Week 3... from the heart of Aus

Over the last week I have sampled yet more delights straight from the heart of Australia…

This is one of those nights where I just can’t sleep. Not for neither love nor money so I thought I may as well make use of the time and write my blog. Besides my erratic sleeping patterns life on the farm is just grand and I’m having a fantastic time. Today we named the latest addition, the little kelpie pup ‘biscuit’. She’s a spirited little soul who courageously barks and growls at the other farm dogs like she’s 10 times her size, well until one of them playfully bowls her over then she lets out a frightened little yelp and runs for cover.

I am told we have had the most rain in 20 years this last week, typical eh, I leave the UK winter and head down under for a second summer and it appears I have taken the bad weather with me. Mid week we had an almighty thunder storm which was closely tailed by a black out. The lights were out for a good few hours in the evening so we played a game of candle lit monopoly, how romantic, ahh. When thunder storms strike there is always a quick dash around the house unplugging all the electrical items as the farm is sat on an old  volcanic site and the electrical charge passes underground through the volcanic rock like a conductor and surges through the power sockets making light work of exploding TV’s and PC’s.

Adam and I went over to Sydney on Friday, till Monday to stay with Adam’s sister who lives on the North Shore which is a delightful area. On Saturday (26^th Nov) we caught the train into the city centre, I was rather impressed with the ‘double decker’ trains, I’ve never seen a two storey train before. England might well take a leaf!

We started our day off from the Darling Harbour (which houses the Sydney Aquarium) and followed the meandering shoreline around to Millers Point, Dawes Point (the Harbour Bridge goes from here across the river to Milsons Point), The Rocks, Circle Quay and finally to Sydney Harbour, along the way absorbing the phenomenal views of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Walking the coastline, as we did, meant that we could survey the spectacular architecture from every angle.  We made our way back along the harbour after a final ‘up close and personal’ inspection of the Opera House back to an area called ‘The Rocks’. This section of the harbour is a bustling warren of market stalls, shops, art galleries and museums. The Rocks streets are bursting full of history about its Aboriginal past right through to present day. The numerous galleries boast an impressive selection of authentic traditional and contemporary Aboriginal artworks and the market area seemed to entertain traders from around the globe, who were displaying a vast array of trinkets so suit every personality.

On Sunday (27^th Nov) Adam and I headed over to Manly Beach for the day. I’m a typical ‘sun seeking brit’ and the minute it pokes its head out, I’m in it. Carefully lathered up in cream though, as I’m well educated on the potency of the Aussie rays. The Beach itself is beautiful and very well kept. It was very enjoyable to spend the day there soaking up the sun and wandering around the surf shops on the Corso. For me though, although I had a really really lovely day, next time I’ll be heading off the beaten track to locate a secluded cove somewhere as despite Manly’s charm it is a little too touristy for my liking. It was however, a lot of fun watching all the surfers and the local surf school had a huge pack of novices out learning to ride the punchy barrels.

Monday (28^th Nov) evening, Adam and I went out at 9pm armed with a high amp lamp to ‘spot’ the local nocturnal wildlife. We didn’t have to venture to far from the farm to a large area of pine forestry to find what we were looking for. Almost immediately after turning down a dust track we had an adult wombat run across the way into shelter from the opposing trees. We saw a total of 11 wombats, including a Jill and Joey (mother and baby) duo. I did manage to gain some video footage of one of the wombats foraging and short as it is due to the wombat’s camera shy nature, it is uber cool! When I get a decent internet connection I will try and upload it. We also got to see 2 ring tailed possums and a black tailed possum. These are the cutest little creatures! Their forefeet are structured like little human hands and built for climbing. The wildlife here is truly amazing are there are so many species to observe; it’s fascinating.

This week, Tuesday (29^th Nov), I learnt to ride one of the bigger 250cc farm bikes and Adam took me on a jaunt across the farms rolling 4,500 acre landscapes, which was a complete barrel of laughs. I did, quite spectacularly manage to stall the bike whilst trying to change down gear going uphill, it seems I went in the wrong direction with the gears, stalled and then had to wait for Adam to see I was missing from the expedition, to come and rescue me.  While we were out we saw a large full grown blue tongued lizard or skink I think is the correct term. We managed to catch him to take a closer look, it was a bit of a ‘crikey’ Steve Irwin moment. We let him go straight after and the blue tongue slinked off across the field, its movement pattern is much like a snakes. My initial ‘wow look at that’ when I spotted the skink made Adam jump a mile as he thought I had spotted a snake… poor chap hehehe! I shouldn’t mock though as I’m sure when I come across an aggressive brown snake which is trying to fling itself at me, I’ll be running to my mom.

Much love to all my family and friends back home… xxx

Week 2 of the Aussie Adventure

(13^th to 21^st Nov)

This last week has been super enjoyable… Sunday afternoon (13^th Nov) was spent with Adam and his parents, we went over to Jack Duggan’s Irish Pub in Bathurst for a very entertaining evening packed full of music and some very yummy food. My mom had pre-warned me about the ‘banjo playing yokels’ before I came out to Aus and here they were in full force… we had the banjo… the rocking chair… even the veranda… but sadly not the theme tune from deliverance hehehe! It was like a jamming session I’d expect to find in someone’s garage but instead it was smack bang in the middle of the pub. There were, I guess, about 8 to 10 people sat round a table in the centre of the pub, jamming away… it was mega, if a little bemusing, they played some classic Irish tunes and everyone enjoyed a sing along.

The week following was pretty casual with lots of time spent catching up with family and friends. Shearing had been going well but there was a bit of a setback due to the rain. This means that they will now have to shear for a day or two early next week to get finished.  The farm is looking lush and green from all the rain though. In my now second week in Aus, I am soooo pleased to say I have only had one run in with a dangerous spider ‘the white-tailed spider’ this horrid little critter had made its way into the kitchen and I almost stood on it whilst trying to set the table for dinner, lucky for me Adam’s mom was at hand armed with some spider-killing-spray to detonated him. It was a good job I didn't stand on him as I hear they give you some pretty long lasting ulcers caused by the venom when they bite. These spiders look like massive giant ants with a white tip to their abdomens *shudders*. One bit of wildlife I am fascinated by is the kookaburra you see pairs of them high up in the trees in the garden and their call sounds like laughing, when a few pairs are going at once sounds like a comedy club lol.

Saturday (19^th) day time Adam and I spent playing round the farm on his motorbikes. I rode his miniature Honda motorbike however, I’m not sure it was the best idea as small as it maybe, it's a twitchy little beast and it tried to throw me off every time I hit a rock or rut as we were riding across the fields, despite that though it was the most liberating fun I’ve had in ages.

Saturday night we went over to Newbridge to spend the evening with some biker friends of Adam’s mom and dad’s. They are a charming group of individuals whose motto is ‘growing old disgracefully’ which, I’ve got to say, I love!! They are all part of Ulysses Motorcycle Club and they go off on motorcycle rides across Australia’s glorious landscapes whenever the time permits. This, I feel is my retirement destiny, I too would like to ‘grow old disgracefully’ hehehe. The evening was spent sat out in the back yard of one of the couples, on the veranda, taking in the beautiful views across Newbridge, eating homemade pizza’s, made ourselves and baked in the outdoor stone pizza oven whilst sipping on some sumptuous local plonk… Bliss! The next door neighbour of the couple is a lady, who has dedicated her life to rescuing injured animals, in most cases she nurses the animals back to full health then releases them back into the wild. There are a few cases though that will never make it back into the wild and will remain in her care for life; this is the case for a stunning little Nankeen Kestrel. The kestrel was rescued and has lived there from almost the day it hatched, it is so tame that it would never survive out in the wild as the other birds would kill it for its unusual behaviour, when the lady enters the kestrels enclosure the little kestrel jumps all over her head and shoulders wanting to play. The lady was kind enough to show Adam and I around and to introduce us to all the rescue-ees. I got up close and personal with some amazing animals that I don’t think I would ever have been lucky enough to see out in the wild and if I did they would probably be a blip on the horizon. There was a real menagerie of animals to view… goats, pigs, birds, dogs, snakes, bearded dragons to mention but a few but my favourites would have to be the little kestrel, 2 baby eastern grey kangaroos, 2 baby red wallaby’s and the little baby wombat… awwww!!

Sunday 20^th Nov Adam and I took a trip out to Kanangra Boyd National Park. The park is truly unspoilt and a far cry from the touristy nature of Katoomba and the three sisters. We walked for easily an hour, across the gently undulating Boyd Plateau viewing the marvel that is Kanangra Walls and the labyrinth of deep gorges and jagged ravines into which the plateau falls away, before coming across 2 other hikers. The views from the top of the plateau are spectacular the landscape is so raw, rugged and untouched. There are small tracks that have been worn in by years of explorers but even so you are partly walking through brush and trees the whole way as there is nothing about this mountain top that has been commercially adapted. After we had walked the plateau we headed down the mountain into a deep gully to the Kalang Falls, where Adam was brave enough to take a dip in the stunning pool that had collected at the bottom of the falls. He’s a braver man than me though as the water was freezing! There is far more to the falls than the eye can see and they flow layer by layer right down to the bottom of the mountains, we climbed a little way down, off the beaten track but to go any further you would need some serious climbing/abseiling gear.

All in all this really has been a week to remember and one I’ll be marking down in my history; I’ve been made to feel so welcome by Adam’s family and friends and I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world and cannot believe I have seen all that I have so far on this trip, it’s truly mind-blowing. The biggest thanks go to Adam, my gorgeous boyfriend who is taking the time to show me where he’s from and all this beautiful country. Thank you Adam… all my love, K xxx

My first week in Aus... and what a week :)

So finally I’m here, landed safe and sound on Australian soil!! I intended to post a blog before we departed but in all honesty there was no time. Between a trip up to Shropshire to visit family and friends, and packing up the remainder of the house there was not a single minute to spare.

We landed into Sydney airport on Wednesday morning after quite a painless 23 hour flight from London. I say quite painless as for at least 12 hours of the second leg of the journey from Abu Dhabi to Sydney I slept and I can only assume that it is for this fact alone that I have cheated the jet-lag and yes I AM smiling smugly to myself!

After watching weeks of Australia’s ‘Nothing to Declare’ I was decidedly nervous about coming through customs as I thought I might be in for the third degree regarding my medication, how long I was staying, how I would be supporting myself, where I would be staying etc but I sailed through without a glitch.

We were greeted outside by the lovely smiley face of Adam’s mom, who collected us and took us an hour across Sydney to visit Adam’s sister and family. We left sometime early in the afternoon and embarked on a 3 hour journey (yes you heard me… another 3 hours travelling lol!) over the Blue Mountains (given their name from the blue haze that rises off the eucalyptus trees in the heat) which is part of the Great Dividing Range to Oberon. I must say although another 3 hours travelling was not high on my ‘things to do’ list it was awesome. It was a gorgeous sunny day and there was so much to see. Australia is in a word, beautiful… extremely rugged terrain but so so beautiful!

Arriving at the farm I had the absolute joy of meeting the rest of the family… Adam’s dad along with a proper menagerie of animals… the 2 family pet wallaroos, a parrot, numerous dogs, small exotic birds, the farm cat… thousands of sheep and hundreds of steers to mention but a few lol.

Thursday morning I did have a bit of a lay in but then in the afternoon we went up to the shearing sheds to help out. I can honestly say that in my 30 years have never seen anything quite like it and the whole process runs like clockwork. Any one day will consist of 4 runs, each run lasting 2 non-stop hours and each shearer will de-fleece anywhere between 150 to 200 sheep per day. On average (working on the bottom figure of 150 sheep) that works out to be 37 sheep per shearer, per run. There are 3 shearers working in a line with their shears hanging from a boom above them, behind them are 3 pens with swing doors and to the side of the pen doors is a shoot. The shearer will enter the pen and take hold of a sheep which will be flipped over onto its rump then pulled through the swing doors under the boom. The sheep is put into position (usually with a leg or a head between the shearers legs to disarm the sheep, as unless held correctly they will kick 7 bells out of the shearer) and the shearer will then commence the shearing. The sheep is rolled around from side to side and the full fleece removed in one foul swoop… I can tell you it really is a true art-form! Once shorn, the sheep is directed down the shoot and out the back into another pen. At the end of each run the sheep are counted and then released back into the main paddock.

It is extremely busy while the shearing is in progress and is a non-stop process. The culture is a little ‘wink and a nod’ due to the noise in the shed but everyone knows exactly what they are doing and just gets on with it. The dogs will be given a little whistle to summons them to move more sheep into the pens and off they trot rounding them up with barely 10 words said to them… amazing!!

My role for the day was to sweep the floor after each sheep has been shorn and to help collect up the fleeces. By sweeping it collects up all the small bits of wool and nothing gets wasted.

On Friday, we again spent the day in the shearing sheds helping out. This time it was a full day’s graft! I had a lot of fun on Friday as I learnt how to catch the sheep and turn them over for the shearer and I also got to shear one for myself. I had to have some assistance holding the sheep as they are seriously strong and there really is a knack to holding them so that both you and they are comfortable. When the sheep is at ease they don’t fight with you. I have clipped horses in the past so I did have a little bit of an advantage but it was so much different shearing the sheep, as the wool is so dense you can’t actually see what you are clipping so it is done by feel rather than sight. I was petrified I might catch the sheep’s skin. It must take the shearer’s years to get this practice nailed!

Friday night Adam and I took a ride around Oberon to check out the dam which is beautiful and the pine mill which is enormous, one of the biggest in the world I am told and runs 24/7.

Saturday we spent the day visiting Katoomba and specifically Echo Point where you can see right across the mountains to the 3 sisters. It is one of the most impressive landscapes I have ever been lucky enough to experience in the flesh. There is a cable car and a train that both go down the mountain so that you can experience the mountain from all angles, in all its glory. There is also a stairway called the Giant Stairway that you can walk down, right to the base of the mountain and about half way down takes you right to the base of the three sisters. We only had time to go half way down but I’m quite glad in one way as it was killer climbing the steps to get back up. I’d giggled to myself about the unfit souls that were puffing and panting as they were getting back to the top as we were just starting our decent… how silly did I feel when I was puffing and panting when I climbed my way back to the top hehehe. If you ever visit Australia Katoomba / Echo Point should most definitely be on your list of ‘to do’s’ as even though it is a little touristy with coach loads of walking cameras arriving every hour, it is a remarkable mind-blowing spectacle. One of the wonders of the world for sure! We finished the day off at the ‘Edge Cinema’ which is just up the road from Echo Point and they play an old movie about the history of the sisters and mountains, it is very interesting and well worth a look! 

Sunday is going to be spent having a VERY lazy day!!! Catch you again soon… Kx