The Station - Week 3 and 4.

The team has changed over. The girls left heading south to continue their touring. Jun a Korean guy arrived late last week and has settled in. A few days later Lee another Korean guy joined us. So we are 3. 

Working some days with the station manager helping him with the dog fence, as his offsiders have had to leave. Other days we clean and refurb 4 foot fences. The work varies, it's good.

It took two days work for a 350m section of dog fence that required complete replacement. On the first day we pulled it down removed the pickets and towed the mesh away to reused as apron on another section. A new end assemble of bore pipe posts and rail was driven in and welded. The grader cleaned the fence line then a new fence was constructed. Not possible to finish in a day so the mesh was stood up with just a few posts for overnight.

Day two on the fence saw us driving in the rest of the bore pipe posts and weld in the stays to a short butt post 2 meters upstream from the next flooding waters. The theory being the stays will help support the fence posts during the high current running hopefully under the 2 meter mesh. The mesh is twitched to a 12mm cable strung from the end assemblies and can swing up during the flooding, supposedly. 

So by the end of day two we had driven in about 100 bore pipe posts and stays, welded the stays to the fence posts and butts and run out about 4 ton of mesh from the back of the truck and twitched the mesh to the support cable every 50cm. Good job done by all. Long days but rewarding. No sheep escaped and no dogs got through.

A wild dog probably chased this one
into a panic and the fence.

The old fence has got to go!

Nice clean fence line.

The mesh all 6 tons of it.

The loader holds the strain
whilst we get to and stand it up.

An example of the stay and butt support
system for the high dog fence posts.

The Sheep Station (week 2)

There were initially 6 on us here on The Station, not a good number as we have but one car. After a couple of days, and a team meeting, the Australian couple travelling together decided they would move to another farm to help out there. Works for all of us. 4 is good for tools and car transport reasons. So me and a Korean, French and Canadian girl are the team at the moment. We work well together and getting the job done.

Settled in to a regular routine working from the shearing quarters 5km from the homestead. It's closer to the fences that need attention. First up was the laneway feeding the shearing shed. Then working our way out to the boundaries and wild dog exclusion fencing. 

The 'dog fence' requires heavy machinery as it stands well over 2 meters tall and has serious end and strainer assemblies that our gear is not capable of handling. We are talking trucks, bob cat and a heavy loader. But we get to fit off the ring-lock mesh to the upper support cables and twitch the bottom and apron mesh to the bore pipe housing used as posts. These post have stays and welded supports to guard against the next flood event. At the base of the fence an apron extends out a meter or two along the ground to stop the dogs attempting to dig under the fence.

The two weeks so far have been punctuated by a Sunday trip to the Yaraka Pub for a BA lunch and food delivery pick-up. Also the Longreach show where the guys went into town for the night to see what living and socialising is like for the locals living in the country.

Twitching tool that twists a wire loop
quick and easy 

Extra high crossing a washaway

Did I mention the ever present flies? 

I love big machines doing the BIG work

and even smaller ones

BlazeAid Helping at Jundah

The camp was moved from Blackall to Jundah to be closer to the action. Stopped for a night at Isisford on the way to Jundah. Isisford, always a popular stop for me, was very quiet. It would seem "The Grey" don't know its back open for business. The tracks down by the Barcoo have been graded and all looks as it should again but there were just two others camping.

Got to Jundah next day to find a small camp in the process of getting established and only a handful of volunteers camping at the town CP and gathering in the local hall for meeting and meals. 

Cleaning dog fence

Travelled out to two different jobs both over a 100km away, mostly working on boundary dog fences, that being the top priority.

Then agreed to go on-farm to stay instead of driving so far each day. This looks to be the logical way to do the work in this region. So headed to The Station to join 5 other Vols. The property is about 100km east of Stonehenge on 4x4 roads good enough for my 2x4 front wheel drive vehicle but only whilst the conditions are dry. There were a few washaways but at the right speed, no problem.

The Station's next muster will be in September and will give a better indication of stock loss. They were running 10,500 Merino sheep.  But in the meantime the focus is getting the fences back up. Matt the manager is using a grader to ready other fence lines whilst the 6 of us, BA Vols, clear and stand fences closer to the homestead. We have been doing laneway fencing that feeds the shearing shed 5km away from the homestead. All the distances are big here.

The yellow sign says
 "Hit the Skids not the Kids"

A welcome sign after 80km of dirt-
 not far now.

The daily ride to check
fences, stock and for mustering.

BlazeAid Stanthorpe

 September - Stanthorpe BA

Only photos this time.

Creek crossing and flood gates.

The hill top in the middle of the farm.

Gullies on the flat.

Get the fence over the hill.

Cut your own round post strainers
 then bark them and dig them in.

But dig out the old one first.

August 2024

Stanthorpe BA August 2024

After a break, we’re back at Bungulla Farm, diving into the next phase of the fencing project. The electric fencing is nearly complete in the main area of the farm anyway.  Our focus has now shifted to tackling the remote boundary fences and the rugged terrain behind Red Hill.

Here, the granite belt lies just beneath the topsoil, making it difficult or near impossible to dig in round post strainers. Instead, we’re resorting to a method of securing the fence by drilling and hammering railway spikes into larger trees. This approach is labour-intensive and slows progress, especially since we have to carry tools and materials by hand due to the steep, wooded terrain and multiple creek crossings. Replacing flood gates at these crossings adds another layer of complexity, but we’re managing.

The farm's wildlife provides both beauty and a few headaches. Kangaroos are a common sight in the paddocks, while wild pigs and rabbits leave their mark with burrows that can be hazardous. Long grass and hidden holes pose a risk to both humans and vehicles, we’ve been fortunate to avoid major incidents so far.

One of the highlights of our routine is the vibrant community of backpackers we work with. Each Saturday night, a different nation takes the helm to cook a traditional dinner for the group. With an average of 35-40 people to feed, this is no small task! The diversity of the group is remarkable—at our roll call, we’ve had representatives from 14 different countries.

Backpackers generally stay for 88 days to qualify to extend their working holiday visas, so we frequently see new faces as some depart and others arrive. Despite the turnover, these new volunteers pick up skills and contribute to the fencing operations. 

New creek flood gate.