Big Sky Country

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Howdy all, I have recently returned from working the grain harvest on a property located out of Munginidi on the NSW / QLD border. With memories of the snow a very distant memory I was treated to 30 degree plus days and big open skies.

The harvest runs in this part of the world from early October through to Christmas depending on rain and other seasonal conditions. In total we (Stuart a Scottish backpacker) and I helped the farm staff harvest over 35,000 acres of Barley, Chick Peas and grain. It was really a very fantastic experience however driving and operating the large farm plant took some serious getting used too.

At approximately $600,000 a header we left the combine harvesting to the experts and drove the chaser bin. A large bin (30 tonnes) connected to an even bigger tractor which pulls up alongside the header while it’s still in motion and the header in turn augers the crop into the bin which when full is taken to the top of the paddock to be emptied into the waiting semi trailers.

I must admit the whole process was a little daunting at first considering you need to pull up approximately a foot away from the header comb so as the spout can position above the middle of your bin to empty. (For those of you who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about please refer to pictures).

The days were long as we often worked well into the night until the dew would settle making the crop to hard to thrash. However the nights were also cooler and working under lights in many respects was often easier as there was no glare.

In the little time we did get off Stuart and I would often take the farm ute into a little town called Boomi located about 35km away, and go for a swim in the artesian pool which was feed by an underground bore. Temperatures in the pool averaged about 35degrees after the water had been cooled significantly. The water was fantastic after a long and very bumpy shift in the tractors.

My beautiful wife in the meantime was at the other end of NSW locuming for a pharmacy located in lovely Bermagui located right on the water edge. House sitting the owner’s residence Carissa would often see whales migrating from the front porch while having her breakfast. While I didn’t see any whales from the shearer’s quarters where we were lodging (see pic) there was no shortage of roos.

Until Next Time

Hoo Roo

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