Late one night I stopped at the Illabo hotel and bar as I spotted a nice safe place to pitch my tent. I guess it was a cheeky request and understandably the owner told me to pitch it at the park across the road! "My name is Vean, just like Gene with a V. I wish you could camp here but it's best across the road in the park."
But before I could leave two men called Simon and Angus argued about which one would buy me a drink! And then they each sponsored me my next meal!
Before I left Vean also cooked me a sausage roll and invited me to return for coffee in the morning. Simon told me that Fran Palmer, his mother in law and her husband Dennis, owners of Palmer Ford dealership in Cootamundra would be willing to host me the following night.
I had a comfortable night at the park, all be it I was occasionally awakened by passing trucks for I was barely twenty metres from the highway. While having breakfast at the picnic table that I had camped beside an elderly couple stopped to say hello. I asked them if they were on a day trip out. The mans wife seemed to be more concerned than him for she had a sad glint in her beady eyes.
"Well I hope so. I am going for a prostate test and I will know the results in a few days time,"answered the man. I remembered the sign that I saw on the back of the toilet door in Darlington Point junction which said that more men die from prostate cancer than women do of breast cancer and how many people falsely believe that it's a young mans disease. I wished this couple good luck and I would be thinking of them for the results the following Wednesday.
Then I went across the road to the Illabo hotel for the coffee the owner had mentioned the previous night.
"You must be the boss!" I joked to the woman who opened the door.
"My names Di. Of course I am, don't you know the wife is always the boss!"
"So where is your slave?"
"Vean is out collecting wood as we have a busy night here. We have about eighty meals to cook and the hotel will be full because Richard Webb is in town for a 'cutting loose' seminar. So there will be a lot of grog and tucker (beer and food) consumed here tonight."
I asked what that was all about and it seems he is a famous Aussie stockman (cowboy) who teaches people how to 'cut' a specific sheep or a cow out of a herd without causing a stampede. Apparently, cutting loose is also a sport.
I remembered the previous week being impressed when I saw a few stockmen control a sheep drove. Well the reality was that the real work was being done by their Kelpie sheep dogs. Transfixed, I watched closely and I didn't believe they were being told what to do, indeed many people have confirmed to me that good Kelpies know their job well. They are acutely aware of livestock behavioural characteristics.
The dogs just jumped on and off the ATV ledge they were being transported on. How times have changed from the wild west movies that I used to watch, for here it seemed to me that while the dogs did the work that the ranch hands were on their mobile phones and probably scrolling Facebook. Two Kelpies jumped off their vehicle and ran to the back of the sheep to move them forward. Then one returned to his shelf, for it was obviously a one dog job at that stage. Then he rejoined the other to escort the sheep from the side while another spotted a breakaway sheep and soon rounded it back into the fold. I finished my coffee and fruit cake and said goodbye to Lady Di as I called the friendly lady in the hotel. Back on the road I continued walking past vast fields of yellow canola plants. At first glance I thought they were flower fields. Large flocks of Galah birds flew along the road and occasionally feasted on dead kangaroos. I also enjoyed seeing but mostly hearing many cockatoo's as they chirped from shady trees that I walked under that 20C warm day. It was September first, the first day of Spring here but for me it was more like a hot summers day in Ireland. Like the previous day I climbed up some nice and gentle rolling hills which worked me a bit more than normal. It was a nice change from the flat Nullarbor and Hay plains which I have walked across in previous months. I stopped to make myself a lunch of noodles and tomato sandwiches in a nice small town park in Bethungra. So many small towns and villages have such parks which are often maintained by voluntary groups like their local Rotary or Lions Club. Some make ideal unofficial camping sites. In my opinion, Australia is the best country in the world for camping. Next door to the park a sign on a backyard full of junk warned people to keep out. It read: This fence has been electrified by a 36 volt supply. You have been warned. Enter at your own risk of injury.
Just before Cootamundra I was met by Simon, the man who the previous night had arranged for me to stay at his in laws. It's a small town of around 2,500 people. Dennis and Fran Palmer are the owners of the Palmer Ford car dealership. I left my cart in the showroom and we drive to their 950 acre farm. There we had a great chat in the company of Ted, Frans 89 year old father.
He had us laughing all night, so much that I took a rest day. After breakfast Ted then continue with his yarns. As he played with his three great grandchildren he said.
"Children are so innocent, they will believe anything you say. I remember when my son was in school. Well one of the boys there kept boasting that he could do whatever he wants because his father was the school principal. So, I told my young lad that the next time he says that to him to tell him that....
"So what if your dads the principal. Mine used to be the pope... And that was after he won Wimbledon!" Thanks so much to the Palmer family for a lovely rest day!
Yesterday I was motivated to get up early and was walking at 7:30am 😀 I walked at a steady pace and arrived in Binalong at 8pm with 51 kilometres behind me. Today I had an equally early start and finished at Yass Service Centre. I am waiting for my mate Phil Essam to arrive 😀 I am taking a short break from my walk as I have some special 'must see friends' in Canberra and Dubbo which are not on my route. I also need to catch up on my writing and some other commitments. When I am ready to return to the road I will continue from this exact location where I finished today and walk towards Sydney via Bowral.
Bondi Beach will be my third continent completed on this global walk, and eight continental crossing in my world run and world walk travels 😀👣👣
My great friend and webmaster Scott Richards suggested that I ask my followers to submit questions in a questions and answers format interview. I already have quite a few good ones. Please do not send me messages by Facebook messenger as I have problems with it and it decimates my battery. Please email your questions, how many pairs of shoes etc to: theworldjog@gmail.com
Please remember my walk message: Life is precious and early cancer screening saves lives.
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