As I have posted two other entries please read: "Amsterdam & London" and then "Bahrain and Indonesia" first before reading this one........

Welcome back after reading Amsterdam and London and Bahrain and Indonesia.

My two weeks in Newdegate were great. There has still been no rain so we were mainly working with the sheep as they are in the middle of lambing. Everyday we need to drive around the 3 mobs that have lambs and check to make sure they are OK. Sometimes the ewes may have problems or some of the lambs may not have made it. If there are ones that didn't make it we have to move them off the paddocks so that when the fields are planted there are no skeletons left on it. Sorry kinda gross but just a part of life on a station. There were 2 days when it was really hot and we had to "move" over 50 lambs. A very stinky yucky job.

Anyone who has experienced farm life knows that the best laid plans are guaranteed to get stuffed up. We had planned to go to Narrogin to get a pump repaired and were due to leave on a Wednesday morning after feeding the sheep. When we got to the first self feeder and John started up the dual augers (the machine used to transfer grain from the truck to the self feeders) the belt on one of the augers keep coming off and we could not get the grain out of one of the bins. So the plan of leaving at 10AM fell apart. We finally finished that job at 2PM. So it was off to Narrogin the next day. We stopped and visited with John's friends Doug and Michelle on the way home and had BBQ'ed steak and sausages for dinner and to much wine for me and beer for John. As the distances are so big we had packed an overnight bag so we didn't have to drive home if we didn't want to. Doug and Michelle live about 80KM from where we live so the bed for a night was greatly appreciated.

In the middle of my last week we took a day off and went beach fishing on the south coast. I caught the first fish a small flat head and then a skippy. Both are great eating fish but the size of these two would not feed both John and I. So John had to catch a bigger fish. Which he did. A very nice salmon that was about 18 inches long. The poor fish had a chunk missing from just behind his head. A much larger fish or shark had taken a bite out of him. To bad John didn't get the one that took the bite. At the end of the day we had caught 9 fish. By the time we were home and had the fish cleaned it was nearly 11PM. We spent the entire day on the beach and didn't meet one other person. The photo's don't do justice to what we experienced. John must think I am crazy because I had so much fun and was giddy for most of the day. I was like a kid in a candy store with lots of money to spend. I can't wait to do that again. Thank you John for giving me such a special day.

The night before I left for Sydney John and I visited friends in Perth. I have known Margaret and Graham as long as I have known John. I met them when I was living in Perth in 1995 and they have visited me in Richmond and I went to Costa Rica to be with them when Tara and Karla were married in 2002. We have not seen each other since then. I will be visiting Tara and Karla in Hawaii on my way through the south Pacific.

The end of this visit was very bitter sweet for us. I am heading back to Canada (via Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Hawaii) and John and I will not see each other for a few months. I will be busy getting my life sorted out before making the final trip back to be with John. I hope to make one more "visit" to Perth before my migration visa is issued. If all goes to plan my visa should be issued before Christmas and in early January 2011 I will be moving to Australia. I am so excited.