They say you learn something new every day... And today's nugget of learning is brought to you by Hannan, free of charge. Listen up and switch your learning brains on because here are some facts about chickens...
Did you know that when you get new chickens you can put pretend, plastic eggs in their nesting boxes as a 'reminder' of their purpose on this planet.
So when they wander in on that first night into their new home they go "ey, Rainbow! Look at this! That seems vaguely familiar...oh NOW I remember what the point in being a chicken is! Let's have a go then..." and hopefully have a go at laying real eggs. How cute is that?!
Did you also know that chickens will respond one of two ways when they feel threatened. If you go to pick up a chicken to give it a quick snuggle she will either run away squarking and flapping her mighty wings, or she will adopt a 'brace' position, bend her knees, put her wings out a bit and freeze, still on the ground, allowing you to pick her up on her own terms, the brave little soul that she is.
She will either fight, (by accepting her fate and being real brave) or fly (almost literally).
And the funny thing about that chicken fact is that I am exactly the same. In fact, I think we all are. When faced with stress, conflict, danger or anxiety, our body goes into 'fight or flight' mode. We will either face the danger head on, or freak out and leg it right out of there.
This has been a well known feeling in my life, particularly since the start of our travels back in January. Having spent a lot of my adult life battling with the sneaky, naughty monster we call "Anxiety", I have frequently found myself facing situations in which I have to decide whether to brace myself and 'go with the flow', or give up, cry, stamp my feet and refuse to play. Now, I'm not even talking about serious incidents, or huge disasters. Even the little things in my life can trigger a 'fight or flight' moment and I often find myself standing there, deciding which way to deal with it.
If you read my previous blog, you will already know about our big decision to leave our comfy day-in-day-out lives in Surfer's Paradise and dive into the 'Helpx' network backpacks first. If you don't know about this you can hurry over now and go read it by clicking here! But if you are in a bit of a rush, like when you read a quick blog while doing a wee at work or need a 5 minute filler while riding an escalator, I'll quickly explain. Helpx involves volunteers (us) staying with hosts around the world and working at their house/farm/hostel/boat/anywhere for a few hours a day and in exchange we get free accomodation and food. It's a bit scary for people like me (control freaks) because:
a) You have no control over the type of jobs you do. Although lots of people say they are easy going they still tend to have a pretty good idea of wha they need from you.
b) You have to take a huge risk each time you stay with a new host. Being someone who likes routines, planning and in-depth detail, it can be slightly daunting turning up to stay with someone for two whole weeks without knowing anything about what they're like or what your routine will be!
So bearing these anxieties in mind, when I found out that on our first Helpx project we would be staying on Macleay Island, in a very rural area, off the coast of Queensland, and that there were spiders in the house, and snakes out in the bush at the bottom of the garden, I was less than thrilled. First anxiety hurdle reached, thought process as follows:
Hurdle cleared! Woooop! Well done Hannan, look at you fighting your way across Australia. Then came the next hurdle: First day of work. I was gardening in a garden with every Australian beast in existence lurking under leaves. Even as Eileen was explaining what I needed to do I could see 3 naughty big spiders spreading their bodies across between the plants waiting to smile at me. This time the thought process first involved a bit of FLIGHT in the form of sneaking to the loo to cry, minor tantrum, telling George I was going home and then evolving into the decision to FIGHT the fear and see how that went, or as Eileen always told me "Feel the fear and do it anyway...!"
And it went really well! I certainly felt the fear but straight up did it anyway!
By the end of the two weeks at Eileen's house I was so much more relaxed and so much less anxious. I was fetching tools out of the shed, (even getting the 'spider-checking-routine' down to 10 seconds from a crazy minute and a half) planting in the veggie patch that I built MYSELF, and even picking up chickens and snuggling them (a huge success after initially not even being able to stroke them for fear of having my eyes pecked away). I was a fighter, brave and true, and really enjoyed living the 'simple life' of a happy gardener living off the land.
 |
| ...My favourite chicken named Rainbow by me... |
 |
| ...OK so I didn't build the actual COOP... ...but I did get all their food ready and put the fences up..! |
 |
| ...Collecting the eggs, but which one is the pretend egg..? |
She will either fight, (by accepting her fate and being real brave) or fly (almost literally).
And the funny thing about that chicken fact is that I am exactly the same. In fact, I think we all are. When faced with stress, conflict, danger or anxiety, our body goes into 'fight or flight' mode. We will either face the danger head on, or freak out and leg it right out of there.
This has been a well known feeling in my life, particularly since the start of our travels back in January. Having spent a lot of my adult life battling with the sneaky, naughty monster we call "Anxiety", I have frequently found myself facing situations in which I have to decide whether to brace myself and 'go with the flow', or give up, cry, stamp my feet and refuse to play. Now, I'm not even talking about serious incidents, or huge disasters. Even the little things in my life can trigger a 'fight or flight' moment and I often find myself standing there, deciding which way to deal with it.
If you read my previous blog, you will already know about our big decision to leave our comfy day-in-day-out lives in Surfer's Paradise and dive into the 'Helpx' network backpacks first. If you don't know about this you can hurry over now and go read it by clicking here! But if you are in a bit of a rush, like when you read a quick blog while doing a wee at work or need a 5 minute filler while riding an escalator, I'll quickly explain. Helpx involves volunteers (us) staying with hosts around the world and working at their house/farm/hostel/boat/anywhere for a few hours a day and in exchange we get free accomodation and food. It's a bit scary for people like me (control freaks) because:
a) You have no control over the type of jobs you do. Although lots of people say they are easy going they still tend to have a pretty good idea of wha they need from you.
b) You have to take a huge risk each time you stay with a new host. Being someone who likes routines, planning and in-depth detail, it can be slightly daunting turning up to stay with someone for two whole weeks without knowing anything about what they're like or what your routine will be!
So bearing these anxieties in mind, when I found out that on our first Helpx project we would be staying on Macleay Island, in a very rural area, off the coast of Queensland, and that there were spiders in the house, and snakes out in the bush at the bottom of the garden, I was less than thrilled. First anxiety hurdle reached, thought process as follows:
"This is freaky, I hate this. Is that a spider in my hair?!?! No, just fluff. I want to go home, I miss my safe house... NO, I can stay here and be fine. I can do this. Don't give up and leave, be brave. FIGHT: stay positive, stay strong, maybe check under the pillow every night for Huntsmans. Bring it on..."
Hurdle cleared! Woooop! Well done Hannan, look at you fighting your way across Australia. Then came the next hurdle: First day of work. I was gardening in a garden with every Australian beast in existence lurking under leaves. Even as Eileen was explaining what I needed to do I could see 3 naughty big spiders spreading their bodies across between the plants waiting to smile at me. This time the thought process first involved a bit of FLIGHT in the form of sneaking to the loo to cry, minor tantrum, telling George I was going home and then evolving into the decision to FIGHT the fear and see how that went, or as Eileen always told me "Feel the fear and do it anyway...!"
 |
| ...The raised bed I assembled, layered up with the good stuff and planted those teeny babies inside all snug in their dirty duvets... |
By the end of the two weeks at Eileen's house I was so much more relaxed and so much less anxious. I was fetching tools out of the shed, (even getting the 'spider-checking-routine' down to 10 seconds from a crazy minute and a half) planting in the veggie patch that I built MYSELF, and even picking up chickens and snuggling them (a huge success after initially not even being able to stroke them for fear of having my eyes pecked away). I was a fighter, brave and true, and really enjoyed living the 'simple life' of a happy gardener living off the land.
After enjoying Macleay Island for a couple of weeks, we ventured North to the Sunshine Coast and spent a couple of weeks staying in a house with an amazing cliff/rainforest garden.
Having been lulled into a false sense of security with all my Fighter's "I can do this" mentality, I tackled each of the jobs head on initially. After a couple of days though, and having seen a LOT of gigantic Huntsman spiders the size of tarantulas, the routine of "work - eat - go to town - sleep - repeat" began wearing me out. I lost energy and excitement for the concept of Helpx and missed seeing friends, having personal space and feeling relaxed (because being anxious and choosing between flight and flight all day long can be terribly exhausting). All of this combined with a serious demise in dollars brought us to a big decision. Maybe it was time to bid Australia farewell and move on to visit New Zealand.
The Helpx lifestyle suits many people (and of course we had only done it for a short while) but we were ready to be in control of our time again, and not feel we had to penny pinch just for the sake of gaining another week in Australia. It felt like we were just fighting to stay in Australia, even though we couldn't afford to see any of it!
So we packed up our things, blew the last of our Australian budget on a day seeing koalas and kangaroos (obviously) and climbed onto a plane that will take us to the next destination.
 |
| ...Beautiful rainforest garden on a cliff out the back of the house... |
 |
| ...Both indifferent to the others' presence... |
So we packed up our things, blew the last of our Australian budget on a day seeing koalas and kangaroos (obviously) and climbed onto a plane that will take us to the next destination.
Australia...it's been amazing. Life changing in fact. We love your beaches, your weather and your laid back look at life. But I've done my fighting. It's time to fly. New Zealand? Get the kettle on, we'll be there soon.
 |
| ...Time to fly..! |