DAY 57

The place the boys now are visiting is the place that are their roots to Australia, the place that gave them a feeling of belonging. Only coincidences led to the boys ending up at this place 5 years ago. Newly educated but not quite ready for the grown up life. Through an exchange program for young farmers they almost randomly was delegated a farm and host family, but they had no idea they would be so lucky with the place they ended up. Their stay at Harslett Farm would turn out to be their best memory from their twenties.

Manual hard labour in intense heat and several liters of sunscreen, that was how the days were for 7 months. They cut cabbage and celery by hand, packed in boxes, stacked the boxes on the trucks and drove large old trucks to the cold store. All boys have a dream of working like that on a stage of life, to feel that you are using your body, testing your limits and rewarding yourself with a cold beer after work.

Harslett Farm was also a lot more than hard work. It was a very social place, a lot due to Anders and Lasse’s open house more or less each weekend. A day in the weekend would easily lead to a party for the increasingly gang of friends, that consisted of locals and backpackers that also worked at the farm. The farm was the boys’ paradise.

A field filled with cabbage can be beautiful, a field filled with celery can be beautiful. The small dirt roads that sneaks around the large farm are beautiful. The forest that surrounds the farm is beautiful, the dams that supply the fields with water are beautiful. Kangaroos, snakes, spiders, turtles and birds is all beautiful- as long as they don’t bite or attack. The bald mountain that gives a spectacular view over the farm is beautiful.

This farm has supplied the boys with memories and feelings that might be hard for the people that live here to understand. That’s just the way it is. What just was the everyday life of the people here was for the Norwegians and adventure without dimensions. They were 24 years old and in their best age.

Now, 5 years later they are grateful for their choice to come here 5 years ago and grateful for the reception they got and the experiences they were given.

Harslett Farm IS Australia for Anders and Lasse. The farm will always feel a tiny bit like their own.

Awesomestralia – a normal life is boring