Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Life

Last year this time I could hardly imagine that I would be writing a post stating that I am working at the worlds largest Chia farm which is based in Australia. You must be thinking to yourself that the word Chia sounds so familiar. Well it should. Back in the late eighties I think almost every home in North America owned a Chia Pet. I can still recall the TV jingle Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia. It turns out that while we were pasting these seeds onto cows and giant heads we were actually playing around with what is to be the next big super food. Approved by the heart foundation Chia is gluten free and packed full of Omega 3, Dietary Fibre and Protein.
Our friendly boss Fritz gave us a 2kg bag to get us started. Francis is religious about eating a tablespoon everyday mixed in with yogurt. We’ve also added it to juice and to pancakes. Our co-worker and friend Luke invited us over for “tea” (supper) where we enjoyed a delicious meal. His wife Tania makes award winning bread and she had made Chia dinner rolls which were the best dinner rolls I’ve ever had.
This job is so perfect for us at this point in our trip. When I think back to how discouraged I became when we were looking for work I realize it was all worth it in the end. Within half an hour of stepping foot on the Oasis farm we had employment. Robert brought us out to the 2nd farm and let us try our hand at siphoning. Definitely no piece of cake at first. Then he explained how the different channels and two pumps worked. Afterwards he brought us to the camp area where he showed us where would be living as caretakers. He told us the job required us to live on the farm which is about 20 minutes out of town so the accommodation would be free. I was very quiet during all of this while Francis grinned away at the prospect of being able to play in water ways.
It all seemed to good to be true. We had been struggling to find work to no avail. Then suddenly we had a job and a place to live all in one. I was sceptical but Francis was on cloud nine. We moved in and settled our things and started to work. Now we are into our 6th week here and we are still counting our blessings. How fortunate we are to find ourselves so comfortable while backpacking. The Kimberly is the most amazing place and we wake up every morning appreciating where we are.
No more looking for a place to take a shower. No more being cramped in the truck and arguing over staying sitting in the front for another hour or folding down the seats to put the bed down. Francis couldn’t wait to surprise me when he found that there is even a laundry room here. I’m in heaven.
We have been travelling non-stop for 5 months. Even though we are seeing and doing a lot of amazing things it gets a little monotonous after awhile. Its so nice to settle in somewhere. Living out away from town it is so peaceful and at night the stars and the milky way shine brightly over us. We look out onto 1000 hectares of beautiful green Chia paddocks which are starting to produce tiny little blue flowers that give the fields a nice hazed color. I don’t think we could ask for anything more.
This job will allow us to save up all the money we will need for traveling until we reach Canada. No worries about paying for a flight to New Zealand or for the accommodation we’ll need in Thailand and Hong Kong. The only thing we wish we had more of is time. We will stay here until harvest time which means we will likely be here until September. It may mean we have to speed things up when we leave here but we like it here so much that we don’t really mind. The time spent here will also qualify us for a second year visa if we decide we’d like to come back.
Located 10km from here they filmed the homestead scenes for the movie Australia. Francis and I plan to visit there during our days off this week. It was fun to watch the movie the other night at Luke’s home and recognize so many places. We’ve been told the set has been torn down already but that its still nice to go out and see the landscape where it was filmed.
On the farm there are fresh water crocodiles lurking in the bigger water channels. Luckily the “freshies” aren’t man-eaters like the “salties”. Francis and I have both seen one late at night. There are some wild horses around as well. One in particular likes to hang out behind our house. Each night when we pull into the driveway from working we scare away about a dozen little wallabies. I never get used to the sight of them hopping away. They are very curious and like to hang out in the camp when we are not around. Then there are the neighbours cows that always break in resulting in our first mustering experience. We watch the birds catching fish in the water channels and falcons hover above us watching us as we work.
Yes, we know how fortunate we are for this opportunity. Every morning we wake up to see the sunrise and in the evening the sunset. The days are warm and sunny. Sun block is super cheap. The local Hoochery serves the best fish and chips. Not to mention delicious rum samplings and cake. Our co-workers are then nicest people we’ve met so far and our bosses are incredible people as well. We love Kununurra!