Working and Traveling Australia, Our Journey.

[Roo]

We would have gladly come up and given you a hand but... Just on our way home to fly to Fiji in 3 weeks. Currently sitting about 50k east of Mt Isa at the Ghost town of Mary Kathleen on our slow mosey home.

Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk

[McGirr]

We have been lucky with help coming from freinds who worked with us in Warburton. They arrive Sat week.

Mark

[xcvator]

We have been lucky with help coming from freinds who worked with us in Warburton. They arrive Sat week.

Mark

You paying fares Mark,?  I'll be there to help tomorrow 

[McGirr]

Another stunning sunset.



Mark

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Foo]

^^^ ^^^

Foo

Your worst nightmare is behind you. 😈

[McGirr]

We were privileged to see a ceremony today at Peppimenarti.

The ceremony is the circumcision of 10 young men. There were 3 dance groups that included the young men. People from other communities arrived today and everyone is camping in the park next to the store.

They are cooking bush tucker on open fires tonight such as turtle, geese etc.

It was an incredible sight.











The ceremony will continue for a number of days.

Mark



Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Moggy]

Dont eat the calamari 😉😉😉

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[speewa158]

                                                       

[GGV8Cruza]

Dont eat the calamari 😉😉😉

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

I just made a mess on the screen from spitting out my drink with laughter 

GG

[speewa158]

                             Don't Drink & Type  it makes the screen hard to read     

[UIZ733]

Dont eat the calamari 😉😉😉

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

Beat me to it.

[McGirr]

They had dances going all last night and then the circumcision was done this morning by the elders. No anesthetic. Everyone stays until the young boys are all good and then they finish up.

Mark

[xcvator]

They had dances going all last night and then the circumcision was done this morning by the elders. No anesthetic. Everyone stays until the young boys are all good and then they finish up.

Mark

[McGirr]

Some drone pics taken this evening.







Mark
(Foreskin Teller :-)

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[jk]

Your really getting your wings there mate, top photos  . Makes me think I might have to look into getting me one of them flying thingies    .

[Fizzie]

You appear to be at a decent altitude there Mark - about what is it at?

Also, no objections to photo's being taken of the ceremonies / dances? I always thought photo's weren't welcomed (or is that another urban myth)?

[SambOz]

Great pics Mark, thanks 

[McGirr]

You appear to be at a decent altitude there Mark - about what is it at?

Also, no objections to photo's being taken of the ceremonies / dances? I always thought photo's weren't welcomed (or is that another urban myth)?

Not sure the height but at a guess about 300 ft. Regarding the ceremony they wanted me to take pics. I cannot take pics where the young men are which was expected.

I also took a heap of video of the dances. Again thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mark

[Nomad]

Dont eat the calamari 😉😉😉

Can we nominate this for quote of the year?
 

[McGirr]

Well the ceremony has been going for close to 2 weeks. One young fellow was flown out due to complications while his calamari was cut and until he arrives back into the community no one can leave the camp. He is due back on the weekend. Hence the ceremony has lasted so long.

To give you an idea how hard it is for the locals they are camped next to the shop and endure 40 degree heat camping in tents. They cook on open fires each night and only the men can go home to shower while the woman use a hose to shower and wash.

They expect this ceremony to finish on Sunday and the next ceremony starts in a a weeks time where the men then get taken into the bush and learnt the old ways. The women will camp again next to the shop cooking for the men. This ceremony is expected to last only a week.

We have had to learn on the run to arrange extra food etc to cover the next ceremony plus be ready for our wet season order to arrive on the Monday when this next ceremony starts. Approx 60 pallets.

It's been a real learning curve for us but even though we are exhausted we enjoy what we do to assist the locals.

The community we have found to be extremely organized with a community liaison person, Henry, plus they have a community night patrol where 2 ladies start at 5.00pm and finish at 11.30pm driving around the community making sure the kids are not wondering the streets and drop into houses to see how things are going and the kids are fed.

They make sure no one is ever out of line and jump on people if they do. As expected every one is very tired but they come into the shop always in a happy mood as I always joke with them.

We have a number of local staff to assist us in the store and if they do not turn up we make one call and they are told to get to work. This only happens occasionally.

Talking to the community members we deal with on a daily basis we have decided that once we all get back to normality we are going to get on the  .

We head to Darwin this weekend for a 4 day break while friends, who have been working with us, looking after the store.

Looking forward to the break.

Mark

[alnjan]

It is a shame that some of Communities actions are not continued by other Communities.

[Fizzie]

they have a community night patrol where 2 ladies start at 5.00pm and finish at 11.30pm driving around the community making sure the kids are not wondering the streets and drop into houses to see how things are going and the kids are fed.

They make sure no one is ever out of line and jump on people if they do.

 

What a pity that doesn't happen in EVERY community / neighbourhood, black or white. Would make a big change to social (mis-) behaviour.

Enjoy your weekend off Mark - sounds like you've earned it!

 

[McGirr]

We enjoyed our 4 day break in Darwin. Shopping for gear for the next 5 months.

I have enjoyed working in the bush too long as the traffic and getting lost in a shopping centre is not my scene any more. Give me a slow easy lifestyle any day, not being stuck in traffic or the large crowds  .

Today they had the store committee meeting to approve us as managers plus other items on their agenda. Speaking to our bosses, who attended, the committee like us and the job we are doing and we will be signing a 12 month contract with a pay rise and a bonus structure put in place.

The update on the ceremony is it will continue for another 2 to 3 weeks with more people attending next week. The fun part is that the store is writing incredible figures due to the amount of people taking up residence in the park next to the shop. This has put naturally pressure on stock levels and we have to estimate the increased number of people coming in next week plus our wet season order hits us next Monday. To ease the pressure on our wet season stock we have had to order further stock to allow for the influx of people coming in. If we don't our 5 months stock projection will only last us 3 months.

So this is how the next week will unfold:

Thursday - 10 pallets to be unloaded and put away in 2 days

Monday- wet season stock arrives , approx 60 pallets, 2 days to put away

Thursday - 15 pallets to compensate for the excess sales.

This does not include our wet season Coke, Schweppes and meat order which alone will be around 25 pallets. This is expected to arrive in 2 weeks.

The fun part is our extra workers leave next Wed. So our bosses are arranging for 2 backpackers to come in next week to assist. Apart from the normal stock we are expecting our Xmas stock such as toys, Xmas decorations etc to arrive.

We normally do approx $200k a month, so far this month we have achieved $180k with 2 weeks to go. We are looking forward to the end of the month when we are all back to normal.

Glad we have stocked up with 

Mark

[Ben.Archer]

Sounds like you have a busy few weeks ahead of you!

From the way you are writing, it sounds like you are finding this a really rewarding posting?

[McGirr]

Sounds like you have a busy few weeks ahead of you!

From the way you are writing, it sounds like you are finding this a really rewarding posting?

We thoroughly enjoy the job,  the relaxed lifestyle, the freindly community and being accepted into their life where they come into the store and say hello, Mark /Penny.

Mark