Gloucester Easter 2013.

Milking time at the dairy.

For Easter, we left the madding crowd and inflated prices of the coast behind, and headed back to the farm, to spend a week with Lindsay, Myrelle and family and friends.

Driving out to the farm along Thunderbolt's Way, the country is looking fantastic. With all the rain through February/March, the place has greened up beautifully.

As you know, I'm a bit of a broken record when it comes to time at the farm. I love coming here. We arrived on Thursday and the whole week was terrific. Being a dairy farm, the cows don't know its a holiday weekend, so it is milking as usual twice a day every day, but in between there is lots of time for other activities involving neighbours, and family.

Margot, Adam,
Alby and Ellie.

Michael, Wendy,
Andrew and  Samantha.

For those who don't know the whole family, Lindsay & Myrelle, have a son Michael, who is married to Wendy, and they have two young children, Andrew and Samantha. They also have a daughter Margot, who is married to Adam, and they also have two young children, Alby and Ellie. Michael & Wendy have their own dairy farm just south of Gloucester, whilst Adam and Margot are School teachers in Gloucester. It is a busy life for all of them, but it is great for Lindsay & Myrelle to have the whole family so close. During the course of the weekend, we will catch up with all of them.

What an Easter weekend we had! It was non stop action from beginning to end. Thursday night after milking we were all quickly showered and dressed for town, to go to the opening night of a photography exhibition at the Art Gallery. Wendy is one of the exhibitors. She is extremely talented with her camera, and had a couple of lovely abstract photos in the exhibition. So it was champagne and canapes with the local Gloucester art fraternity, before heading across the road to "Roadies Cafe" for dinner. Huge servings are the name of the game at Roadies, which has quite a name among the Biker brigade, and has some fantastic old memorabillia on display.

Entree of Oysters Kilpatrick,
Lindsay style

Main course of Snapper.

Good Friday after milking we did the neighbourly thing and headed next door to Dallas and Larissa's farm to help repair all the fence crossings that had been washed away in the recent flood. They are great neighbours swapping their fresh eggs and vegies for milk. They run around 35 beef cattle on their farm, and as well they have an engineering business with offices in both Gloucester and Newcastle. They are fun to be around, and really bright company. We had them all done in a couple of hours, with only a bit of fine tuning to be done by Dallas at a later time. We also had time to agree on having dinner together on Sunday night, and mustering Dallas' cattle on Easter Monday. 
That night Lindsay was in the kitchen. Lindsay likes to buy his food direct from the source. I don't know how he meets all these people, but he does. He has an Oyster Farmer who has leases on Wallis Lake, a commercial fisherman who only fishes the rivers and lakes, and who is at Dunbogan, near Laurieton, and he always gets stuff at amazing prices. Tonight, we were having oysters from the oyster farmer, followed by a snapper that he had caught the previous weekend at Laurieton, fishing with his mate Al and son Michael. It was all delicious.

Alby, Pop and Rex on the quad bike.

Ellie, Nan & Carolyn.

Saturday morning after milking, the girls headed into town to the markets and shops, whilst Lindsay and I worked. Lindsay had to get some feed ready for the afternoon milking, so I volunteered to do a run to the tip. We loaded up the farm ute with all the recycle bins, and off I went to the tip near Barrington. All was going great until I got pulled over for a breath test on the way home. I wasn't at all worried about the booze, it was all the used and unused shotguns shells lying on the dashboard and floor!! The copper didn't even bat an eyelid! If I'd been in Greenacre, I'd still be looking for bail!! Saturday afternoon, Margot & Adam were dropping by to leave Alby & Ellie with Nan and Pop, while they headed off to  friend's 30th birthday. Alby can't wait to get on the quad bike. Saturday night was a family affair for dinner while we watched the football and entertained the kids.

Ex Girlfriend Heather,
second from right.

Official BBQer .

Sausage Sizzle for Ellie.

Easter Sunday started with an Easter Egg hunt. Margot & Adam had arrived home late from their party, but still had time to hide Easter Eggs all over the place. The kids had a ball, and it was chocolate for breakfast, as the kids worked hard to keep the grown ups away from their eggs! After brekkie, we all piled into the cars to head out for a real treat, a picnic cricket and fun day, at Rawdon Vale, scene of the 30th birthday party the night before. Rawdon Vale is in a valley on the other side of the Copeland Tops. It is one of the most scenically beautiful valleys you will ever see. The venue for the event is a magnificent two story heritage home, built in the 1880's and retained in the same family ever since. We were treated to a tour of the home that is still retained with all the original artworks, furniture and photos. It was during the tour, that I heard Myrelle yell out "Hey John, one of your ex girlfriends is here!" I'm not sure who was most stunned, Carolyn, me, or the ex girlfriend, Heather! When I got back downstairs, there was Heather. We went to a couple of dances when I used to visit Gloucester as a teenager, and Heather even came down to Sydney and stayed at our place at Peakhurst. Heather even remembered that we went to the movies, and what's more, even remembered the movie we saw, The Graduate! Her two daughters thought the whole thing was hilarious, while I was hoping that her husband wasn't the really big guy across the room!! Her sister is the current owner of the Rawdon Vale property, whilst Heather lives over the range at Wallabadah.

Tug-O-War for the Girls.

Official scorer John with
Myrelle, Margot and Ellie

After the lover's reunion, we adjourned to the oval to start the other sports. The cricket match was a pairs event, partners drawn from a hat. Pair who scored the most runs in 4 overs wins. Lindsay was the umpire and I was official scorer and beer supplier to the umpire. Everywhere else, the kids and the girls played, ate, drank, and had a wonderful time. Country people always have a cake or biscuits or slice ready for any occasion! When the cricket ended, the BBQ lunch was had by all, and the other games commenced. Another Easter Egg hunt for the kids. Foot races for all ages, Tug-o-War for all ages, Footy kicking contests, Boot throwing and more. It was just a fantastic day. Lindsay & Myrelle had someone else milking for them, so everyone got a whole afternoon to enjoy the festivities. At 5.00pm, we packed up and headed for home as Dallas & Larissa were coming over for dinner!!

Carolyn with Tony.

Thankfully, Dallas and Larissa were fashionably late, so we all got home in time. Carolyn had pre-made a pasta bake for dinner, and Millionaire's Pie for dessert, so all we needed was a salad. Larissa brought over her new kitten Tony, which Carolyn absolutely adored, and hardly let go of all night, and Dallas had the wine covered. We had a great night, and eventually collapsed into bed. I don't know how Lindsay & Myrelle got out of bed to milk at 5.00am. All I remember at breakfast was Lindsay telling me he would be in bed at 8.00pm that night no matter what!!

After brekkie it was off to Dallas's to muster a few cattle and sort a few out. Some of Lindsay's and Dallas' had gotten mixed in with each other. Lindsay and Dallas chased up the cattle on their quad bikes, while Larissa and I worked the gates. Once in the yards, we put them all through their hoops, treating them for ticks, sore eyes and other ailments. It was all a lot of fun for the non farm boy. Back home for lunch and a nanny nap for Lindsay! Carolyn & I headed off on the quad bike to get the cows up for milking. Carolyn whooped and hollered, and I'm not sure if the cows understood or simply did what they always do, but they all got to the yard on time.

Dinner with Lindsay & Myrelle.

Farmer John slashing the paddock.

Tuesday was our last day. Carolyn and Myrelle headed into town to do some shopping and pick up some bolts for the tractor repair. The boys worked on the tractor. When the girls got back, the repair got finished. Lindsay was off to get some more feed ready for the afternoon milking, but not before he hooked up the slasher and set me on course to slash a section of pasture along the river. So off went farmer John, having an absolute ball playing farmer. That night, Michael, Margot, Andrew and Samantha all came out for dinner. Michael had been really busy over Easter with his farmhand on holidays, so it was great to be able to catch up before we left. 

We left on a misty morning.

So, all too soon it was time to hook up and head south. Retirement has been great for us, being able to spend so much time with family and friends. We are loving every minute of it. On the Wednesday morning, Myrelle was off to ladies golf at Gloucester Golf Club, Larissa arrived so Carolyn could get one last cuddle of Tony the kitten, and to bring us a dozen of her fresh eggs, which are so yellow and tasty. We hooked up and headed up the hill, having had another wonderful few days full of family, friends and farm life.