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DAY 388


Well my reverse psychology clearly worked, it was gone 5.00am and there was not a breeze to be had, the trailer and canvas were completely still, the birds squawked and tweeted outside playfully. I could hear a vehicle start up and leave, I wondered if it was David (our next door neighbour) leaving early, if that was the case there was no chance to say goodbye.

We were both up and out of bed at around 7.00, ok so I lied, Andy was a little earlier than me, I woke up to hear the familiar sound of tippy tappying on the keyboard at the bottom of the bed.

Andy went out to put the kettle on, rigging it all up so that it was sheltered from the cool breeze that had now appeared. The sun was still up, there are some clouds but at the moment they do not threaten.

We found a note on the windscreen of the Patrol from David, it must have been him that left early, he wished us luck on our travels.

We did not have chance for breakfast, we drank our tea and chatted to our friends Jon and Loraine back in England over Skype, we have not spoken in a while so it was good to catch up them. Sadly the work situation over there sounds full of doom and gloom still, we think we are lucky to be doing what we are doing, if we were still in England there would be no guarantees that either or both of us would have work. Jon tells us that nearly every day there is news of another company going bankrupt.

We wrap up our conversation, it is their bedtime and it is time for us to get packed up and on the road. As soon as we log off the laptop, we are putting everything away and folding the tent.

It all went away very quickly so just a quick dart over to the loo before heading off, I found a set of car keys on the back of the door, they had a BMW logo on them, I knew that there was a caravan parked near us with a BMW X5 they are not so common over here (usually only see a few in the major cities) so I figured it was a 90% chance the keys belonged to them.

I found the caravan, there was nobody around, but I saw a man wander over to us, it was Finlay, the chap that helped us get the Patrol started yesterday, I showed him the keys and he said they were his, I explained where I found them, he was truly grateful, exclaiming that he would not be going anywhere without those. So one good turn deserves another, he helped us and we helped him both of us grateful for help.

We headed off to Lake Centenary, just a short hop down the road, it is a beautiful picnic area and it seems that a popular place for jet ski’s, power boats etc, we see a huge banner advertising V8 super boats, they were here the weekend before, I cannot imagine this tranquil scene ahead of me bustling with people and the noise of the super boats.

We saw the barbecues and had a great idea, we had a few rashers of bacon in the fridge (which is now working better than it ever has!), so by mutual agreement we fired up the barbecue, got the bacon frying, buttered some bread and had a bacon sandwich for breakfast, washed down of course with a nice cup of tea (still drinking the PG tips that Heather gave us when we were in Townsville).

We watch the world go by, well ok so the world actually appeared to be doing nothing here except the occasional bird dropped by looking for scraps, soon we hit the road again and headed for Woolworth’s in Temora to stock up on a few things before heading back to Wagga Wagga.

On the way, we turned off for Junee, I promised Andy I would take him to the chocolate and liquorice factory. We went in for a look around and fortunately we saw them coating some liquorice with chocolate, so learnt a little about that process and many reasons to eat chocolate, although I don’t see the point in making excuses to eat chocolate, just eat it, it does you good.

We had a mooch around Junee, then headed onto Wagga Wagga where we found the Big 4 that we stayed at last week, the sun is shining it is a beautiful day. As soon as we hit the Big 4, we both go and shower, sort out some clean clothes and then soon I have 2 washing machines in the laundry whirring away.

We sit and have a nice lunch in the camp kitchen, as soon as I finish eating the washing is done and I hang it on the line, a few drops of rain fall, but looking at the sky it is only a single black cloud I can see blue sky beyond it and so few rain drops on wet washing won’t make a difference, will they?

We popped out and for the life of me I cannot remember why, but when we came back Andy went to have a nana nap and I go to sit in the camp kitchen, with a cup of tea I sit and watch the final episode of Packed to the Rafters, after typing up a bit of the blog that is, this is a lovely part of the afternoon, a bit of time to myself. (oh I have remembered why we popped out, we needed a screwdriver, a broom handle and a slip proof mat to use in the shower - the broom handle got trapped and broke, and the slip mat is because of my last experience at this campsite, it may help stop me from slipping over.)

Almost half hour into the episode, the rain started to trickle down, I remembered my washing on the line, but was not too concerned as I felt a little shower wouldn’t hurt, it blobbed with a little rain earlier, so thought that I may do the same, but oh no, it hurled it down again! And as I sit here trying to watch the final moments of that episode I nearly jump through the roof as the thunder cracked above me, it had to be one of the loudest cracks of thunder I have ever heard.

Now the storm rages, I am in the camp kitchen, Andy is in the tent, I hope that he has woken up and closed the flaps for the windows otherwise the bed will be soaked by now! I can only but hope that he hears the storm, but from past experience I know that he can all too easily sleep through this weather, remembering the bad storms we had in England in 1987, I remember getting up in the morning wondering what devastation was going to be outside and commented to Andy how awful it was and surprise surprise he never heard a thing!

Fortunately Andy soon appeared, the storm woke him up and assures me that everything is closed and the inside is dry. However we have to pop out and pick up some flowers, Josh invited us over to have dinner with him and his parents tonight, so in the pouring rain we head back into Wagga Wagga to find a florist, this was easier than I thought, as we turned the corner into the main street, it was right on the corner.

We park, but the rain is pouring and the pavement is slippery so we both walk gingerly to the shop, inside we chat to the florist and a few minutes later we leave with a bunch of flowers, just in time the shop closes at 5.00 which is why we had no option to go out in the rain.

Back at camp we quickly change into suitable clothes to go out in (jeans and clean t-shirt, topped off with a fleece!) the rain is still hurling down, my washing is no doubt getting a thorough rinse on the line, but it will have to stay there.

On the way we pick up a bottle of wine set off down the Sturt Highway, exactly 35 kilometres later we see the gate for Catanga. Sitting outside the gate, I look up at the driveway “Wow, what a driveway!” You cannot even see the homestead from the road, the hills just roll across my eyes.

I open the gate, Andy drives through (it has now stopped raining) I close the gate and just as I get back in the truck we see a motorbike coming down towards us, Josh comes to greet us and take us back up the driveway, we go up the hill and over the other side down into a valley where we can see the homestead and barns rising just slightly on the other side of the valley.

We drive past fields containing a lot of calves, cows and a horse, a lady waves to us from a barn, at the homestead Josh hurriedly takes us into the barn where we meet his dad Andrew, we also get to meet Josh’s front loader a huge (Caterpillar 930) a slightly smaller version of his dads front loader, (Caterpillar 966) the barn is huge which houses the two front loaders and numerous other pieces of equipment, like tractors and a British lathe made by Nuttalls in Huddersfield, the lathe has a huge bed and is used to make parts for the equipment that they run.

Jo joins us, Josh’s Mum, she waved to us earlier when she was feeding the calves, we are greeted very warmly by the Wemyss family.

Andrew and Josh make a joke about our Nissan, they are a devout Toyota family and have about 6 Landcruisers, we have heard all the jokes before and enjoy the banter. Our Nissan is as good as any Landcruiser, it has done everything we have wanted it to do.

Andrew asks if we would like to go around the property and have a look, we are keen to see more of this land around us, you sense an honest feeling of pride, there is no edge just a sense of achievement.

Driving around the 1000 acre’s (accompanied by Josh on a dirt bike) Andrew explains how it came to be, originally they had 500 acres then had the option to purchase the adjoining 500 acres, and as much as Jo wanted a new house on the original 500 acre’s Andrew said you have a choice, a new house or a larger farm? So they all agreed on a larger farm, and the new house would wait.

We are driving through a paddock and see an enormous black bull, I ask if he has a name and he tells us that this is Jeddah, he has a lovely temperament, he stands there looking at us in the car and has straw sticking out of his mouth, boy we must have disturbed his evening meal.

Jeddah is on the farm to do un gentlemanly things to the cows to, so they produce calves and its allows the cows to wean the calves on the farm we think.

Andrew explains that his two sons Josh and Daniel are his greatest asset, as a family they do everything on the farm together without any external help, and the boys are dedicated to getting the work done, he said that they all work morning noon and night as they have so much work to do but their lives are fruitful and as Andrew and Jo get older it will be a natural progression that Josh and Daniel will take over.

A phone call is taken by Andrew, it’s Jo, dinner is ready and she would like Andrew to get us back to the house, Andrew promises, and promptly takes us to another part of the property to get a good view, we are excited to see some large Kangaroo’s (Eastern Greys) not too far off in the distance bounding along, they are some of the biggest we have seen since we have been in Australia.

Caroline and myself never tire of seeing the Roo’s, but Andrew perspective is understandably different, as a farmer their cattle have to compete with the Roo’s for the food that is available, and tells us that they shoot the bucks and leave the Doe’s and Joey’s, when they can, the battle for food is more significant in times of drought, this area has not been getting the rainfall that it needs for the last 8 years, it is a matter of survival.

We arrive back at the house and all go into the Wemyss home and sit ready for dinner, they ask us if we like Sarsaparilla, “Do we like Sarsaparilla?” we certainly do and they pour a nice cold glass for me whilst Caroline has a glass of wine with Jo.

Our dinner is served, beef casserole with boiled potatoes with carrots and peas from their own vegetable garden, this wholesome meal was just what you would want on a not very warm evening, what strikes you about the Wemyss family that they are such a strong united family, all with a perfect life/work balance, they are a joy to be with.

Jo tells us about her love, not just her husband or her boys but for her cattle, she rears young calves to fatten them up until they are worth getting off to market and has up to 300 calves to rear at a time that keeps her busy, the boys built her all her pens and her yard and the boys say she loves her calves, Andrew tells us she is a city girl that just loved farming, he said some Women buy dresses and some Women buy calves and this is Jo she has found her niche.

We have the most fantastic evening they are very generous people emotionally and Jo also gives us a jar of home made Apricot jam and the boys have put a couple of bottles of Sars in the truck for us.

It is late and we understand that they will all have to be up early in the morning, so it is only good manners to leave them in peace, they are still happy to show us some photo’s of their loaders in action, which are quite impressive. Andrew told us that when Josh was only 14 he said to his mum and dad that he would like a front end loader for Christmas so as he had a natural aptitude in driving big machinery like his Dad’s Caterpillar digger so they decided to buy him his 930 and now that’s the way they earn their living, clearing ground and digging dams.

This is how Josh came to be on Robert and Helens farm ”Woodstock” helping out with the harvest, as Robert and Josh’s dad have been friends for over 20 years and as we have said before about Robert at Woodstock, Andrew speaks very highly of Robert saying that there is no finer farmer than Robert Sheridan, this is what has helped Andrew become the framer he is with the guidance of friends like Robert.

We thank them for a wonderful evening they asked us if we would like to stay the night, which would have been, great, but its school tomorrow (for some) and we have our Wendy House only 35K’s away.

The stars look fantastic here at Catanga, the sky is pitch black, no light pollution with lots of twinkly blobs of stars

We leave the Wemyss’s property quite late after a most superb evening, we talk about our evening all the way home and we are pleased to again have met the most wonderful people on our amazing trip

Back at camp, we hunker down in our snug sleeping bags to keep the cold out, we hope for a better day of weather tomorrow.

Goodnight!

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