Australian slang

Knowing a bit of the local lingo will help you out down here. Like anything else or any other dialect, it requires a bit of time and familiarity to get used to. This link will bring up a list of a lot of slang used down here.

1st break

The first break couldn't have come soon enough. I had no more energy, had lost heaps of weight and was mentally & physically exhausted. I was delighted when we were suddenly taken off the job. In the space of a 3 days I went from not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to being in Bali with a small stop over in Darwin.

The only reason why we had to stop work so abruptly was because of an indigenous land right claim. We were basically kicked out. I initially chose to go to Darwin on break, and when I saw what was awaiting me there; Loudness & debauchery, I opted for Bali instead.

It was great to be back in Asia. Good & cheap street food, friendly people, amazing weather... I spent the first week recuperating and was still a little bit knackered after 10 days. I kept on asking when the job would recommence and was always told another 10 days or so. Basically, my boss had no clue and rather than admitting so, he just kept repeating the same crap over and over again. Fortunately some friends arrived in town unexpectedly and I changed my flight to a later date.

It was nice to be out of Australia but I did miss it. It was easy to go back to backpacking around the world with all the money I had made but I knew there was more for me out there and I returned 2 and a half weeks later. As soon as I got back I called my boss and asked him when we'd be starting work. I was simply told the same crap...

I decided to find some work in the meantime and found a job the same day I returned at a popular nightclub picking up empty glasses and doing other undesirable chores around the venue. The work was worse than bad. 15 minutes in that place felt like 2 hours. I worked at bad hours in a loud place, doing really lousy work for a lot less money than I had become used to. Despite all of this I never lost faith, and knew that I'd return to the bush for more work.

It was quite a change from Bali, but that's just what I was willing to go through en-route to my bigger goals. 

Welcome back

 October - November 2011

At this point it was extremely easy to drift off into traveller heaven. I was loaded with cash from all the work I had just done, was in Asia enjoying life and was very tempted to keep the backpacking flame alive after putting up with such miserable people for the past month and a bit.

But I resolved to return, and get back into the same line of work. As soon as I got back, I called the boss asking when it was likely that I'd return to work and was simply told the same thing again. I knew deep down that I wouldn't be going back there, that he was full of shit and didn't have the guts to say that he didn't want me back there.

I found a job picking up empty glasses & bottles at a local night club; one of the most popular spots in town. The manager hired me on the spot because she said that I smile a lot. It was one of the worst jobs I have ever endured in my life. It was loud, monotonous and extremely tedious Seriously, throw me back out bush with all its snakes and isolation. I'd take that kind of work any day of the week over that crappy job.

10 minutes there seemed like an hour. At times you'd just take their glass or bottle anyways to give you something to do. Shit hit the fan when it got busy. Anyone that has worked in hospitality knows what that rush of work is like, where you are on a completely different level of consciousness just to get through the rush while multi-tasking and being given orders by some pimply little backpacker.

Things improved slightly on the weekends when they put me at the front door on account of my smile. Instead of picking up empty glasses, I had to tell people to go around to the other door, tell them not to smoke and count people as they left, so we'd know when to let more in. It wasn't very interesting and I had to be on my feet all night, but it sure beat picking up empty glasses, cleaning toilets and cleaning up the place at the end of the night. I stayed there for 2 weeks.

Out of the blue, another mining lead pulled through and offered me a job. I called the first boss and told him that I had just been offered a job with his rival and when it was likely that work would be resuming. I got the same answer... a week or two...

Oh how I needed that break, I had already chucked the night club job in, in anticipation of heading back out bush before that call. Darwin is an awesome place with even better weather. I could have seen myself getting 'comfortable' there.  Fortunately that wasn't to be the case, I'd be flown out in 3 days time to begin my new job.

Goodbye Darwin & hello Brisbane.

Prices

   

Prices will always vary and depend on where it was bought, if it was on offer, what the season was, if it was reduced. There are always going to be variables and differences everywhere. The following prices are a current accurate reflection of the average prices for goods and services in Australia.

       

               Expense                                                                         Price in AUD

Accomodation & Transport

Dorm room at backpackers per night                                                20-35

Twin room at backpackers per night                                                  45-60

Single room at backpackers per night                                                50-80

Private Accomodation per week(single room)                                   100-200

Hotel Room                                                                                      100+

Private airport-city bus/train (one way)                                              15-20

Taxi                                                                                                  Expensive


 Fuel

1 litre of Diesel                                                                                  1.5 -1.6

1 litre of Diesel out bush                                                                    1.65 - 2

1 litre of Petrol in city                                                                         1.3-1.4

1 litre of Petrol out bush                                                                     1.5-1.9

1 litre of Autogas in city                                                                     0.75-0.85

1 litre of Autogas out bush Rare, over                                                1.2

Fruits & Vegetables

1 kg Apples                                                                                        3-5

1kg Carrots                                                                                        1-2

1 whole Cos lettuce                                                                            1-1.5

1 single cucumber                                                                               1-3
1kg tomatoes                                                                                      2-5

1kg Potatoes                                                                                      1.5-4.5

1kg Onions                                                                                         2-4

Basic Food

Loaf of Bread                                                                                     1.5-5

2 Litres of Milk                                                                                   2-4

500g of Butter                                                                                    3-6

12 Eggs                                                                                              3-4

500g of Cheese                                                                                  4-10

1.5 Litres of Water                                                                             1-3

1kg of Bacon                                                                                     7-15

1kg of Pasta                                                                                      1.5-3

1kg of Rice                                                                                         2-4

Tin of Vegetables                                                                                1-1.5

Can of Tuna                                                                                       1-4

Alcohol & Tobacco

6 pack of Beer                                                                                  12-18

Carton of Beer                                                                                  40-50

6 pack of mixers                                                                               15-20

Bottled Spirits                                                                                   Expensive

20 Cigarettes                                                                                    15-20

50g pouch of tobacco                                                                       30-40

Pint of Beer in bar/club                                                                      5-15

Mixer in bar/club                                                                               7-15

Shot in bar/club                                                                                 3-10

Cocktail in bar/club                                                                           5-20

Large glass of wine                                                                           5-25

Small glass of wine                                                                            4-15

Eating out

Junk food (McDonalds, KFC...) meal                                               7-10

Junk food (meat pie, pasty,sandwich)                                                5-10

Junk food (Pizza)                                                                              6-25

Relatively healthy sandwich                                                               5-10

Salad                                                                                                4-8

Mixed Fruits                                                                                     4-8

Soup                                                                                                4-8

Sushi roll                                                                                           2-4

Asian noodles with meat in sauce                                                       8-12

Coffee                                                                                              3-10

Cheap restaurant                                                                              20-30

A meal in rural Australia                                                                   10-25

Dream job?

 August - September 2011

Despite working 2 jobs and having more work lined up I  didn't give up on my goal of working in mining. I still continued making  enquiries, calling people and persevering. It all paid off when a door  suddenly opened. I re-sent an e-mail of interest to one of my leads and  he called me back like an hour later saying that someone was taken off a  job or something and there was an immediate opening. I said I was in  without hesitating.

I remember being in the supermarket at the time, Woolworths in  the CBD to be precise. I danced around the supermarket like I owned the  place and then proceeded to empty all the contents of my shopping basket  and buy something edible instead.

Naturally I was ecstatic when I got back to the hostel and shared  the news with my entourage there. Everyone around me, those that I knew  and those that I didn't all asked me to try and get them a job. I  passively dismissed their requests and now in retrospect don't mention  my work to anyone at all. For starters, if someone really wants to get  in then they can go through the necessary steps to get in. Second of  all, even though I had spent a week or two with some of the boys, I  certainly didn't know them very well, much less the random people that  came and asked me for a job before asking me for my name. I don't tell  anyone what I do for this reason, they become too curious and/or  envious. I am not even sharing what profession I am doing with the whole  world (at least not until I leave the country) mainly to keep what  dwindling work there is left available to myself while I am still down  under. Please don't ask I'm not going into specific details.

I told them that I would be leaving immediately at both of my  jobs and no-one seemed to care very much.  A few days later I was on a  bus to the airport to catch a red-eye flight across the country. I was  extremely nervous as you can imagine and this didn't do well to help me  integrate into my new profession.

After what seemed like an eternity, we landed at Mt. Isa airport  and then went out to Cloncurry, from where most of the work would be  done. They put us up in a caravan park. Having never been to one and  fresh out of the dorms I didn't know what to expect. I saw my room and  it had a sofa, tv, kitchen, fridge & air conditioning. I thought it  was the epitome of luxury. When I opened the slide door and saw that it  had its own bathroom and double bed I nearly fainted! What a change this  was! I was expecting to be in a shared room with one of the other  workers. No chance!

The work was tedious, physical, technical, boring, dehydrating  and long. Too long. What made matters worse is that we worked in  segments, advancing only a very little bit throughout the day. Most of  the time was spent setting up gear (which I didn't know how to do at  first) and then repairing it ( I was best at causing the problem to be  repaired in the first place). There was very little progress, but that's  just the nature of the job.

The people I worked with were as unpleasant as could be. Years of  being out bush and not having much contact with the outside world must  have had a profound impact upon these people. They whinged, gossiped,  were socially awkward, in fact, they only seemed to balance each other  out and be able to function when in each other's company. Being the  backpacker, newbie and foreigner I copped a lot of shit from my  colleagues. Fortunately, I always had the last laugh and continued to  progress where they ended up becoming stagnant, as I was to find out  later.

The job became tougher as the weeks went by. It  wasn't possible to traverse one section where we were working so we had  to carry all the bits over to where they were needed. If you ever want  to burn a gazillion calories try walking up a rocky hill all day  carrying 30+ kg on your back. To make things even more interesting, try  digging large holes along the way. Oh and did I mention that it would be  35-45C and there would be heaps of deadly snakes around? Now you're  starting to get an idea.

The work was physically draining  and even more so mentally, as I didn't fit in at all with my  colleagues. I still persevered and they couldn't hold anything against  me because they knew that I worked harder than any of them and without  my persistence, things would have gone a lot slower or not have  happened. 

Yeah that was about it. I spent 5 weeks up there, working every  single day. That was on top of 3 straight weeks of working 2 jobs and  the previous 2 weeks of arriving in a new country and discovering things  for the first time. I was beyond exhausted and was delighted when we  went on break.

First few weeks

July - August 2011

I'll never forget my first day in Australialand. It was the 4th of July 2011, the real independence day as far as I'm concerned.

I  caught the overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth. Why I chose  Perth as my first port of call is simple; It was the cheapest flight to  Australia. Before arriving I was worried about my passport, it had gone  through the washing machine some months back and had come out worse for  wear. The cover page had detached and I was concerned that they wouldn't  let me in. They did indeed pull me aside for further questioning and  luckily I had another passport to verify my identity. I was allowed in  after being told to get a new passport as soon as possible (I didn't).

The  first thing that got to me was the cold. Coming from the northern  hemisphere and having just spent what seemed like an eternity  backpacking around tropical locations I wasn't at all accustomed to cold  weather or the concept of winter in July. I arrived wearing shorts,  t-shirt and thongs but as soon as I got to the baggage claim area I felt  a gust of arctic wind blowing through and rushed to put on warm  clothes. The only problem was that I didn't have any warm clothes so I  put my jeans on, 2 t-shirts a light sweater and hoped for the best. It  wasn't enough.

I decided to wait in the airport until  it warmed up outside and get some sleep. Air Asia seats are notoriously  small and their stewardesses are notoriously beautiful. This dangerous  combination has robbed many passengers of a much deserved rest. I'm sure  they employ beautiful stewardesses to make you not notice the rest of  their shoddy operation. Either way, I was hanging out at Perth's  airport.

They had free internet and I made a list of  numbers to call later asking for work. I picked up a sim card and got my  first taste of Australian prices just browsing through the airport  shops. I saw Australian money for the first time, found a place to stay  in town as I had arrived without making any bookings and managed to get  some shut-eye.

Got to the hostel and saw my new home; a 12 bed mosh pit. It was  uncomfortable, there were bed bugs, everyone was loud & immature.  The place in general was filthy. I left after 4 days as I found a much  better and cheaper place to stay.

I took a walk around  the block and I was awestruck. Never had I been somewhere as clean and  wide open as Perth. It was even cleaner than Singapore, I didn't expect  there to be skyscrapers, let alone stay within 10 minutes of them, that  is just Perth for you. It takes like 10 minutes to walk around the  central business district. One you're in the city, the skyscrapers are  ubiquitous. You either live in/around the city or in a suburb somewhere.  From most suburbs you can see the city's skyline.

Yes I  am rambling and sounding like a cookie-cut tourist. Here's something I  just came across. I wrote it when I first moved here:

I finally made it to Australia, yes, finally indeed. It was a bit of a  shaky start that I recorded somewhere in my notebook. Oh, here it is:

So  here I am in the land of the Austral people. The land down under, new  world or whatever you wanna call it. It's here that I've come in search  of a better life, well paid jobs and to secure my future. It's quite a  change from the nice weather and cheap prices in Asia! Little did I know  that it would be winter time down here. I thought that was just a myth.  I actually arrived on one of the coldest days in Perth's history,  nursing a bit of fever and with practically no winter clothes. The first  day here I spent the equivalent of a good week in Asia (excl. Malaysia  & Singapore) and I really did nothing special. In fact, in the 3  days I've been here I've just been eating basic food that I prepare  myself. Quite a change no? Australian women don't look so fantastic, so  far at least but some will come. It's not really what I have on my mind  at the moment. I just wanna secure employment in the mines and build my  life from there. Man, this is all a bit daunting. It's like the first  time in my life where I feel truly independent and in control, as out of  control as I may be these days. All I've done in my life and over the  last year or two in particular has amounted to this moment. Oh the  lessons in money management I've learned in 3 days! It's an experience  and I'm here to stay no matter what happens. I must move up. Living in  dorms is so unappealing, my body is getting used to being in 'action'  again as is my mind. I'll make it, there is no other choice. This is  really making me a man and this necessary phase is only temporary. It  serves to make me stronger. Look, I made it down here despite all my  inner reservations. Things are going smoothly so far and they'll get  better one way or one way only, through my own effort. It;s the only  way. It's not pleasant right now but if that's what it takes then so be  it. I'll endure it with a smile until I get my way.

And another entry about a week later:

Yeah  it's still no walk in the park and I start to feel a little desperate  but then I stop, rationalize and put myself in a better mood. It's all  part of the process. Each day I find out something new that can help me  on my quest. Each day I see something from a new perspective. Yes I've  been quite rusty for a while and once I'm back into it making upwards of  750 dollars per week at least to start with I'll be able to save and  behave accordingly you see? I do laugh quite a but here and it's where I  wanted to be. First level on the video game of life and I'm gonna be  really good at this one and ace it. Learn the field and keep it real.  Change your perspective in more way than one and have some fun. Sisu.

Yeah,  that was last week. I've also noticed that I start a lot of my  sentences with yeah, as if posing a question. Hmmm, but that's unrelated  or is it? Yeah... Hehehe. So I've found some work and things are  starting to click in Australialand. That's all it takes, even though it  seemed bleak at first I wasn't always aware of the concealed order.  There is so much to look out for and I'm getting used to my new  settings. I'm much quieter and reserved than I normally am. Not good, I  can make it anywhere with my good qualities and must always show my best  qualities without fearing what others think. I must show that I am the  valuable one through my actions alone and not being pretentious. Has  that been a crime I've been committing? Probably to some extent. Yeah,  all things I learn from my new surroundings. I learn not to moan, that  we are all equal here, not to think negatively and to speak my mind, and  the truth no matter how 'uncomfortable' I may think it is at first.  This is all part of the process. Part of the experience. You see, in  addition to making mega bucks over here, I am also growing up day by day  and doing things the right way.

Now I see that there are much  more prospects on the horizon, I take charge and am flexible. I know  what I must do and am prepared to do whatever it takes, always go the  extra mile, change my bad habits for good ones. I like this environment  because there is no laziness, doubt, anxiety. Just people getting on  with the job and when I see that it can be done (long shifts, many days  in a row, isolation, hard work) then I also catch on. Also people here  can not only do it but do it with a smile and good humor. It's gonna be a  great country. I'll work here flat out until just before X mas and then  re-evaluate my position. If I can get my 3 months of farming or fruit  picking out of the way before X mas even better! The going is good here  in Perth right now and this is just the beginning. There will be many  tests along the way and I'll stay strong until I reach my goal of  getting into the mines and then I'll up my game. Nice, and there will  also be a lot of money in my bank accounting. Nice, some time before the  mines? For sure, all that I wanna do is just work and lift myself up.  Yes, it shall come to pass. 

----

So I mentioned that I moved out of that first shitty hostel  pretty quickly along with someone that had the same opinion of the  place. The next one I went to was great we shared a spacious 3 person  dorm with this other old weirdo that pretty much kept to himself.

There was a cooler vibe at the new backpackers because a lot of  the people stay there long term. I met a veteran that had been there for  over 2 years already. I had great fun there, apart from the lack of  cooking utensils or plate. I usually resorted to eating with my hands,  much to the dismay of everyone else. Hey, to each their own.

This one night, I was semi awake and heard the sound of trickling  fluids. I looked over and the old weirdo was pissing in a bottle in the  room. The toilet was only 20 metres away. I went ballistic on him. I  probably used every curse word in the English language to describe what a  filthy old pervert he is. I went up to reception and complained. They  gave me and my friend a room to ourselves. Sweet. The only reason they  didn't kick the old weirdo out was probably because it was low season  and they needed the extra bucks. The person I was sharing the room with  ended up leaving to go work after 2 days. I managed to get the room to  myself for the rest of the week, I tried to get it for another week when  payment was due but they weren't keen on letting me have a free ride  this time and I was back to the dorms, a 6 person dorm this time.

3 weeks of working in removals during the day and as a waiter at  night transpired. I can honestly say that it took me all of my energy  and willpower to make it. Just as soon as I was starting to get into a  rhythm that I was called up to go out and do what I came to Australia to  do; mining.

First Job

 July 2011


The days passed, the little money I had was spent and the need to work grew. I spent my whole day out trying to find leads at agencies, on-line, in the city, out bush. I tried everything to seemingly no avail.

Most of this was done on-line. I used the 30 minutes that location A gave for free, after which time I'd cross the road and do the rest of my work at location B. I happened to pick up one of their member cards somewhere in Asia and I was very grateful for it. I got an hour free and then it was only a dollar per hour afterwards. This was all way before I had a laptop. From all of this searching I was able to start making sense of the requirements that most employers were after. How the system works, what kind of work was popular in Australia, what qualifications most jobs required. When I look back at it, it was time very well spent because of all the information I gathered from those early days.

I went to Australia with my last $500 dollars, and that was already well past my overdraft. I just knew I'd succeed, I was not going to have it any other way. I never lost belief or was disheartened at any point during my quest. It was really tough coming from somewhere where I was able to live well on a small budget to having to get by on bread and canned tuna. If I didn't find work when I did, I would have only had enough to remain in the country for another 3 days and buy a one-way ticket out. Essentially, that was all the money I had left, so even if I had left the country I wouldn't have had enough to do anything abroad. It was either that or sleep on the streets. That's how tight things were. All of that was just a test of worthiness & character. I had arguably the best time during my first 2 penniless & jobless weeks that I've ever had in Australia. The first 5 weeks in Perth were sublime and everything went well until I got called up to go out bush.

Alas, I digress. As I was saying, I was getting really desperate for work and really needed to work. One day, while on the computer at location B. I received a call from out of the blue. It was one of the removal companies I had called on my first day asking whether I'd be available to start the next day. I went straight down to their yard, introduced myself and said I'd be ready to do as much work as they needed.

That night I did drink, I was so glad to have work and was in need desperate need of a cold beer. It was the best beer I ever drunk. Little did I know that this was to be the start of my real Australian adventure. Once I got that first job, more jobs kept coming in. In the space of a week I went from being potentially homeless to working 2 jobs and turning down several more work.