Farm Experience: Thursday, 9th December, 2004

"It's my last 2 days on the farm, and I'm experiencing some mixed feelings. Honestly, Len and Gail have been wonderful hosts to me. And I wish I could hang around to see what Nicky does next. That is a huge improvement for someone who has no interests in babies whatsoever before yea? But, I also cannot wait to get out of here. I think I have never felt so much like a "coolie" before. It's just the same repetitive work every single day. By friday I would have done 8 days of rousing in the shearing shed. Pretty unbelievable when I think about it. If I had known what I was to be doing here I would have been much more reluctant to leave Perth in the first place to come here! I don't think I can do it all over again, that's for sure. It's too tiring. I feel like going to bed at 9pm, but then wake up in the middle of night because I've had too much rest too early. So I try to go back to sleep, only to wake up feeling more tired than before. Day after day it's the same. I really admire the shearers for their diligence in their jobs, without complaints too.

I realise again, that you simply cannot please everyone. Why do I say that? for the past few days I've been working in the shed, I've encountered different rouseabouts. Some are initially hardworking but slacked off as time passed. You annoy them by working too hard, for then it becomes obvious who does more work and who does less. Of course, this is similar in every occupation, as long as you have to work with people. I just never expected to encounter it even in a simple country shed!

I will miss here more than I had expected to. It has been a good 2 weeks. "