27 February - 7 March 2012

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We thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience of living on a one acre property and doing all the tasks that went along with it for this house sit. Hats off to the couple who live here.....the gentleman is in his 80's and on average Rachel and I put in about three hours of work everyday to keep things running smoothly. All the animals needed to be fed and tended to and as previously stated there were dogs, cats, fish, birds and chickens.

Walking the dogs was a relatively easy experience and kept us fit and healthy as the loop their owners take them on is roughly six kilometres. On the second or third day the pups decided to try and jump ship to freedom; however, after a lot of waiting and calling along the path by the river they eventually decided to come back. Filthy is one word to describe their condition when they returned and on top of that they didn't seem to be too fond of a bath.

There were many plants, flowers, fruit trees and vegetables to keep alive and with the mercury still on the rise this kept us busy. There were rewards along the way; on top of getting out in the sun everyday and enjoying the surroundings there were eggs to be collected from the chicken enclosure. Nothing better than fresh food straight from the source.

During this time we also received word that the owners from the previous house were very impressed with the job we had done so good news for all.

Two days before the current occupants returned I set off to Perth for the Soundwave festival. A 300 kilometre round trip coupled with 37 degree heat was testing but the experience was well worth it. As one of the lead singers from the bands involved on the day commented....'it was a once in a generation line up'. Double spuds up.

We hung around to greet the owners on their return and to our pleasure they too were very happy that the place was so well looked after and the animals fighting fit. We trotted off just before dusk to nearby Australind and set up the tent for the night prior to the next stage of the journey.

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