All Quiet on the Farm

I stepped out of the shower this morning (in the building behind our cottage) and looked out the door of the bathroom to see three cows lounging by the steps to our back porch, munching on plants they pulled out of the pots near the steps.  You just gotta laugh!  

In the bathroom building (which seems very common here in the Outback), there are two separate bathrooms--each has a toilet, sink, and shower.  Each part is in a separate cubicle with a locking door (well, except the sink).  One of the two bathrooms has a door that closes [that was the one we saw the small cow walking into yesterday--again, you just gotta laugh!  : )]   Midnight trips to the bathroom are pulling on jeans and sweatshirt (because it’s cold), grabbing the flashlight (even through it’s supposed to be too cold for the snakes and scorpions--but probably not for the giant spiders).  

Reading through all of the history and articles, looking at the photos of this place is amazing!  What an education in the history and the present-day realities of life in the outback--especially a sheep or cattle station.  

When we drove to the store yesterday (the car only beeped once going out the driveway as we skidded sideways), we saw a kangaroo and a few emus in the bush.  The owner said that the koalas all died during the three-year drought from a few years back.  Randy went on an extended walk today (I stayed back with my worsening head cold), and saw a bunch of kangaroos bounding away from him.  

Yesterday we went on a walk around the dams they improved upon to help in any upcoming droughts and saw a lot of birds.  It was nice walking around the bush on a trail.  We saw a kookaburra when we got back to the farm (you know:  kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...).  

It is sunny and warm during the day so we have been trying to be out in it as much as possible, but when the sun goes behind clouds, it is quite chilly.  It is also quite chilly at night, so we spend the dark hours in the common area of our cottage.  Having dinner, sitting in the chairs in front of the wood stove talking, reading, and playing games. It is quite nice.  We were unsure about scheduling the farm stay, only knowing that the children should see this part of Australian life.  It is very nice, low-key, kicked back.  It would be nice if there were other families with children for our children to play with, but it’s working out well.  

The theme of many of our recent conversations has been how many days left (only 2!!!).  And mentally preparing ourselves for that change.  In many ways we will miss all of this, but we are ready to get back to our normal summer lives--lazy, going for bike rides and walks (when the weather cooperates), reading, gardening, walking to the Wabun wading pool, time with friends, drama camp, and gearing up for school in the fall.  

We will hopefully have a few hours to walk around Brisbane tomorrow after we get there (another long car trip).  Then the next day we head home, back over the date line; we will arrive in LA before we leave Brisbane!  :)  Then to Denver (to decrease a killer layover in LA), then to Minneapolis.  

We just found out that the owners have normal speed wi-fi if we sit on their back porch, so I can finally include photos!  There are photos of a bottle tree, and our place--the Jackaroo’s quarters.  See everyone soon!