Tandou Farm

Thank goodness for GPS steering!  The grey dust here is amazing, if there's a breeze to blow it away it's good.  Otherwise it's like a white-out!

Bun got to play with the big boy's toys! He was ripping up a big paddock, each pass was 3.3km long. The total paddock size was 565 hectares.  He's ripping across the rows at the moment, then it will be ripped up and down the rows, then beds and furrows will be formed.

This was taken by Gaven, one of our bosses, at the end of another long day.  We do 7.30am until 7.30pm, we're supposed to have half an hour for lunch but that's usually done on the run so we get picked up from the tractors about 7pm and are back at the camp at 7.30.   By the time we unpack our bags and cook tea and get things sorted for the morning, there's really only enough time to shower and go to sleep so that we're up again before 6am.  

I'm now out in the 'back blocks' of the farm, discing in a paddock that hasn't been cropped for about 10 years.  It is EXTREMELY rough with big, deep cracks and full of roly polys and wildlife!  The kangaroos have obviously made it their home for many years and are not really happy about me chopping it all up. Every row that I do, I'm tooting the horn to move them out of the way.  The babies get a bit scared and go spastic, jumping every which way with the parents trying to herd them away.  On occasions, I've had to stop the tractor and open the door and yell at them :) The paddock size is 676 hectares and I'm on the first lot of discing. Once that's finished, it needs to be done crosswise then it will be leveled, then ripped before they make up the furrows and beds.

With the rain this morning, we have the day off.  The roads in the farm become very slick when they're wet and the paddocks become very sticky and boggy so we've had a slow morning in the van, reading and doing a bit of housework. There are a dozen farm-owned houses just across the canal and we've been invited to join Gaven and his family over there for a Christmas street party tonight.  We'll get to meet some more people and Bun was told that if he talks to the pastoral manager, he should be able to ride his motorbike on the property once he knows where he's allowed to go.  

Ben left last night for Europe so the adventure has begun for him.  We're looking forward to seeing lots of photos from him.  Callie is moving everything from Mildura to Winkie this weekend. Josh and Kara are helping, as well as Tom.  Between 3 utes and a couple of trailers, they should have it covered.  Hopefully the rain will stop long enough for them to get it all done.  

Josh and Kara will be in Adelaide for Christmas day as Kara will be working.  All being well, Callie and Steven will head down and catch up with them before going back to the Riverland to see his family.  Kate and Patty are going to be in Paringa for Christmas so there is a slight possibility of seeing them, if we don't have to work.  We have the truck booked in for a service in Mildura on Tuesday so will stock up again while we're there.

There's a 'hotspot' here at Tandou that we have access to so updates will be easier than waiting until we get to a town.  Only downside is that we're buggered at night and don't really have the time to do anything :)

At least it's easier to keep in touch through email and facebook.  Bun is hoping to get the bike registered asap so that he can go for a ride. He could probably go today but just said that he doesn't want his 'first ride' to be in the mud and then have all the cleaning to do! :)

That's probably enough for now,

Cheers