Bird of the Day: A very rare bird, which I won't name ro protect it. It
was given a bit of competition by Major Mitchell Cockatoo (not common for us,
and spiffy) and Black-faced Woodswallow (2nd ever for me) who
engaged in a vulgar brawl on the red carpet.
A late contender (17:13) was a pair of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.
Plant of the Day: Eremophila
(Emu Bush) as it was in flower and spiffy.
Close contenders because of being interesting were the Leopardwood Trees
(Flindersia maculosa).
Scene of the Day: Grey flood plain of the Darling – largely
because of its vastness.
Art of the day: The
old fencing rig ute at Newchum Hanger.
The paint job was eclectic and reminded us of our favourite work by
Emily Nganwaree
Typically Australian thing of the day: Gates on station roads through the dust.
Maximum Temperature: 20
Minimum temperature 5
Distance
traveled with camper 0 without camper 65
After a peaceful night - read: total silence- I arose and chucked a log on the fire and made coffee as the sun rose through the Coolabahs.
We then headed off for a stroll around a convenient set of tracks with the dog. This yellow aster was about the only flowering plant - dry, cold weather inhibits flowering!
As we neared the airstrip we met the husband of the lady who had welcomed us to the property. He had a very large, and very dead, feral cat in his trailer and was on the way to bury it. His small dog exchanged sniffs with Tammy.
Our main business was to do a 55km drive around the property, following trail notes offered by the owners. It started at the homestead where sheep were penned for transport.
A large cattle dog appeared looking to exchange insults with Tammy. She was up for this, but at a 1:10 size disadvantage was not going to be happy with the outcome so was grabbed. The local lad was told-off back to the shearing shed from whence it had come.
Starting the drive we soon came across a Red Kangaroo (the grey colour indicating a female). We were struck by the size of their ears - they appeared much larger than those on our Eastern Greys at Carwoola.
Moving off the black soil of the flood plain into the red sand hills, we were also impressed by the spotted bark of the Leopardwood trees (
Flindersia maculosa) with the spotting causing by discs of bark dropping off. They are apparently members of the citrus family.
Finally a flowering shrub:
Eremophila longifolia or Emu bush.
Just after this sighting we saw a very rare bird which I won't name to protect it from the forces of evil. (The appropriate authorities have been informed and asked me to obfuscate it, so I have.) I couldn't get the camera up in time but that was what it was: a lifer, and a rare bird!!
A windmill and cattle yards at a dam.
These chains indicate that quite a bit of clearing had gone on in the past.
That is probably a signal that the time is right to cover a bit of the history of the station. Although large (320,000 acres) Trilby was part of a much larger property that had been split between members of the family. Before the current owners took over it was a mixed grazing and wheat growing operation but they decided that if they gave up farming they could run it themselves without permanent help. This included
- their kids who- according to the story by Liz - were riding motor bikes when they needed a tree stump to remount after falling off!
- Gary did some of the mustering by plane (they have two in the hangar at the end of the airstrip); and
- Liz coordinated things over the radio,
As well as the sheep they have a nice little earner in trapping feral goats, of which we saw lots! The process involves gaps in the fence into a paddock with electric wires arranged so that as a goat enters it receives encouragement when coming inwards but a strong disincentive to leave. When the paddock is adequately full they are trucked off to a halal-certified abattoir in Albury and then exported.
The property has a lot of "stuff" left around where it was last used. Two of the workers used to use this bus to travel into Louth. The naturally air-conditioned nature of the roof is due to them misjudging the height of a (the?) bridge on the way home.
This is the other transport they used: it reminded us of a car door painted by
Emily Kame Knangwarrey which we had seen (I think at Heide) some years before.
They'd even left a boot behind! This reminded Frances of a painting by
van Gogh.
Onthe nearby dam we were alerted by the squeaks and buzzes to the presence of a flock of Zebra Finches. We had seen Zebbies earlier in the trip but this was really their habitat.
The nearby abandoned homestead has been left as it was on the day the occupants walked out. Open books on the table, stuff in cupboards etc. I suspect this is
Mulga Bill's bicycle left in the shed.
This Aga stove could be sold for many quid in Country Life!
An arty farty shot into the mirror showing my dust and, above the mirror a shot which defines MBF.
Back at the camp the Pelicans were reflecting on the state of the Darling.
It was time for a shower so we went back to the homestead and used the amenities. The kids toys were carefully stored in a tree!
Just after dark the glow from the fire showed a bird landing in a nearby tree. Tawny Frogmouth gets added to the list!
