Christmas and new years at Adelong, house sitting.
Early January developed itchy feet and looking for something rewarding, more BlazeAid. My usual fallback. Cootamundra camp was the closest but closing, Lockington a substitute. Easy drive to Wodonga for a free meal, over night stay, and a catchup with friends before heading on to Lockington in Victoria. Nice friendly little town with good community facilities. Arrived on Sunday and was out to work the next day. Weather, clear, dry, and HOT! Everyday this week nudging 40, with little or no breeze. Not good for sleeping at night either, the temperature very slow to fall to a comfortable level.
It's a longish drive each day to the jobs as the camp could not be located closer to the flooded farms. It seems lots of the town residents of Rochester and Elmore are now living in caravans in the local showgrounds. These folk have been flooded out of their homes.
First days out in the paddocks with just 4 volunteers doing a horse stud, building a pine post fence. Next couple of days on a larger farm cleaning and repairing. Most of the farms around here have concrete post fences that have been washed over by the flood waters. Difficult to stand up as the ground has dried out and now has a firm crust. This requires an auger for most posts before they can be moved. With the day time temps in the high 30s each day we start early and are back early giving us time to spend at the local community pool. Free entry and a great pool, for a small community.
Volunteer numbers building as the camp at Cootamundra has closed and some of their people are coming here. Next couple of days with ten volunteers on to a new property by the Campaspe River and rail line. Big job just started before it got too hot. Be going back there lots of times to finish this farm. Not me after six days I'm going back to Adelong.
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| Lockington Pool. |
