Harvest in full swing

Well we have had a few career changes since I last wrote. This job definately affords us the opportunity to try many new things. After learning tractor driving last month I asked the question not too long ago on facebook 'What other new skills could I learn before 30 rolls around?' One friend suggested flying (which he reckons is not too far different from tractor driving) - Apologies Brendan but I still havent added flying to my portfolio but both Neil and I have added numerous other fun skills. We completed rock raking (Aka raking rocks into rows so they could be piled up and removed from the paddock). Neil became the front end loaded driver and I the dump truck driver as we used our rock collection to build up some roads that had washed out.

We work pretty long hours and have seen some amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Harvest is now in full swing. We work 7pm til 7am. Neil is out in the paddock as a chaser bin driver-following the headers around collecting their harvested grain and dumping it in a larger bin- the motherbin.

Neil unloading a header into his chaser bin.

The new header- one of 5 on the paddock at once.

Neil unloading from a chaser bin into the mother bin

Neil driving a Case Mtx 600 with chaser bin in tow.


Trucks then bring the mother bin grain down to the silos. The trucks first pass my domain- the sample stand. Here the grain is sampled with a large vacumn (Yep Neil reckons everytime it breaksdown that I should be able to fix it- good practice he teases). We take 4 samples in the first trailer and 1 from every 10 tonne in the second trailer. This involves driving a pole to through the grain to the bottom to get a good respresentative sample of the whole load.

The samples are then taken into our sample testing caravan- kinda a mini lab. The 1/2 bucket sample is mixed and then a smaller sample is run through a machine which tests for moisture and protein (and oil content in the case of canola). A test weight is taken which gives an indication of the density of the grain. The test weight sample is then thrown into an agitator which contains a number of different sized seives. The grain that remains at the top of the seive is the retention % and the grain that falls all the way to the bottom is the screenings. The screenings usually contains small grains, any defective grains and any husks or foreign contaminants. All these numbers go together to give a grade for the grain. The grade determines what the grain is used for- human consumption or animal feed. The higher the grade the higher the $$$ monetary return for it. The moisture result is also a good indicator of if the grain is ripe to harvest so usually small test samples are taken of each paddock before harvest commences.

From the sample stand the trucks head to the silos to unload. Part of my job at night is to unload the trucks. I back them up to a hopper attached to an auger which is lined up with the opening at the top of the silo (for all our none farming friends). The auger is driven by a tractor.

It is a fine art to get the auger running at the right rate that keeps up with the truck emptying. Any miss alignment can cause a mess- and no I was not responsible for this one- even the most experienced men can have an oops- particularly when the lights are out at night for electrical work.

Oh so your looking for the loader- mmm just let me dig it out :)


The people we work for own about 10-15 properties dotted around Moree, Pallamallawa and Croppa Creek so we move from property to property a bit. We have both been escorts and have both been escorted which driving machinery down the road.

The picture should have given everyone the escort idea- but I did have a funny experience. I rang one of the header drivers- but had the wrong number and got a guy by the same name and I asked him if he wanted an escort- well you can imagine the idea he got and he arkwardly explained that he didnt need or ask for a female escorts services- hilarious story.

Tis crazy to think but the boss lets me drive most of the expensive equipment (harvester excluded at this stage :(). When moving properties the boss asked us to help- I jumped in a car to escort and Neil in a chaser bin- next minute the boss asks what I am doing in the car- no I'm driving another chaser bin- of course. I mention I have never (well rarely) towed a thing in my life and he says she'll be right. So off I go 70kms down the road in my little/ not so litte green machine. Neil was at the front in a similar set up.

The harvest started on some chick peas and then progressed to canola and then acres and acres of barley. The operation is big- 5 headers and 4 chaser bins pulled off 1500 tonne or more in barley in one night (bare in mind this is all carted in 30-60 tonne lots so thats a lot of loads for the chaser bins and trucks and then a lot of loads for me in the sample stand to test- arm muscles here we come and legs too with all the stairs). A breather is a rare event so when it's home time we have no dramas sleeping in the day. They can do 1000 acres in a night when the going is good and the straw not too moist. The 26000 acres of crop to harvest doesn't sound so big when 2000 acres can be taken off in a full 24hrs.

Canola is again been harvested before we move onto wheat today. The canola and barley are nearly finished and so it is just masses of wheat and chickpeas to go. We are having a ball and working with the most lovely team of 30 ppl- myself and one other make up the estrogen component. Everyone is so helpful and goes out of their way for each other- it is amazing to see when everyone is sleep deprived and working flat out- a rare occurance and perhaps a reflection of the boss- in fact on the night of the large grain spillage he was the one to discover it- he went around to the auger guy and asked him how his night was going (just as he would any other night). They guy answered 'well' to which the boss replied "just come for a walk with me for a second"- around the corner he pointed out the grain pile and half buried loader and said " a little work to do in the morning". He'd make a good dad if you accidently did something wrong.

Well it is back to work we go on wheat tonight. Nightie night.

Silverton, Menindee and East to join the harvest

Well we've covered plenty of territory lately. When we last left off we were in Broken Hill heading for a day at Silverton.

Silverton is a funny little spot- once a thriving mining community of 3000 people or so today supposedly 60 live there- although we struggled to count more than 10 locals- the 10 running the pub and tourist museums and galleries. Most of the houses were transported to Broken Hill when mining died in Silverton and resources were thin in the outback for building.

Today using your imagination you can trace out a few streets that were- a dot the dot between the courthouse, school, 3 or so churches and the pub and a few old homes converted into galleries. Dispersed around at old signs of life- railway scooters, concrete sinks etc. Everything charges you to enter (excluding the pub)- with no dollar coins and no atm's we didn't do much to support the economy but don't think we missed much either.

I love exploring old places and old buildings and where better to start than the Cemetary. Neil I discovered found this weird- and was not impressed that I dragged him wearing thongs through the desert (snakes and Neil are worst enermies) to view the tales of life and death on the oldest looking headstones (by passed the newbies cause it was evident Neil's interest was floundering from the outset).

The pub you have probably seen on TV. I knew of Madmax but it has been in heaps of other movies over the years- all before our time. Ironically MadMax came on TV the night before we went out. Neither of us knowing anything about it sat down to watch- totally weird- didnt get far through thats for sure so the interest in the car and other memorabilia wasnt really as enthusiastic as some of the other 60 plus year old tourists.

Just of out Silverton was a look out- a mound above the expanse of flat. There we got an appreciation for what lay beyond- no signs of civilisation just and endless panorama of desert scrub. This is one big country for sure.

The next day we meandered through Broken Hill. It really is a town in the middle of the mines. Mounds of dirt surround the town on all sides and mining equipment stands tall on the hills. Despite it's isolation the town itself is much the same as any of it's size- Centro and the usual stores. The town centre shows the hey day buildings and architecture- stunning old buildings still used today with all the character and wealth of old times. The houses are interesting though- mostly corragated iron clad- I imagine they must be well insulated to keep the cold out.
Some amazing local painters have captured the landscape amzingly and we enjoyed a gallery or two.
One artist gave us many a laugh with his depictions of bush life and the flying doctor's service- heres a few for your laugh- Howard William Steer:
"Sturt desert pea"

artchat.com.au

Next was off to Menindee Lakes for some R and R- i'll let pictures tell the story:

We free camped in the middle of nowhere for a few days on route from Broken Hill to Coonabarbran. We had heard mixed experiences about peoples trips through Wilcania and a few little towns on route but praise God our's was uneventful. We agreed to free camp if others were- and we weren't disappointed- 15 or 20 campers rocked up most nights. It was amazing how many buddies we had in no mans land. Alas we discovered cat head burrs and just about every other variety which to this day still turn up in the caravan, car and washing. Nynghan and Cobar do well to promote anything and everything they can find as tourist sites- old shut down mines and current ones viewed from the mounds and old water towers around. Most of the expereince is the country as your drive along though. I finally mastered caravan towing and more importantly the 'outback wave' on the open road. Town towing is yet to be perfected :).

Canola at "Collie Station":

So where are we now- Well it was always a dream of Neil's to join the harvest and give it a go. After much prayer and patient job application submissions a friend of a friend offered us work. We are based in Northern NSW about 70 km from Moree and 65Km from Warialda. We visited some family in Moree and then some old friends at Crooble- were nearly back in old home territory(Naomi's schooling country of Warialda- and close to where Neil's family had a property toward Mungindi).We will move around a bit from property to property within about a 70 km radius back towards Moree. Until harvest we are both tractor driving- yep the 17 yr old girl who was quote "never going to live in the bush and never going to marry a farmer...." is getting her hands dirty and enjoying the change. At harvest I will be a grain sampler and Neil will be chaser bin driving (and if he's lucky he'll hopefully get to try the headers out too). We will work shifts around the clock so that could get interesting- Hopefully we are on the same shift sometimes so it's not a hi, bye and who are you at change of shift.

Our new occupations:

Hard Worker :

Foreman:

A nice surprise and then on the road again

Well we have had fun and been a long way since our last post.

First we pulled off a beauty of a surprise with the help of a few friends.
Neil finished up work on the dairy and we deserted the cold weather and our little caravan home and headed off on a jet plane.
Neil's first flight (other than joy riding in my parents plane a few years ago) was accomplished and we flew into Coffs airport to surprise our families with a visit.
First we sprung Neil's parents and grandparents in Urunga before a flying visit to Ag Quip at Gunnedah (an Ag field day for those not in the know).

Later we headed to Casino to suprise my family -at which point my father expected the announcement of a new grandchild on the way-squashing that rumour we were later joined by my brother, sister inlaw and Nephew and later by my little brother and his girlfriend - a very neat birthday present for my mum.

Out to lunch with Neil's folks in Coffs- after our flight got randomly cancelled (due to engineering issues) and we were awaiting our new flights.

Naomis Family out for dinner at the local steak house.

Our little Nephew Lucas wasnt missing out on the steakhouse special.

We made a speedy trip to the Dale- aka Armidale. Apologies to all we didnt get to see on our dash through -a quick stop to get our tax done on route. We arrived one arvo, spent the night with my old housemate Em (thanks Em) and saw a very few old friends.

After some flight cancellations and an unexpected night in Melbourne we made it back to check our caravan still had the annexe attached. Some ghastly winds and rain greeted us back in Colac. A day later Neil's patience with his favourite thing WIND had run out and we hit the road for a little trek north for a good nights sleep.
For those who are campers you will know wind = zero sleep as the annexe flaps and every noise is amplified. We free camped a few nights in random little places in the middle or beautiful canola and wheat fields in western VIC.Then headed to Horsham and onto Mildura through the beautiful Grampians where we stopped for the odd bushwalk.

The Grampians behind our rig.

What timing- we arrived in Mildura for the 100th celebration on the paddlesteamer PS Melbourne and scored a great day of markets and a river cruise up the Murray. The river was packed with paddle steamers from all up and down the murray that converged on Mildura for the weekend.

Mildura is a weird place- not the picture of lush green we imagined for a fruit growing capital- rather it was dry and desolate. Cleary the only reason fruit grows there is due to extensive irrigation from the Murray. Stranger still you never feel like you are in the city centre- house, vineyard, house, orange plantation house more fruit is pretty much the pattern throughout the whole town.

We enjoyed a great free camp along the murray- a little eventful to find with a road open that cleary should have been shut resulting in Neil working some magic (and me sending up a lot of prayers) to get us out of a sticky jam.Praise God for miracles! to say the least- mobile reception wasnt on hand and people were few and far between so it could have been dramatic.

Sunset at our Kings Billabong free camp near Mildura

From Mildura it was onward and upward to along the Silver City HWY towards Broken Hill. My first attempt at towing anything commenced on the widest and straightest stretch in coee. We survived as did our rig and arrived at another free camp- this time along a branch of the Darling river part way between Wentworth and Broken Hill.
We met some lovely people there and enjoyed swapping adventures like true Grey Nomads- I think were getting the touch to enter the in group even though were don't meet the age requirements.

Now we are really feeling outback. The roads are long and straight. The temperature is amazing and the scenery is flat- dotted with wild goats in there hundreds, emus left right and centre and the odd domesticated animal- sheep or cattle. The wild flowers are coming out across the sandy desert - the vegetation is low and every second tree is dead timber having surcombed to a drought over the years.

And so we have arrived in Broken Hill. Today we explored Silverton- but more on that next time.

Weekend trips and the day to day :)

About time for another post. We are still in cold, wet and now very very windy Victoria. The dairy is going well- Neil is working hard and I continue to fill my days of luxury.

We have had a few weeked trips- one previously mentioned to Melbourne to the gunshow was fun.

More recently we have been away to Warnambool and Port Fairy on the coast. We did plenty of eating, stayed at a nice B&B and tried a spot of whale watching- as you can see from our photo even Mr patient had run out of patience :)We came home via the part of the Great Ocean Rd and re visited some favourite haunts.

Where or where can my whale be---- the things one does for wifey :)

The Groto

None other than the 12 apostles- minus a few :)

The dairy cat has definately adopted us- and won Neil's heart. He visits usally a few time a day- mostly at food times and he sleeps snuggled up on a blanket on our chairs. His latest is too jump on the table next to the BBQ and try his luck- so far no fried cat though he is adventuresome... even sneaking inside at times.

Spot has the art of begging down pat...

Neil takes up a spot of cooking and might I say this childhood favourite he introduced me too was a treat!!! Don't ask the fat content cause in true diary style that is double country cream and chocolate biscuit. One of Neil's workmates works part-time at the icecreamy and brings us the seconds (of which the cream was one). He does look a little dangerous in the kitchen I must say- glad it's a whisk and not a knife.

I (Naomi) have found a nice bible study group which I go to on a Tuesday. I am the youngest by far (like by 30yrs or more) but they ladies are young at heart and we learn heaps and laugh heaps.

I also spend Tuesday arvo at a local respite care centre doing craft with the patients. In fact most of the patients just love to watch and chat while the other volunteers and I craft away and have lunch with them. The patients range in age from about 40 to 60-70yrs. The centre has only just opened and is in this amazing house that has been transformed. The house was acutally built many years ago by one of the guys from church who built it for his family of 7 children. Amazingly all the children
had their own room and ensuite. The guy was a builder and he carved some amazing wood work on every cedar door. A mansion with a great view that makes a perfect respite centre.

Well it is not too long until we move off on our next adventure. We arn't exactly sure where that will take us- though the rough plan is north and into warmer weather :). Possible we may follow the harvest trail out western NSW or south QLD then next year head off to WA, NT and SA but who knows really- we shall see what doors God opens up.

In case you have forgotten what we look like :)

P.S I have taken up hairdressing- hence Neil's rather short style- the longer between cuts the longer between potential disasters as I learn the art of clippers :0

Farming (I mean Freezing) away

Well Well once again it has been a while. What can I say- were just too busy working. Well ok not entirely true- Neil is too busy working and I am not too busy been a 1950's housewife :)

The tuckered out dairy farmer at morning tea (too dirty to be allowed inside so he makes himself comfy in our annexe- blanky and all :)

The weeks are flying by. We have been here 5 weeks now and probably have about 2 months more stay here- if we don't freeze solid and remain here as statues forever. It is certainly not as cold as Armidale- it's just that we are in a pop top caravan. Praise God for power, electric blankets and a heater. Last night the temp INSIDE was 1 degree then 3 hours later with the heater running flat out it made it to a whopping 9 degrees inside. The electric blankets needless to say get left on 2 or 3 all night and their is lots os snuggling up and fighting over the blankets. Not sure how the explorers did it......As I write this I am waiting for the water pipes to defrost so I can have a shower. It's half past 9 and there are still frozen solid- this could be a long blog :).

The worker in the family :

Our varied views at Sunset time :)

Mine

and Neils :)

Neil is getting a day off here and there mid week so aside from catching up on sleep we got to go for a drive around the local extinct volcano. The views stretched for mile cause the countyside around here is very flat. There are two huge lakes nearby. One Lake Colac is Victorias largest lake. The other Lake Corangamite is 3 times saltier than the ocean and has salt piles that stick up out of the water in the shallow areas. The area here is so so green due to the rich volcanic soils and all the dairy farms around the district.

I get the odd trip to Geelong and also down to the Great Ocean Road with one of Neils workmates who travels for work a bit so that is fun. It is amazing how quickly I can fill my days with nothing much. I cook a few cakes and slices to keep the hungry farmer fed and from fading away, I do some craft and wander around and watch the calves feed and play- they are just like kittens- totally spontaneous and hilarious in their games.

I have enjoyed bike riding on the few fine days we have had. The wind resistance means you get twice the exercise :)and twice the ouch afterwards :).

The farm has a few young people working here who we enjoy socialising with over a meal. The farm owner and his family live here and they are super friendly and have us over in the afternoon sometimes. A french backpaker rounds out the people who live on the farm. He keeps us on our toes understanding his great English in between his really strong accent. He is also a great cook so we enjoy some tucker with him and hearing stories from the French Island he lives on off Spain somewhere.

Well best get packing- in true red neck style we are off to the 71st Melbourne gun show. Did I mention I scored us Superior SPA accomodation in Melbourne for a quater of the usually price----mmm so looking forward to it. Ahh the perks of going to the gun show (just as well there is a closing time or Neil may never leave the show and I would never get that spa). T'will be nice for Neil to get to enjoy his hobby....not to mention he showed the boys here how it was done shooting two foxes in two shots the other week. Funny ever since Mr Fox has gone to foxy heaven nothing from under our annexe has gone walk abouts or been chewed. Now Spike the dairy cat has moved in to make himself at home in Neil's reclining camp chair....

Where are we now?

Where are we now and what are we doing now?
The alarm rouses us at 4:30 am in the pitch black and freezing cold. Fog adds to the atmosphere.
We are in bed by 7:30 pm. Neil appears briefly for morning tea at 9am and lunch sometime in the arvo. I roll back to sleep when Neil exits our one room house at 5am, sticking my ear plugs in to block out the constant noise of hungry animals and the big mummies... oh and poo and lots of it.....and walm white stuff... It is a bit different from our planned fruit picking (and much better from my point of view). Week one is down and Neil has worked 90hrs and is still at work meanwhile I am a kept women (no complaints) or perhaps I should say the chief cook, laundry lady and errand runner (things we used fit in around work like most of you). We just got in from checking calving cows and feeding calves.......mmm as I write my hands smell of milk.

We are at a dairy in Colac (West of Geelong in Victoria). Fruit picking never come up cause the fruit STILL isnt ripe so we branched out in our job searching and Neil has taken a job on a dairy (for 3 or more months).By Gods perfect timing and provision we started exactly when we had hoped to get working again after our relaxing Tassie stint. Its a fair sized dairy.They milk 600 plus cows twice a day and produce about 18,000 litres of milk daily. In between milking Neil helps with feeding calves, sorting our calving cows and new calves, fixing fences, feeding grain and helping the crop guy. I poke my head in occasionally and got a few hours work cleaning and changing milking lines on the rotary dairy.

I am enjoying pottering around. My biggest feat is I have learnt (or should I say relearnt (after 12yrs or more of laziness) how to drive a manual. Yay I have my wheels and hence my independance again. The rig is a bit bigger than my Magna so at this early stage I pick the easy parks- which isn't too hard in Colac- population 14,000. I love it! I can come and go :) AND I may have work starting in Geelong (about an hour away)in three weeks or so at the Victorian version of the pathology mob I have always worked for. For now I am enjoying having time and energy to be a good housewife to my very tired hard working hubby.

We are loving been parked on the farm and have a nice private area sheltered from the wind (which has a habit of causing everything to flap and make a racket at night without shelter).No bills- no rent or power or water- what a dream. There is a kitchen with oven which the caravan doesnt have so we have been enjoying all the things we haven't been able to eat for a while like lasagne and potato bake, baked fish and cakes. There is also a toilet and shower next to the kitchen and a washing machine all of which are next to the dairy. I was warned that the washing machine washed dirty dairy stuff but a quick clean between and it's saves me a trip to the laundry mat (who I am sure would not like the amount of cow crap Neil brings home daily :).

Mmmm Do I want a kiss at morning tea and lunch time- normally the answer is a resounding YES but now it is a let me
inspect whether some cow took a disliking to you and gave you a face full. Enough crap crap and more crap (which is pretty much all we can smell of a morning and evening if the wind is blowing our way:). I'm growing quite accustomed.Guess one could argue that pathology is just full of the human version of the same body fluids.

I am also continuing to make some handy craft to either sell on-line(later on when I get organised) or at local markets as time permits. Neil is great at helping me pick the fabrics and doesnt mind a trip to Spotlight. He's my Ebay buyer of the necessary tools too.... Earrings, hair clips and ties, bookmarks and soon to be bobby pins make up the funky covered button repetior. So if you have any pressies to buy for the girls or ladies in your family or just want to gift yourself with these little beauties let me know.....they mail well and cheaply too if you have friends afar.

We can't believe we have been on the road 5mths.....I can't imagine we will be finished in 12mths- but then again we didnt exactly set an endpoint and if we keep having this much fun who knows maybe we'll become gypsies :).

We get along to church most weeks- though I will be doing it on my own some weeks now- dairy cows need milking Sunday morning and night too. We have met some nice people though our visits are usually brief in any given town so we do miss church fellowship and community and bible study too. The two of us make a pretty small group :)

Love to all and thanks for keeping in contact. We love news from home. xoxo