"Im flat out like a turtle in a race......"

Greetings! :) I have another week of wonderful information to share with you all! I keep learning things faster and faster as I become more comfortable here ...I have a feeling I am going to have to start writing in my blog and in a journal to keep remembering it all! You will need a least three cups of coffee to get through this one …I should have written it as a Part 1 and Part 2. J

Last weekend I got a taste of what it will be like come "Ag Fest" time. For a little background info- Ag Fest is the fair-like festival (minus all of the rides) filled with venues, live music, 4-wheel driving track, equine center, testing area for new farm equipment, clothing, crafts, and you can watch sheep dogs show off their talent. The rural youth members and other volunteers live on site in dorm like buildings for a week before the Ag Fest getting ready for it and then through the weekend (5-8 of May) to actually run the festival. Anyway last weekend I stayed on site for a volunteer weekend called a "working bee" here and we did things to prepare as well. I helped build paddock fence for the horses where I had a blast using a hand saw and realized how out of shape my muscles are. :) I also go to play in an excavator -- one of the boys taught me how to drive it, put me in pile of dirt, jumped out, and said I was free to play all I want. I was great at digging holes and not so good at leveling dirt. After driving the excavator I got to drive around in a tractor- I was much more comfortable in that seat AND the driving is just like at home versus driving in a car is obviously a bit different. Sunday they took a tree down on site that had been labeled dangerous --it was HUGE! They cut a wedge out with a chain saw to ensure it fell the right direction and pushed it over with the excavator. It was so loud but super fun to watch! I tried to get it on video and my battery died. :(  Sunday I managed to get into a wall plaster fight while we were putting up siding and a few people painting joined in on the fun as well.  Good thing it was raining so that the plaster all over my face didn't dry too much. The members told me not to worry, it was an "Australian mud mask!" 

At one point throughout the weekend a man for a local newspaper came and interviewed a few of us – He asked me the difference in our organization and theirs. I would say the biggest difference I have noticed is that our program is called 4H and for 8-18 year olds and here the club is for middle-aged people.  Listening to the other members talk about Rural Youth gave me a chance to learn a lot more about their organization. It is also pretty amazing to me that a committee within the club can organize and run something as big as AgFest so effectively in a laid-back and fun manner. In three days the rural youth club keep 80000 people happy getting up at 5 am to set up for the day and sometimes staying up well into the night to get things ready for the next day all the while keeping over a hundred volunteers housed and happy for the week while they are helping as well. They have competitions as well at a club region, and state level during the year. Competitions could include a young farmer competition, shooting, best new member , etc. They offer training opportunities within the club such as getting your ATV, tractor driving, forklift, and chainsaw license etc for a better rate.  If a member chose to get an additional license not offered, the club will provide up to $200 of your training course as well. To join the club it is just $25 a year and to me you will make all of that money back and more with the benefits rural youth will bring. In addition, the social life within the club is a bonus as well. Everyone seems real laid back and accepting, whether young or old, coming from rural backgrounds or not. 

Anyway, basically another great weekend in the books. I gained the new nickname of Kansas, mastered making instant “hot drinks”, nearly had milk come out my nose from laughing so hard due to a guy singing “I’m a Little Teapot,”  learned the exercise of choice within the club is star jumps, had a joy ride in the back of a bloke’s ute, was introduced to the idea of “cracking a whip”, and I also drove for the first time around site and when someone approached me coming down the middle of the drive I panicked and immediately went to the right side of the road – OOPS…..luckily the oncoming driver knew that I was from America and went around me on the left hand side with a smile. ;) I have had another driving session since then actually on the road and passed with flying colors so no worries. Everyone drives manual vehicles here and it is quite hilly so I have learned to get it into a low gear at the bottom of the hill and not try to drop it to a lower gear in the middle of the hill….that was a bit of a challenge trying not to roll backwards all of the way back down the hill when I killed it. J

On Sunday evening I changed families and moved to the northern part of Tassie with Matt and Lisa. They live in the town of Railton, smaller than Peabody, which had cute little shops and the small town feel which I enjoyed. We had some take away (food to go) from the local café and Lisa ordered me a chicken burger that came with the works. Coming from a beef family I wasn’t sure of a chicken burger- I knew my father wouldn’t approve but I tried it anyways. J It came loaded with beet root, egg, bacon, and the normal fixings. The bacon is more like our Canadian bacon and the beet root I took off. The beet root is a big food here but I have to admit I am not much of a fan. Lisa and Matt live on an old milking farm and immediately I fell in love with the wrap-around porch that overlooks green pastures and has a view of the mountains in the background. It was very peaceful…..except when the frogs came for a visit. ;)

It rained the first few days of the week but I went to work with Matt who drives the country school bus (which looks like our charter buses) and works for a horse exporter. The bus is privately owned and picks up public/private, elementary, middle, and college level students from several different communities and from several rural stops. Each time a student gets on the bus they pay about a $1. It is much different than our busing system in the states. After we were done with the morning route we went to the horse export center and cleaned horse stalls, fed, watered, and organized things for a new group of about 15 horses to come in from the mainland for the night.  I picked up a new way of recycling tires as feed basins as well. J

Tuesday I visited Sheffield, “the town of murals.” First I stopped at a second-hand shop, picked up a few couches for the Ag-Fest site, but decided to turn down the second-hand awesome pairs of underwear that were offered. J Within the community each year, around Easter time several people read a poem and interpret it in a mural. The murals are displayed in a park for a year to be voted on until the winner is chosen and a new contest begins. Around town, murals can be seen depicting moments or people in association with the town of Sheffield as well. There is even a man who walks around town with an Alpaca and you can take a picture with it if you give him a bit of money. J Fun bit of information – there is a store in Sheffield that is a recommended stop- the marble store. I walked in for a visit and noticed a book with Wichita, KS on the back of it. Apparently Wichita has an exceptional marble making factory and the lady that owns the store learns marble making techniques in Wichita about once a year!  I spent the afternoon with Lisa’s Dad and he took me site-seeing. I went to a Lake Barrington where national rowing competitions are held and also where one of the dam’s are that works for hydroTasmania and supplies electricity to the state. I have learned that Tasmania is a very efficient state and environmentally aware. They have a lot of natural parks preserving the natural state of being and they get hot water from solar power or electricity from hydroplants. Wind farms are becoming a thing here but apparently people complain about them because of the noise.  Like I said earlier all beef produced in Tasmania is also natural. Forestry is a big money maker and typically as soon as trees are taken down, they are replanted to be used again.  The ‘greenies’ have some power here and a lot of Tasmania is reserved for National Parks. Some towns that have become ghost towns have been bought out to be plowed and the land used to plant trees. It was very neat to drive around and see where old driveways and streets used to be.   Anyway imagine that -I got a bit off subject ---- back to the Lake – there is a section of the Lake that is calm enough for water skiing but it is so populated during the summer season that you must all ski in a clockwise circle and that is it. After visiting the Lake, Lisa’s Dad and I went to TasMAZia and the village of the lower crackpot. It is a maze of trees trimmed but of course higher than a human could see and you walk around trying to find the village of the lower crackpot and other neat buildings. It was pouring down rain but it was still very interesting and good fun. I even saw an area of the mini village that resembled yellow brick road and scene from the Wizard of Oz. J  I did at one point go through the spook house…mind you it was a “mini” house. ….So there I was practically duck waddling through this house in the pitch dark with my hands in front of me trying to find my way through. I smacked several walls but there really wasn’t a way for me to turn around. Lisa’s Dad thoughtfully yelled from the other end so I could find my way after he heard me struggling for a bit of time. J

Thursday it finally quit raining which made for a beautiful drive to the West Coast and Savage River. Lisa’s brother -in-law Craig took me to his work – He works for CAT but twice a week he goes to the mines to be sure their equipment on-site is working properly. After an initial tour of CAT we went about on an hour drive up around the mountain to get to the mine site. The roads were narrow and constantly winding but after Craig told me about his experiences on the road with fog and black ice I knew he was very experiences so I relaxed and had fun with it – except I did go for the “oh shit” handle with two hands when we rounded a curve and four semis were one after the other hogging the narrow road. It helped that we had a radio as well to hear if there was a “live vehicle” coming our way.  At the mine site I put on my hard hat, safety glasses, and vest and started my tour. The first thing I got to do when I arrived was drive a simulator that they use to train/test drivers of the equipment. They can simulate rain, snow, brakes going out, the vehicle starting on fire, etc. I did manage to start the dump truck on fire and run it over a cliff – but only because they told me I was being too cautious and I need to try to work faster J After driving the simulator I was taken out to ride in an actual dump truck. The truck hauled almost 200 tons and held over 20,000 gallons of petrol (which only lasted 24 hours). The best part was that the lady I rode with had an iphone and she connected to an American radio station. J The workers on-site work for five days – 12 hours each day- and then have five days off – and so on and so forth. If you do not have a family it is a pretty ideal set up due to great pay and the rotational work. The ride home was beautiful as it had started to sprinkle leaving a large rainbow, a beautiful sunset, and a stop in the town of “penguin” to see the town icon- A huge penguin in the town square.

Friday Lisa was able to get the day off and we traveled to Cradle Mountain. Apparently there are only 80 days out of the year that it does not rain at Cradle Mountain and I was there on a day it didn’t rain AND it was clear. Some people have to rely on postcards for the pictures that I got to take with my own camera because it was so nice out. Lisa drove a little more cautious that Craig on the way up the mountain but we enjoyed jamming out to American country and talking. When we arrived we passed the tourist center only realizing we had to go back and get on a bus to get to our destination. We decided to take a half day walk around Dove Lake – a lake at the bottom of the mountain. Everything went smoothly for us and we had a nice treat at the end of the walk as well. J After a good lunch at the café on the mountain we rushed to Davenport to catch the national basketball tournament for 18 year olds which would be college age kids here.  We grabbed a coffee at the concession stand before going into the game and I about died when they handed it to me in a real coffee mug without a lid and allowed us to enter the gym with it. All I could think of was that Mr. Savage my old high school AD would have a fit if I spilled it. Everything about the basketball was pretty similar to ours except I found that the referees did not call near as many fouls as they would at home. It was a little more rough style of play.  Overall it was very exciting to be around a ton of people my height and to watch basketball. I felt right at home ….I couldn’t help myself but to buy some Australian basketball shorts and a hoodie. I was lucky to find an American style pair of shorts b/c they do not wear their basketball shorts we do in America. The length is quite a bit shorter.

Saturday Matt, Lisa, and I went to a cheese factory and yet another chocolate factory. I tell you what, they like their sweets down here and I understand why. The cheese factory was very interesting and we got to taste about ten different kinds of cheese. They had a few unique ones with wasabi and peppercorn in them that were pretty tasty. Of course I have nothing to complain about with the chocolate factory either – especially the hot chocolate they made me filled with fresh liquid milk chocolate. J After these two visits we made a trip to the supermarket to get groceries for the family BBQ we had planned for the evening. Matt and I were not much help in the supermarket because Matt tried to suggest that we play hockey and he also tried to drive the cart sideways. Lisa had to milk cows so after Matt and I had been obnoxious she left us to cook super for eleven people. I think she was a bit nervous we were going to mess it up. Successfully we prepared a potato bake, marinated chicken, wallaby, and steak, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. The wallaby (marinated kangaroo) was probably my favorite meat. It was very tender! It was very nice to have the large family atmosphere with the nieces, nephews, parents, etc. because as much as I love it here I do miss those family times at home. J

And as always –a bit of random information – flat out, naked, stuffed means tired. “Do a skid” means to peel out. They say me where we would say my. Good gear is a frequent saying.  “That was gold” means that was good stuff or very nice. Coolers have a whole different word I can’t spell. I get teased for saying trash cans. Napkins are not what you wipe your face with they are for sanitary purpose. J Chooks are chickens. They have a form of the bachelor called “a farmer wants a wife.”  They have a UTE BUSTER in October similar to the Country Stamped in Kansas and that is when I will plan my next visit. J