Got away as planned mid/late July. But the wheels fell off, so to speak, with the unexpected temporary closure of the Woolooga BlazeAid camp due to resent rain. Arrangements were made for me to work a farm until the camp reopened but illness of the farmer prevented that from happening. So ended up cruising around the Gympie Shire. Kandanga, Gympie, Theebine and Kilkivan. The weather was excellent, sunny cloudless days with only a light breeze. Mind you paying for it at night and especially in the early morning with the temps down to single digits.
Bored I decided to go to the BlazeAid camp at Murgon. They had a covid scare and I was avoiding the place until the all clear but decided to stop living in a bubble. RAT testing showed all was (should be) good.
A small camp of 3 teams going out each day with a group of wives doing a great job cooking.
I joined a team going to Ol' Bill's Place. Bill is 90+ and still working the farm. He has a wheelie walker for getting around the house and a stick for everywhere else. He's not real quick getting about but can still climb onto the tractor or drive the gator.
We looked like emus walking about the paddocks picking up timber that had floated down from the hills around his low lying farm. But there were fences and bush gates to rebuilt as well. The paddocks are still damp and getting bogged was always a consideration.
Available work was limited due to soggy paddocks on the remaining farms yet to be done, so we kept going back to Bill's. On day 4 we started doing gardening around the house, much to Bill's surprise and pleasure. Long smoko and lunch breaks with Bill entertaining us with stories of his past. All part of the BA service. Also worked another large property that been established for many years and helped finishing up there.
Murgon camp was obviously in the throes of winding up. I contacted the co-ordinator at Woolooga to hear that it was reopening again on Monday 8th. So a new camp, new people, new experience.
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| Old slab hut from way back when. |
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| Product of much stick picking. |
