A big week!

Okay so plenty has happened this week!
First we went to Thredbo on Friday to meet up with Ben and following an unexpected cold snap, it was only 3deg and icey (according to the car) when we arrived at 6pm.  The trip took a bit longer than usual as there is still some floodwater around and we had to detour.  On Saturday morning we looked at the weather and made the decision not to do the walk that we intended.  Instead we went on the chairlift to the restaurant to find very big winds and the temp was, with windchill factored in, a very cold -9deg!!!
There was SNOW!!  So we sat there by the fire with hot chocolate and hot scones, because that's how we handle snow :)
Anyway we had a relaxing weekend spending time with Ben and managed to also have lunch with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and great-niece (that makes me sound old).  Monday was another long day driving with another detour. Arrived back around 4pm with the last grapes harvested that night, starting at 8pm.

Tuesday was the really big day because the truck arrived! It looks really big but at least my feet can touch the floor when I'm sitting in it :)   I went for a little drive in it with Josh after work but I know it will take a little while before I really feel comfortable driving it.

Next big news is that Bun has a job! Again it's not what you know, but who you know.  A friend from Winkie has a friend interstate who runs a contracting business with his son.  The friend was visiting Winkie this week and after a bit of a chat, Bun has a job to start in October driving a harvester for the grain season.  The boss is happy to train him and work alongside him so it's great to know that there is something lined up to go to as soon as we leave here.  It will probably mean that I will be driving the truck and towing the caravan while Bun drives a machine between properties so I need to get some practice in.  Also it means that we will be heading east not west!  The guy works through NSW and down into Victoria so a 'slight' change of plan there but we had said 'no rules, no plans' so it doesn't fuss us at all.

Finally for news this week, Josh has just got word that he has a job to go to straight after Easter.  He will be heading west instead of us :)  He will be working for 3 months or so, somewhere around Geraldton.  He only heard this morning so we don't have a lot of details yet, but I think it is on a station doing welding and stuff.  Accommodation and food are included but he has to cook for himself. Sounds like a good deal to me. Oh, and Stevie dog will be going with him so he's happy about that too.  The job was sourced through a job agency that I've been keeping an eye on for a while, with a view to us using it.  They work at placing people into short-term, casual vacancies (backpackers, grey nomads, etc) and I think once Josh has done a placement with them, he'll probably have no trouble getting other positions.

Hopefully the caravan will be arriving soon (it's due in April) but I'm not holding my breath.  Still, it will be great when we get that as we'll be able to have a couple of long weekends away to start settling in to it.

Okay, just got some more details on Josh's job. He will be working with a guy who plants sandalwood trees, employs backpackers, needs a tractor driver/supervisor, maintenance, welding, etc.  Near the coast near Geraldton somewhere so apparently there are opportunities to go fishing, shooting goats, riding motorbikes, go to pubs, etc.  I told Josh it sounds like it's just made for him :)