Weyburn woman visits the Land Down Under for a year, returns in three

Travelling overseas is a dream for many, but local woman Karlene Hennig decided to take the courageous step and turn her dream into a reality. In September 2019, she said goodbye to her family and friends and boarded a flight to Australia. The initial plan was to return home in a year, however, plans have a way of changing. It’s been three years since Karlene has been home, and the Aussie blood is running through her veins as she will be flying back to the Land Down Under this September.

We asked Karlene why she decided to add another two years to her trip. 

“Basically COVID, in order to get your second-year visa you have to work on a farm for 88 days, I was only halfway done my 88 days when COVID hit, and I didn’t want to leave the country before getting my days done because I wouldn’t be able to come back, so that’s what initially made me stay,” explained Karlene. “ 

While parts of Australia had some of the strictest COVID lockdowns in the world, that was not the case where Karlene was, on a thoroughbred stud farm located inland from Sydney. 

“Throughout COVID, Australia was a lot more chill about the restrictions, so I didn’t see the point of coming back when I already had a job and settled down, plus I love it.”  

We asked Karlene why she chose Australia as her destination. 

“I’ve always seen photos of Australia, I thought it would be a good place to go because it's got the beaches, the beautiful weather, and they speak English,” chuckled Karlene. “Rather than going to some place like Thailand and not being able to speak their language.” 

 

Visiting a new country often means noticing cultural differences. We asked Karlene what some of the first things she noticed were different from home. 

“They’re very relaxed, they like to enjoy the beach, they work hard but they play even harder,” laughed Karlene. 

Like most Canadians, the Aussies speak English, however, that doesn’t mean some of the Australian slang didn’t leave Karlene scratching her head a time or two. We asked her to share some of the phrases and expressions that she found a little confusing. 

“Hi ya goin’, every time someone would say that to me, my brain would just freeze, I wasn’t sure if that meant, where am I going or how am I doing, but it means, how are you, it took me a long while to catch on to that,” shared Karlene. 

“Fair dinkum, I had a manager that used to say fair dinkum all the time, I had no idea what it meant, I just thought it was one of the horses on the farm, I asked, where is this horse, my manager didn’t know what I meant, I asked again, where is fair dinkum, then he explained that fair dinkum means, all good,” laughed Karlene. 

Other Australian idioms Karlene has grown accustomed to include: 

Afternoon = Arvo “We’ll catch up for drinks tomorrow arvo.” 

BBQ = Barbie 

Bed Bath and Beyond = Bed Bath & Table 

Buddy = Mate “G'day Mate” 

Burger King = Hungry Jacks 

Excellent/Amazing = Legend 

Flip Flops = Thongs 

Good job = Good on ya 

Mc Donald’s = Macca’s 

Redneck = Bogan 

Sunglasses = Sunnies 

Tradesperson = Tradie 

Trucker = Truckie 

U-turn = Uey 

Woman = Sheila 

The warm Australian Christmas has proved to be very different from the cold Canadian Christmas Karlene is accustomed to.  

“It’s hot, it’s in the middle of summer, most families will go to the beach and have a BBQ, it’s very different from what I’m used to, there’s no turkey, there’s usually sausage and steak and different salads,” explained Karlene. "I’ve actually never experienced an Australian Christmas really, I’m always working, the Aussies get Christmas off, I get New Year's off.” 

We asked Karlene what kind of jobs she’s been working at while she travels the country. 

“I’m working on a thoroughbred stud farm, I’m working with young thoroughbreds, we raise them up from foals to one-year-olds and then we take them to the sales, some of them sell for up to 2.5 million, just depends on their pedigree, I think the lowest one we sold for $80,000,” explained Karlene. “It’s a big industry, the thoroughbred racing industry is huge there.” 

While Karlene has travelled through much of Australia, for now, the place she calls home is Scone, a small city of just over 5500 people, located in New South Wales. She lives on the same thoroughbred farm she works. 

“It’s the horse capital of the country, it’s a beautiful little area in Hunter Valley,” said Karlene. 

One of the biggest challenges Karlene had to overcome was learning to drive the Aussie way.  

“Learning to drive on the left side was a struggle, you have to really focus the entire time you’re driving, cause the next thing you know, you will be on the right side,” said Karlene. “There’s lots of roundabouts, they were very stressful at first."  

Karlene is clearly a young woman who loves adventure, we asked her what some of her fondest memories of Australia are. 

“I was travelling the west coast, the sunsets are electric orange, they are incredible,” shared Karlene. “I went swimming with whale sharks, it was amazing, you can’t imagine what’s underneath the ocean until you experience it.” 

While Karlene has experienced many adventures travelling Australia these past three years, another exciting time for her was when Hollywood movie star Chris Hemsworth had a two-week stay at the same thoroughbred farm which she was working.  

“I just said hi, he was there for about two weeks, I guess his wife and kids really like horses, they were there during foaling season,” explained Karlene. “He stayed there longer than he was supposed to and he was supposed to be training for a movie, so they set up a rope in one of the round yards for him to practice climbing.” 

We asked Karlene if she would recommend travelling to Australia to other young adults. 

“Absolutely, do it, it may seem daunting at first, but once you’re there it’s so easy to meet people, find work, and travel around.” 

Karlene continued to explain that travelling through Australia can be done inexpensively, there’s a Grey Hound Bus that travels the east side and there are hostels in just about every city. 

Karlene has now travelled through all the Australian territories except one, Tasmania, which she hopes to venture into soon.  Come September, Karlene will once again say goodbye to her family and friends for at least another year, time will only tell if she decides to stay longer.