The Farmhouse livingroom.
And kitchen
In the orning the house was revealed
Neighbours: a cookatoo and two galahs
A deadly snake crosses the road.
Still some snow up on Mt Hotham.
Another blue tongued skink.
Mary and Dennis owners of the farmhouse.
Saturday,
November 26th.
I
woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, in an old farm house, on the
top of a hill with fantastic views of other hills and farms. I could
hear cows bellowing and saw a herd in the distance being moved by
dogs and two guys on ATVs. The hills are either green paddocks or
covered in forests. There were the calls of cockatoos, galahs,
magpies, lapwings and other birds. And no traffic noise. It was incredible!
I
hung around enjoying the view and walking around checking out the
barns, other buildings, old rusted cars, tractors and bikes and coming across a large black bull,
before heading into town for breakfast. I ate at the local Roadhouse
(which is a combination of petrol station and restaurant). After
eating I began another long drive to Mt Hotham, which is a major ski
area in the winter. I had seen it then and wanted to see the area in
the summer. The road up to Omeo was long and winding. This is the
beginning of the Great Alpine Road. I came across a snake basking on
the warm bitumen of the road. After all the stories about deadly
snakes in Australia, this was the first one I'd seen. I stopped and
pulled over to protect him from being run over. I don't know for sure
what kind it was but I think it was an Eastern Brown Snake (from my
internet research) and that is one of the poisonous ones. I didn't
get out of the car and just took a couple of photos as he slithered
off. I drove up the mountain to the resorts on Hotham. The vistas up
here are beautiful. On top of a mountain range and driving on a well
paved road with very few guardrails as the road wound its way around
the peaks.
I
was amazed at how many dead trees there were up there. Tall white
naked trees. At one spot I stumbled across a wedding on a ridge. I
talked to a local guy there and asked about the trees. He told me
that there had been a couple of big fires up here the last couple of
years, but that if you looked closely the trees were regenerating
from the base and in time the forest would replace itself, baring
more fires of course. I came across another blue tongued skink and
made sure he too got off the road. I moved him with my foot and he
was quite placid. But finally he got upset and gave me the trademark
open mouthed, blue tongued salute. Then he slithered off down the
hill into the bush much like a snake.
After
innumerable twists and turns, I descended to the hamlet of
Harrietville where I stopped at the Snowline Hotel for a beer. This is a hotel I saw last time and thought that it was interesting, but I didn't have time for a beer then. Thankfully inside they had an ATM so I could withdraw the cash I
needed to pay for the farm house.
Then
I retraced my route back over the mountain to Omeo and on to Buchan.
I arrived back at the farm about seven. I went for a walk around the
property and down the hill to the pond and then across a couple of
paddocks to the cows. I walked back as the sun set.
I
drove down the drive to the farm where Mary and Dennis live to pay
her the remainder of the money. They invited me in for a chicken and
roast vegetables dinner. For dessert we had a damper that Dennis had
made. Damper is a traditional bread made from just water and flour
apparently and then he adds nuts and fruits. It's a bit like
Christmas cake. Damien had made a couple on my WA trip. I had a good
evening talking to them and learning about their lives up here in the
foothills. Dennis is a jack of all trades, he has mined, done factory
work, construction and now farming. Mary is a retired teacher who
works as a CRT (supply teacher) in the area. She is currently doing a
long term grade 1-3 in Buchan Primary School with 12 kids. They told
me how Dennis original bought the property 35 years ago and cleared
the land and moved a house from town in pieces and rebuilt it here.
Great day.
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