Disappointment....

"When you find your path, you must not be afraid.  You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes.  Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way."

-Paulo Coelho

    I had a lot of fears going into starting my aupairing experience in the outback.  I didn't know if I would get along with the parents, if I would be lonely or bored, I thought about being stuck in the middle of the desert and not having any way out unless the family was willing to take me.   None of these ended up being the case, instead I encountered a problem I had never thought would be a problem.  In my life I have taught, babysat, and watched over thousands of children.  I have usually been the strict disciplinarian of all of these situations and have dealt with some extremely difficult children.  Any every time I have been able to work with the children and get them to fall in line or at least behave themselves for a short while.  That is until now.  I have met my match in the oldest child of the family I am currently staying with and the worst part is he knows he has won.  So after my first week here, I decided I unfortunately could not stay and gave the mother my two weeks notice.  

I'm extremely disappointed as I had planned to live here for 6 months and don't get me wrong, there are parts about this place that I am absolutely in love with. 

For example my new hat! The highlight of my day is putting on this hat and going on long walk out into the desert where there is not a single other person for hundreds of miles. 

After the crowds and noise of Seoul, I love nothing more than to have peace and quiet.  And how beautiful is this landscape? 

I have been visited by some wildlife! These frogs greet me every time I flush the toilet.  There are about 20 more that like to hangout in the shower with me. 

Because this is the desert but also a working cattle station, the family uses solar panels and windmills to pump water into troughs for the cattle to drink.  They have 12 wells throughout the property. 

I was disappointed also to learn that people don't really use horses anymore for mustering.  It is much easier to use these jeeps or dirtbikes.  It has also been very hot as it is now summer in Australia, but being in the dry desert makes these temps bearable.  As long as you are in shade, you can still sit outside.

These are the two youngest.  They can be cute at times but are also learning bad behavior from their older brother. 

This some more of the wildlife that has visited.  Its called a bungarra.  Its a type of monitor lizard.

Its funny to see pink headed parrot looking birds in the desert!

This map shows the different cattle stations in the area. 

The past two days we have seen huge thunderstorms.  Because you can see for so far around, I have loved watching the storms come in and go out again.  The clouds are just stunning.

I took about 500 photos before I finally got one of the lightning strike!

One night some kangaroos decided to join us! If you look closely you can see the joey sticking out of the mom's pouch!

Its too expensive to get building supplies trucked in, so instead most stations use ready made trailer buildings that can just be brought in and set down on a concrete slab.  The green building is the kitchen and then the white building is made up of individual rooms used to house workers.  This station doesn't have permanent staff, they just get workers to come during busy times. 

The next couple of photos were taken with my big camera yesterday right before the storm hit. 

So I am disappointed that this didn't work out, but at the same time I am still so glad I was able to come and stay here for a month.  Its very interesting to see how life on a cattle station works and how it compares to the dairy farms that I am used to.  This also gives me the opportunity to experience a different place in Australia.  I will leave here in two weeks and start work with a family in Perth.  They have two little boys a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old.  Then in January, I will move north with the family to a small city on the northern coast.  So instead of being upset, I am choosing to see this as getting three amazing locations to live instead of one!