Otway Farmstay

Sue, the Chinese Australian couple and John

 The pond where platypus live.

Learning about farming.

Monday, March 14^th

I had a good sleep in a comfortable room. It was very quiet as there is absolutely no traffic noise here. We all got up early to have a tour of the farm. John and Sue took us around their property in their UTE. Today was John's 78th birthday! They own 100 acres and their son owns the adjacent 300 acres. They have been in the farming business all their lives and both have had side line jobs too. John has done some teaching at university about farming (where he gained some respect for teachers). He is also working at getting invisible fences into the farm business. They are the fences that keep dogs on their property by having a buzzer that gives them a mild zap when they get too close to the invisible fence. He is trying to get it used on farms so that there would be less need for pasture fences, although there would still be a fence around the whole farm, just not around the pastures. Sue works for the Secretariat for International Landcare Inc., which is "a non-government organization that commenced in 1998. SILC's charter has been to support interest in the adoption, and adaptation, of the Australian Landcare Model in and by other countries. Over many years SILC has worked to support a growing interest in Landcare. This site aims to provide links to the many projects that are happening in thirteen countries around the world." They work in Australia and Canada as well as developing countries in Africa and Asia. Both were very interesting to listen to and learn from.

It was still very foggy with either a light rain falling or just the moisture from the clouds saturating the air. We drove over some of the fields in these very hilly paddocks that are temporary home to Holstein cattle. The actual diary farms are down at sea level. John and Sue provide lodging for cows that are not lactating or are too young to be bred yet. The dairy farmers don't want these cattle on their farms as they just eat and don't provide any milk. Therefor the are trucked up to the highlands (540 metres above sea level) where there is enough moisture to keep the grass growing and green the whole year. Here they can grow up and/or wait until they are bred and become a cash cow and are trucked back to the dairy farm.

John and Sue receive a payment of $1 per head per day for this boarding. As we drove around the cows followed us and when we got out of the vehicle they came over to see us. John and Sue took pleasure in telling us about farming and answering all our questions. They are also replanting native gum trees on some of the more inaccessible hills on the property. It was all very interesting and an insight into another way of life.

On the property they have a couple of ponds which are home to platypus! We watched and waited but unfortunately all we saw was the ripples as one rose to get air. Apparently a Spanish couple last week got a good photo of one. That would be amazing, because I think its the one animal that will be very hard to find in the wild. They also have a lovely spring fed waterfall on their property. It is in the forested section of the farm. The only downside was because of the fog we couldn't see the commanding view they have of the surrounding area from their vantage point, but the fog did add a different atmosphere.

After the tour we went back to the farm for breakfast, before we all headed off on our different paths. I really enjoyed my stay here and if I pass this way again later in the year I will stay here again.