Monday 9th December 2024

Monday 9^th December

SHE SAID:

It was a cooler, overcast start to the day, though if you believe BOM it will get to 30C today! I suggested to Geoff that we head out for a drive, whilst it was mild, as the next few days are supposed to climb to the high 30C’s. He seemed keen.

We headed out to the Donnelly River Village. This is an old sawmill township, with the workers' cottages renovated and let for holiday accommodation. It was a quaint spot with the cottages now all painted different colours, the old primary school is a little museum, & there is a large central play area for holidaying kids.

‘Devonshire Tea’ at the General Store was very nice & reasonably priced, too. The remains of the sawmill are all fenced off as it is falling down, though there is hope that funds will come in to help restore it again.

The half day out was a nice change for us.

Geoff the animal whisperer...

Blackwood River flowing well 
Some "lost" hay bales!

Some of the timber workers cottages

More shots of the Village

HE SAID:

Our morning out was a good change, and a pleasant country drive. The addition of morning tea was a tasty bonus. We were not very hungry around lunch time, but still managed a bowl of Varena's tasty soup.

The afternoon took a surprising turn when we wandered down to the main chook house around 4pm to put away their food. Varena swore that she could hear tweets where there shouldn't be any. Further investigation led her to finding 7 tiny, downy, black chicks in a wooden crate with a large synthetic grain bag scrunched into it. So, after retrieving the chicks and placing them unglamourously into a bucket, we then had a quick look for the mother hen. We think we identified, and grabbed, the mother, which was close, but not with, the chicks, and after wrangling them all into a small "nursery" pen she started to eat and then feed the chicks. So it seems we hijacked (henjacked?) the correct hen. 

The chickens here are a mix of hens, with a few roosters thrown in, so this sort of event was always going to happen, despite Jacqueline's surprise. Perhaps seperating the roosters from the hens would be a good idea?

The internet had another hissy fit in the late afternoon. I'm not sure if it is always this crap here but the people at the post office, same as in Northcliffe, we saying that everything turned to pooh when the 3G network was switched off a few weeks ago. No matter the cause of the awful coverage, most of Australia outside of the capital cities, seems to have absolutely crap phone and/or internet.