Wintering in the Netherlands aboard Taipan was
not a particularly inviting prospect so we decided to return to W.A.
Australia, and our old home town, Albany.
Before
flying out on the 23rd of November we spent a couple of days in
Amsterdam. Blessed with perfect weather we were able to stroll the
streets enjoying the history and architecture and managed a couple of
landmark Museums. Still so much to see there.
We
have a farm near Albany in need of TLC since the harvesting of the Eucalyptus forests early in 2016. The resultant destruction is heart
breaking. Not a single fence line standing, and dams and water
infrastructure are all destroyed. As a financial exercise is was also
miserable. The paddocks which were painstaking cleared 70 or 80
years ago are now wall to wall tree stumps and rocks. The process of
rehabilitating the property will be slow and frustrating as we wait for
the stumps to rot enough to justify the cost of munching machines to
mulch them. Meanwhile the cows will just have to walk round them.
First
job on the list has been to commence house renovations and some
improvements whilst assessing the process for re-fencing and providing
all new water infrastructure for stock. We have been flat out building, tiling, painting and gardening. A far cry from the live-aboard life.
Well especially the gardening and lawn mowing .
A
very large bulldozer has been round the 5km boundary and cleaned up the
regrowth and scrub. Strainer posts have been rammed, so we are ready to
start fencing.
The next major undertaking will
be the purchase and installation of a solar pump and panels at the
river, in conjunction with the installation of storage tanks and several kilometers of
underground pipe. Really not unlike boat stuff, just the scale is
different!
Earlier in the season we had a
couple of unwelcome visitors. Firstly a Crow insisted on waking us with
his window banging antics at 5 am and then a couple of tiger snakes
visited on separate occasions. Far too close to the house for comfort or
safety, David made short work of them with a good wack with a piece of
poly pipe. Effective snake dispatcher.
The
summer weather has been lovely. Not too hot in this part of Australia.
Rarely over 30 degrees. We have had some pretty cool days and even some
steady rains to revitalize the pastures. Catching up with family and
friends is the best part and we hope to do a lot more of that before we
head back to Taipan.
Time is flying and we
still have lots to do here but at the moment we think we are on track
for our return to Holland on March 23rd.
