Making lemonade...

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

-Unknown

     I am writing this second Australian post from a cushy hotel room in Perth! I left the station yesterday and am feeling so good about that decision! I'm still very happy that I went and was able to have so many good experiences in my month there.  

Like seeing all the kangaroos! Now, kangaroos are seen as pests by the station owners but I still think they are adorable and love seeing them everywhere!

My favorite times on the station were when I was able to get out and help with actual station work instead of watching the kids.  Because the station is in the middle of the desert, the only way the cattle survives in by having wells and troughs throughout the land for them to get water.  This also means that the station owner has to constantly go out and check to make sure these troughs are filled and the water pump is working.  I was able to go on a couple of "mill runs" as they are called to check the water.  Another really cool thing about the desert is that things do not rot and deteriorate as they do where I am from.  So things like this timber sheep paddock that was built in the 30's is still in almost perfect condition. 

I also got to hang out with this handsome bull and see some of the wild horses and donkeys.

Not really sure what the real name of these are but the family calls them breakaways. Its amazing how many different colors are in these rocks.

So an old couple decided they wanted to live in the middle of nowhere, so they brought this camper up and built the veranda area, planted a garden, and started putting in solar panels for power.  Then they just up and left.  This place looks like someone left for the day and will just be back.  So strange and eerie.

Most of the water is pumped to the surface using windmills.   I cannot get enough of the red dirt, blue sky, and windmills!

I was able to go mustering one day.  Mustering involves gathering all the cattle up and walking them to a place where you have set up fences to gather them in.  In movies mustering looks so exciting, I can tell you it is in fact extremely boring.  Cattle are not fast walking animals so we got to drive in front of the herd at a snails pace for 3 hours.  Its lucky that there was beautiful scenery to stare at.

The next day though I helped process the cattle.  That involved weighing the cattle, cutting the horns, putting ear tags in, and separating based on size and gender.  I was so excited to be able to try my had at putting the ear tags in, just like piercing ears for not so pretty earrings.

The station owners no longer brand their cattle but instead use this tool to mark the cattle's ears. So each station has a registered shape and placement.   The station I was at had the V shape at the top and the other shape at the bottom of the ear.

How's this for a stick bug? Or as my sister put it a branch bug?

These should be up higher in the post but these are the vehicles used for mustering.  They can easily drive into the bush to gather up the cattle.

This cute little guy is named Moose.  His mother is unfortunately nowhere to be found so he is going to hang out on the families lawn until he is big enough to go out by himself. 

 The room on the right has been my home for the past month and the room on the right is the "classroom."

Up until this point putting the ear tags in was definitely the highlight.  That is until a helicopter came!!!!!!! So the helicopter is at the station as part of the governments bio-security team to deal with invasive species.  In the US that usually means a weed or zebra mussels being moved to different bottles of water.  Here those invasive species are camels and donkeys.  So the helicopter is there to do aerial shooting, as in a guy with a gun sits out the passenger side door taking out any camels and donkeys they find.  In one day they can find over 200 donkeys and camels.  

I was lucky enough to get a ride in the helicopter!

We only went up for about 15 minutes but it was an incredible 15 minutes!  

Photos just cannot do this place justice!

After the helicopter ride I was on a high and had second thoughts about leaving.  Then the 7 year old got upset and threw a plastic lawn chair at me and all those second thoughts disappeared. 

But I will always have the fantastic memories of kangaroos, ear tags, and helicopter rides!

 And these views.

For the next two days, I am exploring Perth and Fremantle.  Sunday night I will meet my new host family!  So I am relaxing and enjoying my time alone.