Australia is turning out to be a pretty expensive country, as was Japan.   To try to reduce my costs I joined a site called Helpx.   https://www.helpx.net It’s a website where people provide you room and board in exchange for a few hours work each day.   There are farms, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, hostels and even sail boats; all doing a variety of jobs.   For my first helpx, I chose a combination housesit and farm work.   The family of 6 lived in a rural area, near Aubrey in Victoria.   The family was going away for about 10 days and needed someone to look after the house, animals, and farm.   There would also be a young German couple staying.   Right up my alley I thought.   I couldn’t have asked for a better first gig.   I arrived in the afternoon and the husband picked me up at the airport about 30 min away.   We had the nicest chat on the way home and I instantly liked him.   At one point we were talking about hunting.   He talked about being an avid hunter and

After Magnetic Island I headed to Brisbane.   I LOVED the city!   There are so many parks; each one just a bit different, so every day was something new.   I went to the city botanic garden and barely got in the front gate when I spotted a few trees filled with fledgling birds, just out of the nest and learning to fly.   They were noisy miners and the name fits.   All the babies were squawking like mad, like kids in a pool all yelling “Mom, watch me!”   The park had many areas, all with a different look.   I wandered by the river next to a mangrove swamp; took a path that led to a rain forest; other paths took me to flowers and a more open area.   As I was leaving someone pointed out a group of bats hanging in a tree.   They turned out to be flying foxes, a relative of a bat, but they look pretty much the same.   I also found a wonderful pedestrian area, with shops, a mall, many different restaurants, and people just hanging out.   I was there on Christmas eve and I was struc