Helicopters Aren't Just For Joy Flights!

Some days the boys face a mustering job that is quite big, or perhaps involves some poorly educated cattle. So in addition to having the horses saddled up and on the job, we have the luxury of adding a mustering helicopter to the mix. This groovy yellow bubble drops down in to our backyard (which, admittedly, is larger than your standard suburban backyard) and picks up the lucky jackaroo (that's 'cowboy' for my friends in the USA) whose job it is to accompany the pilot, show him where to go, and keep an eye out for cattle.

Now because this is a highly sought after job around here, the only photo I have of chopper mustering is one I took when we went up to check out the floodwater a little while ago, but the vision from the air of cattle moving away from the chopper is much the same, just without all that water! The helicopter is very effective in pushing a lot of cattle together pretty quickly, making the task for the men on horseback much easier. What this means in real terms, is that they're back at the house sooner looking for 'smoko'. Is there anyone out there who still uses that expression for morning tea? I'm certain the boys would tell you that isn't the reason they ring Jack and get the 'bird in the air', but it's definitely the biggest impact of the job from my point of view (seeing as how I am the producer and provider of cups of tea, scones, cakes, biscuits etc. etc. etc...I'm just so happy to have discovered the recipe for the orphanage sized chocolate cake that thay all love. It even lasts longer than two days!)

If you're fascinated by all this, and would like to discover more about helicopter mustering, I can recommend Fiona Lake's website. She travels the northern parts of Australia, photo-documenting work on the big stations (Ours, at 27,000 acres is quite small by comparasion!). Her website has fantastic photos and plenty of interesting information, including some sound explanations of the various terms used in different countries to describe the properties where cattle are raised, and the people who work on them!

Echidnas, Floods, and Life In General

This post is something of a mixed bag - much like my life these past few weeks! We've had a son become engaged (Wonderful!). We've been inundated by flood waters, the heights of which haven't been seen in almost 30 years, and my baby (who really isn't a baby at all, but he's my baby) jumped on a plane bound for Canada - not to be seen on Australian shores for another 9 months!



Before he left, we were lucky enough to get a fly with our nephew, Jack, in his helicopter, to check out the water.(Thanks Jack!) We thankfully had no damage to our homes, but had about 3,000 acres of our land go under. A lot of it was grass, but we did have some crops that were about ready to harvest that went for a swim as well. They are pretty much wrecked, so we will feel a pinch there. Nowhere near as bad as some of the cotton growers on the river who have lost their entire crops - their total income for a whole year, not to mention the damage they've sustained to banks and canals and pumps and all other sorts of infrastructure! We consider ourselves very lucky. And, there were a couple of homes in our little town that had water through them - which has to be the pits. Poor things. The photo above is taken looking over our property. The thick treeline is the river bed...the rest is where there was too much water for the river bed! And, those nice straight green lines you see in the water are our crop.


This bridge is over the highway...it just stayed out of the water!


Now, I don't know whether this fellow was trying to escape the water or not, but he showed up waddling across my back yard - in the middle of the day! Echidna's are normally very shy creatures - it's not all that common to spot one, much less be able to follow their progress across your backyard and into a garden bed in broad daylight! He'd normally be rolled up in a tight, prickly ball if someone came within cooee of him! Thanks, Mr. Echidna, for giving me a moment of wonder and fascination in the middle of a very hectic time (and taking my mind off the fact that I miss my baby - even if it was only for a little while!)