Melting

Sheep shearing finally started yesterday, and after such anticipation and build-up, it was slightly anticlimatic. Because the start date kept getting pushed back, we actually had quite a lot of free time on the station, apart from getting everything ready for shearing. It was initially supposed to start on the 20th of March, but some of the sheep had lambs late in the season, they needed to wait a few weeks to let them get a little bigger to be able to make the long walks from the paddocks to the shearing shed at the house. It is also really difficult to book shearers, and the station they were at before Polpah took longer than expected, so instead of the 27th, we started yesterday, the 30th. There is a lot to do around a station to prepare for shearing, everything from going into town to get supplies to cleaning the shearers quarters to repairing fences and sweeping out the shed. But because we had so much extra time, we were able to do some fun activities as well, and the wealth of things to do out here continues to amaze me. [read on]

It was starting to get dark as the sun set behind the few scattered trees and the main house. They were ahead of me in the truck, driving slowly to a large tree around the side of the house. I was walking slowly, making sure not to trip on any wires or big rocks in the low light of dusk. I could just make out the high beam of the gallows behind the tree, and the truck was parked beside it. Barry was already out of the truck by the time I got there, and a tied up sheep had given up trying to escape from the pickup and lay still. The deed was already done by the time I arrived, as the other sheep lay dead with it’s throat cut on the ground and Barry was starting to remove it’s hooves. It didn’t affect me as I thought it would, though maybe if I had seen it killed it might have been worse. This was a normal part of life out here on the sheep station, but it felt like a million miles away from Sydney and the opera, where I had been just a few days before. [read on]

Traveling up or down the east coast of Australia is one of the most popular backpacker routes in the world. Tiny beachside towns, surfing meccas and trips to the outlying islands make up the routes of most people. You could ... [Continue reading this entry]

(I've added captions to some of the pictures on smugmug. If there is a series of pics I didn't caption all of them. I'm uploading a few more now.)

I'm sitting in a relatively cool internet cafe in Cairns right now. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Happy Birthday to my sister Kendra...Hope you are having a great time in Vegas! I took a few days extra before writing again. I've just spent 5 days "recuperating" in Melbourne at my friend Jane's apartment and trying to get things ... [Continue reading this entry]