Milking and feeling sick

After a four hour journey I got picked up in the little town of Barham, north of Melbourne. Mark was there to help me with my bags and I met Amanda and her daughter. We drove for about ten minutes tops and arrived at a “little” farm. It was hard to judge the size of the farm due to the late hour (approx half ten, eleven) but it looked quite big. While there I got to meet the rest of the family that lives, and works, here on the farm. It was one of those really warm welcomes with a bit of banter and a few beers. They even offered me supper (steak, spuds (potatoes), veggies and gravy) which I gladly accepted. We went to bed at quite a late hour and they gave me the option to sleep in the first day. I declined that offer and told 'em I was ready for action. Let me 'ad 'em!

Day 1:

Koondrook,

Victoria,

Australia,

5:30 am.

I woke up with a total of 30 minutes slept. I don't know why I couldn't sleep but it didn't seem possible. I dreamt of a friend from back home (Yes you Ceciliah) and she was going ballistic about something I forgot to do (or something like that). Now, don't take offence Cicchi, it was only a dream, but I woke up with a start.

Me and Mark ate some brekky and got moving to the big milking house, just passed Sam and Amandas house (Sam is Amandas husband and one of the workers on the farm). Yeah, I forgot to mention; me and Mark have a house by ourselves. Quite nice compared to living in a hostel. Cheap as well. We were wearing sweaters since it was so early the sun hadn't begun burning the life out of the living yet.

We arrived to the milking house and we proceeded to milk all the about 490 cows on the farm. It was quite the experience. Oh, and let me tell you about cows.

Cows are quite filthy animals with quite weird-looking tits. Some of them have foul moods and there's a few that tries to kick you when you try to put on the milking cups. When a cow is ready to “empty it's bowels”, the tail goes straight up and you have a few seconds to step back. If you don't you will be in a world of shit (literally). Luckily, me and Mark keep an I eye out for stuff like that and we are quite good at dodging incoming missiles. The cows get herded on to a big circular revolving platform which has metal beams in the back to stop them from backing up. This beam also stops incoming kicks. And trust me, they kick hard. Ask Mark. He was kicked in the head a couple of weeks ago.

Look at the little spider!

After milking we went with Scott, the owner of the whole place (not Australia stupid, the farm). We helped him fix some pipes, which mostly revolved around us standing knee-deep in bog and handing him tools. After the pipes we were free for an hour or two, until the second milking started. We finished up at around five. By now it was about 40 degrees. It is hot. But it's not the heat that is the worst thing out here. It's not the getting-you-arms-covered-in-shit part either. It's the god damned flies. Argh! Flying into your ears, into your mouth, into your eyes. They're like little sex-legged Japanese suicide pilots, just ten times worse. If you wave 'em away they keep coming back for more. Disgusting little vile monsters are what they are.

We ended the night at Sam and Amandas with a few beers and a lot of games and laughter. Came home WAY to late (around 12ish) and went straight to bed. I stole Marks wifi a couple of minutes to check Facebook than I finally slept.

Day 2:

Woke up at around 5:30 am. It was already warm out. I couldn't believe my ears when Mark said it was already around 25 degrees (It's god damned 5 in the morning!). That's like a peek-summer mid-day in Sweden!

We went for milking again and it felt a little more like I knew what I was doing. We milked the cows for about two hours, then I followed Scott to drag up some poles from the ground. I drove a pick-up behind him to the place we were going, and trust me, it's weird changing gears on the left side. Even weirder driving there. I would like to tell you I used the right (not as in right/left but rather right/wrong) lever to signal, but the movement of the window wipers would give it away.

That is not strawberry milk. Ugh, blood clots

Cow behinds

After the poles Scott said it was way too hot to do much more than the second milking today, so I slept for an hour or so then did the second milking. It went kinda' smooth and we were done in about two hours. We got home, did some workout, then cooked dinner. Roast and wedges. Yeah buddy!

After (and during) dinner we watched Breaking Bad. Mark said yesterday that he wanted to see it from the start again which I didn't mind since I haven't actually seen it. Five episodes in and I can't wait to see the next one. And Mark says it only gets better.

Day 3:

Learnt how to drive a quad and chase some cows through the farm on their way to other paddocks. Yeah. Speed is key. Well not really. Safety is. Well, a key is a key, but you should keep safe. And by keep I don't mean one of those big castles. Oh, and milking. A lot of it. Mmmm. Milk.

Went to the pub and I got a bit drunk. With a bit I mean I was highly intoxicated.

Day 4:

Milking and digging and shit today. Started feeling better after the hangover had cleared up, then worse again when I started feeling soar and cold. I was actually freezing a bit in the fan (it was 46 degrees people).

Day 5:

Probably shouldn't milk or work for that matter. Was feeling shit. Felt shit whole day. Went to bed straight after milking at 17:00.

Day 6:

Slept until 12:00. Yeah that was a looong ass sleep. Not feeling that much better though. Sam and Amanda are getting worried cause I have a temp of 39.5. They think I should get into hospital. I hold out until about 14:00 then I agree with them. After seeing a nurse she thinks it's heatstress. I'm inclined to agree. Drink a shitload of water and sleep A LOT.

Day 7:

Worse. Soggy in head. Feel drunk when I walk around. Diane (owner) drives me into the hospital again and makes them call a doctor after seeing that my temp is 38.8. The doctor comes but the nurses has already put me on drop (Ugh, needles). Docor dismisses me and says that it's just heatstress and that I should be fine. A lot of armwaving. They leave me to my drop for a while, then one of the nurses comes back and takes temp. “Hmm, that can't be right”, she says, showing me the temp. 39.9. Yikes.

I end up spending two full days and four nights at the hospital until I'm any better.

Now I'm back to milking cows and the only thing that I can feel from the ordeal is my stomach. Still am on Antibiotic pills though. Hopefully I'll be fully restored soon! 

The other day we got to shoot some clay pigeons with a shotgun. Fun stuff. 

Oh and by the way, the doctor called again. Apparently I had Rossriver virus. Achievment unlocked.

Cya's!  

Here's a painting forgood measure.