Shearing time

Obviously you can’t go to Australia without seeing some sheep! – we were lucky enough to stay with Peter and Karen on their farm in Tantanoola.

On the way there Karen suggested we visit the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier – it certainly is blue!

It’s a volcanic crater and the water is the water table and supply for the town. It is only blue for half the year – something to do with water temperature they think.

We also looked at the local sinkhole which was made into a garden with a little lake at the bottom in the 19th century. It then fell into neglect as the water table dropped and was basically a dump in a car park by the 1970s. It has now been lovingly restored to its former glory.

Sink holes are common in this porous limestone.

Then we finally made it to the farm! And the shearing was well underway.

Peter explained about classing the wool into different qualities do to with fineness and strength

There were 3 shearers and a sweeper – a peripatetic team going from farm to farm. They get paid per sheep and can do up to 250 sheep each per day! The sheep wait in nearby pens. (See top photo)

This is Emilia, a rare female shearer, it’s her first season so she’s not on 200 sheep yet – it’s a tough job as a sheep can weigh 85kg.

First they go into the pen, grab a sheep wrestling it onto its back holding it’s forelegs up and drag it into position.

Then they shear off the belly wool as that’s not the good stuff

Then the whole fleece is shorn off in one piece

We both had a go at throwing the bundled fleece onto the table to be sorted. It has to be thrown dirty side up – it’s just like airing a quilt.

The much lighter and thinner-looking sheep are then ready to be taken back into the field

The dogs wait around patiently until they are needed – they are lovely friendly dogs and bought as trained sheep dogs for anything between $7000 to $20000!

Karen showed us another more recent part of the farm: the wind farm! This is the first one we have seen in Australia and it stands on the dunes behind lake Bonnie providing clean energy for the grid.

Peter also introduced us to his beautiful Hereford cattle – completely grass fed in open fields and he has his own bulls. The cows were with their own calves and the bullocks ran boisterously around.

These are the cattle that cured a vegan who told Peter she would eat meat because she could see his cows were happy!

We were completely spoiled with a delicious dinner and excellent wine -thank you so much for a very enjoyable stay.

Also thank you to our mutual friend Liz who had brought us together in Trieste earlier this year.