Have I ever told you that we have a Billabong behind our house? No? How remiss of me! Our Billabong is what we call an anabranch of the Dawson River. When the river level is relatively 'normal', this water course becomes a series of water holes, which progressively dry up the longer they are without a fresh flow. Some of the holes have never been dry in living memory. Throughout the past twelve months none of these holes have dried up! In fact, we haven't seen the bottom of this waterway for months.
There is a road across to a couple of thousand acres of land in the vicinity of these pictures - our Princes have been working hard with truck, tractor and skid steer loader for weeks, trying to reclaim the track, so as to be able to fix fences and get a crop in over there. So far, they're not really winning.
A couple of our canine companions came for a wander with me the other day - to check out the progress and inspect at close range what metres and metres of water have done down here... This mat of twigs and debris around the base of a few spindly trees was fascinating.
The Billabong has always been a peaceful place - there's a quiet calm down there - cool in the heat of the afternoon, a trickle of water, the buzz and him of insects. It's pretty soothing really.
Unless you take Darla along, which turns it into an hilarious adventure, as she bounces - like Tigger in Winnie the Poo - chasing birds in the long grass and racing along the top of the washed out bank, trying desperately to figure out just how she can get back down to Grandma...
I love the peacefulness of the Billabong, but I love laughing at the antics of our animals even more! Good medicine, any way you look at it!
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