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| Cowgirls, Road Trips and Evolution  My Gap Year, which I previously wrote about in “itchy feet” #3 and #4, has come to an end. As I am back in my room in Germany that I left a year ago in order to set out on my personal quest to explore the world, I have time now to reflect on a very remarkable journey. My travels have led me through a vast variety of situations: life without water and electricity in Ghana, a stay in a colored suburb of Cape Town, camping in East Africa, working as a farmhand in a drought wrought corner of Australia, a solitary road trip along the New Zealand coastline, a face-to-face encounter with evidence for Darwin‘s theory of evolution on the Galapagos Islands, college life at an American university and a cross-country trip through the United States. I will not say “I have seen it all,” as nobody will be able to ever say that, but what I can honestly say is “I have seen a fair bit.” Last time I wrote about my stay in Africa and my arrival in the Land Down Under. I promised that I would let you know how my Cowgirl life in Oz went – so here we go! After a few days in Sydney, I grabbed my working boots and jeans and headed for the countryside. I was booked on an eleven-day Jackaroo/ Jillaroo course on a farm outside of Tamworth, New South Wales. I was going to learn what it takes to be a station hand on a cattle and sheep station. Tamworth is usually a small, quaint town in rural Australia. It is, however, home to the Country Music Festival for two weeks each summer. I arrived by train the day before the Festival officially began. Rumors and Cowboy hats were traveling up and down the train. Everybody was going to town. Literally every hotel was overbooked. The hostel I was staying at had to accommodate 50 soon-to-be Cowboys and Cowgirls plus the usual travelers and festival-goers. It was so crowded that at least 20 bunk beds had to be erected underneath the carport, and mattresses were stuffed into every available corner. Three people had to sleep in the broom shed, others slept on the floor and on benches, and the Lounge Room had long since been converted into a dormitory. We had to gamble for the bunk beds, but everyone was so laid-back in true Aussie fashion that no one really cared about sleeping outside or on the floor. There were backpacks everywhere, people were having BBQ‘s in the backyard, the boys brought beer, and some tried their didgeridoo skills. It looked and felt very much like a huge Australian pajama party. Walking down the main street of Tamworth in a Cowboy hat, boots and working clothes felt strange, but we blended in perfectly and enjoyed the country music with a decent meal and a beer in one of the pubs. On Leconfield Farm, I was one of 24 Jackaroos and Jillaroos in training. The course was the hardest one I ever took, but also the most fun and most rewarding one at the same time. When we first met our trainer Col, most of us did not like him at all. He was a real “tough mother“, no-fooling-around, do-as-I-say kind of guy. We soon came to learn that all he wanted from us was to show him and our horses respect and he would respect us. We figured it was a fair deal. Of course it meant that we had to prove ourselves. Milking cows, mustering and driving cattle and sheep on horseback across hundreds of acres of steep country, shearing sheep, shoeing horses and building fences were some of our chores. At the end of each day, we could feel that we had worked hard, and you should have seen our fridge for “beer o‘clock.“ We broke the farm record in driving cattle across a paddock – it took us twelve minutes – and at the end of our eleven days, we did not want to leave. Col did not want to let us go either. Although I was desperate to continue working as a Jillaroo, there was no job on offer. Instead, I ended up on a zucchini farm, where I picked and packed zucchinis and snow peas for a week. Afterwards, I bought a used car, technically to go road-tripping and to look for work. Together with a girl from Leconfield, I set out towards Brisbane. My car broke down three days later in a very small town along the Pacific Highway. We were stranded there for a week while a friendly mechanic fixed my car for material costs only. When we finally made it to Brisbane, I met up with a friend of mine from Germany. This was the first familiar face I had seen in half a year! Because my road trip companion was slowly turning into a travel stalker, I decided to head to the Outback. For six days, I was on an overland trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs, via Coober Pedy with its underground “dugout” homes, and via Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. Along the way, we slept underneath the stars, next to camp fires and in swags, which are comparable to sleeping bags. Waltzing Matilda... After eight weeks in Australia, it was time for me to finally “go home“ to New Zealand. I had stayed on the North Island as an exchange student three years ago, and I was now going to see my old acquaintances again. It was great to walk through Auckland and to reunite with my host family who had been missing me desperately since my departure. I even visited my old school, Waitakere College, where only two of my former teachers still work. However, they remembered me; I am not sure whether that is a good or a bad sign. I stayed with my host family, though this time more as a friend then a host daughter. I also rented a car to go on a road trip around the North Island. There was no time for a leisurely trip, but I knew the place and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to see in the short amount of time. To be able to go where I really wanted to go, and do what I really wanted to do, without having to compromise in the country I had missed so much was just awesome. I drove to Rotorua to see the Maori shows at Te Puia, via the Desert Road to see Mount Ruapehu which had just erupted, and to Palmerston North where I met up with my former driving instructor. My next stop was Wellington where I stayed with a pen friend I had never met before, and then I went up the West Coast back to Auckland to meet up with my classmates. It felt like I had never left! I enjoyed every minute I had in New Zealand and did an impressive total of 5.121km in nine days – all by myself. Every night in a different place, I could stop anywhere I wanted to stop, and leave as early or as late as I wanted. I also met a whole bunch of very interesting people in my dormitory each night. Up ahead was the biggest challenge on my entire trip. I was going to be a photographer for the National Park Galapagos Islands in Ecuador – without being able to speak Spanish fluently. I crossed the dateline by flying to South America on my flight back in time. The flight took 17 hours. This gave me enough time to study my dictionary so that I would be able to at least make small talk. I had a few days in Quito to acclimate myself to the country and the language, and then I was sent to the island. For the next six weeks I was on Isla Isabela, one of the Galapagos’ islands. Puerto Villamil, the town on Isabela, had streets made of sand, and most of the inhabitants were really friendly. My “job“ was to go wherever I wanted to go and take photos of all the animals and plants I could find and then supply the Parque Nacional with my pictures. Easy enough, is it not? I had six weeks of sitting on a tropical beach doing nothing but taking photos and strolling down to the local “coctel bar“ at night. My Spanish improved quite a bit and when I made my way back to Quito, I was able to hold 15 minute conversations in very basic Spanish, but people understood what I said. This made me very proud. However, I could not wait to get back into the world in which I can understand what people are saying and in which I can be understood. When I walked through the airport in Reno, USA, there was no doubt in my mind that I was in the civilized world. There were slot machines even before we got to baggage claim! I stayed with my godfather in Reno, and I enrolled at the University of Nevada for the summer mini-term course Visual Communication. The course was fun and interesting and it enabled me to get my first glimpse of college life. I loved it and managed to come out of the course with an “A“ as the overall grade. On weekends, my godfather took me on trips around Western Nevada and California. We spent Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and walking through Haight-Ashbury, which was unforgettable. Because I was allowed to use my godfather‘s car whenever I wanted to go on trips by myself, I drove around Lake Tahoe, Virginia City and Pyramid Lake. Before I finally flew home, I had one last adventure ahead of me. I joined an overland truck ride from Los Angeles all across the northern United States to New York City: about 4.700 miles from coast to coast. The group and I strolled through San Francisco, hiked through Yosemite National Park, and saw Old Faithful as well as a bear in Yellowstone National Park. In Badlands National Park we hiked in the heat of 43°C and we visited the impressive Mount Rushmore as well as the even more impressive Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota. I took the Chicago “El“, the city’s wellknown elevated train, and walked across the border into Canada at the Niagara Falls. We camped nearly every night, except for when we stopped in big cities. We survived ferocious thunderstorms and nights in bear country. I celebrated my 20th birthday on the bus to the Cowboy valley, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and we all grew together as a group of friends. Even after the tour was officially over, those who stayed around still met up in New York to have meals together. I managed to reunite with my volunteer host sister from Ghana in New York City. She was the first person I met on my Gap Year, and the last I saw before flying home! It was awesome to explore the Big Apple with her, and to ride the subway and stand on top of the Empire State Building together. We have already made plans to meet in Europe somewhere next year! I did so much during my Gap Year that I cannot possibly write everything down. Over this year I got to experience the friendliness of strangers, I found out that I am capable of reading maps and following them successfully (which is a really important trait to possess as a backpacker). I realized that I am not going to become a teacher anytime soon and that I love traveling. I got to know life without running water and electricity but full of hospitality in Africa, everyone who has ever worked on a ranch has my utmost respect, and if I was not before, I am now a full believer in the evolution theory. I made friends from all over the world, and have standing invitations to crash on their couches anytime. I think that it was good for me to work in each place I visited. That way, I really got to know the locals, learned many interesting facts, and received insights that I would not have today if it was not for all the spontaneous teachers along the way. I know now that I truly have the travel bug. It is getting harder and harder to sit still. I found out that I am happiest when I am on the road to somewhere unknown to me. There is always so much more to see and to do. Yes, I miss my family and friends, but I just love the freedom, the wind in my hair and the open road ahead! Cornelia Kaufmann, 20 years old, studies Travel Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, England. She is in her first year. itchy feet Nr.5, Ausgabe 2008 |
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