gidddyup ....

one interesting aspect of putting yourself in all sorts of new circumstances is that you begin to see in yourself a thread of character traits which continue to color life. for instance, at this point it is very clear to me that i talk frantically when i am in awkward situations making things even more awkward, have a terrible disposition to clumsiness & somehow say/do just the right things to become the subject of everyone's jokes. although it sounds kinda sad i think it is the greatest gift of my journey so far. when you haven't faced the reality of who you are you miss the opportunity to laugh at yourself along the way.

i did make it through the wrath of goat mustering generally unscathed... but a few lessons to learn from, 1. never work for free 2. when grocery shopping with hand held wallet, refrain from placing it in the grocery bag after your purchase or there is a possibility you might throw it away 3. be very cautious when entering a goat pen, if they start making a huffing noise it is not a sneeze but a mating call & they will attempt to mount you when your back is turned.

this is a picture at the cattle station. the previous owner, Prince Mukramm Jah, the eighth Nizam of Hydrabad, collected old military equipment which was scattered around the property

these are the families creepy goats. i have lovingly entitled the black one: "Lucifer the Sex Offender"

Pygmy lawn mowers

skippy the kangaroo

our crew at Murchison House Station

guilty face Brahman cow
(this is the day we forgot to close the gate and found hundreds of cow eating the hay)

my beautiful decapitated bird friend

callum the bossman. he loves his rifles and thinks all muslims should be deported from austalia immediately

my mustering cow girl gear

leona and danny post mustering week

on our way north we stopped off in monkey mia & went sailing

i took over as the skipper. the staff look a little concerned

mAde it to the cattle ranch.....

and i thought cutting down palms with a saw was savage... but today i found myself building a barb wire fence in 113 degree weather in the middle of the outback. then there was the afternoon goat mustering where danny got rammed so hard it may have caused a fracture & the boss man said "if you want sympathy go look in the dictionary between shit & syphillis." this place is kinda rad but pretty much brutal. i don't know if i can make it the whole week.

uPDate: plant nursery

...still working at the woods plant nursery. this has been a very educational experience - i am thoroughly interested in learning more about horticulture. the cool thing about being in australia on a "casual labor" visa is that you get to try lots of different things. on monday, the three of us (me/danny/leona) will leave to go "woofing": working on a farm in exchange for food & accommodation (no money). we will be on a ranch 500 km north of here rounding up herds of goats while riding around on quads. this too sounds very educational.

our rain water drinking supply which cuts out all the time but tastes good.

flora.

this is the day that my boss called me a masochist for the pleasure he witnessed when i was sawing the plants down. now he gives me all the jobs which involve a saw.

spider shed converted into a studio, danny's side.

from the outside looking in.

my side.