A Road Trip

Hi Everyone,

Monday was a very busy day for us.  We had the loan manager from a local bank drive up to look at Jagumba before signing the paper work on a loan for Kathrin and Barry to buy more cattle.  We fed the manager rabbit stew from the rabbits the dogs had caught the day before.  The stew was actually very good!  We gave the manager the VIP tour of the farm and then he, Kathrin, and Barry signed all the loan documents.  I decided to work with Dakota while they worked on that.  On the same day, an older couple arrived to rent the cabin for three days.  These two people were very welcome guests because two years ago they were the first people to ever rent the cabin from Kathrin and Barry.

On Tuesday we went up to Brumby’s Run in the morning to start working on cleaning up some of the old equipment and fences there.  We came back in the afternoon and had a surprise visit from the owner of the one of the fire-wood companies Barry visited while in Sydney.  They wanted to see the Brumbies, so they were, of course, introduced to Ranger. 

After our visitors left, we drove down to Jianne’s to help her move a water tank.  Jianne had just ordered this new, 5,000 gallon, water tank to place on the hill above her house.  It came with free delivery, but the delivery driver did not want to cross the 3 inch deep, concrete bottom creek, that is on the road to Jianne’s.  So he dropped the huge plastic tank 3 km short of Jianne’s house in the paddock of her neighbor.  The only way we could possibly move the monstrosity was to use the forder to lift it and carry it up to the top of her hill.  

The forder lifting Jianne's water tank.

The forder is a machine used to lift, stack, and carry huge tree trunks when logging.  Well, three hours later we had the water tank placed right side up above Jianne’s house.  By the time we left Jianne’s it was very dark, so I got to ride in the back of the ute with my back resting against the back window, gazing at all the stars while we drove back to Jagumba.  It was a bit chilly, but Tobi curled up in my lap, and Sprocket sat next to me to keep me warm 

Tobi assiting Barry with the plumbing.  Although it does look
more like a scene from the Wizard of Oz.

Wednesday morning we loaded up plumbing gear and went down to Billy’s cabin to install a new filter to keep dirt and moss from the dam water out of the shower head.  Barry had to inch his body into a little hole under the house to install the filter.  While Kathrin handed Barry tools and turned the water valves on and off, I chopped wood and weeded the garden. 

Rows of potatoes and corn

The corn is starting to pop up and the potatoes are growing nicely.  After the maintenance chores were done, Barry went out to work on mulching a new patch of land, and Kathrin and I went back up to the house to work with the horses. We took the horses on a ride up the power line road that leads out of the property, and discovered that a large tree had fallen across the road during the last wind storm that had blown through. 

Thursday morning I awoke and went out to do my daily chore of bringing in Missoula to feed Ranger.  Arriving at the paddock, I was greeted by the sight of all seven horses standing under a tree outside of the remains of the broken spider fence.  Apparently, someone had been pushed through the fence, and the force was enough to snap the small electric wire in half.  All the horses stood around the tree with slightly guilty, but extremely smug smiles on their horsey faces.  I think only cats could manage to best their looks of self- satisfaction.  After catching all seven horses and placing them in the yards, I went out to clean up the mess the horses had made of the fence.  Kathrin and I decided that it would probably be best to leave the fence down while we were gone, so the horses couldn’t get into mischief with it while we weren’t there to watch them.  Barry, who had gone out to service his large tractor, came back in to report that the belts had broken, so he could not go out to finish mulching.  Instead, he and Kathrin set up our riding arena with the road barriers Kathrin and I recovered from the water.  I was given the task of filling each of the barriers with water.  I soon got bored of standing around and checking my nails while the hose pumped the water into the barriers, so I went and found Dakota, and we practiced some ground work in the arena while I finished topping off the barriers.  Dakota is the best horse for ground tying, because he likes to just stand there and not move.  (Ground tying is when you tell the horse to stay in the position you have placed him while you walk off to do something else.  The horse is not tied to a rail, or restrained in anyway, he is just taught to stand and wait.)  The rest of the day was spent in preparation for our three day trip.

Tobi helping Kathrin roll up her swag

On Friday morning we woke up early to set out on our trip to Darlington Point to look at a fire wood business and their machines.  Of course, you astute readers are wondering how Ranger would get his meals of milk while we were gone.  Jianne was kind enough to consent to baby…er…foal-sit for three days.  So we loaded Ranger onto the back of the ute, tied his halter rope to the back rail and set off.  Did I mention that Ranger’s middle name is “danger”?  

Ute Ride!

 I rode in the back with Ranger, and we both did our best to hang on while Barry raced us down to Jianne’s.  Once we had delivered Ranger, we drove into town to meet up with Tulip and Owen, a friend of Tulip’s, who had agreed to drive down with us to see the fire wood machines.



Owen and Tulip displaying the safety gear we wore
on our tour of the facility.

Darlington Point is about 350 km northwest of Tumbarumba.  We arrived about mid-day and were taken on a tour of the wood chopping operation.  The whole facility consists of a large clearing with two large sheds, multiple fire wood machines of different makes and models, and many large of piles of wood.  

Fire wood cutting machine

All the machines did the same thing, cut fire wood, although some had circular blades, some had chain saw blades, and others just had a large metal wedge against which the wood was pressed and split.  I must admit that I was not very interested in the machines.  With the combination of heat, dust and itchy wood chips, I soon lost interest in the whole affair.  The only really interesting machine for me was the little three wheeled “BELL”s that were zipping about supplying the different cutting machines with logs to chop.  Now that looked like a fun vehicle to drive! 

The BELL

After our tour of the facility, we split ways with Tulip and Owen.  The two gentlemen headed home, and we headed off south looking at all the scenery.  Along the way, Barry suddenly stopped, backed the car up, and pointed to the trunk of a roadside tree. Climbing up the large trunk to safety was a real, live, wild, Koala.  It was really neat to get to see one in the wild! 

Wild Koala

 We also got to see the agricultural college where Barry spent two of his high school years.  The school is a boarding school, and was originally for boys only.  Barry told us about how much fun he had while he was there.  The boys went fishing and swimming in the river, built huts from small saplings they cut down, and snuck into the kitchen at night to obtain a mid-night snack.  The country we drove through was very flat, very hot, and very dry.  You could almost see from horizon to horizon. 

Flat country

Australian humor

That night we set up our tents and rolled out our swags underneath the stars in one of the state forests.  The next morning we were up bright and early (the early part really couldn’t be helped because due to the flatness of the landscape, there was nothing to block the sunrise at 5 a.m.).  We soon had our camp packed back into the little town car we were driving to save on fuel, and we hit the road.  We drove for most of the day looking at scenery, stopping to visit a local farmers market, and to read the tourist information signs along the side of the road. 

Me enjoying a car break.

At mid-afternoon we arrived in Howlong, and small town to the southwest of Tumbarumba on the NSW/Victoria border.  Here was the residence of the vet Kathrin used to substitute for in Griffith, and we had come to visit for his 70^th Birthday party.  After setting up our camp on the lawn, we drove into the golf club where the dinner party was taking place.  There were quite a few guests and everyone enjoyed sitting together over dinner and chatting.  We left the party at around 11 p.m.  The next morning, all the guests who had spent the night, re-grouped at the house to enjoy a true Aussie breakfast of sausage and eggs on buns with a nice selection of fruit.  After breakfast we took our leave and began the ride home.  We stopped at the hardware store in Albury and Kathrin bought an apricot tree, a female kiwi plant, a blue berry bush, and a Banana Passion Fruit vine.  It was fun trying to pack them in amongst the luggage that was already crammed into our little car.  We also made a stop to visit another farming friend of Kathrin and Barry’s to get his input on fire wood machines and so Kathrin and Barry could catch up with him and his wife on how their farming endeavors were going.  By the time we returned to Jianne’s to pick up Ranger, the beautiful sunshine and heat that had followed us through the low country was gone, and dark clouds were threatening to release their cold load of rain.  So Ranger and I quickly loaded up onto the back of the ute and we rode back to the farm in the rain. 

Today we spent most of our time catching up on some of the maintenance and chores around the farm house.  I helped Kathrin plant the new editions to the garden, weeded and picked berries and made cobbler and ice cream.  We also had a couple of packhorse riders stop by on their way through on the National Forest trail. 

Riders and their pack horses stopping by for a visit.

Have a wonderful week before Christmas and please keep in mind that while we all tend to have wonderful and festive celebrations, the Savior of the World was born quietly in a stable amongst the dirty, smelly, and common.  And yet He is still the greatest gift that we could ever receive. 

With Christmas Love,

  Hana

P.S. Sometimes due to internet connection issues, I am only able to upload a picture or two at a time.  If there are only a few pictures when you first read the blog post, check back in a day or two because I will usually have uploaded a few more by then.