The Healing Vacation

Emma Wagner stood in line at the Brisbane international airport jet lagged and wondering if she’d made the right decision. She’d decided on impulse to backpack in Australia travelling and working over the twelve months allotted under the specific visa granted for those who qualified. Application process had been done online through the Australian Immigration website in Germany and approved. She was twenty-four years of age had no dependents and was able to produce evidence of the $5,000 in hand financial requirement again at immigration check in. Hopefully she’d find her large backpack at the carousel to pick up and be cleared by customs. She’d made sure there was nothing there to get her into trouble when they examined the luggage having diligently read requirements. She was German and rules were rules to be honoured.

The air travel experience on a cheap ticket had seemed to go on and on with compensation of a week stopover in Singapore which she enjoyed immensely. But the travel had been boring, and she was still upset and angry over the last-minute rejection by her long-anticipated husband to be at the last minute a day before the wedding. The wedding dress had been selected painstakingly over a couple of months and approved by Henry Hofmann who she’d known as a child and been close to all her life as neighbour. The wedding and reception venue had been chosen and paid for.

The Wagner’s and Hofmann’s had been close friends since as far back as she could remember and cancellation of the wedding the day before had driven a wedge between families. They no longer talked together despite the fact they were neighbours. It was even more shocking that Henry had been seeing her best friend Helga behind her back, and this had only come to light the day before they were to wed when Emma caught them in a compromising situation at Helga’s apartment when she went to discuss the wedding with her bridesmaid friend. Apparently, the affair had been going on for a long time, but the secret had been kept well. Emma’s brother a recruit in the German forces had assaulted Henry driving a permanent wedge between the two families when Felix discovered his cherished sister had been dishonoured. The Landespolizei had been summoned but Henry was urged by parents not to press charges as it would bring shame not only to the Wagners but to Hofmanns as well if news media got hold of such a juicy story about prominent families.

The newspapers found out anyway and the event had been splashed all over the news media with reporters gathering around the Hofmann and Wagner residences for a week seeking an interview. Felix had been reprimanded by the military and Henry and Helga had eloped and moved to Austria rather than face humiliation from their long-term friends and the community in general. The last thing Emma had heard before her departure from Germany was Henry was begging the Hofmann’s for money to get established there.

Emma’s father Leopold Wagner was a banker and one of high social standing and Henry’s father Hubert Hofmann a businessman involved in the electronic industry. She was leaving behind her precious Bavaria countryside and job as a pharmacist to recover her self-worth. While Singapore had been a pleasant excitement with all the tourist things to attract for a holiday and temporarily take her mind off her humiliation it did not have those green hills, forests and mountains in the distance she called home. She wondered if this country Australia would be different. It had looked different as she glanced out the window at the vast desert below which seemed endless in the last stretch of the journey from Singapore and was surprised to see the remarkable change as landscape morphed into rolling hills grasslands and rain forests in a tropical setting. What a curious country and she’d read the animal and bird population was vastly different to wildlife in Europe and alarmed at the number of toxic creatures she may have to contend with on her visit.

Her seat companion who was Australian on the trip from Singapore had noted in conversation she was apprehensive about meeting one of these toxic creatures so laid it on thick to feed her insecurities and she was terrified about what was in store for her. He confessed he’d been joking, and it was very unlikely she’d meet any of these supposed threats to her life but that bought their animated conversation to a stop for the rest of the journey as she decided she didn’t like him taking advantage of her lack of knowledge about Australia.

The one in front of her at the immigration counter was waved through and a woman beckoned her forward reaching for her documents. These were studied and scanned while the immigration officer asked questions pleasantly. How long did Emma plan to stay, what were her intentions in the long term and where could she be contacted if needed. Emma pointed to the information in front of the officer and the woman having already checked them against Emma’s answers to questioning looked up and smiled.

“Welcome to Australia.  Enjoy your visit.”

Emma nodded and looked up at the sign indicated passing through to the luggage retrieval site before passing on to customs checkpoints. She’d been surprised when the immigration officer had spoken to her as she detected a hint of Irish accent along with an unfamiliar use of the English language. Emma spoke English fluently though of course accented as a German. She’d spent vacations working in London during her high school and college years for the experience and to practice English having learned it in her school years as she wanted to travel abroad on vacations and thought it would be useful to have that language in places where it was understood. It had been useful in Singapore. She also had some rudimentary communication skills in Spanish as she hoped to visit South America someday.

She smiled as she saw sniffer dogs checking out luggage on the carousel and at times sitting in front of luggage or a person and knew someone was going to be in trouble for not following rules. She was glad she’d never been tempted to check out the drug scene. Fortunately, the dogs had no interest in her backpack. Having retrieved her luggage, she looked up at the signage to tell her how to proceed and paused to read. She knew she had nothing to declare so chose that line and two customs officers observed her walk and attitude as she approached. They indicated an Xray machine and pointed to the intake on which she placed her backpack and carry luggage and waited until the operator had checked as her luggage passed through. The two officers waved her through with a smile and turned to inspect the next in line.

Emma’s father Leopold Wagner had arranged ticketing and an agent to pick Emma up at the airport and put her in a hotel for a week before she was to move on to the Stanthorpe region where climate and fertile lands produced several fruit crops in season. Normally he’d have arranged a business class ticket but had to cover costs of reception booking and catering despite there being no wedding and that was a large, wasted expense.

During times of harvest backpackers were welcomed on rural properties in Australia. In old times it was for the laborious backbreaking work of personal picking but now it was all highly automated but still requiring a lot of human labour to work the harvest and processing for market so not as backbreaking as in the past but an opportunity to enjoy clean air away from cities and the beauty of the countryside. Despite this being a sub-tropical state this region could get very cold during winter season because of its elevated height and very rarely it could even see snow. However, the chances of Emma seeing this unusual event were very limited she was told in the brochures she’d studied before heading for this adventure in Australia. Some chose other areas to earn during their backpacking vacation in harvest seasons such as the mango plantations in the Northern Territory or the sugar plantations of the north.

She approached the exit door apprehensive as to what she’d find in this new country and hoped there was someone to meet her and take her to the hotel where she could begin her orientation of this new country for a week before moving on to her first assignment. She had several places in Australia she’d like to see as a tourist and wondered if there’d be a problem buying a car for the year to get around and if her international licence would be acceptable to travel roads. She’d ask her agent when he arrived to pick her up.

Stepping outside the protected area she searched for any sign of an agent meeting her and eventually spied her name written in large print and held above the heads of those welcoming arrivals. She headed in that direction and saw it was a woman not the man she’d expected so waved in that direction and the sign was lowered. The agent moved to the end of the crowd barrier where she could meet her new arrival. The woman smiled pleasantly and greeted her in a broad Australian accent Emma struggled with at first indicating she should follow her to the car park where an agency driver awaited. The driver quickly got out of the car and moved to take Emma’s backpack to store in the back of the van. The woman turned to her indicating she should join her in the back seat. When they were seated, she turned to her agency client.

“Hi, my name is Katarzyna, but you can call me Kathy. You’re from Germany and as you will know from my name, I’m originally from Poland but immigrated to Australia with my parents long ago. I’ve been with the travel industry since leaving university so should be able to solve all your problems and if not we have ways of finding people who can help you so I’ll drop you at the hotel today and see you settled then leave you to recover from jet lag and come back tomorrow to  facilitate the tours your father booked over the coming week before you head for Stanthorpe.”

They arrived at the hotel and Kathy collected the key to her hotel room and took her up to check out the room personally before departing for the next assignment of the day. She handed Emma her calling card and invited her to contact her at any time of the day if she needed any assistance. It was all prepaid so Emma should make sure she got her father’s money worth out of this adventure. She’d be back to orientate her next day and see to her prebooked excursions around the capital area and south to Gold Coast and north to the Sunshine Coast.

Emma’s first week was a whirlwind of travel first to the Gold Coast south of Brisbane obligatory for any tourist and then to check out what the Sunshine Coast to the north of the capital had to offer. The combination of spectacular views of the South Pacific Ocean and rainforest hinterlands in both areas captivated her and nightlife in vibrant Brisbane had her exhausted by the time of her departure for Stanthorpe which would be a 217 kilometres road trip of approximately three hours. Emma had chosen road so she could familiarize herself with the country rather than taking air travel when bookings had been made in Germany. Air travel would only have taken her to the nearest city, so she’d have had to take a road trip anyway at some point in reaching her intended destination fifteen kilometres beyond the town of Stanthorpe where Paradise Fruit Orchards her home to be for the season was located. Kathy had helped load Emma onto the tour van hired for that trip and promised to inform the manager of Paradise Fruit Orchards Emma was on her way. 

Emma had been keen to observe the different country scenes as she left the environment of Brisbane

 The road trip to Stanthorpe revealed a diverse landscape rainforest area with occasional water falls around the Great Dividing Range and passed by the elevated city of Toowoomba. Visitors enjoy hiking, horse riding and exploring wineries in what the locals call the Granite Belt. The scenery is a blend of granite boulders and country farm life making it a perfect destination for nature lovers. However, the exhausted Emma still suffering effects of jet lag and the hurried tours covering her first week in Australia eventually fell asleep an hour and a half into the journey waking intermittently to look out her tinted window at the unfamiliar terrain. It was exciting but tiring and she suddenly felt homesick for the familiarity of home and those she loved. She felt depressed at the betrayal of the one she’d loved since childhood and wondered if she’d ever be happy again. This trip was supposed to erase the pain over that betrayal but as of now that plan had not worked out.

Eventually she saw the sign Stanthorpe and passed through the town slowly. It’s layout and buildings were so different from her beloved Bavaria. It did have a charm of its own, but it was not home. They exited the town and headed on a country road another fifteen kilometres and then a large arched entry gate stated in bold print Paradise Fruit Orchards. To her left in a neatly white fenced area that extended a great distance horses stood surveying this new arrival with stables in the far distance.

They followed slowly down the gravel entry road and suddenly rounded a corner to view a stately colonial style home well maintained with manicured lawns and gardens in flower. Next to the home was a modern large two storey building with letter in bold print Administrative Office. Beyond that was another building which Emma was later to learn was a plant research building and next to that a large factory processing complex. There were two bunk houses which Emma was later to learn were for onsite seasonal workers and regular employees who were single. Far into the distance she could see trees in neat rows with a building that looked like an aircraft hangar but was the resting place and workshop for all the equipment needed on this vast property. The huge property had morphed from several private holdings now amalgamated into this gigantic complex owned by an investment group and managed by a man called Lenert Welk. Emma was curious about that name as it was obviously of German extraction.

The van came to a halt in the parking lot of the administration office, and the driver went to the rear of the van and retrieved Emma’s backpack following her into the reception area. It was cared for at the reception desk by an older woman of perhaps mid-sixties. Emma introduced herself and the older woman studied her carefully before answering. The secretary looked up and smiled calling out a welcome and indicating Emma had arrived a little earlier than expected explaining that Lenert was in a meeting with the administrative staff inside. She pointed to the older woman.

“This is Lenert’s mother she’s helping me out today as we are one short in reception. She’s only joined us recently after death of her husband in the Barossa Valley in South Australia where the family owns vast vineyard holdings and Anika is struggling being away from her relatives where they mostly speak in German still. You’ll like her when you get to know her.”  

The older woman smiled and patted the secretary on the shoulder fondly as she went to inform her son of Emma’s arrival. The secretary resumed her conversation.

“My name is Rachel Morris, and my husband is the foreman. You’ll love it here and everyone loves Lenert. He’s such a refreshing change after the last manager who retired a year ago. He was difficult to work for, and Lenert listens to everyone, but everyone knows not to get out of line with him. He’s a very competent businessman so the owners are happy with him and so are the rest of those who work under him.”

The old lady returned with her son behind her and smiled at Emma before resuming her place at reception and concentrating on the computer in front of her. Lenert came forward and exuded confidence and friendliness in his approach.

“Schon, dich kennenzulernan”

Emma was shocked. Firstly, that he addressed her in German and secondly the use of that language was in a dialect she found his pronunciation different to the ones she was familiar with in Germany and Austria. It was a distinct dialect, and she was curious about its origin so blurted out her thoughts before thinking.

“Danke, aber welchen Dialekt sprichst du, da ich ihn noch nie zuvor gehort habe?”

Lenert laughed and was joined in his laughter by his mother and the secretary who did not understand German but knew she must have said something funny. Lenert switched to English at which he was quite proficient turning to his mother.

“This is my mother Anika, and she was a bit tongue tied meeting you knowing you were German, and our Australian East Prussian dialect would be hard for you to follow but she can use English if she must and is quite proficient in it. Prussians have been in Australia since the eighteen hundreds and in some areas were in the majority until the great wars spoiled it all. Our culture remains strong in the Barossa Valley of South Australia where no convicts were ever stationed, and all were free migrants who established western culture in this country.”

Emma felt sad for the woman and determined to earn her friendship as it was obvious she missed the family environment and culture of the Barossa Valley in South Australia she was accustomed to though Rachel had done her best to look after the old woman and make her feel at home. Rachel was glad Emma was here to be company to the old woman now. Emma had the spontaneous urge to give a customary German respectful greeting to this older woman and put her arms around her kissing her on both cheeks. Anika held onto her tightly grateful that she was in company of someone who may understand her culture. This was watched by Lenert and Rachel approvingly. This woman was obviously going to fit in with their happy worker force. Lenert spoke again in English and that was to be the method of their communication in future.

“Emma, you have a choice of accommodation. Either you move into the empty women’s barracks, or you stay in one of the homestead guestrooms. This is not quite the peak season for backpackers to arrive so there are only men in the barracks, and I don’t think it’s healthy for you to be by yourself in an empty barracks. You’d be better protected in the homestead guestroom and a welcome substitute daughter to take Anika’s mind of the recent loss of my father.”

Emma had not expected such a generous offer and nodded in gratitude.

“I’d be grateful to accept that offer Mr. Welk.”

To Be Continued.

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