G’day mate!  My first stint of post-graduate employment brings me across the Pacific Ocean to Oceanview Estates Winery near Brisbane, Australia.  My aunt and uncle, Rosemary and Calvin Irons, are mathematics professors at Queensland University of Technology and have lived in Australia for more than 30 years.  About 10 years ago they wanted to pursue one of their loves; good wine.  Instead of just joining wine clubs and hunting though the wine stores for new vintages, they believed they could to make their own and make it better.  So, they found land in the mountains near Brisbane and established Oceanview Estates Winery (www.oceanviewestates.com.au) and have been producing wines since 2002. 

Before my graduation from Wabash, my aunt and uncle offered me the opportunity to come to Australia and work as an assistant vintner and server in the winery’s restaurant for a few months.  I gladly accepted their generous offer.  So, I decided to trade my Northern Hemisphere summer for the Southern Hemisphere winter.

Graduation was May 11^th and I didn’t leave for Australia until May 28^th.  So I had a few weeks in Indianapolis before I went Down Under.  I spent the majority of time getting together what I needed for my trip, working at Easley Winery, and trying to see as many of my friends as I could before I left.  With some of them moving away for jobs or grad school, when I get back, they won’t be there. 

The first day in Australia was an awful day to say the least.  Not only had I been traveling for around 25 hours on 3 different planes (including 13 hours from Los Angeles to Brisbane), I arrived in Brisbane at about 6:20am.  Because I was told the best way to fight jetlag is to punish myself and sleep when it’s dark outside, I ended up staying awake for 44 hours by the time night came.  It may have been a horrible experience, but going to bed when the sun goes down cured my jetlag and it wasn’t a problem after that. 

My scariest experience so far may seem benign to many: driving.  The Australians follow the British lead and drive on the left side (and many would say the wrong side) of the road.  The steering wheel, the turn signal, and the windshield wipers are also flipped.  So the thought of keeping up with highway traffic while I am used to driving on the opposite side of the car was daunting. 

Interestingly enough, I was actually able to practice driving without getting behind the wheel.  I learned the basics of Australian driving while walking around the mall.  I observed that most people will walk how they are used to driving and was able to practice entering and exiting streets by walking into and out of stores.  But in case that didn’t prepare me for driving completely, I was hoping and praying that no one would get behind me the first day I drove to the winery.  Luckily, no cars appeared in my rearview mirror and I reached the winery unscathed.  However, I did continually turn on my windshield wipers when I tried to put on my turn signal.  I haven’t done that for a while, though.

The leisure highlight of my trip so far was an off roading trip into the mountains with Jake Koeneman ’06.   He recently moved to Brisbane for his job and it was great to catch up with him, especially across the Pacific Ocean.  We pushed his offroad 4x4 to the max on some of the trails and found some amazing views along the way.  We could even see Brisbane, about 40km away, from some of the outlooks.  To provide an example, the picture here was taken from the road to the winery. 

One of the biggest projects going on at the winery currently is transplanting a section of vines to another area to make way for a amphitheater where we plan on having concerts and other events for guests.  It was a lot more work than it seemed.  Before we could move the vines, a dripping system needed to be installed into the new section to allow the vines a constant source of water.  Also each of the 400 some vines needed new holes dug.  On top of that, the winery only has 4 winery workers, Thomas, the winemaker, Noel, Thomas’ father-in-law who only works part time, Daryle, a 59 year-old local bloke, and me. 

Unfortunately, we had to prepare for the move without Thomas as he, his wife Kate, my aunt and uncle, were all touring the wine areas of Washington State and California, to get ideas for our winery for 2 weeks.  But when they got back, we hit the ground running.  However, once we began, it seemed like the job would never be done.  We only had four people to do the entire job as Thomas convinced Kate to help.  Lunch provided a ray of hope, however, as a backpacking couple from Sheffield, England showed up.  Thomas had called a national harvest hotline Australia put in place for backpackers looking for short term employment.  With their help the transplant was completed as the winter sun was brushing the horizon. 

One of the most interesting experiences I’ve had working in the restaurant is how many people will ask about my accent.  Coming from Midwestern America, I was unaware that I had an accent.  Once I tell them I’m American, a question about American politics or a joke pointed in my direction quickly follows.  It is actually relatively easy to follow American politics as it seems that a section of Australian news programming is dedicated to what is going on with what the Australians view as the circus going on in Washington DC.  I have yet to be harassed for being an American but there have been a few situations where being Canadian would have been beneficial.

The next few weeks will be pretty busy for me as my mom and sister will be accompanying to World Youth Day in Sydney.  The Catholic youth-focused event will mark the Pope’s first visit to Australia.  We will also be pruning the remaining 13 acres of vines and getting each row ready for the bud-burst coming in September.  I will report on those events as they come.