The beginning of the "hop-on-hop-off pass"

I leave Sydney in a rush and head to Melbourne, known as the cultural hub of Australia. I've lucked out here I'm staying in this hostel called The Nunnery which if you haven't guessed it used to be a Nunnery, so it's full of character and is unlike any hostel I've ever stayed in, and I also got a kick-ass roommate for the time that I'm there. The next day I leave on a one day Great Ocean Road Trip with a fellow Canadian and as we're on the bus I notice that I am the only one not wearing a jacket, big mistake -HUGE-. Thankfully one of the guides offers up his jacket! I hesitantly take it but am immediately grateful once it's on. I was not privy to the well known fact that Spring time in Melbs means you can and you will experience all 4 seasons in 1 day. Along the way we see the famous but fickle Bells Beach home to the Rip Curl Pro and is known as the spiritual home of Australian Surfing. Not to much farther we stop in Apollo Bay and I'm delighted to see my first Koala. There are a couple of others scattered around the trees, all are asleep like most Koalas. I'm hopeful but not overly optimistic that I will see a koala moving around, I suppose that's what happens when your diet has limited nutritional and caloric content. We arrive at the Twelve Apostles and are informed there's actually not 12, nor has there ever been, there is now only 7 rock "stacks" as 1 collapsed in 2005. Someone in the '60s came up with this name as a way to attract tourists to the "stacks" which are carved by the ocean. It's unbelievable to me that I'm actually here seeing this with my very own eyes, I take a few photos and spend the rest of my time just enjoying being here. I spend the rest of my time in Mel exploring the graffiti covered lane-ways, the CBD, and "funky" Fitzroy. I beginning tossing around the idea of working on a farm, I do some research and make some calls and am told on the phone that there is work on a banana farm in Tully, QLD and book a flight to Cairns. I spend one night in Cairns and head to Tully. Tully is a one street town with not a lot going on besides the banana plantations and cane sugar factories. I find my hostel and register it's here that I'm informed "sorry doll things slowed up quick, the wait list for work is three weeks, and you're behind 4 other girls." I'm not sure how I could have misunderstood her but I go with it and get on the list. I'm shown to my room, nothing could have prepared me for this... it's a room about the same size as the room bedroom I had in Canada, 4 bunk beds, and 7 very messy but very sweet girls. I take a deep breath and wonder how the heck am I going to live like this for a few weeks. I'm a neat freak, I have OCD when it comes to organization, and I'm set in my ways. I act on impulse but a few hours later I decide to get on the next bus outta there. Later on the girls share stories about working in the banana plantation, in their words "it's like a concentration camp" your at 1 station and do the same thing (putting lids on boxes, cutting bananas into bunches, wrapping them in plastic, etc) for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. The reason these girls and everyone else is doing it is the pay ($750/week) and the Australian government will grant you a 2nd year visa in exchange for 88 days of farm work. My job at home sounds blissfully amazing and I'm immediately thankful I don't need to do farm work, I'm not sure I'd last a day. In life Plan A or B doesn't always work out, good thing there's 26 letters in the alphabet as plan C is to use my hop on hop off greyhound bus pass and travel down the east coast, next stop Townsville.