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 London
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 Australia
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
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