We Got Some Country - last month in the Desert

OCT:  Well, the last month at Hamilton Downs.  Lots of tidying up and cleaning in preparation for the New Caretakers including finishing the vege garden with garden hose on the edges and clearing rocks from the 12km rough part of the driveway.  I dressed up in my best work shorts and glow vest for the occasion.   

It was getting hot, 40 degrees a couple of days, but luckily cooled down into the 20's for the arrival of the lovely Jennifer and Rob from the near the  NSW central coast.                                                     

And in case you missed it, here is the music clip we shot on the property of our song:  Get Some Country.

Indigo and Fuggles did some climbing up the hill bonding...

And Danny photographed a long jet stream and noticed a bright, shiningball of light underneath.  Weather balloon, U.F.O ? 





Danny, with a bit of help from Sammy, made a new access road for the tip truck and fire trailer with salvaged double gate.

 Monday, Oct 29 and it was time to leave Hamilton Downs Youth Camp.  It was in interesting 3 months with beautiful sunsets and views of the Namatjira-style landscape on our doorstep. 

We took it very slowly going out the 25km driveway and said our Goodbyes at the gate.

Country Music, Radio Interviews & Fuggles arrives!

Sep:  The month starts off with a visit from our Greek nomad friends, Stella and Angelo from Melbourne (who we met in Karumba).  Lots of dog-love; great food cooked by Stella and a walk to the Fish Hole in the national park.                                                           

We finished off the vege house:  "Veg-topia" with shade cloth and bird mesh and got some coppers logs from the chuck out area to weight the edge down.               Summer arrived with some hot, dry days over the mid 30's and we got creative with a blue, plastic container filled with water for some relief.                                                                    
I got sick for the first time on our adventures and so Danny did a solo trip into Alice for  supplies.  (he did a great shop)

Thanks to a contact from an old mate, we had an interview on the local indigenous radio station, CAAMA and another the same day on the ABC.   We sung our latest country song:  Get Some Country and talked about The Adventures of Keith.             

We also sent off a link to a short doco we made:  A Dog's Breaksfast:  Living with Megaesophagus (on you tube) to Gil, our house sitting host from Millaa Millaa, Nth Qld.  She surprised us by saying that she had lost her job at the jail (Cambell Newman public service cuts) and would we like Fuggles (mini foxie / chihuahua), as she didn't know where they might be going to live and work.  We had been seriously thinking of getting another shelter dog when we went to Grafton at the end of the year.  Danny especially had really bonded with Fuggles and Indigo already knew her too.                                                                                           

So, we said yes and she flew in this week from Cairns.  Didn't take long for her to settle in to her new environment:  a big change from the rainy Atherton Tablelands to the NT desert.               Another surprise was...she is on heat (the vet advised Gil to let this happen once before getting fixed) and she has been very amorous to her new sister, Indigo.  Only took them a day to suss each other out, but now they are happily playing - making the most of the substantial height and weight differences. 

The dynamic has changed with the arrival of Fuggles on The Adventures of Keith and we have exactly 1 month left here at Hamilton Downs Youth Camp.