“I used to live here. When this place was smaller. And it looked worse…………..”
This is the second in a series of portraits profiling Big hART Gold participants in Queensland, from the communities of Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe, and made by Mick and Melinda.
This is the first in a series of portraits profiling Big hART Gold participants in Queensland, from the communities of Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe, made by Mick and Melinda.
Sitting in the car, travelling in the general direction of Griffith, while staring at the laptop’s glowing screen, I struggle to string together the few funny and exciting anecdotes of our 8th and last day together. As car sickness slowly but surely attempts to overcome me, I devise a brilliant scheme to lessen my un-warranted nausea. A Photo Retrospective of our entire trip seems the order of the day and with a heavy heart, I begin my work.
This is how we roll………
Entertainment for the week
Well, our night is set.
Rocking out perfected
Ground Zero
Don’t worry, its only road kill
And then they finally noticed big foot
The green, it burrnsssss
He still won’t tell us the secret of levitating
Unfortunately, Jim didn’t make it
Mid-explosion
Just biding his time
I’m ready for my close up, Mr. Demille
Just glamorous
and now for dessert
I’m only acquiring arms
Current affair material
yeah, it was THIS big!
For my birthday, I want a pony………..
I used to live here. When this place was smaller. And it looked worse…………..
Toothpick terror
Eighth & Last Report Completed
Day 8 19:00
The Brave hART 101st Airborne Cavalry
Mission: Queensland
“So long, and thanks for all the fish”
For the first, and last time, we all rose from our beds with no need for any kind of persuasion, as everyone had become accustomed to rising early.
Soon after, we headed over to Peter and Sherilyn’s Farmhouse, where we had an impromptu interview with Peter as his youngest son Luke played football in the background. Lydia and Pando the dog hung out near by, adding her two bobs worth in when Peter hadn’t mentioned something in the interview.
Peter talked about how Sherilyn had spent a lot of time working on the garden, to make an oasis, a place to relax after being out on the farm. Green gardens are important psychologically during the drought.
After, Luke and the guys had an action pact game of laser tag, which encompassed most of the farmhouse’s backyard.
We were then taken to the stockyard, and while Peter informed us that we would be doing ‘Preg tests’ on some cows. For the un-informed, a preg test mainly consists of sticking your arm in the cow’s rear end and feeling around for a calf.
After Peter gave us a demonstration, he and his family, who had come along for the ride, attempted to get each of us to do a preg test. Paul was the first brave soul to give it a go, and was rewarded with a nice torrent of manure.
Davo and Bronwyn did the procedure with no problems and Luke was covered in a load of the cows waste after his try,
While Fabian and Ben wimped out. Lydia, Peter’s youngest daughter, tried her hardest to get Ben to do a Preg Test, resulting in many great photo op’s.
We were then taken on a tour around their 8000-acre property, which, according to Luke, is the same size as Hong Kong.
While driving around, Ben attempted to interview Luke and Lydia on a mini-disk, only to have the tables turned on him when the pair took charge of the situation and started asking the questions.
While driving around, we saw a goat, which thinks it is a sheep, following the flock around and that they also have a pig that thinks it’s a cow.
Peter showed us his tractor, which was controlled by a GPS system that helped him immensely. Peter then gave us a demonstration of the tractors capabilities accidentally spraying Bronwyn and Sherilyn with a small amount chemicals (non toxic of course!).
Luke was then taught how to film, and conducted an interview with his parents on the topic of Integrity.
We then headed into town and met Basil and Mari. After a nice lunch, we interviewed the couple on their back porch.
Basil used to be a Sheep Shearer who is one of the few people to have ever shorn a sheep blindfolded.
The interview went well, with Basil shooting out jokes left, right and centre, but in the spirit of keeping this blog G rated, the jokes will not be shown here.
Back at the farm, Peter and Sherilyn were getting ready for their formal interview, and when we got back to the farm, all that was left to do was set up the camera’s. After some Cappuccinos graciously provided by Sherilyn, we settled down for the interview.The interview went for two hour’s, with Peter and Sherilyn talked about many things, including Sherilyn’s first impressions of farming life, their kids birthday parties, plans for the future and told the entertaining story of their second child’s birth.
We all decided to go have a BBQ down at the guest house, so the guys went off to start a fire while everyone else got the food ready. Ben and Lydia then attempted to do Ballet while Paul and Fabian cooked some sausages on the .
Dinner was eaten around the campfire, while Luke and Lydia attempted to climb a nearby tree. After eating, we presented the Lennons with a box of goodies from the Griffith area as thanks for having us. As they left, we went inside, with an air of sadness as we got ready for the long trip home.
Seventh Report Completed
Day 7 23:00
The Brave hART 101st Airborne CavalryMission: Queensland
“Lay on Macduff, and damned be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’”
