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Published: October 27th 2009
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This is the first instalment of the next part of our journey. In part 2 we hope to be up-to speed. We will attempt to have more regular bulletins in future. We are now working near Moree for the wheat harvest. You'll read mor about that, later!
Graincorp training in Narrabri was an interesting exercise. Wendy completed her 2 day “Sampling and Assessing” with flying colours in the theory side of things but was quite flustered with the practical assessment (which no-one actually witnessed!) She came back to camp quite stressed and anxious - not wanting to send the 2009/2010 harvest into complete and utter disarray. Attending the same training was a young brother and sister from Lightning Ridge who happen to know Wendy’s nephew from Maitland! It’s a small world! That day, Peter had attended Chemical training. He found it very interesting how another company in the food industry handles and uses chemicals. On Day 3 we were both scheduled to attend OH&S training which only took us up till lunchtime. So to fill in the afternoon we took a drive out to Sawn Rocks, on the road to Bingara, and part of the Mt Kaputar National Park. The
40 metre high pillars of basalt were formed by the slow and even cooling of molten rock which allowed the individual crystals to align perfectly with each other.
On the 4th day Wendy attended Weighbridge and Site Activities Computer training. Ah, this was more like it. She felt quite comfortable with the prospect of working on the weighbridge. Fingers crossed that this was actually the position she would be placed in. Peter was told that we’d be stationed at Gurley, about 30 km south of Moree, but no-one in GrainCorp could give us a definite start date. All we were told was that it would be about 2 weeks (the middle of October) before harvest starts. Peter was amused when Wendy arrived back at camp with a passenger in the car. It turned out that another woman at training that day was staying in the same caravan park, in fact just opposite our motor home, and so she hitched a ride home. After standing chatting for a while, invitations were extended for happy hour. Judy and Kevin had been working at a cotton gin in previous months, and told us about mice in their beds in their bus!!! Well
Fallen Rocks
I wouldn't want to be here when these little babies came down. that really got Wendy going, given that we were about to start handling grain.
Whilst waiting for Mother Nature to do her thing (let the wheat mature, ripen, and be ready for harvest), and with not a real lot to do for 2 weeks in Narrabri, we set off for the Warrumbungle National Park to meet up with Wendy’s 2 sisters, and 1 brother-in-law. They were preparing to leave the park with 40 other 4-wheel drives, exploring outback areas of South Australia, whilst having fun and raising money for charities. In 1990 and 1991, we participated in similar events and were quite envious that we were heading east and they were going west. We were able to be of assistance for the event. Peter was asked if he’d mind positioning the Winnebago and use it as a platform from which to take the official “Group Photo” before the commencement of the safari. Whilst in the Warrumbungles, we managed a 3½ hour walk, and got to see some of the iconic landmarks from different angles.
As the cavalcade of cars started to leave the park, so did we. We were going back to Coolah, where Peter spent his formative
years and therefore has fond memories. Not much happens in Coolah on a long weekend. The main street was almost devoid of cars. There was some activity at one of the pubs because it was NRL Grand Final day! We took the obligatory nostalgic drive around town and apparently, some houses have not changed one bit in (how many) years. “That’s where the witch lived.” “That’s the house that my best mate lived in.” “I used to ride my bike home from school up this hill!” etc etc. We also discovered that the Rectory that Peter lived in is now a Music Education Centre (A kind of country conservatorium).
As we mentioned earlier, not much happens in Coolah on a long weekend, so how did we celebrate our 35th anniversary? We took a trip to Coolah Tops National Park where we came across a kangaroo and joey just standing in the bushes, staring at us; native grass trees; and giant snow gums, the largest of the species can be seen here. We had our picnic lunch on the veranda of Bracken’s Hut. This hut has been restored (still VERY basic) and is available for hire. It is a great
Uranus
So this is what Uranus looks like! place to camp, so peaceful, despite the thunder rolling about. Between 1941 and 1995 “The Tops” was selectively logged, mainly for railway sleepers, fencing and packing timber. Several camp spots are now located on the sites of old forestry accommodation areas. Jazz in the Tops is held each year on the second weekend in March. It would be really interesting to see how many people brave the cold (and often damp) weather, and the tricky road to attend the event.
We had intended to get a pizza and a bottle of red as our anniversary dinner, but the bistro at the Black Stump Hotel (the bottom pub) had sold out of pizzas the day before (Footy crowd). So we had dinner in the dining room - quite a nice meal, but the venue left a lot to be desired! We had met up with one of Peter’s childhood partners-in-crime and tried to arrange getting together socially but that was not to be this time around. We made tentative plans to come back and stay at Chris and Jenny’s property for a few days after our work up north.
As we had no mobile phone reception in Coolah, and we
were waiting on calls about our employment, we decided to go in search of communication. This led us south to Dunedoo, now infamous as Wendy’s least favourite place in the country! No staying overnight in the rest areas and threat of on-the-spot fines for doing so, bakery shut for today, public toilet won’t flush properly - and there’s a queue!, NO parking for long vehicles in main street, and still NO phone reception! We really don’t know when we’ll be required to start work, so we should head back north. We know there’s phone coverage in Binnaway, so we’ll head for there! Looking at the Camps Book, there is a rest area at Mendooran, so we’ll check that out for lunch. Wow, this is amazing. It’s a lovely open area with river gums alongside the Castlereagh River, with all the facilities required by bush campers. There were a few vans here already and we got to meet most of them and after a bike ride around town, we were invited for happy hour with Peter and Marjorie from Victoria. Mendooran it meant to be “one of the premier mural towns of NSW”, but quite frankly, we were disappointed. As the
Native Grass Trees
Coolah Tops National Park afternoon wore on, more and more vans arrived until there were about 16 set up to enjoy a quiet night in the Aussie bush. Peter (i.e. our new friend) is quite a character, who has Marjorie continually apologising for his constant “saying it like it is”. Sitting around their campfire, we found it amusing that quite often, both of them were trying to tell us the same story at the same time, until one of them gave up to let the other one finish.
In contrast, when we arrived at Binnaway, we had the place to ourselves. We now had phone reception and were able to make those important calls. Still no start date for the job though. The residents of Binnaway have created the Pumphouse Rest Area here with brand new amenities and this too, is quite a great spot to spend a night or two. There are great views looking back towards Coonabarabran and the Warrumbungles.
We thought we may as well get back to civilization so we set out for Gunnedah. Maybe this time we’ll see some koalas. We arrived at the showground to see quite a lot of horse floats - not a good
Mendooran Rest Area
I would go swimming in the river here in summer sign when Peter is allergic to horses. He made his positive affirmation that he is no longer allergic to them, and luckily with the breeze blowing away from us, he didn’t suffer too much.
Stay tuned for Part 2!
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Shanny
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So jealous
Great to talk to you guys again. Amazing grass trees - they'd be about 350-400 years old! Mind-blowing, huh? It sounds a little crazy, but I miss my sunburnt country (reference to your postcard) and its brown arid beauty. Keep having a ball Miss you both hugely XX