Farm Rescue - Mark III

Our time in the Louth area came to an end and we reluctantly said goodbye to all our new friends and started the journey to Bourke, where we’d planned a stop for a day or two so we could re-stock and clean up.

Things changed only 12km after leaving Louth when we heard a loud bang and lost a rear tyre to a big slash in the sidewall.  A road-side change was made a little more challenging than it should have been with the passing of 32 vehicles from the Landrover Club of ACT.  The wind was blowing their dust in our direction, so with each vehicle that passed, we crossed to the other side of the road to avoid being covered.  32 vehicles later…(and a lot of smiling and waving and “thanks for stopping, no we’re fine”) we finally got the wheel changed and were on our way again and we reached Bourke in a couple of hours.

No fixing this one.

The tyres on the car were reaching the end of their life but we’d hoped to make it to Mt Isa before needing to buy replacements, but with one slashed, one with a nail in a nasty place, one with a split in the sidewall that could go at any moment and our second spare the wrong size, we thought we’d better play it safe and bite the bullet and get six new tyres.  So on arrival in Bourke we went straight to the tyre centre and they were ordered and would be with us in two days.  Not bad eh?

We had a lovely camp at Mays Bend, about 15km north of Bourke on the Darling River and we spent our time visiting the exhibition centre, trying out the cafes and generally relaxing.  We were on our way again by Thursday with new boots on the car and heading to our next Farm Rescue near Brewarrina.  

The beautiful Mays Bend

Our farm this time was in an area about half way between Brewarrina and Walgett, then head north towards the Narren Lake National Park and the Grawin opal fields.  J and R have been farming the 22,000 acre sheep property for 3 generations and the drought conditions in the region have been making life hard.  They have de-stocked to 2,500 sheep and are hand feeding daily.

The NPWS had helped J move an old farmhouse from the national park to J’s property, as he was going to make it into shearers quarters.  But life and the drought got in the way and the old house was left in a bit of a state and wasn’t habitable. Every year, when the shearers came, J would have to pay travel time for them to come from Lightning Ridge and back every day and get an hours’ less shearing time into the bargain.  Our task for this rescue was to do as much as we could in the week to make the quarters habitable for the shearers, thus saving J a lot of money come shearing time.

The house was missing a front and a side when we arrived (not to mention the mess it was in inside)

Our team of 10 eager volunteers worked incredibly hard over the week we were there; cleaning, mending, patching, installing windows and doors, renovating the bathroom, painting, installing down pipes and a water tank - phew!!!!  You wouldn’t believe that the outcome - our sad old lady became a fresh, bright thing, with three bedrooms, a bathroom and a large room that would serve as a kitchen/dining room.  Large cracks in the walls and ceilings had gone, the missing ends of the house were restored and a bright front door finished her off beautifully.

Getting there - new windows and door - she's looking good

Getting to be a whizz with a roller

Nearly finished - just the final section of paintwork

Another great part of the Farm Rescues is the time spent and relationships built with fellow volunteers and the farmers.  We had worked with some of the volunteers before, and we met some more lovely people who are all there for the common goal.  

An afternoon off to enjoy lunch at the Glengarry Hilton

Our catering this time was done “in-house” with Rosey leading her crew of kitchen volunteers and we were working under some challenging conditions.  The camp stove supplied didn’t have the correct fitting to hook up to the gas cylinder, so the week was spent cooking on two little butane camp stoves and my Weber.  We were very inventive in what we cooked and how we cooked it but we managed to put a great meal for 11 people on the table every meal time.  Washing up was done in a plastic tub and the old shearers fridge in the shearing shed was working overtime.  After dinner and clean up, we all sat round a great camp fire until bed called.  It was never late as we’d worked so hard all day that we were pretty tired.

Challenges of catering

The exciting difference between this and other rescues we’d done was that a film crew from television show “The Living Room” was coming to do a story on the Farm Rescue program and cook us a meal.  

The crew of 7 arrived on a chartered plane and were picked up at Brewarrina air strip on Saturday morning.  The team included Grant Denyer and his wife Chezzie and celebrity chef Miguel Maestre.  They spent all Saturday and most of Sunday morning filming the various “scenes”.  God, working in television is a long, drawn-out affair.  Lots of hanging around, and doing it “one more time”.  But hopefully they got what they wanted and it turns out well.  I’m not sure they were ready for their rustic accommodation, but they handled it with great good humour.  Even the rickety old long-drop!!!

Room with a view - the long drop at sunrise

J, the farmer, had prepared an awesome bonfire for everyone on Saturday night, and we were entertained by stories and antics all evening.  Miguel and Grant became experts at toasting marshmallows on the fire, although we were worried about the burns they may have got being so close to the huge fire.  

Bonfire tree

Miguel toasting multiple marshmallows

Breakfast on Sunday morning was unexpectedly prepared by Miguel after we showed him the emu eggs we’d found a couple of days before.  He was amazed and so were we when he produced emu-egg frittata.  

Emu eggs - just on the ground, no nest

Miguel making an emu-egg frittata

Filming his cooking segment

Before we knew it, they were packing up again and being whisked off to catch their flight back to Sydney and we commenced the mammoth task of packing up all the tools and equipment and loading up the vehicles/trailers for departure the next day.

Celebrity friends

Our time spent with J and R was another great adventure for us, and hopefully they will get the benefit of our visit the next time shearing comes around.  After 10 days, we drove out the gate of their farm and headed towards Bourke for another re-stock.  Well, that was the plan, until we got the message from Rosey that we’d driven off and left our levelling ramps behind.  So, just 40km down the road, Doug unhooked the van and left me with it, and wheeled round and raced back to collect them.  

All good, and back on the road, we arrived in Bourke by early afternoon and decided to treat ourselves to a night in the caravan park.  I could do some washing, colour my hair and sit and watch TV with the heater on.  Sounded like bliss to me, and we enjoyed our night there, although it was packed and we were all squeezed in like sardines.  

The sky was blue but it was cold the next morning, as we headed out the gate and turned right.  Today was the start of the next chapter - Queensland.  Bring it on!!!!