Sunday 3rd August
It was a beautiful warm sunny day today. I was up much earlier than usual. It was 7 am when I got up. Bill had been going to get up at some ridiculous hour but decided to get up at 6-30 am.
After breakfast, I went for a walk with Bill to the far end of his property at the creek that runs parallel to the road but 440 meters from it.
He told me that the boundary fence was on the other side of the creek. Recently, a Real estate agent told him that the creek had previously been further away – the creek had moved closer to Bills house and the boundary fence should be further away.
The Real Estate guy had left the info with the measurements of the property. The exaxt distance from the gate to the far boundary was 439 meters.
I measured the distance on GoogleEarth and it seems indeed that cuts right into the next paddock.
We returned to the house and a short while later, I gave Bill a hand to lift some farm gear a short distance.
We then drove to a nearby valley where Bill has some cows somewhere out in the bush.
He had some more equipment he wanted to bring home. The same sort of stuff we had shifted before. Each piece was a section of a portable animal pen. They were each a bit bigger that his small trailer and made of about 50x50 mm aluminium box section. They were quite light. We took them back to his property and stacked them with the others.
I went inside and did some work with Dawnae on the PC. She wanted to download and install openoffice, I set up the download and as it was going to take about 2,5 hours, we left it and went on with something else.
We later found the download had crashed and we got nothing. Later, I downloaded Firefox and installed that for her.
Bill wanted to go back to the same place we had been before and bring home a water trough.
We went back and parked and prepared for the job. Apparently, a Queenstreet Farmer owns the property and is going to build a house there. He has a caravan set up and he lives there on occasions, but is not presently there. He also has a very large workshop – shed – much larger that a standard double garage.
The first thing we had to do was get the water out of the trough. It was a circular trough – about 900mm deep. Similar to a smal Spa Pool – almost 2 meters in diameter.
All Bill had to do, was unscrew the locking rim of the bung. This is on the inside. As soon as it was removed, the water started to pour out. After about ten minutes half the water had gone, and we were able to tip it over and quickly get rid of the rest.
The pool was very light. We dragged it to the fence, lifted it on top and tipped it over to the other side. We then dragged it to the trailer. It slid easily over the grass and there was no effort at all, lifting it onto the trailer.
It was soon secure ready for the trip home. Bill was going to show me the rest of the area, so we detached the trailer and set off. From the road to where we were was almost four wheel drive territory. From now on, it was definitely that.
In about ten minutes, we were at the end of the track. We left the vehicle (which is a four wheel drive) and walked. Bill could see where pigs have been routing around in the mud.
Someone has built a pig trap there. It is a cage about 4 meters square and about a bit over a meter high. An entire side is hinged from the top and swings back and forth. It is has been opened by pushing in side and it is secured parallel to the roof by a hook. Strong cord is strung from side to side in the middle. At the end furtherest from the opening, there is a tray of pellets. It must be something pigs like.
The idea is that the pig enters for a feed. He pushes past the cord which is right across the middle. As he does so, this pulls on the hook that secures the door and it drops down. The pig would be trapped.
It is of very solid constructon. About 50 mm galvanised pipe and very heavy steel mesh around the frame.
The creek zig zags around and during our walk, I suppose about twenty minutes, we crossed it three times. We were able to step from boulder to boulder without getting our feet wet.
Bill was looking at two fences in the area and also looking for his animals that were in there somewhere. The terrain had changed and there was a lot more bush about here.
It was very pleasant and I enjoyed the experience. I took several photographs during the day. It is quiet and peaceful and I can see why people like living in the area.
A bit further on, there is a range of hills. To our right, they were almost vertical cliffs.
To our left, there was a large "U" shaped gap as though a giant had taken a huge bite out of the hill. It is known as "Camerons Gap". Apparently, he was some early explorer and the first person to cross to the other side of the hills.
As we returned, I noticed the name of the road running off the one we were on. It was Campsite Road.
I asked Bill how it got that name and he said that it was named after "one of Camerons Camps".
We had a late lunch – about 2-30 pm. Later in the afternoon, I spent a bit of time with Dawnae on the pc. Bill was off somwhere.
After that, it was much the same routine as at home. About 5-30 pm – a drink or two, tv, and later – dinner – and then t v again.
It was getting colder and Bill started up the log burner. Dawnae had prepared and delicious dinner.
It has been a very enjoyable day.
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Regards
Laurie Leathem
http://www.leathmac.com
http://www.leathmac.blogspot.com
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