Jeg er så småt begyndt at planlægge min ferie, som kommer til at ligge i september/oktober. Indtil videre har jeg besluttet mig for at tage til Singapore for at se Formel 1 Grand Prix d. 24.-25.-26. september. Det kan jeg dog ikke få de fire uger jeg har til rådighed til at gå med, så jeg har også overvejet at tage til Melbourne eller Sydney. Endelig har jeg leget med tanken om at tage til New Zealand, og måske se hvor Ringenes Herre er optaget.
Tanken om ferie virker mere og mere tiltalende. Selvom jeg har weekenderne fri, så er det svært at klemme mere end endagsture, eller en enkelt overnatning ind. Jeg havde dog nogle fridage tilbage i juli. Der valgte jeg at køre til Kalgoorlie-Boulder, en mineby i WA (passende beliggende i et områder der bliver kaldt The Goldfields). Kalgoorlie og den nærliggende Coolgardie var centrum for en af de sidste store guldfebre, og den dag i dag er der stadig guldminer (samt andre miner, bl.a. nikkel) i området. En af dem er den såkaldte Super Pit, Australiens største åbne mine.
Jeg kørte selv til Kalgoorlie, via Ravensthorpe-Espernace-Norseman og Kambalda, en tur på ca. 680 km. Efter et par dage i byen kørte jeg til Albany via Coolgardie-Northam-Narrogin-Katanning og Cranbrook, hvilket var yderligere 937 km. Da jeg endelig var tilbage i Jerramungup (fra Albany, ad South Coast Highway, ca. 200 km.), efter en nat i Albany, var jeg næsten mere træt end før jeg tog afsted! Overraskende så udmattende det kan være at køre (okay, det at jeg også valgte at se nærmere på Kalgoorlies natteliv havde nok også noget at gøre med det).
Mht. arbejde sker der stadig ikke så meget. Bruce og jeg laver mest det man vist kalder "forefaldende arbejde" - vi rydder op, reparerer, vedligeholder og sådan. Desuden har vi sat et nyt hegn op et sted hvor det trængte. Jeg fik selv halvanden dag til at gå med at tage det gamle trådhegn ned, rulle det sammen og hive stålpælene op. Der var omkring 1,5 km. hegn der skulle rulles sammen, og ca. 100 stålpæle der skulle trækkes op ad jorden. Nogle uger senere bankede Bruce og jeg så de nye stålpæle i og fæstede det nye hegn til pælene. Heldigvis havde vi noget maskineri til at banke pælene i; ellers er jeg sikker på at jeg havde tabt mine arme efterfølgende.
Ud over det har der været noget fårearbejde. De fleste af dette års lam er blevet øremærket, vaccineret og nogle af dem (af racen Merino) er blevet udsat for hvad de kalder mulesing, en process hvor man fjerner noget af huden omkring enden og halen på lammet (til min store overraskelse bliver får faktisk føde med temmelig lange haler). Intentionen er at skabe arvæv, hvor der ikke kan gro uld. Grunden til at man gør dét, er for at undgå at lammet/fåret får flyblind. Flyblind, eller flystrike, opstår når fæces og urin samler sig i ulden, hvilket kan bevirke at huden nedenunder går i opløsning og forrådnelse. I det sår der opstår lægger spyfluer æg, hvilket bliver til fluemaddiker. Bliver fåret ikke behandlet, dør det. Det tager dog noget tid, hvori fåret langsomt bliver svagere og svagere. Der er udbredt enighed blandt farmere om at mulesing er den mest effektive måde at forhindre flyblind, til trods for lammets midlertidige ubehag. Gjorde man det ikke, ville det betyde at Bruce jævnligt skulle rundt og inspicere sine ca. 3500 får, fordelt på ca. 400 hektar, på tre farms. Lidt af en opgave. Samtidig med mulesingen får lammene en gummiring på halen, hvilket får den til at dø og falde af efter noget tid, igen for at undgå fluemaddiker.
Som det ser ud nu er de fleste af Bruces får også blevet klippet. Jeg må indrømme at jeg synes de klippede får ser noget åndssvage ud, i forhold til da de havde uld.
Endelig kan jeg berette at det har været rigtig godt vejr de sidste mange uger - desværre. Afgrøderne kunne virkelig godt trænge til noget regn; flere af dem ser noget syge ud. Bruce har nedjusteret sine forventninger til udbytte for nogle af markerne fra 1 ton/ha til 0.5-0.6 ton/ha.
Meget mere er der vidst ikke at fortælle. I morgen tager Bruce og jeg til Newdegate Field Day. Desuden lader det til at han skal have en hundehvalp i nærmeste fremtid. Hans fårehund, Mack, er ved at være gammel, og har problemer med sine hofter. Efter en dag i marken kan han ikke engang selv springe op på ladet af uten. Så Bruce har besluttet at det er på tide at få en ny hund.
Opsummering for dovne/travle læsere: Jeg har været i Kalgoorlie, og skal til Singapore for at se F1. Bruce og jeg har rejst et hegn. Fårene er blevet klippet, og lammene øremærket.
~*~
English for the Danish impared:
I think it's time to update the blog again. Even though not much has happened in my opinion, I'm pretty sure I can write a paragraph or two...
I have started planning my holidays, which wil be in September/October. So far, I have planned to go and watch the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, which is September the 24th-25th-26th. However, I can't pass four weeks that way, so I've also thought about going to Melbourne or Sydney. Finally I've contemplated going to New Zealand, possibly to see where The Lord of the Rings were filmed.
The thought of a holiday seems more and more attractive. Despite the fact that I have the weekends to myself, it's hard to squeeze more in than a day trip, or staying anywhere more than a single night. I did have a few days off in July, though. For those, I chose to drive to Kalgoorlie-Boulder, a mining city in WA (and suitably located in the area known as The Goldfields). Kalgoorlie and the nearby Coolgardie were the centres of one of the last big goldrushes, and to this day there are stil goldmines, as well as other mines (nikkel, for example) in the area. One of them is the so-called Super Pit, Australia's largest open-cut mine.
I drove to Kalgoorlie myself, via Ravensthorpe-Esperance-Norseman and Kambalda, a trip of roughly 680 km. Afte a couple of days in the city, I drove to Albany over Coolgardie-Northam-Narrogin-Katanning and Cranbrook, which was an additional 937 km. When I finally were back in Jerramungup (from Albany by the South Coast Highway, about 200 km.), after a night in Albany, I was almost more tired than when I left! Surprising how exhausting driving can be (okay, the fact that I chose to inspect Kalgoorlie's night life first-hand probably contributed as well).
Not much is happening at work. Bruce and I are doing what can best be described as miscellaneous work - we're cleaning up the sheds, doing repairs and general maintenance and the likes. Furthermore, we've done some fencing (which, sadly, has nothing to do with swords, rapiers or the onsale of stolen goods). Firstly, I passed a day-and-a-half byt pulling down the old fence, and rolling it up, then pulling up all the steel posts that held the fence. There were about 1.5 km. of fence to roll up and some 100-odd posts to pull up. A couple of weeks later Bruce and I hammered in the new posts and fastened the fence to them. Fortunately, we had a phneumatic hammer to bang in the posts; otherwise I'm sure my arms would've been dead by the end.
Apart from that there's been some sheep work. Most of this year's lambs have been ear marked, vaccinated and some of them (those of the breed called Merino) have been mulesed, a process where some of the skin around the breech and tail (to my big surprise, lambs are actually born with rather long tails) is removed, with the intention to create scar tissue. The reason that is done, is to keep the lamb/sheep from going flyblind. Flyblind, or flystrike, happens when feces and urine gathers in the wool, which causes the underlying skin to dissolve and rot. Bloatflies then lay eggs in the open wound, which then becomes infested with fly-maggots. If the wound isn't treated, the wheep will die. But only after slowly painfully becoming weaker and weaker. Farmers pretty much agree that mulesing is the most effective way of preventing flyblind, despite the temprary discomfort of the lamb. If it wasn't done, it would mean that Bruce regularly would have to inspect his roughly 35oo sheep, which are scattered over about 400 hectares, on three different farms. Along with the mulesing, the lambs get a rubber ring on their tails, which causes it to die, and eventually fall off, likewise to avoid a bloatfly infestation.
As it is now, most of Bruce's sheep has been shorn. I have to admit, I think they look rather stupid without their wool.
Finally I can tell you that we've had nice weather for quite a while - unfortunately. The crops could really do with some rain. A lot of them seems sick or dying, and Bruce has downgraded his yield expectations for some of the paddocks from 1 tonne/hectare to 0.5-0.6 tonne/hectare.
I tihnk that's about it. Tomorrow Bruce and I are going to the Newdegate Field Day. Also, he will be getting a pup sometime in the near future. His sheep dog, Mack, is getting old, and after a day of working, it can't even jump on the back of the ute by itself.
Summary for lazy/busy readers: I have been to Kalgoorlie, and am going to the Singapore F1 GP. Bruce and I have erected a fence. The sheep have been shorn and the lambs ear marked.
/EMO
