Hilary's Adventures Down Under: A Weekend Farming in Southern Australia

G'day,

Today we got up and left a little later than I think we had planned, but that's okay. Kaylene and Tammy made us pancakes and they were delicious! We kicked off, but had to stop at the petrol station because Jess' car had no oil. After that episode we hit the road for the last leg of our trip to Mt. Gambier. We had some good tunes, drinks (non-alcoholic - especially after last night!) and some munchies. On the way there I happened to spot a vineyard that had St. Hilary as the name of it! I think the other two thought I was seeing things, but I was serious.

We arrived at Amil's at about 1-ish in the afternoon after getting lost and realizing the road sign for getting to their house was missing. We had a quick lunch of sliced corn beef and other veggies. It was good and then it was time for the tour of the farm. We drove in the back of a 1963 Valiant through and around bumpy fields. I knew my body would kick me for it later. We got to see all of their cattle (although I know we didn't see any cows...), windmills, farms, etc. It was a long afternoon. We stopped by where during the week people are sorting spuds (potatos) we got to see how the machines work and that kind of thing. Terry (a spud farmer - who happens to also be the local celebrity) went into detail about the sizes of spuds, kinds and how Maccers (McDonald's) wants them to be in order to buy them. He also talked about how he had a crossbreed between two types of spuds that makes them white. It was really interesting. We got to ride in his potato trucks and I fell out of one. I was trying to climb down and just sort of slide/fell out of the truck. I did land on my feet so that was good. Amil was there (as was Ellie) and he just kind of watched my miss the steps. I just have a nasty bruise on my left forearm from it. Oh well. I just won't look at it since bruises make me queasy. We ventured to see some 1940s (and earlier) horse drawn buggies and on the way back I got cut trying to climb over a barb wire/regular fence. I didn't know I was cut until I got ready for bed, but yeah. I'll have to post pictures of that endeavour later.

I got to go horseback riding!!!! I was so excited because it has been forever since I have been able to ride. I rode Star - who honestly hasn't been ridden very much lately since she didn't respond to anything that I asked her to do. She also has gotten a bit too chubby for the saddle and it kept sliding around which meant that I was leaning all over the place. Let's just say it didn't make for the greatest or smoothest ride. But who cares? I got to ride her and then take her back to the pasture after Jess had a go on her too. I then hung around Phoenix, Honey and the other horse for a while too before heading inside. We ate supper with the family (the CORN WAS AMAZING! I miss CORN!) and then did a quick devotional before heading off to Mt. Gambier.

On the way into town there were all of these kangaroos jumping across the road. (Remember, their nocturnal!) They have kangaroo crossings here, we have deer crossings at home. Kind of crazy if you think about it. They are allowed to get permits and shoot them since they overpopulate. I did see a dead one earlier in the day. When we got to Mt. Gambier, we went and saw the Blue Lake at night - and it was black. It was really beautiful with the night sky and stars. We saw the tower, the old hospital (it's a beauty!) and then headed into the town. We walked the street and decided to go bowling after the cinema had no good selections of movies that hadn't already started. Bowling was a good time, it was the first time that lights and music (not from a jukebox)have been played there. I lost in the first game and came in second to last in the second game. After that we headed back to Roseort to go to bed since the cattle trailer was coming early in the morning and we were to be ready by 7am.