Ravenswood

I have been working at the Imperial Hotel in Ravenswood for over 3 weeks now and I'm loving it. Ravenswood is a small town South West of Townsville and consists of 2 pubs and a shop/post office plus a few houses. I'm working mostly behind the bar at lunch and in the evening so I've learnt lots of new skills which I would never have been given the opportunity to learn in the UK plus I'm widening my taste in country music. The town is heritage listed and was booming with around 50 pubs at the start of the 20th century when gold was discovered in area. Customers are mostly tourists and locals during the day, and in the evening the workers from the local gold mine and cattle stations turn up for and rum. It's been really hard work at times as everyone seems to drink so fast and the accents and slang has taken some getting used to. Everyone's really friendly and the locals are something never seen before- no teeth (one claims a rat stole hers) and everyone seems to have a dog! Although I've liked meeting other backpackers in the hostels it's been great to chat to the people who actually live in Australia. Living wise, I'm working about 45 hours a week for a flat rate and I get my own room and can eat meat and chips every night and I don't have to cook it which is great.

Despite its size there hasn't been a dull moment yet in Ravenswood. I don't want to do everything at once though. Behind the pub there's a huge disused open cast mine and everywhere you look there are remnants of the gold mining past. We have also had a magnitude 5.2 earthquake whilst I was working behind the bar which was pretty cool and last week we had a King Brown snake slither into the dining room! Thankfully it was spotted as there was just me in there eating breakfast. If a King Brown bit you, you would die before getting to hospital so sadly the snake had to be killed with the help of a couple of spades.

I have not internet or phone signal in Ravenswood but I managed to grab a lift to Townsville with the beer run so I can pick up some bits and pieces today. It's getting into Autumn and it's cooler so I'm wishing I hadn't sent home my warmer clothes. I hope to stay working at the pub for at least another month (flights to London are crazy expensive here) and then I think I'll head to Townsville and back into the land of communication to try and see if I can get a geology job with the local mines as my degree is actually worth something here due to a shortage of geologists. For now though I'll continue serving the beer.