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walking the rtack past the riverside campsites in the cool of early morning
morning walk on the station..an opportunity to smell the land and listen to birds, view roos and goats.
the new and very flash woolshed
afternoon raffles held in the woolshed...lots of fun for everyone, a chance to win a prize while donating funds to the local Louth RFDS clinic
John T presents Peter with a bottle of wine. Winner of the horseshoes game one afternoon.
one of the yabbies, later to be a contestant in the racing and then part of someone's meal
what's Scrubby doing? Cleaning the floor after the yabby races in the woolshed!
damper chefs Ruth and Sir Kev with the campfire cook. A great team!
Below is a selection of photos taken since we arrived at the 2014 ExplorOz National Gathering (our first) at Trilby Station on Saturday.
shingleback lizard
shearer in action on one of the rams
unidentified flower growing in wet clay soil on Trilby
John and Peter examining one of the old vehicles near the hanger near New Chum homestead
muddy patches on the track to our campsite - deeper and more slippery than they looked. Van felt like a thrashing croc tail as we slid through this
Trilby Station is a great place to stay
view of the Darling River from the front of the canoe...peaceful and scenic, even at this low water level
There is so much to do and Liz immediately made us feel very welcome and at
home when I checked in at the Office on arrival. We felt more like friends than paying guests
John with one of the carp he caught..
.
It might be our first visit here but already, days before we are due to leave, I know I want to return.
John and I are loving it, as the sites are
well spaced and private with fireplaces, wood and a garbage bin. We were asked to park to one side of our site to leave room for someone else but they never arrived which we never unexpected at a group gathering. Trilby is just the kind of place we seek out whenever we head off to explore another part of Australia.
For those who require them, there are flushing
toilets, hot showers and even a washing machine at the Shearers Quarters, as
well as a few powered sites but it is quite a distance from those sites at the far end of the
airstrip.
We saw an echidna (my favourite native animal) scurrying across the track one night on our way back to our
campsite, and spied more than one parentie, shingleback lizards, lots of roos. Also picked up a beautiful red and black tail feather from one of the cockatoos which were roosting in the trees above
site 4. It was beautiful to wake to the sounds of thrushes and other bird calls each morning.
this is us in our riverside camping site on the Darling River at Trilby Station
shearing the rams on Trilby station
canoe we have used to paddle up and down the Darling river from near the homestead
taken on Sunday afternoon at the first official get together to meet other members and drawing of daily raffles
2 old cars left to rust on the red dirt...taken on a drive around the station
penned up rams waiting to be shorn
warning sign at the end of the well used airstrip
old bus and my old man at the hangar near New Chum homestead
There are walking opportunities along the riverside tracks and back beside the
airstrip, and I have been enjoying an early morning walk each day when the temperature is cool and bird calls seem to be at their best. Although the fishing is producing only carp for
John, he has caught one each time he wanders down with rod and bait so at least there is also one less carp in the river every time. We have also had a couple of paddles on the water using one of the two-man canoes provided for guests, and its such a peaceful way to enjoy the river with high, quite steep sandy banks seemingly held together by the tangled roots of the huge old river gums which line the banks.
During the week, we did both of the self guided tours of the Station. On the longer one to New Chum
Homestead and outbuildings we also did the extra few kms and went to the goat yards and one way goat trap
gate and became part of a tag along group using our radios to inform one another as to whether the gates were open or shut. The policy is to always leave them as you find them (i.e. if shut, leave shut). The landscape changes from the massive floodplains to the red sandy dunes and ironstone ridges which I love so much and we came across a stumpy tailed shingleback lizard which I managed to get up close to and photograph. I found it really interesting to view the
homestead panty with its original cans and packets of foodstuffs, the pills and medicines, and the bits and pieces of furniture and household objects. The old 4WDs, other vehicles and the double decker bus were also worth a look. Two old cars abandoned off the track a little are a great subject for photographs in this dramatic landscape.
still stocked pantry at abandoned New Chum homestead
goats...examples of feral animals which provide valuable income for Darling River property owners
goat yards
one old relic (me) trying to crank up another..
New Chum homestead, long since abandoned and left with food, furniture, medicines and vehicles
afternoon get together in the shade of a tree near the Shearers Quarters
members at the afternoon drawing of raffles and get together
Each afternoon we have assembled as a casual group near or inside
the woolshed for the drawing of raffles, as
well as for those who are interested, games of horseshoes run by
John T. Money raised at both these is to be donated to the
Louth Branch RFDS (I think) so we are happy to contribute and have even been lucky enough to win some prizes. Horseshoes can't be too difficult as I managed to win the comp yesterday on my first ever attempt...or maybe I just have loads of natural ability and talent!! Due to the heat, it has been essential for many attendees to keep up their fluid intake and its also been a happy hour or two.
We have met so many lovely people with similar values to our own and each day brings many laughs and the swapping of yarns.
We were very lucky to be here for the shearing of the rams on Sunday afternoon in the very impressive new woolshed which will be the venue of our dinner on Wednesday evening. Having grown up around cattle, I don't think I had ever seen sheep being shorn and I really enjoyed the experience.
The auctioneer and master Yabby trapper...Scrubby. What a character!
We are now in
Bourke, staying a couple of nights at Kidman's
camp a few kms from the town, on the
Mitchell Highway North.. Washing some of the dust out of our clothes, seeing a few of the tourist attractions, and for
John to be able to watch the RL Grand final on TV today. We travelled north from Trilby via the western side of the
Darling river, a longer distance however a very scenic drive. The weather has once again warmed up and with temperatures in mid thirties forecast today and tomorrow, we are very thankful for air conditioning and other comforts. It was a maiden voyage in our new van and its been christened with red dirt and passed all the tests with flying colours!
The week at the Gathering seemed to fly, and on some of them, after the raffles we continued on to afternoon drinks at various
camp sites and then dinner eaten together with new friends Gary and Dawn and Willy and Kevin, not returning to our van until 10 pm to shower and rest! We also shared happy hour and drinks at the No 1
camp inhabited by Sir Kev, Sam and family, and shared stories and laughs with the many others there. Made so many new friends...Trevor and Margaret, Scrubby, Kevin S and Ruth, Peter and Helen and many others. Hopefully we will all catch up again one day.
It gave us a good feeling to be part of a group where every dollar raised was for the RFDS, and to be able to donate it right there for the local community to benefit from was just so special. Each time we bought raffle tickets, or yabbies, or for the horseshoes it wasn't to win prizes for us, although we were also quite lucky there, I must admit! It was most uncharacteristic for us to win anything as anyone who knows us
well will testify to.
John has been religiously buying lottery and lotto tickets for more than the 42 years of our married life and fantasising as to how he will spend the winnings with hardly ever even a minor payback!
We spent a very interesting (almost full day) at Toorale National Park, north of
Louth around 50 kms on the Western side of the river along the
Bourke Road (Toorale Rd). It is a very new park so much of the
infrastructure for visitors is still under construction.
Ross, one of the Indigenous Rangers led us on a discovery tour chock full of information about it's history, both aboriginal and since European arrival. He was also very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the place, and the climate and floods, and visionary in his plans for the future of the Park. We did a short walk around the buildings and from his vivid description I was able to visualise the magnificent
Homestead in its former glory. A vast amount of money must have been spent in its building. It is now closed to the public but we walked around the perimeter and its a quite spectacular building.
The remains of the sheds were also very interesting with good ventilation in the design of the rooflines, and after our morning tea (after 12 o'clock) of damper, biscuits and drinks, we drove to see and walk in the original
shearing shed and then to a natural (I think) water storage formation at this time still with some water in it. Yesterday when we drove north to
Bourke, towing the van I saw a pair of brolga in the area.
Me at Toorale National Park sign..love that red dirt and blue sky so much
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Ross telling us about the land and Toorale
Inside the shearing shed
some of the EO members with Ross the Ranger
Homestead with the 'coolroom' for hanging the meat at Toorale
Inside one of the sheds at Toorale
Homestead building at Toorale
The remaining water in the storage'tank' on Toorale N Pk
emus racing across Toorale N Pk
The second, shorter self drive tour took us a few kms south of the
homestead track to a rough track into the remains of
Dunlop farm and its assortment of quite amazing bits of machinery near the river: a big steam boiler, a dray with solid timber wheels used to haul cut wood into the steam boiler and steam engines, and a handmade roller. They have become sculptural forms as they decompose in the landscape.
Me alongside another old relic at old Dunlop farm
handmade roller at old Dunlop farm
wooden wheels are pretty amazing on this jinker at old Dunlop farm
steam bioler which pumped water from the river for irrigation of crops and domestic use on old Dunlop farm
steam bioler at old Dunlop farm
Darling river and remains of foundations of slip wharf at old Dunlop farm
John wandering around the old machinery at Dunlop farm
On our last day,
John and I drove into
Louth and enjoyed lunch at the very lovely Pub, sitting outside in the shade of a
big tree at a huge long timber table with a few other EO members...a fitting end to our week and another chance to put some dollars into the local community.
At the last official event, raffles on Friday afternoon, Sir Kev presented Liz with a small gift as a thank you for having us all there for the week. For him and Sam as organisers it must have been a huge job and no doubt they have gone
home exhausted. I take my hat off to anyone who camps with kids along, but they were such a lovely family and the girls were nothing but polite to us. To think that its all voluntary is pretty amazing and I know
John and I kind of sat back and just enjoyed our week which makes me feel guilty but next time we attend a gathering I intend being a bit more actively involved if I can help in any way. It was a chance for us to see how the Gatherings are run as
well as to meet lots of Members whose names I see frequently on the
Forum and in
Blogs. I was quite amazed at how many people introduced themselves to us and mentioned that they enjoyed reading my
Blogs. It made me feel very humble.
Sir Kev (and Sam),
John T (who ran the game of horseshoes), Scrubby and his helpers who trapped the yabbies for fundraising racing events, and all those who helped out with raffles and in the background
John and I thank you so much for making it such a friendly, social week which raised so much money. I felt more than a little sad to be driving out yesterday.
Sir Kev and Liz
afternoon raffles
afternoon raffles
Sir Kev and Liz showing off her gift
When and where is 2015's Gathering to be held we wonder? Hope it fits in with our plans as we would love to be part of it.