fortnight in Perth and Fremantle:

 If you are going to Australia then I would definitely recommend going to Perth (although I will worn you, it's a pricey city!) - if I'd had more time I would have definitely visited Rottnest Island and also tried to see more of the West Coast. If I end up returning to Australia (and I hope I do!) seeing more of Australia would be my first priority.

The next chapter of my journey brought me about an hour away from Perth to the town of Grass Valley where I worked as a barmaid for 8 weeks. But more on that in my next post!