The Australian countryside is worlds away from the glitzy, squeaky clean streets of Sydney but equally as beautiful just a different sort of beauty. There is so much space, fields of wheat and rice going on for miles and miles, quaint little towns, little pubs that remind me of pubs in the North-East of England where Nathan is from and the flattest land I have ever seen.
Before leaving for the country Ben was telling us about when he was at uni and the grass in the backyard of his shared house got so long that they purchased six sheep to live out the back to keep the grass short rather than buy a lawn mower. This made me laugh a lot as it is something I would not even consider doing coming from the city and totally hilarious thinking about Ben putting sheep into his back garden.
On our way to Ben's parents house we stopped in Yass a small town with an American feel to the high street, that was until I opened the pub door and it felt like one of the pubs in Middlesbrough which I like a lot and had a sense of home about it. Ben pointed out the plaque on the wall explaining that Princess Diana had actually been to the very pub we were standing in!
We arrived at Chris and Jo's farm house at almost one in the morning so we headed straight to bed. Wow it was a beautiful sleep, the bed was comfy and the whole house is air conditioned, which you really need in the country as it is so hot.
We were all up around 9am and off out to explore the farm. Sam and I went on a golf kart around the thousands of acres of fields around the house. I could not believe how much land was still part of the farm.
We went into the old sheep shearing shed which was really interesting as I have never seen anything like it before. I looked around at the sheds, fields, old barns, little channels of water and thought about how much fun Pete and I would have had on the farm as kids growing up in a place like this, I asked Ben if him and his siblings had a good time. It sounded like they must have had so many adventures and cool things to explore out there.
Nathan, Ben and I went into an abandoned old house on the farm land, it looked like it could have been beautiful but it was now falling apart. It was so random as it was as if someone had left in a hurry and never returned as there were beer cans, magazines, clothes, suitcases, kitchen equipment, soap etc scattered all about the house. Nathan and I were scaring ourselves about snakes being in there, so much so that when a wasp came flying out of the conservatory area I run screaming!
In the afternoon the four of us headed to the Murray River for a swim. The water was gorgeous, so fresh and clean although I was on high alert for snakes and eels.
Tony (Sam's brother) and his girlfriend Hannah arrived at the farm in the afternoon and we all headed off to Barry's Chinese, the number one restaurant in the town of Finley. There are 3 restaurants in total. I loved that Ben and his parents literally knew everyone in the whole place. Nan came out too. The food was awesome.
We headed back to play Taboo! Ok so Julia (Sam & Tony's mum) got the game for Tony and he brought it with him and thank goodness he did it was AMAZING! We played boys against girls and the game carried on for 3 hours. The idea of the game for people who have never played it that there is a word at the top of the card that you read (to yourself) and underneath are 5 words associated with that word. You must then describe the word to your team mates without using the words associated with it. It was a lot of fun and gave many many laughs. Some of my favourite moments were when Ben was trying to get the boys to guess cucumber so said 'it comes on a gin and tonic' to which Nathan and Tony proceeded to list every fruit and vegetable apart from cucumber. I was crying with frustration when trying to get the girls to guess Atlantic Ocean and I was giving clues like 'what is between the UK and New York and what do you fly over' to which I got the response 'Europe!' It got funnier and funnier as the night went on. Hannah and I did really well at one point and managed about 6 cards in 3 minutes. Sam and I were pretty good as we could use stories from our past to help us guess stuff! Definitely a board game I want for Christmas!
Friday morning we headed off to Denny to stay at Ben's brothers house. Wow it was another amazing place. Gorgeous countryside and so much space. Sam, Hannah and I went off to the supermarket and made some great pizzas for lunch.
The boys chilled in the backyard watching sport on the outside TV.
In the evening we headed to Ben's sisters house (Monique) to meet her, her husband Scott and their gorgeous children Emily and Nathan. Emily was so fun, we were building bricks and smashing them down and then she had me chasing her all over the house, she was fast for a 2 year old I basically had a 30 min work out!
The next morning we went back for breakfast to say bye to them. Sam, Ben, Nathan and I were in the garden with the two children playing on the swing set and trampoline when I decided to put some of my GCSE trampolining into use and proceeded to perform a little routine! At the end I finished in true gymnastic fashion jumping one final time as I landed with my arms in the air! However to my complete embarrassment my dress had slipped down, Nathan was crying with laughter and Ben was in shock! What a way to end our trip to the country!
My embarrassing moments that day did not end there. On the car journey to Melbourne we stopped at a petrol station, we all jumped out to buy snacks and use the bathroom. There was only one toilet and I was the last one in. When I finished I headed back towards to gas pump where we had parked the car to fill up, I casually swung open the door to get in and to my horror it was not Nathan sitting on the back seat next to me but a whole bunch of people I don't know. The women filling up her car looked and said 'can I help you?' I slammed the door shut and start going red mumbling that my friends were parked there! She starts looking at me as if I'm mad and asks if I'm on the right floor? To which I'm super confused as it is a petrol station on flat ground but as if I couldn't make myself look any more ridiculous I say 'it's only one floor' completely embarrassed and realising that is probably not what she said I run out and see our car sitting in the car park, they had driven off while waiting for me so someone else could fill up! Wow it was turning into one hell of an embarrassing day.
We made it to Melbourne around 5pm and Sam and Ben dropped us off at Rich an Maddie's house.
It was amazing driving from Sydney to Melbourne and getting a real sense of country life and the lifestyle of many Australians who do not live on the coast. Ben's whole family was so lovely and welcoming and they live in wonderful homes, which we were lucky to have seen and shared time with them in.