Recap: 2013

Grab a coffee and a couple of biscuits, its going to be a long post!

James and I have been living in The Lands since January 2013. Seeing as I have waited so long to start a blog I have decided that a recap on the major events of each month gone is in order.

So here goes, a description of the major events in 2013!

January 2013 - We had our farewell party on the 12th. It was a great night drinking and laughing with friends and family. In just 8 days time we would be on our way to the middle of nowhere, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.

We left on the 20th in our trusty Toyota Hilux, packed to the roof with all we could fit plus 3 cats and our kitten, Monty. Everything that fit into the Hilux would be the only things we had until we made a second trip to Adelaide in July.
We arrived in the community on the 22nd. James and I set off to start cleaning and unpacking. The house was a mess. We were in shock. We had no idea that the conditions were going to be quite so rough.

Soon after we had settled in a few days later, James and I noticed that our kitten, Monty was acting strange, we monitored him over 2 days and watched him deteriorate. He started loosing strength in his whole body and then stopped eating. In the space of a few hours on the morning of the 26th (Australia Day) he lost complete control of his body, he was motionless apart from breathing. We decided to take him to the closest vet, a 10 hour drive to Alice Springs. Unfortunately the Vet had nothing but bad news. Monty had suffered some sort of brain disorder, she described it as a ticking time bomb since he was born and we had to have him put down. He was 12 weeks old.

Just weeks before he passed, Monty having a check-up at the vets and his first vaccination. 

February 2013 - My birthday was in the beginning of February. I had a rather uneventful day, however James did make me breakfast in bed and a mud cake (my favourite). I decided on my birthday that I was sick of not doing anything, so I walked over to the school and spoke to the principal about maybe getting some work there. I walked out with the promise of a full time job as soon as I could arrange a police clearance and a Working With Children card. This proved to be rather difficult as both of these things required you to visit a post office. I did manage to get it done when I flew home to Adelaide later in the month.

On the 17th I received some really bad news, my cousin Nick had been in a car accident the night before and was on life support. I immediately began organising to go home to see him in time, however his life support was turned off the next day. I drove to Alice Springs on the 20th and flew to Adelaide from there on the 21st to be with my family, unfortunately we did not have enough money to get James down too, so he had to stay here in Jameson while I was away for a full 2 weeks. It was the hardest 2 weeks of my life.

March 2013 - I arrived back in Jameson on the 7th. I then FINALLY started working on the 18th. On the 25th a plumber came to fix our sewage problem that we had since early Feb, I wont go into detail about that because its gross but I will say that there was sewage flooded all though our bathroom and laundry. Up until the plumber came we were having to bathe on the back porch using a small storage tub of warm water and a Lipton Iced Tea bottle. It was a huge relief to be able to shower and use the toilet.

April 2013 - On the 9th I came home from work for my lunch break to see James sitting on the couch with the tiniest, cutest little puppy! We named him Rudy. We had been discussing getting a dog for some time and on that particular day James happened to be delivering new furniture to a locals house and the man pretty much threw the pup at him. A few weeks later, on the 17th I went back to the house that Rudy came from and asked for another pup. The man demanded that I give him $100. I managed to talk him down to $40 and 2 cigarettes. I took the skinniest pup from the litter, the one that needed the most caring for, I named him Swarley.

Swarley (Brindle) and Rudy (Tan) taken early October

On the 19th the school holidays began. James and I could not afford to go away so we spent the whole 2 weeks in Jameson. That was very boring.

May 2013 - School started back on the 6th, I couldn't have been more relieved for something to do. James had his birthday late in May, just like mine it was a quiet one. We celebrated together with dinner and movies. On the 31st I left to go to Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) for a work conference over the long weekend. I ended up getting very sick over the weekend and didn't enjoy myself as much as I had planned.

June 2013 - I got home from Yulara on the 3rd. I was very sick and ended up missing over a week of work. I was having a lot of trouble with a chest infection affecting my asthma and was worried I would have to be flown out and hospitalised. I have previously been infected and hospitalised with pneumonia 5 times. Fortunately enough I got over it and was able to go back to work. 

On the 15th I noticed that our neighbours had gone away, they had been gone for over a week. I noticed they had 3 puppies, no older than 5 weeks old left out to fend for themselves. I started feeding them and made them a little kennel to keep them out of the weather. 2 of the pups did not make it. I ended up stealing the last remaining pup. It was a little girl, I named her Layla. She was severely malnourished and had a terrible case of mange. I planned to nurture her back to health and re home her. 

Layla begging to come inside, minutes before I decided to take her in

July 2013 - On the 5th James and I set off in the Hilux, Adelaide bound with the three dogs on board. It was a very long trip. I took us a total 28 hours, non stop. We drove straight through the night, only stopping every now and then to give the dogs a break.

James proposed to me on the 12th! Of course I said yes! You can read a little more about that in the "About Me" section of my blog.

While we were in Adelaide we re homed Layla, she went to a great little family and is now rather big and a beach dog!
We arrived back in Jameson with our 2 dogs on the 20th. On the 30th, Telstra finally came to our house and installed our telephone line! I first rang them to have this done on the very first day we arrived. Up until the beginning of July, the community also had no mobile phone coverage, so we had gone 5 long months with little to no contact with our friends and family.

August 2013 - On the 16th I headed off with 2 of my co-workers to Alice Springs... GIRLS WEEKEND! With a bit of bad luck... Well actually a lot of bad luck one of the girls was taken down by a serious case of gastro. That left just me and my other co-worker to tear up the town. We had one big night starting at the casino, about half an hour after we arrived from our 12 hour drive. We then went to a little pub called Bojangles and then back to the casino. It was an eventful night and we had a great time, that is until we woke up the next day with massive hangovers and giant to-do lists. Trecking around a city in a hilux with a hangover is no fun at all.

Shots at Bojangles. Yuck!

Half way! Kata Tjuta rocks mark the end of the dirt

We thought we were hilarious.

September 2013 - On the 11th, 12th and 13th the school at Warburton hosted an annual festival type thing for all of the students in the lands that they call Dust Up. There were bouncy castles, face painting, hip hop dance workshops, discos, fireworks, athletics and so many fun activities. I was lucky enough to be able to go along and enjoy myself with the kids from Jameson. We had a ball. Due to strict laws I am not allowed to share any pictures of the students but I do have one photo to show you.

Sleeping quarters at Dust Up 2013

The school holidays stated on the 28th, James and I stayed in Jameson for the first week.

October 2013 - The 4th was our 2 year anniversary since James and I made our relationship official. We headed off to Alice Springs for 4 nights on the 6th. We stayed at the casino and basically just enjoyed our time in civilisation. We saw movies, got room service, went to fancy café's for brunch and spent a lot of time in the pool. It was a great escape and I didn't want to leave. We returned on the 10th and School started back on the 14th.

November 2013 - On the 21st We left for Yulara once again for a work conference, a co-workers birthday and the School Christmas party. This time James was lucky enough to be able to come along. We had a great weekend full of celebrations and alcohol. We got back to Jameson late on the 24th. 

Friendly Donkeys on the way home

Happy Birthday!

December 2013 - On the 2nd I got a phone call from my mum. She had some more bad news for me. A long time family friend had passed away after his short battle with cancer. This has made the last week very hard and I have also been quite sick. James and I will be leaving for Adelaide in just under 2 weeks but I doubt I will be able to get home in time to say my goodbyes at the funeral. I am just looking forward to seeing my family and friends for the first time since July. We also have our engagement party planned for while we are down and that is something I have been looking forward to for a long time.

Now you're all up to date on the last year I will try to let you know about the amazing things that happen out here in smaller, more frequent posts.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, just leave them below!

Jess