After 2 years of traveling by myself and only staying in a place for a max of 3 months... I started to feel a little detached from my friends and family and pretty much all sense of a community so I decided it was time to change and that I wanted to 'settle' somewhere for 6 whole months! Ray Mackin (a friend I worked with in Italy) told me about a a cool company called OEG - the Outdoor Education Group in NSW Australia and sold me on the job due the family feel of the place and also the great programmes they ran. So after a few weeks back home with the family and my best mates in the world I headed off to Sydney to start my new life working for OEG.
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| The Salt Lakes with Mt Arapiles in the background |
...and I stayed for almost 2 years!!! Well to be more accurate I was employeed for 2 years but they had a brilliant system were you choose how much work you wanted and therefore how much holiday time you wanted as well... so I went for the .8 load which meant 130 days of work a year and the rest off!!!! It was sooooooo sweet!!!! During that time off I went to Chile, Argentina, NZ a few times, Fiji and a couple trips to Araps in VIC plus I stayed local alot between programme and really enjoyed exploring the numerous crags and beaches that were so close to home.
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| The mighty mangled Gumtree |
Plus I really loved the work there as well. Generally we would meet the students at the end of a road somewhere, give them all the food and supplies that they would need for the week and then head off into the bush an return 5 days later with sometimes very different students but always students dreaming of showers, Macca's and their Xbox... typical!!!!
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| Cold mornings in Kosziousko National Park |
But the trips were amazing... hiking all over NSW and VIC, sea kayaking around Lakes Entrance, snow shoeing through Kosziousko NP in winter, biking around VIC, climbing in the Grampians and Arapiles, plus great programmes at Biloela - the property owned by NSW OEG.
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| The trainees doing their canoeing assessment on Mile Lakes |
As it was a not-for-profit organisation, the company actiavely tryed to make the best programmes they possibly could without worrying about money being saved to go into the owners pocket. The managament were really supportive, the trainees were super enthusiastic, the holiday time was amazing and the ongoing inhouse training was better than any I have ever seen. I felt I could have stayed a long time there even though when I signed a year long contract with them I almost cried at the thought of being tied down for that long... they were a great company to work for.
Plus it wasn't always about work... I lived in the old station masters house which was the party house and we would forever be waking up to dozens of people crashed out in the lounge or around the house.
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| Our tv room the morning after programme finished |
There were always trips to Nowra for the surfing and climbing. Plus new crags were being found and developed all the time around us so the climbing scene was really big. The local spots were Wingello and Mt Alex and the favourite long distance crag was of course Arapiles which took a good 13 hours to drive too!
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| Dave climbing at Nowra |
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| Great climbing at Wingello |
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| Sofa and her brand new BD rack ready to be used her the first time in Araps |
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| Dave struggling with 'the squeeze' at Araps |
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| Its not always warm in Aus... but still no need for shoes |
The aussie nature was very interesting... the snakes had me worried but the ants were the craziest!!!!
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Flies, flies and flies... and mozzies everywhere
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| Our campsite friend... the Stumptailed lizard |
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| My first friend in Moss Vale - the friendly non poisonious but always present and always pretty big Huntsman |
I had meet plenty of Aussies on previous travels so had heaps of people to catch up with.
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| Sutto and I off for some solitude in the sun |
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| The NSW crew at National staff day - spot the odd one out! |
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| Classic Aussie humour |
The food was amaaaazing on programme
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| ...and there was always so much of it! |
The variety of destinations we went to for work was phenominal
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| Onroute to a canoeing program in VIC |
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| Pre-students arriving on a programme on the mighty Murray ( 40 degrees) |
We lived in Moss Vale as thats where the NSW base is located, and it was actually an alright little town... 3 pubs within 300m of my house, swimming holes, golf courses, wineries, lots of great restuarants near by plus being out of the city was a huge bonus.
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| The local swimming hole |
And then there was Dave! We started as friends and climbing partners and grew from there over time. When his visa ran out and he had to leave the country I came along too which was the first time I have ever gone anywhere for anyone else. Was a pretty big move but I'm happy with my decision!
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| Good times with Dave in Araps |
