Friday 15 August 2014

GIORGI: I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA!

Another in our fab series of readers from all around the world - meet Giorgi, who lives in rural Australia!

Giorgi says:
I'm sixteen years old and I live in a small town in the Australian outback. I live with my mum, my sister and our pets - guinea pigs, chooks (chickens) and a cat. My grandma lives on a farm outside town and we have horses there, Bella, Daizee and Razz. I also work on a farm fifteen minutes from home where I help look after a small herd of Murray Grey beef cattle.

I attend a catholic secondary school in town and I am studying for my certificate of education, aka Year eleven. We start school at 8.50 each day and finish at 3.20, with five classes each day and two snack breaks in between. There are lots of extra curricular clubs like Equestrian club, debating, band and sports… we're always busy. I recently went to a big Debutante Ball with some friends… my partner was a good friend of five years, and we spent ages perfecting the dances. I wore a beautiful white sparkly princess dress and white cowboy boots, and arrived in a big shiny red Massey Ferguson tractor! I'll look back on that night for years to come.

Life in Australia varies depending where you are; I'm in Victoria, which is close to Antarctica, so it gets cold here, around 12 degrees C, and drizzly. We are about an hours drive from the snow in winter and an hours drive from the beach in summer! Outside of school, I usually wear jeans, a shirt, a jumper and sometimes a vest or jacket; I love western boots, too - I have twelve pairs! Occasionally you come across a Crocodile Dundee type person, but most people are happy to leave our native animals alone, and of course cork hats are a definite fashion no-no!

When people think of Australia they think of Christmas on the beach, but the backyard is always the best place to be on a sunny Christmas day, for a barbeque lunch or roast dinner. Another celebration is the 'Melbourne Cup', a horse race known as the 'race that stops the nation'. We have a long weekend to celebrate it, and I usually go camping in the bush with my family - we takes our bikes and horses and soak in the serenity of being surrounded by trees and wildlife. We do the same to celebrate Easter, Australia Day and New Years.

Dad's side of the family originated from Cornwall, England, and emigrated in 1849, but we don't know much about mum's side. Grandpa was a beef farmer, though, and that may be where I get my love of agriculture! My friends do a lot of sports, but I am totally hooked on farming and have met lots of young people with the same passion - my dream is to win a scholarship to Texas to study there for a few months. Maybe one day!

Cathy says:
Wow… I LOVE this insight into life in rural Australia… Giorgi's feature makes it all come alive! COMMENT BELOW if you've ever been to Australia, or if YOU share Giorgi's love of the farming life!

6 comments:

  1. my Grandad's youngest sibling (who is no longer that young!) lives in Perth, Australia. he has two daughters, the first is Irish and was born in Ireland, and his youngest was born in Australia! I think she is Australian. they first lived in tom price, in the country, but they moved to the city after a bit (that may have something to do with the snake in the shower incident, now that I think about it!). his brother, my grandad, has a farm and a farmyard at his house. I go there lots, since it's a one minute drive (yes, one day I timed it), away from my house. granny has chickens and their eggs are really nice, but they don't have a cock. grandad is a beef farmer and he has lots of calfs and bulls and heffers! it's fun, very fun. I love farms! Lucy :)


    ReplyDelete
  2. On my mom's side of the family we have a whole farm with acres and acres of land! I love going there in the Spring time and riding the horses and feeding the chikens and all that kind if stuff! I don't know how to explain the passion but it's like and adrenaline rush!:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I live in Australia too!
    It's a beautiful country. I even have kangaroos living in my backyard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been to Australia before, but only the Gold Coast. The outback sounds very different to the places I've been!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I live in Victoria, Australia too!! I don't live on a farm but I live in a town with a population of about 10,000. It's very cold a lot of the time, but I'm used to it! If any one is ever going to Australia, and really wants to see some kangaroos, I suggest going to a place in the Grampians called Halls Gap. There's like millions of them there! Australia is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I live in a forrested region of Australia, lots of endangered creatures to spot here. :)
    Where I live in Victoria, it's always raining in winter, and hot and sunny in summer (btw, our version of hot is 36 dergrees +).
    We live Half hour away from Ballarat. :)

    ReplyDelete

EMILY: INSPIRED TO HELP REFUGEES

Reader Emily, aged ten, explains how a Cathy Cassidy book inspired her to raise money for a refugee charity... Emily says: The Cathy Cassidy...