21
FINALLY FREE!
1ST LAYER
After graduating from high school, everyone (us included) wonders what to do with all the free time. It’s just one hard decision after another: Start studying? Yes? No? Studying what? We decided to go slowly and take a breather before doing anything else. We needed a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE! Inspired by the ORTOVOX catalog in my parents’ sporting goods store and excited by the pictures of the breathtaking Tasmanian landscape, we knew: THIS IS IT – WORK AND TRAVEL ON TASMANIAN MERINO SHEEP FARMS!
OFF TO A NEW WORLD In OCTOBER it was finally time. We even had problems packing for a six-month stay. What should we take with us? And where are we going to put it all? On the day before departure we finally shook off the stress from preparing for the trip – and we were off:
PHOTOS AND TEXT Christoph Niedermair and Florian Brandelik
Three months of NATURE, WILDERNESS AND SHEEP LAY before us and the almost 24-hour flight would soon be behind us. We could already get a sense of the WIDE OPEN SPACES from the plane – and we gained an even better impression of the country during our 1.5-hour drive from Hobart to the heartland of Tasmania and the city of Ross, where our farm was situated. On the way, we were met by endless expanses of grassy landscape dotted with eucalyptus trees, bush and pasture. And, of course, SHEEP AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE. When we got out of the car, an icy wind blew into our faces – welcome to the Tasmanian summer! Luckily, we were more warmly received by our host family, the Bibras, and were soon being bombarded with questions about our home country during lunch.