I actually have some time to give you a proper update today! Bruce had to go to the dentist in Emerald (he winces everytime he eats something that isn't room temperature...) so I came along too and have been wandering around the 'city' whilst he's in there. It's funny that we had to drive for 4 hours just to get to a dentist!

I've finally done some riding now. The first day was a bit of a mission - we had to check some fences in a paddock before putting some cattle in there. We only covered 2 sides of the fence but we were riding for 8 hours so you can get an idea just how big this place is! I was on a horse called Sorrocco, who was pretty well behaved but walked quite slowly and struggled to keep up with the others! I was amazed at how wet the ground was, even though it hadn't rained for a couple of weeks the ground was so soft that the horses were bogging quite a lot. After that first day I was very very achey, but I'm luckily getting slightly less achey each time we go which is good. Most of last week was spent mustering, as some of the family were here so we had enough people to be able to do it efficiently. Once the cattle were back to the yards we had to draft them, and do all the things to keep them heathly like spraying them for buffallo flies. We spent a few hours dehorning, which is absolutely brutal! The cattle are left with gaping holes either side of their heads and blood pouring down their faces, but it's the best way to do it apparently!

Over Easter we had a little break. Bruce's family came up and we drove to a nearby lake to camp overnight. People spent the day do lots of different water sports. I got to have a ride on a jetski, have a ride in a power boat and try tubing (holding onto an inflatable whilst it gets pulled around by the power boat). It was all very exciting and it was definitely nice to have a break. Bruce seems to only take about a week off a year in total, I have no idea how he survives!

Annoyingly I left my camera in the car today so I can't upload any photos still! I'm excited to be able to do some grocery shopping later, as there are no fresh vegetables at home and the food's been getting very repetitive, mainly pork! I've also discovered whislt here that Australians seem to like some strange sandwhich combinations, like jam & cheese, honey & cheese or marmite & cheese. I've also seen them putting mash potato in sandwhiches.... strange.

Also the weather is actually getting slightly colder now, at least in the night and early mornings. I actually had to wear a jumper and raincoat yesterday, it almost reminded me a little of home haha.

I think this will be my last time in civilization for a while, so I hope you're all well and are enjoying the weather finally warming up back home! xxx