Life goes on.

Looking forward to a day off again on Sunday. We were rained off the other day but hey that don't count -sitting around the camp wanting to work. The tally is now ten farms I've been involved in clearing.

The land has responded to the decent bit of rain and looks a lot greener. The farmers appreciate our efforts and seem generally brighter than weeks ago. And the burnt trees are sprouting their Epicormic shoots. Life goes on.

             click an image to enlarge

 Trees sprouting.

1000m fence-line. Pulled up, cut up, rolled up.

Woorragee -bushland reserve on the horizon.

Nine farms

Watchbox Rd

Had a good team working on a tough job in the dust, the dirt and ash.

We looked like black and white minstrels at the end of the day with white only showing where the sun don't shine. Working 5+ hours on each of two days in the midday heat. Chain-sawing, felling, dragging and stacking trees to create a clearway two meters either side of an overgrown and burnt 400m fence-line.

These were young guys, up from Melbourne for the long weekend, to help BlazeAid, help the local farmers. Trial by fire, I thought, and they passed with flying colours. Showing true digger spirit on Australia Day. Tom, on the chainsaw all day, exhausting. Eliza an Aussie who lived most of her life in the USA and Siobhan, her friend, is a native Californian visiting Oz. Together they dragged and stacked logs all day. Well done guys. Joe and Gloria (farm owners) were extremely thankful.

The before shot. - The after shot is black and white :)

Black Dog Creek Rd, Chiltern.

Yep back to the fences. Hot but going to be cooler from tomorrow, now that will be welcome. The farm we were on today, the farmer lost his machine shed and as a consequence his off-farm job and income.

All sorts of tools and equipment in this lot.

Artistic?

Cottadidda NP

Time for a break. Stopped at Rutherglen for morning tea then on to Mulwala to do the laundry and get a few items from the supermarket. Next stop Barooga and a camp spot on the Murray River at Quicks Beach in the Cottadidda National Park. Love this spot -when it's quiet. Sadly not the case this Sunday but not too bad, ski boats and families, should be OK at night. Actually next day the tents and caravans are still here but all the people have gone. Locals gone to work?

Dawn.

Chiltern and Barnwartha

Day off. Housework. Provisioning and a bit of touring about. Drove around Barnawartha and over to Chiltern for breakfast. Intriguing main street, old buildings and antique shops. Came across some interesting street art in and around both towns. It can be rewarding venturing of the main hwy. Both towns were bypassed by the Hume upgrade back in the late eighties and today are probably quieter but still interesting places to visit.

Expecting some BIG mail?

Nah not even if I was busting.

Interesting, better than the ones in Bunnings.

Chiltern -full of old stuff.

Don't touch my mail!