Days 422-428! Woah… never did I expect to be able to say I was going to experience cyclone, let alone a cyclone in Australia! The storm itself is hitting further up the coast, but Yamba isn’t out of the woods on this one. There’s lots of winds and rain to look forward to towards the end of this week’s blog post, but on top of that there’s fun on the farm and in the recording studio to enjoy too!

It’s the morning of Thursday, February 27th, which means time to wake up nice and early to head to the farm!

I set out to the farm and started my day off with spraying trees. It was a sunny and hot day out and unfortunately not much wind helping me cool down.

I made a lot of progress spraying today and was nearing the end of the section I was working on. Over the next couple of days I’d be wrapping up spraying the entire farm! Some 7,000+ trees in total that I walked and sprayed.

The afternoon was spent pruning, but I have a lot more to do on that front. Even though it was a hot day, I got to leave work an hour early because I had an important errand to run! It was time to apply for my temporary Australian drivers license.

In Australia, you can drive on a foreign license up to 6 months. After that, you need a temporary Australian license! And since I’ve just about been in the country for 6 months (crazy!!) it was time to get that all sorted out. I drove myself to the town over, Maclean, which has the Service NSW center.

Thankfully, it wasn’t busy, because this ended up taking almost an hour to process. I would’ve definitely held up the line. But the lady helping me out was super kind and was able to get me all sorted. All I needed was my passport, drivers license, a filled out application, and to pay… that was pretty much it! There were a bunch of checks they needed to do to verify I was who I said I was and to reconfirm the information on my application, which is why it took so long. But after all that, and around $160 AUD, I was all set up for a 3 year temporary Australian drivers license!

After finishing up, I headed back to Yamba where I met up with my friend Max and his girlfriend Millie at Turners Beach! I tried surfing a bit while I waited, but the waves were choppy and hectic so I decided body surfing would be more fun.

We tried to go to BRGR Spot after for dinner, but for some reason every time I try and go there it’s closed! So we ended up going to Drift Pizza instead.

I taught them Shithead while we waited and they picked it up quick! It’s a good thing we had these cards because Max forgot to press pay on his order so we were waiting there a while.

It was a really nice way to finish off the day and I immediately plopped into bed after dinner was over.

It now was the final day of February?! Where has the time gone? Friday, February 28th started off with another morning of farming. Today was the same as yesterday and I continued spraying in the morning and pruning in the afternoon. I did some mowing too in one of the sections, but I’ll do more of that later next week or the following when the grass has grown a bit more. I worked an extra half hour today to finish making up for the time I missed yesterday too.

But let’s get to the more exciting part of the day, when I got off work and headed immediately to the beach!

I went to Turners again to try my luck surfing and had a fun time! I caught one wave and got beat up by a bunch of other waves, but I’m glad I keep getting out there and trying. It’s also really fun implementing the things I’ve learned and trying to improve on them.

Also, getting into the water after a long day on the farm is such a reward! I’m surprised I even have the energy to paddle around after work, but I’m glad I do!

It was an early night after that because Saturday, March 1st meant it was time for some more farming!

I spent the morning spraying chemicals and wrapped up the section I was working on! One more section to go! But when I got back to the house, the owner had an odd request for me. The small farm pup had killed a hare, somehow bigger than it, and proudly brought it back to the house. The owner doesn’t deal well with dead animals, so she asked if I’d be willing to throw it into the river for her so the dog couldn’t hunt it down again.

So I hopped into the 4×4, with a dead hare in the trailer, and rode down to the street where the river is. There were two fishermen on the side of the river and I just gave them an awkward wave and quickly threw the hare into the water. In my mind, I just assumed the hare would sink and some shark would eat it later… but I was very wrong. The hare started just floating down the river towards the fisherman and I VERY quickly jumped back into the 4×4 and drove back to the house as fast as possible.

I was pretty embarrassed and felt bad they had to watch it float past them…

It’s kind of ironic, because back in the US it was still March 31st. And in my family we have a tradition to say hare hare hare on the final day of a month and rabbit rabbit rabbit on the first of a month… a little morbid but a little funny.

That was the excitement for the day! The afternoon I spent pruning more trees. It’s a long process as some of these rows have 100 trees in them.

There wasn’t any time for the beach after farming because it was time for bartending not long after.

The bartending shift was very slow and I was able to get off a little early to catch some sleep. I decided to take some weekends off from now on and focus on the farm job for now… I’m pretty worn out from all the work! I need some time to relax, beach, surf, and SLEEP!

Before I went to bed though, I got an interesting text from my former hostel manager, Yi. He asked me if I ever wanted to move to Koh Tao long term… around the time when I left Koh Tao he asked if I’d ever be interested in managing the new Taco Shack. It’s good to know that it wasn’t a random offer and they’re still interested!

I’m not sure it’s the right move as of right now, or if it’ll ever be… but WOW! What an offer to have on the table! It would be with a legit working visa and everything too… definitely something I’ll think about but we’ll see what direction my life takes in the next year.

Sunday, March 2nd called for some needed sleeping in, so I didn’t make it to the beach until 10am. But I’m glad I didn’t wake up early for the waves today because they were NOT good.

A cyclone was forming in the north east of the country and Yamba was starting to feel the effects of it. The waves were getting BIG and the ocean was quite choppy. I was out with my surfboard anyways, so I decided to try anyways. So I paddled out through the craziness and made it to the lineup. Quickly though, a big set of waves came and I had to keep paddling to get through them without getting pushed and thrown back to where I just paddled out from.

Eventually a big wave came and dumped me back a long ways and I admitted defeat and got out of the water. It wasn’t the best day for me to be out surfing.

Now unfortunately, with the coming of the cyclone, I probably wouldn’t be able to get much surfing in this week. But I was excited to see some big waves and hopefully watch some experienced surfers take them on!

I had work at the pub Sunday night as well and had a shorter shift and was able to clock off around 9:30pm to get to bed on time for my farm shift.

Monday, March 3rd rolled around and it was time to get back to the farm. I was greeted this morning to a beautiful rainbow over the farm and a cheeky welcome by the miniature horse.

This morning, I took on spraying the last section of trees on the farm. And I actually almost finished it up. But unfortunately a small storm rolled in and drenched me. Not long after the winds picked up and I decided to stop a few rows short for lunch.

I spent the afternoon pruning, until I got a call from the owner asking for my help flipping over their trampoline. The cyclone was getting nearer and they wanted to make sure it didn’t end up on the roof of the house (again, apparently the last major wind took it up there).

Sadly, with all this wind and rain, today was probably going to be my last day of work for the week… but we’ll see what happens with the storm! I wasn’t complaining though because I definitely needed some days off.

I went home and just relaxed the rest of the day.

I in fact had Tuesday, March 4th off. So I slept in as long as I could while it rained on and off all morning. During one of the breaks in the rain, I set out on a walk around the beaches to see what the waves were doing and if I could catch anyone surfing them. They were starting to get big but actually looked surfable in some spots!

These are pictures from Main Beach, it’s hard to tell exactly how big they are, but allegedly by the end of the week they’ll be around 6-7 meters! I even saw some dolphins out enjoying the chaos too. I got rained on a bit on my walk home and then relaxed until I decided to head out again.

This time, I went over to a Facebook marketplace sellers home to pick up my newest surfing item, a soft rack. This is a roof rack that straps through the inside of your cars windows so you can take your board to further beaches! So once this swell dies down, I’ll be able to drive to Angourie, Back Beach, and Spooky Beach!!

And speaking of Spooky Beach, I hadn’t been there yet and it was 5 minutes from where I was buying the roof rack, so I made my way there to see what it was like.

The cyclone itself is closer to Brisbane. But apparently, this is the first time since the 1970s that a cyclone has made its way close to Yamba. I just assumed no one was talking about it at first was because it happens all the time. But I guess it’s because people don’t think it’s that serious! Either way, as long as I’m safe and the people around me are too, I’m excited to see the effects on the surf.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to farming soon too!

The next task of my day was filling up my truck with gas. I went to my first Australian petrol station to fill the truck up with diesel… but honestly, I was a bit confused. There was nowhere to pay!

After asking, it turns out you pump FIRST and then pay… kinda wild. I was having trouble with getting it to pump, it kept shutting off like it was full. Turns out the shape of my gas tank causes that and I need to pump the gas with the handle upside down. Fitting since I’m on the opposite side of the world. The gas station attendants were super friendly and helpful!

On my way home, I did a quick pass by the beaches again and then I ran into my friends Sam, Bella, and Paddy. They were out throwing a football around their lawn, so I stopped and joined them! We ended up hanging for an hour or so before I headed back home to relax more.

There wasn’t much else to do with my day. I couldn’t go surfing and the weather was so sporadic that I couldn’t hang outside either. So… I watched a movie!

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched one, potentially my last one was Dune 2 in Chiang Mai, Thailand (someone can fact check me on that). Tonight I watched the Oscar nominated movie A Real Pain, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. I recently listened to the Armchair Expert podcast which interviewed Eisenberg about his movie so it was fresh on my mind.

I’m glad I watched it, it was a beautifully made movie diving into the topic of whose pain really matters most. Two cousins find themselves on a tour of Poland after their grandmother passes and you follow this tour group as they make their way through the country. It’s deep, thought provoking, tear jerking, and even humorous at times (but appropriate given the setting of the movie). I’d highly recommend it!

I went to bed early on the off chance I had to work in the morning, but I had a sneaky suspicion I’d have another day off.

And that suspicion was correct, as I woke up on Wednesday, March 5th to another rainy and very windy day. The wind reached up to almost 30mph today and there were gusts close to 50mph!!

I was hanging out at home for most of the morning and as I was noodling around on my guitar, I got a text from my friend Nathan. He got off work very early and wanted to know if I was free to work on the song! I of course said yes and got ready to leave my house. It wasn’t raining very hard and the wind wasn’t too crazy at this time, so I felt comfortable driving to his house.

Nathan had left some equipment at the studio he rents out, so we were going to go make a quick run to grab the items… but then we decided to just go work in the studio instead!

Apparently, Nathan and his current band mates rent out the studio for very cheap. The studio is owned by his neighbor, which is just awesome small world and cool to see the owner helping them out. We immediately got to work revising my surf rock song. We recorded one of the electric guitars through an actual amp, added a bunch of layers and riffs throughout the song, updated the vocals, and even spiced the lead into the chorus a bit to make it vibe even more!

It’s been a really cool process making this song so far… but this 5 hour session was a blast! Nathan and I were able to suggest ideas to each other and then grow or change them in ways the other didn’t see at first! It was super cool! There’s still a bit to go in the creation process and we need to get his drummer to put his thoughts on it. But it’s almost done! Then it’s 4 more songs to produce on the EP!

It’s all super exciting stuff! Also, to be in an actual studio was SO cool!!

Time was flying by in the studio and the cyclone couldn’t stop us! But eventually we wrapped it up for the day and then we went home. Thankfully the rain had stopped for a bit, so after I dropped him off, I drove by the beaches to see what the ocean was up to.

Pictures aren’t doing these waves justice… but these waves are MASSIVE and the ocean is CHOPPY! I’ve only ever seen the ocean like this in movies and I wasn’t the only one out admiring the craziness and beauty of it.

On my way home, I ran into my friend’s brother who had just got done surfing the storm waves (crazy kid) and he said it was “hectic.” I’d believe it!

I got home and spent the rest of the day listening to the song to write down notes, watching the storm and listening to the wind howl through my window, and more relaxation time.

Unexpectedly, there was even blue skies for a little bit for the first time in a couple days!

I probably won’t have work again tomorrow… or the next few days. HOPEFULLY I’ll be able to finish my farm work in time. I should have a big enough buffer of days still at the moment. The cyclone should hit land soon as well and then I’ll be able to get back to surfing at the very least!

For now, I’ll soak up this time relaxing and enjoy having ample time to create music! What a treat!

This was another week filled with hard work, fun, and a new weather experience. I’m hopeful that the storm won’t be too crazy here, but the town is getting ready for whatever will hit us. Only time will tell!

I’ll have plenty of updates for you next week!

– Elie