And meanwhile, back on the ranch..
Life has been great. The contract ringers began working on Wrotham Park Station immediately after the Chillagoe Rodeo, so there is much more going on these days. Gamboola Station is still technically the OutStation for Wrotham Park, with only the Walsh River dividing us. A few of the cattle paddocks even overlap both properties. So the mustering at 'the Park' affects our work as well sometimes.
There is one day that continues to stick out in my memory as particularly noteworthy. One Tuesday Tony and I planed on going out on our 4x4 vehicle to work on miles of barbed wire fences for the day, but the manager from Wrotham Park (Tony's boss) called to say that we needed to come fix some timber rails on a stockyard that was currently being used. A stockyard is a big fenced area (made of steel or timber) with many small compartments and corridors where all the cattle are herded into for sorting, branding, and so forth. While I always look forward to a day of barbed wire fence work (the moving scenery makes for a quick day), having plans change at the last second is nothing unusual on a working station.
Although I have spent quite a bit of time (About 20 days worth) working on replacing the rails of a stockyard close to Gamboola Homestead, this was my first experience with one actually full of cattle. Between the cattle in the stockyard and the many more waiting queue in the surrounding holding paddock, there was literally well over 1,000 cattle within a 1 kilometre radius of me. The noise, the smell, and the danger of being charged while we cut the new timber rails made for quite an interesting working environment.. to say the least.
By midday we had finished and after lunch Tony and I headed out to check on a few bores (man made watering holes for the cattle). It can be quite an adventure just to get to each one, and we always keep an eye out for wildlife. Tony likes to quiz me on me growing knowledge of the local birds, trees, and flora, but what we really look out for is wild boars and dingos.. a major nuisance and threat to the cattle. At each bore we got out to check the waterlevel, and the first thing that always overwhelms me is how picturesque the scene is. Many times there is an old, tall windmill on the far side of the water, flocks of white birds and black duck taking flight on our arrival, and a waterhole lined with lilypads.
At one bore I must have been distracted watching the ducks fly off when all of the sudden I heard Tony yell 'RUN! QUICK.. RUN!'. I had never heard fear in Tony's voice before, so I turned and ran, and had jumped through a barbed wire fence before realizing what had happened. Apparently when we had walked up to the water, we inadvertently had cornered a large Boar, who in turned had decided to charge us. We usually always bring a shotgun with us when checking the bores, but of course the ONE time we don't..
The other wildlife is usually not so terrible. This particular day we came across a total of about 25 wild boars and sows, 3 dingos, 25 wallabies, 4 kangaroos, 3 goannas, and4 emus, just to name a few. Not to mention all the crazy bird species. This is one reason why I almost never have a bad attitude about my work.. as each day is literally an Australian Safari. Many people backpack or live in Australia and never get to see half of these animals in the wild. There are also some fresh and salt water crocodiles on the station too, but I've yet to see anything but day-old evidence of them on the waterside.... thank god.
Another interesting event just last week was an 'R.F.D.S. Field Day' hosted at Wrotham Park. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is the famous emergency service that does exactly what the name implies. Isolated Australians rely on the RFDS as their ambulance service in life-threatening situations. For example, Gamboola Station had to use the RFDS just under a year ago when one of the contract ringers lost two fingers while working in the stockyard. Well, the last Friday of May a RFDS plane came to Wrotham Park to refresh whoever was interested on basic CPR and first-aid. They also offered free skin checks using some advanced camera equipment. I found it bizarre that of all the years that I have been going to the doctor to get my skin checked out, I got the most technologically advanced service in the middle of the Australian outback.. and it was free. While waiting for the skin check, the pilot was nice enough to give me a tour of the aircraft and some of the medical equipment, which along with the stories I exchanged with the flight nurses made for quite a fulfilling day.
**
My mum, my brother, and his wife and kids are all visiting Australia for about two weeks. They had made these travel plans before I finalized my own trip, and well before I knew that I would be working at Gamboola Station. Since my mum had no original plans of making it up this far north, I decided to take a week off from the station in order to fly down to the Gold Coast and meet up with her and the rest of the family. This was surprisingly easy to do, as my manager truly believes in the motto 'family first'. While there is much work to be done in just a few short weeks, they thought that I should jump at any chance to see my mum while she was in Oz.
Currently I'm in Cairns for a few days, where I have been meeting up with my brother and his family. While my mum visits my aunt in Adelaide, they had come up to visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Rainforest. The next post I'll go into all my Cairns adventures, but right now I really gotta sign off. There is a bus coming to pick me up in an half an hour...... so I can to go skydiving. :)
Life has been great. The contract ringers began working on Wrotham Park Station immediately after the Chillagoe Rodeo, so there is much more going on these days. Gamboola Station is still technically the OutStation for Wrotham Park, with only the Walsh River dividing us. A few of the cattle paddocks even overlap both properties. So the mustering at 'the Park' affects our work as well sometimes.
There is one day that continues to stick out in my memory as particularly noteworthy. One Tuesday Tony and I planed on going out on our 4x4 vehicle to work on miles of barbed wire fences for the day, but the manager from Wrotham Park (Tony's boss) called to say that we needed to come fix some timber rails on a stockyard that was currently being used. A stockyard is a big fenced area (made of steel or timber) with many small compartments and corridors where all the cattle are herded into for sorting, branding, and so forth. While I always look forward to a day of barbed wire fence work (the moving scenery makes for a quick day), having plans change at the last second is nothing unusual on a working station.
Although I have spent quite a bit of time (About 20 days worth) working on replacing the rails of a stockyard close to Gamboola Homestead, this was my first experience with one actually full of cattle. Between the cattle in the stockyard and the many more waiting queue in the surrounding holding paddock, there was literally well over 1,000 cattle within a 1 kilometre radius of me. The noise, the smell, and the danger of being charged while we cut the new timber rails made for quite an interesting working environment.. to say the least.
By midday we had finished and after lunch Tony and I headed out to check on a few bores (man made watering holes for the cattle). It can be quite an adventure just to get to each one, and we always keep an eye out for wildlife. Tony likes to quiz me on me growing knowledge of the local birds, trees, and flora, but what we really look out for is wild boars and dingos.. a major nuisance and threat to the cattle. At each bore we got out to check the waterlevel, and the first thing that always overwhelms me is how picturesque the scene is. Many times there is an old, tall windmill on the far side of the water, flocks of white birds and black duck taking flight on our arrival, and a waterhole lined with lilypads.
At one bore I must have been distracted watching the ducks fly off when all of the sudden I heard Tony yell 'RUN! QUICK.. RUN!'. I had never heard fear in Tony's voice before, so I turned and ran, and had jumped through a barbed wire fence before realizing what had happened. Apparently when we had walked up to the water, we inadvertently had cornered a large Boar, who in turned had decided to charge us. We usually always bring a shotgun with us when checking the bores, but of course the ONE time we don't..
The other wildlife is usually not so terrible. This particular day we came across a total of about 25 wild boars and sows, 3 dingos, 25 wallabies, 4 kangaroos, 3 goannas, and4 emus, just to name a few. Not to mention all the crazy bird species. This is one reason why I almost never have a bad attitude about my work.. as each day is literally an Australian Safari. Many people backpack or live in Australia and never get to see half of these animals in the wild. There are also some fresh and salt water crocodiles on the station too, but I've yet to see anything but day-old evidence of them on the waterside.... thank god.
Another interesting event just last week was an 'R.F.D.S. Field Day' hosted at Wrotham Park. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is the famous emergency service that does exactly what the name implies. Isolated Australians rely on the RFDS as their ambulance service in life-threatening situations. For example, Gamboola Station had to use the RFDS just under a year ago when one of the contract ringers lost two fingers while working in the stockyard. Well, the last Friday of May a RFDS plane came to Wrotham Park to refresh whoever was interested on basic CPR and first-aid. They also offered free skin checks using some advanced camera equipment. I found it bizarre that of all the years that I have been going to the doctor to get my skin checked out, I got the most technologically advanced service in the middle of the Australian outback.. and it was free. While waiting for the skin check, the pilot was nice enough to give me a tour of the aircraft and some of the medical equipment, which along with the stories I exchanged with the flight nurses made for quite a fulfilling day.
**
My mum, my brother, and his wife and kids are all visiting Australia for about two weeks. They had made these travel plans before I finalized my own trip, and well before I knew that I would be working at Gamboola Station. Since my mum had no original plans of making it up this far north, I decided to take a week off from the station in order to fly down to the Gold Coast and meet up with her and the rest of the family. This was surprisingly easy to do, as my manager truly believes in the motto 'family first'. While there is much work to be done in just a few short weeks, they thought that I should jump at any chance to see my mum while she was in Oz.
Currently I'm in Cairns for a few days, where I have been meeting up with my brother and his family. While my mum visits my aunt in Adelaide, they had come up to visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Rainforest. The next post I'll go into all my Cairns adventures, but right now I really gotta sign off. There is a bus coming to pick me up in an half an hour...... so I can to go skydiving. :)
4 comments:
SKYDIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS YOUR MOTHER
landed safely :)
I can´t believe you! Only in our family can my wandering around Europe look like a skip in the park. I´m so jealous! Would you believe I´ve actually started considering skydiving? Tho, the mere thought of it still scares the willies out of me. Mum, you went skydiving... I know, b/c it´s my favourite story about you. ;)
good to hear (read) everything is still goin well hoss.
All is right in the world on my side ..of the world..
-Eric
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