New Years Eve 2009

New Years Eve Fancy dress dance @ Dudley Park bowling club, Mandurah.

Who's MINI ????????????

Bob the Builder !!!!!!!!!!!!! What happened to Bob the Sparkie?????

Xmas Lights in Perth Dec 2009

 

Enjoying the Xmas lights in Perth with my long time friend Di, her daughter Danielle & grandson Baden.

Jan and the Dune Buggy!!

Look out, Jans on a mission! Coral Bay 65 kms from Bullara station. Tiny little sea side town, that is packed to the rafters during the tourist season (dry season). Two caravan parks, hotel, backpackers & few shops, & very touristy with all the cruises, snorkelling, swimming with whale sharks etc
Glorious beaches, crystal clear water & NINGALOO REEF just off the shore of the bay.

Snapshot 4 of Bullara

 

Jeff delivering the hay to cattle in homestead yards.

 

Droughtmaster cattle

 

Kat German WWOOFER

 

Bob at end of hard days work !!! Down & dirty !!!

Snapshot 3 of Bullara

 

Sheep on the move

 

Bob way out in paddocks waiting for cattle to arrive!!!!

 

Tim (owner) mustering cattle

 

Edwina (bosses wife) Richard (station hand) & Jacinta (school teacher & girl Friday!!)

Snapshot 5 of Bullara

 

Jan, Tildy & the gorgeous cute Mimi (not quite 1 year old)

 

Bob & the mobile generator, way out in the paddocks at submersible pump

 

Orielly French WWOOFER (Willing worker on organic farms)

 

Orielly, Olivia & Lucy watching the action at homestead cattle yard after muster

Cape Range, WA

Check out the view!

A quick side trip into Cape Range National park on the way into Exmouth. This was view from the top overlooking Exmouth gulf.


Welcome to Exmouth

Snapshot 6 of Bullara

 

Kat, Lucy, friend, Olivia, Tim rounding up baby lambs for inocculations

 

Lucy sitting amongst hay stacks

 

Olivia & friend

 

Girls playing with the lambs

The Cattle Muster Adventure - Part Two

After some scant directions on how to get out to the water tank, we waited and waited and finally, slowly the cattle were coming into the water.

Could hear the motorbikes and 'copter rounding up the cattle and after several hours had quite a herd to be mustered back to the yards in a paddock...

Tim the boss decided that they had got most of the cattle, then it was time to “Head 'em out, move 'em out”!!!

There were 5 motorbikes and us in bull basher at the rear of the mob. , With the bikes whizzing past and 400 head of cattle, talk about eat my dust!

Bob and I were keeping up the rear, driving through dry stoney creek beds, across virgin land dodging snake wood spikes we made our own tracks and all the while keeping our eyes on the cattle in case they tried to make a run for it!!!. Took about an hour and a half to get them to the yards.

Then the fun started sorting them out, stock from neighbours station, breeding bulls, cows, steers, heifers, weaners, new calves etc. Dust, dust and more dust.

My job was to open and close the gate in the race, so Tim could do the sorting. Next job was ear tagging all the calves & putting rings on all the baby bulls boy bits and doing a head count. I was the TALLY GAL.

It was a long hot, dusty, very noisy day and we forgot to make ourselves lunch, so we were just a touch hungry by time dinner was served at 7.30pm. Luckily we had taken some water.

Does wonder for the figure not eating all day!!!!

This is a very dirty and dusty me at the end of a very long day:

The Cattle Muster Adventure - Part One!

We arrived back at Bullara on Monday 7th September ready to get down & dirty.

They had already done some mustering & cattle was ready for the road train, so that all took a few days to get organised & Bob helped out.

I was still on tourist duties, as we had a few people in shearer’s quarters, but the wind was up & no sooner had I cleaned everything & there was red dust on the dunnies & bathrooms. BUGGER!!!

The helicopter arrived the following Monday & it was action stations from 6.30am. Bob & my job was to take the AV gas out to the paddock where the water tank was.

The bull basher that Bob was driving had NO brakes, NO side windows, NO door locks - just a piece of wire to hold it closed, NO roof - just piece of ply wood to give us some shade. We did have a windscreen, a rusted out floor & great big piece of concrete in back tray to keep the back weighed down!!!!

Bullara Station - Part Two

During our stay at Bullara, we quickly made friends with Jacinta and Richard, the other couple who live there.


Edwina butchering the lamb. Is "Tom Cruise" coming for dinner!!!!

They're a really nice couple in their 30s and Bob and I got on with them like a house on fire and had a few dinners and ales together.

Bob got caught up with helping Richard doing all sorts of jobs from fixing windmills, fixing submersible pumps, generators, sheep mustering, rubbish bins run, going out and turning off generators in paddocks that supply water for the troughs, repairing bandsaw used for chopping up meat when they make a killer (kill a cow).

On the last day he helped lay 1.3kms poly pipe for a new pipeline from one of the windmills, should have seen the blisters, poor bloke really did a hard day’s work that day!

I really loved being there, it was a wonderful experience and I’m so glad we decided to meet the challenge. In fact, we've liked it so much we've decided to go back at the beginning of September for the cattle muster which will take couple weeks.

Bob reckons he will be driving the CHUCK WAGGON at back of the herd, picking up calves that can’t keep up. Richard, Jacinta, Tim etc will be riding motor bikes and helicopter in air - lots of dust to eat!!!!

I’m supposed to look after camp sites again, but when they bring cattle into homestead yards, it’s just toooo noisy and dusty, so they close camp for a week.

No doubt they will find a job for me, as it’s full on, feeding all the extra people they get for muster. Probably be making “SMOKO’S. Hope I don’t have to make scones, mine usually end up like ROCK CAKES!!!

Snapshot of Bullara

 

Tildy the family pooch

 

Station stay campground

 

Blackie & Whitey pet Damaras sheep

 

Pet nag about 20 years old

Snapshot 2 of Bullara

 

Bull bar for guest in Shearers quarters accommodation

 

Breezeway in homestead about 1920's vintage. BEAUTIFUL

 

As they say in all the real estate brochures "COUNTRY KITCHEN"

 

Bullara homestead verandah

Bullara Station - Part One

Bob and I arrived at Bullara Station, 90kms south of Exmouth, WA on 4th July, 2009 to start our 4 weeks housesit, while the owners took a well-earned holiday.

We were in for a lovely surprise, Bullara is a ¼ million acres with a wonderful 1920 corrugated iron homestead with pressed tin walls and ceilings, wide verandas and green lawns. I was in 7th heaven as I love old world charm. The station runs 6000 Damaras sheep, live export and 3000 breeding cattle and bulls etc.

The owners Tim and his wife Edwina are in their early 30s and have three cute little girls Olivia 6, Lucy 4 and Mimi 1. Tim’s dad owned the station and he grew up here and just loves the place and knows just about every inch of it.



After 4 days introduction to station life, Tim and the family were off. We moved into the homestead where I got to enjoy the life of a station Mrs.

Playing camp hosts and cleaners, our job was to look after the eleven camp sites and an old shearers quarters that had been converted into guest rooms.



The main attraction was the shower under the tank stand which was open to stars at night - fancy a hot shower under the milky way!! Sheer MAGIC. We also made sure there was plenty of wood so guests could have a camp fire which is always a big attraction.

While it all sounds pretty easy, we were really busy over the schools holidays, with kids outnumbering the adults - but everyone had a great time.

Pet sheep Blackie and Whitey would make themselves known to guests, 3 nags would wander in when they felt like it, also a few foxes and baby lambs.

When the kids had gone back to school the GREY NOMADS just kept coming! But we met some really nice people and enjoyed talking to them getting hints on places to see and free camping spots.

Snapshot 3 of Broome

 
Roebuck bay
 
Stairway to Moon
 
Bob & statue of pearl diver
 

Jan & Mr Paspaley founder of pearl industry in Broome

Snapshot 2 of Broome

 
Jan on beach with the dreaded infected leg.
 
Sunset on Cable beach. Has to be seen to believed how beautiful it is.
 
Jan & the granny cart at Roebuck bay waiting for "Stairway to Moon" to happen in night sky.
 

Bob waiting for the movie to start!!!!