HelpX Sally juures – I osa // HelpX at Sally's – Part I

Viimased n2dalad oleme me veetnud Sally kaunis talus, kahe tunni kaugusel Brisbane'ist. Sally on elav ja nooruslik 59-aastane naine, kes kolis siia tallu kolm aastat tagasi, et oma 90-aastase ema eest hoolt kanda (kes on muuseas Loch Lomondi l2hedalt p2rit shotlanna). Krunt on suur ja imekaunis – nende elamine, kaunis klassikalises Queenslandi stiilis ehitatud valge puumaja, on ymbritsetud laia muruv2ljaga kus leidub hiigelsuuri viigipuid, mis pakuvad imelisi varjulisi puhkekohtasid, palju teisi ilusaid 6itsevaid puusid ja p66said, lisaks ka juurviljaaed ja v2ikesed bambusesalud. Krunt oli aga paraku enne Sally tulekut t2iesti k2est 2ra l2inud, kuna ta ema oli liiga vana, et selle eest j6uda hoolt kanda. Et kohale j2lle elu sisse puhuda, on Sallyl olnud palju HelpX abilisi ning suur hulk t88d on juba 2ra tehtud, ent palju on veel ikka teha j22nud.

Peale Sally ja ta ema elab siin ka koer Brandy (kes, vaatamata oma 14-le eluaastale on uskumatult energiline), kaks kaunist ent enamasti peidus olevat kassi, lambad Buoy ja Baby (Baby on h2sti tubli tydruk ent Buoy kipub 2hmi t2is minema ja igasuguseid asju, eriti k2rusid, rammima), ning kolm paabulindu – kaks isast ja yks emane (k6ik kes hirmsasti armastavad meie aknast oma peegeldust imetleda).

Kui me siia saabusime, oli Sally juba yhte HelpX abilist v66rustamas – Justin, ameeriklane Baltimore'ist, Marylandist. Ning p2ev p2rast meie saabumist tulid siia veel kaks ameerika poissi – Kyle San Diegost, Californiast, ja Brett Denverist, Coloradost. K6ik kolm on Austraalias ringi reisinud ja nagu meiegi, kasutavad HelpXi et natuke maakanti uuristada. Seega on meil sel korral hoopis teistsugune kogemus kuna me ei ole ainukesed abilised. Ylimalt tore on olnud teistega aega veeta ja yhtlasi saame me ka tunduvalt rohkem t88d tehtud. Yhtlasi, kuna Sally on juba kogenud v66rustaja, on ta abilistele yles seadnud igasuguseid mugavusi. Meil on suure maja all korrusel oma eraldi vannituba, k88k ja elutuba/veranda, kus me enamus oma 6htuid veedame – syya tehes v6i grillides ning juttu ajades v6i niisama l66gastudes. Loomulikult on siin ka kyllaga ruumi kus abilised magada saavad – Justin magas suure maja vabas magamistoas ning Kyle ja Brett on end yles seadnud vanas lehmalaudas, kus nad oma minibussis magavad. Mina ja Paolo 88bime aga eraldi v2ikeses vanamoodsas majakeses, mis on yleni meie p2ralt. Siin on ilus, 6hurikas ja ylimalt mugav ning me oleme siin absurdselt h2sti maganud.

T88d teeme me viiel p2eval n2dalas, esmasp2evast reedeni, ning tavaliselt 2rkame me varakult yles, teeme 4-5 tundi t88d kuni l6unani, misj2rel on meil p2rastl6unad vabad. T88 on olnud peamiselt v2ikese majakese ja lehmalauda vaheliselt alalt lantana 2ra puhastamine – lantana on teatud tyypi okkaline p66sas, mis on hiigelsuure ala t2ielikult 2ra vallutanud. Paolo on yhtlasi ka k6iksuguseid asju parandanud, sh m88blit, t88riistasid, v2ravaid jms. Ma ise olen p2ris palju aiat88d ja rehimist teinud. Krunt on suur ja siin on alati midagi teha, seega hommikuti on meil k2ed-jalad t88d-tegemist t2is.

Seevastu on aga meie vabad p2rastl6unad uskumatult l66gastavad. Ma olen siin tundideviisi m6nusa tuuleiili k2es lugenud. Tihti oleme me l2hedalasuva j6e ja tammiga j2rve 22rde s6itnud et ujuda ja/v6i kalastada (seni pole aga midagi n2kanud :( ). P2rastl6unad on siin t2ielik paradiis!

N2dalavahetuseti me ei t88ta ja m88dunud puhkep2evad olid aktiivsed. Laup2eval l2ksime me ameerika poistega Noosa Headsi, mis on kaunis mere22rne linnake k6rvuti looduskaitsealaga, siit vaid tunni kaugusel. Linn ja sealne rand olid populaarsed ning puhkep2eva nautivat rahvast t2is. Me l2ksime looduskaitsealale, kaunist ranniku/kaljuteed m88da jalutama. Tagasiteel l2ksime me Paologa ka ookeani ujuma – vesi oli kristallpuhas, v2rskendav ja parajate lainetega kuhu oli tore sisse hypata – t2iuslik ujumiskoht. Ent retke absoluutne tipphetk oli t2itsa p2ris koaala looduses n2gemine! Ta oli pargi sissep22su l2hedal, suure eukalyptipuu otsas tukkumas. Tuli v2lja, et see koaala ongi alati enamus ajast selle puu otsas, ent sellegipoolest oli v2ga p6nev teda n2ha!

Pyhap2eval viis Sally minu, Paolo ja Justini Kondalilla Rahvusparki kylastama (teised poisid l2ksid hoopis kalale). Tegemist oli imekauni vihmametsapargiga ja me tegime pika jalutusk2igu, mille l6pus saime k6rge Kondalilla kose otsas olevas j2rvekeses ujuda. Tagasiteel peatusime me Sally poolt soovitatud pubis, kus saime 6lle juues imetleda imekaunist vaadet kaugele rannikule.

Esmasp2eval lahkus Justin, et oma reisi j2tkata ja praegu oleme me neljakesi. N2dala jooksul oleme me j2tkanud eelnevalt kirjeldatud t88dega. Yks p6nev seik juhtus aga kaks p2eva tagasi, kui siin oli t88mees ekskavaatoriga, kes aitas meil lantanat aida katuse otsast eemaldada. Seda tehes tuli v2lja, et katuse otsas lantana all oli peidus suur pyyton, kelle saime koheselt ka kinni pyytud ja kasti pandud. Me v6tsime kasti ja s6itsime koos ameeriklastega krundist kaugele j6e 22rde, kus me mao j2lle vabadusse lasime (aga mitte enne kui Kyle oli saanud temaga m2ngimisest isu t2is). Seekordne pyyton oli 'ainult' 1,5 meetrit pikk, seega mitte nagu too hiiglane keda me viimase HelpXi ajal Cooktowni l2histel n2gime, ent sellegipoolest oli ta muljetavaldav – eriti ta keskpaigas olev suur muhk, mille sees oli ilmselt pooleldi seeditud hiljuti kadumal2inud paabulinnupoeg. Me poleks Paologa osanud arvata, et saaksime veelkord pyytoni pyydmist ja lahtilaskmist kogeda – ilmselgelt pole tegu siinkandis just haruldase n2htusega! (Toim: Samal 6htul kui ma selle kirjutisega valmis sain, leidis Kyle tualetiust kinni panema minnes ukse pealt j2rjekordse pyytoni! Seekord j2tsime me ta rahule kuna tegelikult on tegemist rahumeelse loomaga ja pole vaja neid mujale viia, kui nad just liiga suured ei ole ja koduloomadele ohuks).

Hetkeseisuga oleme me Sally juures ylimalt rahul ja oleme otsustanud siin veeta ka kolmanda n2dala. J2rgmisel n2dalal yhinevad meiega veel paar abilist – yks poola paar, kes on varem juba siin olnud. Mida rohkem, seda uhkem – siin on see t6esti t6si!

//////////////////////////////////

We have spent the last weeks at Sally's beautiful homestead two hours north of Brisbane. Sally is a lively and energetic 59-year-old lady who moved to this farm three years ago to look after her 90-year-old mother (who, by the way, is a Scotswoman from near Loch Lomond). The homestead is large and absolutely gorgeous – the main house, a beautiful white wooden construction in the classic Queenslander style, is surrounded by a rolling hillside covered with grass, absolutely massive fig trees providing beautiful shady spots, lots of other gorgeous flowering trees, plus a vegetable garden and small groves of bamboo. However, it had gotten a bit out of hand up until Sally moved in, since her mother could no longer take care of the huge property due to her age. To help her get the place back up and running, Sally has had lots of HelpXers come here, and a huge amount of work has already been done, with lots more still to go.

Apart from Sally and her mum, the place is also home to Brandy the dog (who, despite her 14 years, is unbelievably energetic), two beautiful but elusive cats, Buoy and Baby the two sheep (Baby is a very good girl, but Buoy tends to want to headbutt stuff, especially wheelbarrows, when he gets too excited), and three peacocks – two boys and a girl (all of who just LOVE looking at their reflection in the window of our cabin).

When we arrived, there was already another HelpXer staying with Sally – Justin, an American guy from Baltimore, Maryland. And the day after we arrived, two more American guys showed up – Kyle, from San Diego, California, and Brett, from Denver, Colorado. All three have been travelling in Australia, like us, and are using HelpX to see a bit of the countryside. So this time we have had a very different experience since we are not the only ones here. It has been great having others around and we also get a lot more work done. Also, since Sally has had many volunteers before, she has built up brilliant facilities for the helpers. We have our own separate bathroom, kitchen and chillout area on the ground floor of the house, which is where we spend most of our evenings – cooking or barbecuing, chatting and chillaxing. There is also, obviously, lots of space for helpers to sleep in. Justin stayed in the spare bedroom in the main house, while Kyle and Brett have claimed the old dairy where they parked their van which they sleep in. Paolo and I stay in a rustic cabin separate from the main house, which we have all to ourselves. It is beautiful, breezy and extremely comfortable, we have been sleeping ridiculously well.

We work five days a week, Monday to Friday, and we usually get up early and work for 4-5 hours until lunchtime, after which we have our afternoons off. For work, the main job so far has been clearing lantana, a bushy, thorny plant that had taken over a huge area between the cabin and the dairy. Paolo has also been fixing all sorts of things, including furniture, gates and machinery. I have been doing some painting of various objects as well as quite a bit of gardening and raking. It's a big place and there is always stuff to do, so we are busy in the mornings.

Our free afternoons, on the contrary, have been exceedingly relaxing. I have spent hours just reading, and enjoying the lovely afternoon breeze. We have also done frequent trips to the nearby river and dammed lake for swimming and/or fishing (although we have yet to catch something :( ). The afternoons here are absolute paradise basically!

The weekends we have off, and the last one we had was very active. On Saturday we went with the American boys to Noosa Heads – a beautiful seaside town and wildlife reserve just an hour away from the homestead. It's a popular place with the town and beach full of people enjoying their day off. We went for a beach/cliff-side walk in the reserve, which was beautiful. Paolo and I also went for a swim in the ocean on our way back – the water was crystal clear, refreshing and with fun waves to jump into – a perfect swim. But the definite highlight was seeing an actual, real koala in the wild! It was just at the entrance to the reserve, in a tall Eucalyptus tree. Apparently the koala is a resident there and is found in that tree more often than not, but it was still very exciting!

On Sunday, Sally took Justin, Paolo and me to Kondalilla National Park (the two other guys stayed and went fishing instead). It was a beautiful rainforest park and we went for a long walk, followed by a swim in the rock pools on top of the Kondalilla waterfall. On the way back, we stopped for a pint at a pub which had an amazing view toward the coast far away.

On Monday, Justin left to continue his travels, and for now it's just us four remaining here. We have carried on working during the week doing the stuff that I described above. However, on one day there was a contractor here with an excavator who helped to get rid of the lantana growing on top of the dairy roof. While he was at it, it turned out that there was a python under the lantana and it was promptly caught and put inside a box. The Americans and we took the box and drove some way away to a creek where we released it back to the wild (but not before Kyle had his fill of playing around with it). This one was 'only' about 1.5 meters long, so not like the huge one we saw at our last HelpX near Cooktown, but it was still impressive – especially the big bump in the middle of its body in which he (or she) was probably digesting the late peacock chick. We wouldn't have guessed that we would get another chance to see and release a python – clearly it isn't that rare in this part of the world! (Edit: As I wrote this, Kyle found another python perched on the bathroom door, as he was going to close the door. This time we left it alone and let it go back to the garden because truthfully these are peaceful animals and needn't be moved unless they are big enough to be a threat to the animals of the house).

For now we are very happy at Sally's place, and we have decided to stay a third week. Next week we will be joined by some more helpers, a Polish couple that have already stayed here before. The more the merrier, it really rings true here!

Meie majake // Our wee cabin

Imelised vaated otse omast aiast // Gorgeous views straight from the garden

Mu lemmik lugemispaik, viigipuude all // My favourite reading spot, under the fig trees

Baby & Buoy

Sally kaunis maja - abiliste ala on alumisel korrusel // Sally's beautiful house - the helper area is downstairs

Kalal Borumba j2rve 22res // Fishing at lake Borumba

Tommy, hetked enne hypet mis lillepotid ymber ajas // Tommy, briefly before his jump that knocked over tons of flowerpots

Brandy :)

Koaala! Puu oli k6rge ja koaala v2ike, seega ei ole teda lihtne n2ha paraku // Koala! The tree was tall and the koala small, so unfortunately he is not that well visible

Noosa Heads

Kondalilla Rahvuspargis jalutamas // Trail at Kondalilla National Park

Meie ja (vasakult) Kyle, Brett ja Justin // Us and (from left) Kyle, Brett and Justin

Siin on hiigelsuured k2rnkonnad - tegemist on v66rliigiga kes on Austraaliasse toodud ja kes on kohalikule loodusele palju-palju paha teinud // Huge cane toads here! This is an invasive species that has taken over the continent and caused lots of havoc on the local ecosystems

Kaunid 6htupoolikud j2rve 22res // Beautiful sunsets on the lake

Pyytonit (peaaegu) vabastamas // (Almost) releasing the python

Leidsime veest tillukese kilpkonnapooja :) // Found a wee tiny baby turtle in the water :)

Meie ujumiskoht, hyppekaga ja puha // Our swimming hole, with a jumping rope and everything

Eesti tool! Sally oli alles hiljuti omale taaskasutusest uue antiiktooli muretsenud, ja tooli all on tootja m2rk - LUTERMA - MADE IN ESTONIA :) // Estonian chair! Sally had recently got a new antique chair, and under the chair is the maker's mark - LUTERMA, MADE IN ESTONIA :)