The Final Countdown

Well being back in the city is about as boring as it normally is!!! Yesterday it was kinda nice not having to do anything and just have an R & R day after going for so long but now I am having to get creative with ideas of things to do. I am goin shopping today just to fill up a few hours of my day. Its a public holiday today and I haven't exactly figured out what the holiday is but I'll ask about it later. I don't have any animal science stuff planned before I leave so its all up to me as to what I want to do but like I said the city freaks me out a bit and I don't like doing to much....plus I don't have my phone as a security blanket!! I probably won't blog again until the day before I leave which is Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swan's Lagoon Round 2

Oh Swan’s Lagoon how I have missed this place!! Getting here was a bit of an experience this go round. Since I was on holiday in Airlie Beach the closest airport was Proserpine and there was only one flight out of the airport the day I needed to fly out and it would have taken 7 hours to go 3 hours up north. Because of this little detail I convinced Ala to let me travel by bus and save myself 4 hours of ridiculousness. I traveled to Ayr by bus, Greyhound, to be specific and then got picked up by John Brown… the manager for here at Swan’s. There was a small hiccup with the pickup situation though. The person who was going to pick me up got caught up and she tried to call and what not but because my phone had gone on a swim the day before there was a bit of a communication problem LOL I called from the pay phone at the bus station and everything worked out just fine. Brownie (as we all call him) took me back to the research office there in Ayr and I waited there for Geffory… the same man who picked me up and brought me out here last time I came to Swan’s. Once we got here I went off to see Mrs. Jill and Mitch and spent the afternoon with them. Mitch and I played “cricket” and we made sweets for smoko the next day. Once Lisa got home from taking the bullocks to MeatWorks we put on dinner and everyone came over to eat. Lisa, Mrs. Jill, Mitch, Stu, Geffory and I started off the night and then Tim and Jo (a girl from Rocky) joined us once they got here. We had a good time at dinner… good food, a few beers and a lot of laughs. We called it a night and headed off to bed so that we could get a good early start in the morning. First mob of fetal ageing!!!

Day 2… This whole getting up on time thing is quite hard when you have no phone and therefore no alarm clock or clock in general for that matter!! LOL Geffory knocked on my door for me this morning to make sure I made it up. We started in the yards for a bit today and then off to the Expo yards to finish up. Once we got to the Expo yards I got to take over the TSI job. A TSI is just a recording computer for on sight information when working cattle. It was fun to learn how to use it and now pretty much be in charge of… while I’m here!!! It was a long day of lots of standing and that was about it but it was still soo nice to be back on the station, working all day and outta the city!! Tomorrow is gunna be another long day so once we had dinner, Corned Beef…YUM!!! I went straight to bed with a full tummy after supper!!!

Day 3… Got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes today….all the way to 6:00am!! LOL We weaned calves today… about 200 of them and then drafted about 200 cows into different paddock groups and such. I worked the TSI again and kind hung out with Tim all day. Tim is a great guy I really do enjoy getting to know and hang out with him…. Quite the funny one he is. Everyone here is great… I just feel so in place… like part of the little Swan’s Lagoon Family J More standing on my feet all day today, which is gunna get me in good practice for the “All-American” in a few weeks, but nonetheless it leaves me in a sore after I sit down for the night. Lisa had an even longer day working than I did and so we had a quick dinner and then bed time it was!!! Another big day of fetal ageing tomorrow and taking care of weaners so we will see what all it brings!!!

Wow has the last two days been crazy crazy crazy!!! Yesterday we processed the cash cow mob…and no I have no real idea has to what that project is evaluating. We had to collect weight, BCS and Fetal Age if they were pregnant, and a lactation status. Melissa showed up to collect data for the cash cow people. I wasn’t exactly on my top game by that afternoon… just worn out I guess. I have kinda become the official TSI operator so all I have really dealt with is numbers after number after numbers….I think it was just wearing on my brain!!!

We finished around 5:30ish and that started the fun. Tim, Lisa, Tara, Willy, Tex and I all had a pow wow circle going on out in the yards drinking beer and telling stories for which Tim acted as translator for me when need…it was a good time. The Millaroo Club opened at 6 and we all just picked up and carried the party there!! We had such a good time the Swan’s Crew, beer and music…it was a night to remember that’s for sure…not that I’m convinced that Willy did LOL After the club Tim, Tara and I joined Lisa’s family for dinner and of course continued drinking a little. The next morning was exciting because apparently my clock wasn’t set to the right time and when I woke up it was light out… not a good sign that I’m on time but turns out I was right on time… Thank Goodness!!! Another long day today but I got to “help” and observe on how they work the yards around here. I am pretty competent on how to work cattle but for some reason it felt like I was in the way more than helping so after being told to move when I thought I was in a good spot more than once I decided maybe things do work a little differently in America. Part of it could have been that there were just too many people in the yards at one time… I did eventually just quit “helping” and perched myself on a fence because there were some crazy and I mean like ridiculously crazy cows!!! Even perched on a fence I was somehow in the way even though they worked cattle just fine with me there and then 2 crazy ones didn’t go through and then where I was was an issue…oh well I went with it and just sat at the scales until Lisa sent me with Poppy to move cattle. Once lunch was over we started drafting again and I think everything was better after that I think the stress kinda settled down and everyone was in a better mood. We had a TSI drama for a second but we figured it out. Might be going to the club again tonight…. Hoping for a good start to a good weekend.

Oh what a night!!! It was planned to just be a nice hangout night at the club involving a few beers. Well…. It did involve a few beers and a few more and then somehow …due to Mr. Tim Grant’s brilliance and Lisa’s impulsive buying…Tequila shots got started and it was all over from there!! It was a great time… met some real nice people Nicko, and Darcy… some real cute Aussie boys. We also met a cane farmer that it seems no one knew but he was a real nice guy too, we talked about America again tonight and since there is a world atlas at Millaroo club for some reason it makes it fun for me because I can just point things out!!! It was so nice to be able to just let go and enjoy the night. I knew that Lisa and Tim…even though Tim was as far gone as I was LOL… would make sure nothing bad happened to me. It was nice to not have to worry about anything and just chill!!

After about oh idk 4 beers, XXXX Summers are the way to go if you are ever in Australia btw, 5 tequila shots, and a vodka Cruzar (Cheerleader Beer) I still managed to make it up this morning around 7-7:30ish no headache or anything just kinda groggy. We had breakfast at Lisa’s and then she went to do some paperwork and Tim went to pack up to start his long drive home L I did laundry and has I was hanging it up on the line when Tim came by and said goodbye to everyone. I was pretty bummed to see Tim go… I think we all were. It’s getting hard to believe I am leaving so soon…especially since there is no telling when I am ever goin to get to see these AMAZING people again. After all the goodbyes we started out work for the day. A Toyota died at the Expo Yard the last day we worked there so we had to go and check that situation out. The battery was dead as a door nail so no luck there just took it back to the shop and charged it for the night. Made a run to “the saddles” paddock and check a water trough there and found some broken fence. We didn’t have anything to really fix it with so we decided we would fix it tomorrow when we went round 2 with the Toyota. After that, just daily chores left, so mainly feeding and putting out hay for the weaners. Once we finished up, time for showers and all of us and Roosters crew went to the Burdiken Hotel for dinner. It was nice to get all gussied up and go out to town… even though it was a good hour drive to get dinner and an hour back.

Yay for weekends!!! I really love working weekends at Swan’s!!! We get to take our time and enjoy doing whatever it is we are doing. The radio was playing fabulous music today and Lisa and I just singing it up and enjoying it the day. Lisa is so much fun to work with… it truly makes a world of difference when you are working and enjoy the people you’re with!! The fact that there isn’t a time limit as to when things need to be done I think makes a HUGE difference. We can work at a slower pace and with more patience and it just makes for the greatest work environment!! We finally got around to working around like 9ish and went to play some hard ball with this dead Toyota, fix fence and clean out an overflowing and nasty-algae growing water trough. We drove down to “the saddles” and started cleaning the trough when the float broke. We, Mitch and I, dropped Lisa off to fix the little bit of down fence and then me and Mitch went to grab a new float. By the time we got back Lisa was waiting for us and we snapped on the new float and away we went. Once we got to the Expo Yards and put the battery back in the Toyota it still didn’t look good for us but once we hooked up the jumper cables it was all good from there!! Drove the Toyota back to the house and it was time for lunch. After lunch I got to check my email for the first time in a week…I was super pumped!!! LOL Fun thing though… I did get an email from the University of Arkansas telling me I made the Dean’s List for last semester which was pretty freaking exciting!!! Lisa was excited and proud of me too, she was telling everyone I had made the Dean’s List and what not. While Lisa was working on a job application Rooster, Mitch, Maddie and I all did a rubbage bin run and fed and hay-ed the weaners. We ran the big mob of weaners through the crush just for some good education. Now time for a shower!! After I got outta the shower and went back over to Lisa’s, Mitch and I finished building a crane thing that we had started earlier in the day. It was a pretty complicated little thing I tell ya but we finished it and now he can load his bulls on his truck…LOL. I know we have an early morning so I called it an early Sunday night once I we finished up.

Monday’s….gross!!! I didn’t do a damn thing this mornin. I got up at the normal 6am but since they had to go out and muster cattle I just chilled in the smoko room till about 10ish. I did do about 10 min. worth of computer work but that was about it. After smoko it got a lot better. Lisa, Tara, Rooster, and I went and cut out small cow/calf pairs before we processed cows this afternoon. I worked as gate guard and I finally felt like I knew what I was doing again!! Once we got everything cut out off for a small lunch and then Geffory would be here for fetal aging again. It was like the never ending line of cattle this afternoon. I swear it took FOREVER to process the 200ish cattle we did. We didn’t really end work until 5:15ish tonight. It wasn’t quite the same workin cattle without Tim here but we managed without him ;) It’s my last night at Swan’s L I do love it here but I am ready to get back to where I have internet and the ability to talk to call everyone at home more often… without running up somebodies phone bill!!!

The bitter sweet last day at Swan’s has arrived….I'm really not looking forward to telling these amazing people goodbye today. We started in the expo yards re-drafted some cows, branded some weaners and that was about it. Brownie was there at smoko and while he talked to Lisa the crew and I went to take care of the weaners. We have about 120 more weaners in the yards now and not any good place to put them but Lisa explained what she wanted and off we went. I grabbed the truck and went to check what all needed feed. Once I finished that Willy hoped in and we went to load up feed and feeders. We were all setting up the new “pen”; it was actually the area that you would work the crush from, for the new weaners. I was explaining what needed to be done with the feeders and they called the crew called be boss lady a couple times for laughs. They also gave me a hard time because I pulled some pretty American moves today. I have walked to the wrong side vehicles a lot while here but today was by far the best yet. Not only did I go to the wrong side I also got in and went to put my hands on the steering wheel…that wasn’t there!!! Yeah I was pretty impressed too. LOL I also drove on the wrong side of the road after we were done working but luckily it really doesn’t matter what side you drive on when you on a cattle station and you know there is no one coming. After the work was done I went back to the living quarters to get all my stuff. I had a bit of a luggage problem…the zipper on my bag popped off… I had intended to duck tape it shut but the duck tape here…not as good as what I am use to sooo Lisa being the Australian Guardian Angel that she is for me gave me one of here duffle bags to use. The Lisa, Mrs. Jill, Mitch and I loaded up and headed for Townsville. Once again it sucks sooo bad telling everyone goodbye here. This family has absolutely taken me in as their own while I have been at Swan’s, both times, no questions asked. It is scary because you want to be able to say I’ll be back and see you soon but you really just don’t know if you will or not. Words, not even actions, can explain the appreciation and love I have for Lisa and her family. I am hoping so hard to get to come back next year for the Beef 2012 conference in Rockhampton so I can see everyone again. I miss y’all already!!!! Next stop is back to Brisbane and then America 6 days later.

Whitsunday's Holiday!!!!

OMG… that’s pretty much the only way to explain The Whitsunday Islands!!! The day started from Brisbane airport where I took the craziest flight ever. I loaded the plan on the tarmac crazy I know... we unloaded on the tarmac too. The Proserpine airport where I landed has got to be the most ghetto airport in the world. Once you unloaded on the tarmac and followed the signs to "baggage claim" it took you to a construction zone where they drove your luggage up on the little trailers they unload it on.... You can't make this stuff up LOL!! I met up with Brooke Prather from Louisiana on Friday the 17^th for the holiday in the Whitsundays…specifically we stayed at Airlie Beach. Brooke and I know each other from showing Brahmans and she is here on the American Junior Brahman Association Australia Exchange program. We got checked into our ocean view hotel room and then went out for a shopping spree. The hotel we stayed at, The Airlie Beach Hotel, was on the main strip of town so it was easy to get around. We did some shopping and had fish and chips for lunch. Other than that we didn’t do a lot, went out for drinks and a good dinner and planed our attack for the next couple days.

Day two!! The Airlie Beach Markets are this morning…right outside our hotel!!! It’s like a farmers market but there are more handmade crafty/clothing items than produce. We had a blast looking at everything and walking on the beach this morning. I bought a sweet new pair of sunglasses because the ones I had happen to break right after I said how much I wanted a new pair…destiny it was!!! We are supposed to be going parasailing today so we also walked down the board walk to find the place we meet them. On our way down we met a girl named Paige and her mom from Oklahoma… crazy I know!! We talked a bit and she decided to join us for parasailing. We had some time to burn before parasailing so we just moseyed around and then we got the call. Turns out it was too windy to go parasailing I was so excited about it too!!! So we went swimming in the Airlie Beach “Lagoon” instead…it’s basically a city pool but cooler and cleaner with a make shift beach! Drinks and dinner again tonight but early to bed because our tour picks us up tomorrow to go out on the ocean!!!!

We got picked up this morning at 8:20am from the hotel to go on the Whithaven Xpress. Our first stop is the Bush Hill Inlet. Getting there was a bit wet and rough… quite the experience!!!

Once we got to the lookout we had to get in the 11 person motor boat and ride to the beach and walk up the trail to the outlook. Once you get to the top you literally think you are in a completely different world. I truly didn’t know any place could be that beautiful!!! It overlooked Whitehaven Beach and the ocean…. Words and pictures just cannot express how amazing this place is!! It was time to go back to the boat so we walked back down the trail and then the motor boat came to get us and this is where the fun begins!!! I am the first to get in the boat and he tells me to sit on the boat and swing my legs over… well I did it this way and ended up ass first in the ocean fully clothed and with my Blackberry in my pocket!!!! Awesome I know!!!

After getting back to the big boat we went to Whitehaven Beach for lunch and rest and it was everything I imagined!!! White sand beaches and crystal clear water…AMAZING!!! The crew cooked a BBQ for us on Whitehaven and while we were eating two crazy lizards/monitors came and joined us. They were the type of lizards you would be used to seeing in the zoo…big and beautifully colored they were black with bright yellow stripes. One of them was pregnant and that was pretty cool to see too.

We left there after about 2-3 hours and then off to Mantaray Bay for….SNORKELING ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF… oh yeah be jealous!!! We saw tons of Dory fish and zebra striped fish as well as one huge trevally fish. The coral was beautiful especially the blue colored parts. We snorkeled for about 45min or an hour and had just the best time ever. Now it’s time to go back to the hotel, wash up and enjoy our last night on this amazing holiday!! It was a beautiful ride back at sunset…cold but worth it!!! Brooke and I went out for a nice seafood dinner and then off to sleep. I head out early on a bus for Swan’s Lagoon again and I am super pumped!!! This is also why theses posts are so late!!!

Long Weekend in Australia

Well it was the Queens Birthday yesterday so we had a long weekend to have fun with!! On Saturday I took a bus into the city to do some shopping. It was still fun going into the city for a bit though. I had a little bus mishap (got on the wrong one) at first but I figured it out. LOL I didn't stay a super long time because I was slightly intimidated because the mall was bigger than Fayetteville I'm pretty sure!!! I did get to see an Aboriginal playing the didgeridoo!!! It was so cool!!! I really want to buy one but they are kinda expensive soo... we will see!!! Once I got back it was later in the afternoon so I just chilled at the house with Emily and Justin.

Sunday we met up with one of Emily and Justins friends at a hotel restaurant at Kangaroo Point. We had out Steak and Guinness Meat pies and they were fantastic!! Meat pies are really popular here!! At the restaurant they do these meat and seafood raffles that are pretty cool. They have a whole tray of steaks or prawns and other seafood that they sell ticket for and then they spin the wheel. I got to spin the will once but we never won :(

Off to Byron Bay for the Holiday Monday!!! We woke up to beautiful weather in Brisbane so we went to Byron...it wasn't so pretty there!!! It rained cats and dogs all day but it was still cool to go to the town. It was a hippie kinda coast town...I loved it!! We went up to the Byron Bay Lighthouse and walked down to the most Easterly Point in Australia!!! It was fun going down but dragging our 20lbs of wet clothes and lunch up those stairs coming back sucked big time!!! LOL Since we were cold and wet on the way home we stopped at a Macadamia Nut farm and got hot, warm nuts!!! It was fun nonetheless and we finished the day at Breakfast Creek Steak House and it was actually really good!! Needless to say I slept good last night LOL

Travels and Picture Links

I didn't do much today so I thought I would put maps up of my travels!!!



This is from Moorooka to Gatton. Moorooka is the name of the suburb that we live in and Gatton is where the University of Queensland Agricultural Campus is.



This is from Moorooka (Brisbane) to Townsville. Its a 17 hour drive but I flew in 2.5 hours.



This is Townsville to Millaroo. Millaroo is the actual town that Swan's Lagoon is in...even though its bigger than the town itself it feels like!!!



This is from Millaroo (Swan's Lagoon) to the closest towns...Home Hill, Ayr, and Brandon.



This is the most recent trip I went on. Yesterday I went to Gympie in the Mary River Valley. I went to help get samples on bulls for VD tests. It was a beautiful area....I wish i had been able to get more pictures. Lots of hill and mountains. It had a lot of fruit land too. Grapes and Pineapples are some of the things I saw!!


Here are some links to all my pictures that I have on Facebook. You don't have to have Facebook to view them this way. Just copy and paste the link into your address bar!!!

Pictures of Gatton
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1844790632623.2097996.1026330015&l=fa7cd199de

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1855832188655.2098615.1026330015&l=7caa9ee808

Townsville
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1856290480112.2098641.1026330015&l=47875532ea

Swan's Lagoon
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1874244688956.2099679.1026330015&l=bc1bb2aca5

A Swan Song

I just got back from Swan's Lagoon which is why I haven't blogged in a while. I wrote a little bit each day I was there and this is how the week went.

Oh Swan’s Lagoon…What can I not say about Swan’s Lagoon!!! I have the absolutely most amazing week at the Swan’s Lagoon Cattle Research Station!!! Swan’s can hold 3-5 THOUSAND head of Brahman influenced cattle! There is currently probably about 1.5 or 2 thousand head on Swan's. I have lived the dream over the past week and am going to be soo sad to see it end!!! Geffory is a repro guy that works with the UQ who I traveled with up here to Swan’s from Townsville. Once here I met the whole crew…Lisa, Tim, Tex, Poppy, Willy, Rooster, Tara. They are all the main people that work and live here on Swan’s. I also met Bob (from LA), Ashley, John Brown. Bob is the main Animal Science Research guy for DEEDI, Ashley works for a research company in Sydney and John is the manager but doesn’t live on Swan’s..Dodgy I know!!!

I spend most of my time with Lisa and Tim and they have truly taken care of me. Everyone has made me feel so at home and comfortable!! On the first day I got here we got straight to work! We fetal aged (preg checked with an age attached) about 300 cows. For cows less than two months we scanned for the calf. We also weighed, hip height and read teeth. We worked the first 117 or so and then went for smoko. I first thought this was a smoke break but no… here in Australia they take tea breaks like the English and smoko is the Aussie word for tea break. After that we finished off and did lunch. After lunch we drafted the culls to a yard pen and then moved in the weaners. By that time it was about dinner and we had a proper Barbie… Steaks, Onions, Potato Bake, and Beer what more could you ask for.

The next morning Geffory had to leave for a big preg check project and I decided to stay here on Swans and learn more about the station. Today the big project was to weight, ear tag, and draft weaners. We did the CRC calves first. (CRC is a big cattle molecular genetics research project that has been going on for 12 years and they just finished the last cow yesterday!!!) After that we worked the yards, put out hay, got some feed in the troughs and then off to shower up!! After a good shower Lisa, Tim, Ashley, Mitch (Lisa’s 7 year old) and I went off to the Millaroo Social Club. I met some of the locals there and we had a good ole time. Then back to Lisa’s for dinner. After dinner… SLEEP!!

Up early as usual, its winter here so mornings are pretty nippy!!! Today isn’t such a big day just feeding, hay, working a few more calves…ranch basics!! I got to go about the station with Tim and Lisa though and that was cool and fun to see!!! Went down to watch Ashley do some tick trial counting then back to the quarters to get washed up and back to the club minus Ashley tonight. Same as the night before a few locals and I played some pool with Mitch.

Same ole, Same ole today. With weaners in the yards its kinda just plain ole ranch work. I went with Willy and Poppy today to move a quite onery bull and pick up some raised feeders. Talk about an experience!!! The amount of scrub we drove through was RIDICULOUS!!! There were some paddocks you literally couldn’t see a foot into what you were driving into!!! After we got back it was time quit for the day and Lisa, Tim, Mitch and I went to my first Sugar Cane Fire!!! They burn the cane right before harvest just leaving the stalk with no leaves for the harvester. It was a pretty cool experience the way it starts up with a fury and then just quits. It was beautiful…. Like the coolest bonfire I have ever been too!!! To Lisa’s for dinner and then hit the hay for the night!!

Tim leaves us for Brisbane today….he lives there and works at Bryan’s Pastures. He comes to Swan’s 4 or 5 times a year but with the CRC cattle he had to come a lot more these past few weeks. He hates flying so poor thing drives 17 hours to get home!!! Before he left we set up and did flight speed on the CRC cattle and had a really cool drive around Swan’s. Him, Lisa and I got real close on the drive… literally!!! We were squashed into a 2 ½ seater Manual Toyota…. I was the passenger so I was gate girl. I really hadn’t had to open many gates since I got here everyone has been treating me like a queen so I was more than happy to finally open some gates. LOL Right before Tim left my lessons on how to drive a manual truck started!!!! I know, I know, I should already know how to do this but Dad never got around to teaching me before his Big Blue standard Dodge went out. I did pretty good for a beginner!!! I am not good by all means but I’m capable of driving one and that is all that matters!!! We did the daily chores and cleaned out some nasty water troughs and called a night. As usual Lisa’s for dinner.

Its the weekend!!!! We are off to Home Hill and Ayr today. Mrs. Jill, Lisa’s mom, has a hair appointment and we have to do grocery shopping. They are small towns but they are about the size of Clarksville I guess… maybe smaller. They have a lot of shops though. They are cute little towns I quite enjoyed them! We had lunch at the pub I had Veal Snitcheal with hot chips and gravy. Great thing about Australia EVERYTHING comes with a sauce or gravy of some sort!!! I love sauces and gravys so this is perfect for me!!! Once home we had an easy Saturday…unloaded the car and did a few chores then showered up for dinner. Luke and Laura and Rooster, LeAnn and Madison all came over dinner. We had garlic prawns, rice with gravy, and garlic bread…it was soo good!!! Prawns here are extremely good period. Had a few drinks and then off to an early bed… all these early mornings and long days are starting to wear me out but I am loving it!!!

Big Sunday today!!! We started out with breakfast and then a house project for Lisa. She has this really bad carpet on a small part of her floor so with the help of Mitch and Maddie we pulled it up to reveal nice hardwood floors. That took longer than expected but we had a good time doing it. After that we had to fix the float on a water trough that kept overflowing, feed and hay the weaners and then for education we ran all of the calves through the crush (head shoot). After that as a reward for Mitch and Maddies hard work we went fishing!!! Had a couple beers and caught only one fish but Mitch and Maddie caught quite a few… Lisa just watched LOL. I dissected a fish with Mitch and showed him the heart. Mitch then took over my fishing rod and caught an eel with it. After the eel situation we decided to call it a night and went to shower up. It was quite a warm day today so I was quite dusty and gross and soo ready for the shower!! The showers here are FANTASTIC too!! I don’t think you can ask for better water pressure!!! Off to Lisa’s for dinner. She did a fancy one tonight Honey and Dates Chicken with Asparagus and Mash Potatoes!! Once again an early night because the weekend is over and its gunna be an EARLY morning… Ok not that bad just 5:30am.

Early, Early this morning and I didn’t even do a whole lot today. We did flight speed on all the weaner calves… so probably about 250+. After that they went to chase cattle on horses and bikes which I wouldn’t mind doing but the scrub is so thick here you wouldn’t be able to see your way around on a bike and since I don’t know my way around getting lost would be an easy option. I haven’t gotten on a horse yet because they are strange horses I may have Lisa put me on one next time… just to say I did it. LOL So I did computer and paper work after smoko and lunch until I was done and then I went over to help Mitch and Jill cook for the Barbie tonight!! Jill made a mud cake with custard and whipped cream, we made a salami pizza for an appetizer, Lisa also makes this amazing Cob Loaf… so we made that as an appetizer, we had ham and cheese tortellini, and Steak and Sausages for the main… Sausages are a pretty popular thing here… but they aren’t great LOL Stu and Denise came up… that’s who I ride back with to Townsville to fly by to Brisbane.