Portland

We must apologize for our recent lack of postings. We have spent a delightful week with Lynda's rellies, Dan, Lisa and Jen, on their thirteen acre farm just outside of Portland, Victoria. This side trip took us away from caravan parks and tourist attractions and allowed us to be in a home and live a country life. We have enjoyed a variety of experiences. We attended and helped out at Jen's Gymkhana. Craig found himself in charge of an Aussie barbeque at the concession stand. A bit of a scary proposition, but there was a doctor close at hand and to date, we have not heard of anyone coming down with food poisoning. We enjoyed watching Jen manouevre Possum through the different events, and we were impressed with how well she rides. We also helped Lisa's friends make sausages from scratch with their own beef. It was fun, especially taste testing the various recipes. Another highlight was the May family cattle drive. Lisa and Jen saddled up their horses, Tex and Possum, and herded the cows from the front paddock to the back paddock. Dan, Craig and Lynda provided ground support. It all went off without a hitch, probably because the cows were delighted with their new food source. It wasn't all fun and games for Craig. He and Dan got out the shovels and cleared the storm water system. It would have gone much quicker if there hadn't been the matter of the freshly punctured water line in that same ditch. No worries mate. Lisa made a quick trip to town, got the necessary parts, and we only had to flush the toilet with a bucket for a few hours. While all this was going on outside, Lynda enlisted Jen's help and they made cheesecake (from scratch) to have with dinner that night. Garden fresh vegetables, homegrown beef and strawberry chessecake. What more could one want? Finally, we must mention the wildlife encounters. We found koalas a hundred metres from the house in trees over the driveway, Jen impressed us by catching the same Blue Tongue lizard twice over the week, and we spent hours watching the many species of marine life in Dan's salt water reef tank. It is surprising what appears from one minute to the next and the difference between day and night is huge. Then there was Pancho, the adorable, family dog, who was both cute and cuddly. All in all, we are very grateful to our gracious hosts. We had a wonderful time getting to know them and will miss them tremendously.

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