Karratha: Still Here...Crikey!

October 2015

As October rolled on it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep myself sane. I think this maybe the most frustrating month working here because by now I hated certain aspects of the job but I still had 8 weeks left. And I was counting them! My fingers were a mess. They were all dry and cracked. I'm not really sure why, that's never happened to me in a bar before. I'm guessing it was something to do with the chilled glasses.

Ouch

Cossack

Focusing on the positives though, my life outside of work was still fun. In fact, it could not be better. I was always hanging out with Megan, Kate, Katie and now Jess at the Corbett house a lot. Ollie was around some afternoons too whilst I was in the pool. On one of our days off we went back to Cossack since I had recommended it after my last visit. Its a 40 min drive from Karratha so just to get out of town is good.

Lets go the beach!

We were ambushed by a RIDICULOUS amount of flies. I didn't know there was this many in the world. You had to be constantly waving your hands about to stop them going in your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, everywhere! It was horrendous! We decided we'd try our look a bit further up the road at Honeymoon Cove. It was a lot better but still a bit irritating if you're not in the water.

Honeymoon Cove

Ahhh Grassho

I have no idea what the difference is between grasshoppers, crickets and locusts are but this is one of them! He scared the shit of Luke who ran away screaming like a little girl. He was in our house for a couple of days next to the stairs.

Passed out

I came home one night to find Eric passed out like this on the table which I couldn't help but take a picture of. Hilarious!

Fancy writing

The chalk boards and table top talkers were unofficially my job. It basically came from the fact I hated Sunday shifts. You get all the drunk people and issues that you get on a Saturday night but without the fun so I used to do the boards so I could get off the bar for a bit. One particular afternoon I managed to spend an hour making up the Halloween and Melbourne Cup signs above the door. I was particularly proud of them to be honest. I thought they looked pretty decent. Especially my horse!

Lets call him Boris!

Coming up!

This was all during the Rugby World Cup. We could only actually show 3 games live but we watched a couple of games in the function room after work including the final. I was fully behind the All Blacks to win (after England were knocked out). This was not only because they are the best in the world and I love New Zealand but also because Danny had got Australia in the sweepstake and I would have been fuming had he won. I got Georgia who I didn't even know had a rugby team!

Feeling German!

Our Oktober Fest consisted of two new beers and a couple of German influenced specials. There were a few decorations too and a ridiculous amount of German music. We had to sign an actual contract to wear the fancy dress items that said we would have to pay $50 if they weren't returned. That really pissed me off. Its not like we had a choice either. We had to wear them. I did on the first day then claimed I'd left it at home by mistake for the rest of the time.

Good Morning

I had started doing yardy shifts now. This was after Chris, who normally did the yardy job, left with very little notice. I said I would give it a go. It starts at 7am and you have to move all the bins around, clean up the outside space and set up for the day. Its an easy job really if it wasn't 40 degrees by the time you're finished. I agreed to one shift a week whilst Luke took on the rest but I ended up doing two a week until I finished.

No rain

The temperature was definitely on the increase now with many 40 degree days. It would still be warm at night too so it never cooled down. I was constantly wanting a cold shower but the only water that would come out of the tap was warm. The trick was to get from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned bar as quickly as possible. It hadn't rained in months now either. There was one night in October when it started spitting and everyone freaked out! I got really over excited! We had to throw a big sheet over the roof of where the band was playing in case one of the nearby storms we could see came over the top. It didn't though and it stopped spitting. I was really disappointed!

Beer Pong

I don't remember which night this was from but it no doubt involved much alcohol and dive bombing into the pool.

Mariee Pool

We took a trip up to Mariee Pool towards the end of the month for a swing and swim. Its a very nice place and I can't believe I didn't come here sooner! We spent the afternoon swinging on the rope swing.

Katie

Me

Quite randomly, I saw that Dave and Sarah were heading through Karratha whilst I was browsing Facebook. I had worked with them on Mt Ruapehu and told them to come see me at the bar which they did. It was great to catch up with them and swap stories of what we had been doing in the 12 months since we had left the mountain.

Comfortable?

The end of the month meant it was time for Halloween. I was looking forward to it not only because it would be a break from the usual Saturday night but also we would be going out to Evos for the first time in nearly 2 months. I was desperate for a good night out! I opened the bar and I helped the others decorate the bar which looked pretty cool especially the entrance.

Scary stuff

Halloweenified

It was a relatively normal day but then the evening staff came in dressed up and hilarity ensued. I don't know what Hayden was supposed to be - a surgeon maybe. The theme was famous dead people. Kate was Freddy Mercury and Megan was Amy Winehouse complete with bags of cocaine in the hair! Quinn was Cleopatra, Beki was a young black Michael Jackson and Luke was...well I don't even think he knew what he was.

Intresting bunch

Quinn as Cleopatra

Crikey!

I came as Steve Irwin complete with stingray to the heart. I definitely don't think I had the best outfit but I certainly got the best reaction. I think it was quite close to mark to be dressed as an Australian icon but everyone saw the funny side of it even if they were a little shocked. There were a few "two soon" comments to which I replied "9 years!"

The stingray that killed me

Willie

That's another month done. 4 more weeks in Karratha. Not long now until I leave! I'm nearly there!