Keith has an extended stay in Mt Isa

We arrived in Mt Isa 20th July and stayed at Danny's cousin Anthony and Grace's house.  It had a lovely deck out the back built by Grace's late father, centered around a big fig tree called "Treebeard".  Indigo had 2 Llapso Apso x Poodles to play with...the grey one, Hermoine was in for a game, but the cream one didn't want a bar of it.
And we got to meet their beautiful daughter, Poppy who was a delight! 

Danny and Anthony had a bit of a night on it, catching up. The next day, Danny remembered why it's not a good idea to say Yes to spirits in large quantities!
We spent the next 6 days eating Grace's wonderful food, meeting The Family, hanging out in town, going to the local Rugby League final and catching up with Danny's uncle  Phil.  Danny also demo-ed their chook pen, ready for a new look.
We had only intended to be in The Isa a few days, but Keith had other plans.  He was making some strange noises and so we took him off to a mechanic recommended by Anthony.  After some inspections, Keith got his wheel hubs repaired, including new machined collets. 
On Thursday 26, he was ready to go and we headed off down the highway...
We got about 50km from Camoweal when we got a flat tyre.  Luckily it was one of the outer, doubles on the back and we could limp into town.  There was an RACQ repairer behind the caravan park where we stayed and so we got ourselves another truck tyre fitted at 8am the next morning.

That's one thing I love about Keith, no matter what, he just keeps on going! 

Longford & Glenholme Station Photos

Here are the photos I couldn't upload from the computer here at Hamilton Downs Youth Camp.  (75km west of Alice Springs)

Danny and Lindsay taking shots of the baby eagles out near one of the bores.

Sally gives me a lesson in gate hitching and Indigo stands her ground with their black cat.

More work on the shed, using the cattle truck to transport the sheets of iron roofing.

Sammy's tab curtains for the spare room, using some donated fabric.

Sally and Lindsay's other station, Glenholme near MacKinlay.

Our anniversary desert and dinner was at Walkabout Creek Hotel, famous for being in the first Crocodile Dundee movie.

Sammy and Danny write a country song: "Longford Station"

July 14:  Danny and I worked in the garden and on the shed and finished our song:  "Longford Station".  We sung it for our hosts that night and they were very happy - Sally had a tear in her eyes and Lindsay said no one had ever written a song about Longford.  (While we have been at Hamilton Downs Youth Camp, near Alice Springs, Danny has put together a video clip with photos from our 2 week stay.  I can't upload more photos at the moment, but will update later on)

July 15:  The morning was spent working on the shed and cleaning the freezers and in the arvo we all set off to see and photograph the eagles.  There were two big babies in the nest.  We also checked on the bores and Sally gave me a lesson in gate hitching.  Yes city folk, there is a knack to it!  That night we watched a Johnny Cash doco we had brought with us.  Lindsay was getting inspired by us playing music and had started to muck around with one of Danny's guitars.

July 16, 17 & 18:  The next few days Danny spent working on the shed - finishing the rest of the perlons and starting the roofing iron sheeting.  It was a big job (and a big shed!) but he and Lindsay had really knocked over most of it.  Meanwhile,  I cleaned the kitchen cupboards, did some cooking, gave Sally an eBay lesson and made some tab curtains for one of the spare bedrooms.

July 19:  Our 14th Anniversay!  We did some work in the morning - Danny on the shed and I made a re-inforced material bag for our solar panel.  Then after lunch we all set off (well, Indigo stayed at Longford)  to Lindsay and Sally's other property "Glenholme", about 120km away.  It's near the town of  MacKinlay, famous for the Walkabout Creek Hotel from the movie, Crocodile Dundee.  First, we checked the bores, said hello to the curious young bulls and then had a look around the rustic homestead.  There was a big pile of miscellaneous rusting objects:  cars, bottles, bullock wagon parts...We had some drinks (not Sally and Lindsay as they were still on the dry July, the troopers) and then went off to the pub for dinner.  Our hosts shouted us a lovely meal and the chef had made us a special dessert.  We headed back to Longford with full stomachs, having had a great Anniversay and last day. 

Thanks Sally & Lindsay and Longford Station for a fantastic two weeks of learning new skills, great food and musical inspiration. 



A Hay Shed and Gardening at Longford Station

 Week 1:  We parked Keith outside the WOOFERS Shed, with a view of the Sturt Desert Peas.  We spent our first night sitting on the homestead verandah, getting to know our hosts, Lindsay and Sally Allan.  The property had once been owned by poet and writer Dame Mary Gilmour  and consists of 22 000acres, now with 2000 head of cattle.
Next dy we got stuck into work around 7:30am - Danny helping Lindsay with the new hay shed which he had been waiting 3 years to complete; and  I did a clean of the Woofers amenities and then got started in the gardens. 
Over the course of the week, Danny got a handle on stick welding and spent long days out at the new hay shed.  I watered the gardens, cooked and learnt how to retain water for the vegies and trees using cow dung and hay.

We went for a walk on Tuesday into the dry river bed.  We were looking for fossils...and we found two.  A small shell and a larger imprint of a mollusc in the round moon rocks. 
Our hosts and the food was great - and there was lots of it.  Sally and Lindsay were doing Dry July, but we had a couple of beers / wines at the end of each day.

Some friends of theirs came to visit in their 2 caravans with their 2 dogs.  Indigo wasn't that interested in the bounding exuberance of "Rocky"...
I got inspired while working in the garden on Thursday and started to compose a song.  Danny helped out with some lyrics and some of the chords and put some harp to it. 
On Friday night, we performed for the Allans and friends with our listeners joining in singing some of the tunes.

What a great week 1 at Longford Station.