Australia with the Windahl family: Day 18 Sheep shearing and kangaroos

We had perhaps a too early start, considered there was the party yesterday. But the sheep shearing is something we did not want to miss, and Brendan had arranged so we could go and see when Clem's neighbor sheared the sheep. It was nearly 30 degrees already at 8:30, but the shearing had been going on since early in the morning. The shed was really warm, but the shearers worked in full speed. We talked to the lady who managed the work in the shed, and they had a little under 2000 sheep. They had started to separately cut away wool around the eyes and tail of the sheep, this is called crutching. They then went on shearing the whole fleece the next day or afterwards. Yesterday they sheared about 950 sheep, but the whole fleece take more time to remove. The best wool was extremely soft and dry, compared to most of the sheep we have in Sweden. The newly sheared wool from them feels much coarser and slightly greasy. The reason is that these sheep are Merino sheep, and you really could feel the difference in quality. It was also fascinating to see how fast the sorting process was, the two ladies who did it could in seconds feel and see if the wool was first class or to be sorted in any other fraction. One of the shearers was also second best in the state of South Australia, which you can know since there are competitions.

Shearing

Sorting

Fine merino wool

A bale of sheared wool, 950 sheep

Sheep for shearing

We continued to Clem´s son's farm, called Emu Rocks. The actual Emu Rocks is a peace of rock with very interesting formations, and it used to be a place where the aboriginal people camped. From the small rocks you could see vast fields, and it was a kind of landscape I have never seen before. Surprisingly enough there was also a piece of plastic in place, so you sleigh down the rocks in one place, much the same way that we sleigh downhill on snow! It was also on our way up to Emu Rocks that we saw the first kangaroos! We scared up about five kangaroos close to the homestead.

Emu rocks

Formation on Emu Rocks

The plastic sleigh

View

Next stop was on a field to look at two huge headers and then we went to see the biggest field, or paddock as they say here, that Kieran had. Micke has been working on this paddock a lot, The Jubilee Pond paddock. It was really huge, it covers an area more than twice the size of what Micke farms today totally. We then drove to Myall Glin, the farm, and on the way we had five big red kangaroos jumping along the road for a long bit while we drove. Wonderful to see them, but it was not easy to get god pictures of them. Sadly enough nobody lives in the house at Myall Glin now. It has not been inhabited for about five years. We looked at a shearing shed that Micke helped building, but it was a bit sad to walk around the house when it looked so abandoned. Micke could show us where his room was anyway, and we got to see a lizard luring around in the patio.

Markus headed for big machinery

Dry land

Micke and Brendan

Outside his former room

For marking

Micke

Brendan then found the way to an old homestead that now only had the ruin of a house partly underground, it was for food storage. On the site we also saw a really big bird, an eaglehawk, the biggest bird of prey in Australia. The tour then was finished and we went back to Kimba, over a really big paddock and along very long straights on dirt roads. A fantastic morning out! After lunch we started to do the final packning, finding ways to pack wine in a risk free way for example. It was around 45 degrees outdoor, I had really been worried about such high temperatures. Being indoor with AC works well though, and also walking around the corner from our room down to the pub to have a cup of coffee. I also walked across the street to have a look at the hardware shop.

Food storage cellar

Tree at Emu Rocks

The last night in Australia was spent in the wonderful pub again, we had a few drinks and dinner with the traveling company. As usually on the eve of a day of travel I have dual feelings. I both want to go and want to stay. It is the same no matter if it is about leaving home or leaving to come home. I feel thankful that I can travel, since it is a fantastic thing to do, and I also try to think of all practicalities so we can have as smooth and easy journey as possible. But before we leave we do get to see the way back to Adelaide, and we will have a lunch break, most likely in Port Augusta.