On the 15th April we said good bye to our family
and headed out to Judy’s place for a few days of visitations at Mt Sylvia. The
devastation from the floods was terrible. Three quarters of Judy’s property was
inundated in the January deluge and all fences gone leaving a terribly scarred
landscape. Road Tech were busy with dozers and graders etc. rebuilding the
roads and pushing debris into the gaping gorge which now crossed her property.
So sad to see such a beautiful valley scarred like this.
We travelled up to Nanango during this week to meet our hosts
before their departure and had a wonderful lunch with them. We were now more
excited about our winter retreat.
Back to Judy’s and much wood gathering to keep her supplied
throughout the winter. We cut about four utility loads before my back said
enough. It was lovely to spend some time with her plus we also caught up with
sister Heather as well.
As we were expected at Nanango on the 22nd to
start our induction we headed off on Sunday to make the journey shorter and to
ensure an early arrival on Monday Morning. We had a free camp at Harlin which
only left about an hour to get to our winter destination.
After another lovely lunch we started to learn all that was
needed to look after 450 acres, a 35 yo horse (Dusty), a 13yo dog (Lucy), Bella
the house cow with calf and 32 cattle. We toured the fence line in the old Ute,
inspected the dams and outbuildings and generally got familiar with our new
surrounds.
It is a lovely property and we have a wonderful site next to a
rotunda which has power and tank water with views to the north over paddocks.
In the distance are the hills to the south of Kingaroy and we can almost see Jo
and Flo’s place. Shower, toilet and laundry are in the house for us to use.
We were truly spoilt with Ria’s cooking and enjoyed their
hospitality immensely. Learnt how to make buttermilk from the house cow’s milk smoked
some meat in Gerrit’s home made smoker and sampled the delights of the
expansive vegie garden and even had my first attempt at milking the cow.
Gerrit has a great workshop as you might expect from a
retired cabinet maker and he taught me how to operate the wood lathe and I even
got to make my first bowl with his guidance. Something to occupy my time with,
over the ensuing months.
After four days Gerrit and Ria were ready to depart for the
West and on Friday morning we bid them farewell and commenced our four month
stay in charge of the ranch.
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| Bella smiling for the camera |
Our days have just whisked by and certainly there is no
boredom. Dusty needs feeding morning and night and that is about 1500 metres
from home so a trip in the Ute has that sorted. The house cow Bella comes up to
the house for tucker morning and night. I have now mastered the milking and
manage a couple of litres every third day which keeps us amply supplied with
fresh milk. The first morning was a bit slow and she pushed me away when her
feed was finished and I only managed about one litre. Gerrit got about 4 litres
in the same time but I am happy with my progress. She is a beautiful cow and
very friendly.
Another chore I have is moving the two herds from paddock to
paddock as required. Fortunately they are quite used to being herded and with a
bit of Lucerne on board they will follow you anywhere.
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| Handcraft at Blackbutt |
We have done a little exploring which included a trip to the
Bunya’s on my birthday for lunch. We go to Kingaroy a couple of times a week as
it is only about 24km away. On mother’s
day we went to Murgon for the markets but arrived a bit late. We then planned
to have lunch at a great sounding café nearer home but unfortunately it was
booked out so will go on the 16 May to celebrate our 43rd wedding
anniversary. We have been to the Blackbutt and Kingaroy shows which are very
enjoyable and epitomise life in the country with all the attractions you
expect.
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| 220kg of Pumpkin at the Blackbutt show |
On the way to Murgon we came across a caravan and car stopped
on a dangerous part of road after they had hit a large roo which had smashed in
the front of their brand new Nissan Navarra. The driver was of similar age and
very distraught. As their car was not running very well I offered to tow their
van back to town for them so they could get their car off the road. They were
very grateful and it was nice to be able to help a fellow traveller in
distress.
Since arriving I have installed a rear view camera system on
the truck and van. Should speed up hitching and reduce the arguments and also
handy as I have no visibility out rear window anyway because of the fit out I
built in the cruiser. Ordered a new annex roof as the old one was mouldy and no
longer waterproof. That arrived and I installed it yesterday.
A great shower of rain today has kept me inside so it is a
great chance to update the blog. Life is good and we both are enjoying the
country way of life.
