I recently got back to Melbourne from a 5-day adventure to "the boonies" (a word I got to teach to my new Australian friends), travelling to Port Rickaby Australia, in the state of South Australia (I bet you didn't know Australia had states; there are 6 of them!) My boyfriend Mick, who I met in Vietnam 3 months ago, grew up in this farm town herding cows, harvesting cereals, sheering sheep, dirt-biking on the beach, and chasing kangaroos. To those of you who didn't know about Mick, I apologize. I figured it needed to stand the test of time (at least 2 months) before I announced it to my worldwide audience. For those of you who are interested, here is what Chuck Woolrey would say about him if we were on The Love Connection: "Mick is a 28 year old pharmacist, who loves olives, economics, Australian Footie and sailing. He is 5'11", with big blue eyes, longish curly blonde hair and an abnormally large mouth (think Mick Jagger here folks). He is a Libra who always thinks before he speaks and weighs the scales before he makes a decision. And even though Mick looks like an Australia surfer, don't be fooled Ladies, he is a smarty pants, graduating as the valedictorian of his senior high school class!"
When I stepped off the plane in Adelaide I was greeted by Mick's smiling parents Mark and Leonie, and escorted to his baby, a white 2006 Ford XR8 Boss outfitted with tinted windows and "Aussie Pride" seat covers. Mick's mom is the principal of the local school and his dad is a 4th generation farmer; Mick is the youngest of three brothers, his oldest brother Tommy has now become the 5th generation. I had told Mick I grew up in the "country", but I guess being 1 1/2 hours from New York City isn't the same as the York peninsula, a Italy shaped boot off the coast of Southern Australia. For 2 hours we drove farther and farther into the countryside, with rolling green fields in every direction sometimes spattered with the little white fluffy sheep or bigger slow moving cows, and the blue ocean in the distance.
At last we arrived in "town" - one road lined with a supermarket, and several other shops. In the center is a war monument where 10 different "Crosers" are honorably listed (Croser is Mick's last name), in the town museum is the "Croser Collection"; antique farm tools donated by Mick's grandfather, and practically the whole town waves to us as we drive through. Another 10 minutes out of town is the farm, on 3,000 acres of cereal (when they told me this originally I got pretty excited, I love cereal, but they meant Wheat, Barley, Beans, etc.), and grazing paddocks for the 1,000+ sheep and cows. At the edge of their farm land are rolling sand dunes, covered in different colored bushes and spiky plants, and then what Mick calls "his beach", with white sand and bright blue waters, running for miles along his property; and since it isn't accessible except by motorbike, there is rarely ever anyone there.
His father's 25 year collection of what I called "modern art" is strewn around the house and barn - old farming equipment, old cars, and even an old treadmill buried in the ground! With three sailboats, a motorbike, tons of tractors, a 4x4 landcruiser called Slug, a yute (half sedan, half truck) and even a 16-wheeler on site, I knew this was going to be a fun couple of days!
Mick, Pop, Tommy and I immediately headed out to play 9 holes of golf (because I wanted to show off my skills). Since golf is a winter sport here in Australia, and it is now spring, we got the place all to ourselves, with the exception of the occasional blue tongued lizard. Instead of greens they use black tar circles which they freshen up with used motor oil - kind of strange.
Although I didn't win the NAGA award, which they give to the worst player (the acronym stands for "Not A Golfer's A**hole"), but after my first (and only) amazing shot I did spend most of the day searching for my lost balls in the woods. Luckily Mick was pretty bad too. That night Leonie cooked up steaks the size of my head (literally), mashed potatoes and salad, and a delicious cheesecake, to which we subsequently went food comatose on the couch to a VHS of Dances with Wolves.
The next morning we headed out in Slug for a crop inspection, where we drove around the fields looking at the different plantings and talking about them. We talked about the difference between last year and this years crops, how the weather has affected the growth, what the number of little things on the sides of the stalks mean, and how to properly put the nitrogen back into the soil. Well, the crops didn't look so different to me, and after a couple of hours, I fell asleep on Mick's shoulder in the front seat.
I had decided the day before on the car ride to the farm, when I learned they didn't have any horses, that I was going to ride a sheep - why not? So after my snooze, Mark woke me up and pointed to about 100+ sheep, one of which was lying down, facing the other direction. I tried sneaking up on him, but in the last minute he looked up at his buddies running in every direction and figured it out. After what felt like marathon sprinting without even a touch of wool I realized I had failed, at least this time. We then drove past the sand dunes and spotted some kangaroos, so we jumped the fence and chased after them, until we reached the top of the sand dunes overlooking the ocean. Amazing. I just couldn't believe someone grew up in a place as beautiful as this!
The next morning, Pop banged on the bedroom door telling me "it was my chance to ride a sheep". They recently purchased 300 sheep that were being delivered in 15 minutes. I threw on some pants and a wool sweater (maybe I would fit in better?) and went to the paddock. As the 300 sheep poured off the 16-wheeler into the small enclosure I thought, no problem, this should be easy. Needless to say, the sheep didn't like me, and anytime I got close they parted like the red sea to Moses. Finally Mick grabbed one, pinned it down and I got to sit on it, but it wouldn't stand up. So in the end, I guess I never actually rode a sheep, but I did sit on one! Just doesn't sound as glamorous, does it?
Even though the weather wasn't perfect, it was better than the frigid temperatures we had been having in Melbourne (the coldest September in 20 years!) One day was so warm that we took Slug down to the beach and lay out on towels for the day, enjoying the beach all to ourselves. On another day we drove about an hour to the southern tip of the boot called Corny point, where we took photos of the beautiful lighthouse, jutting cliffs and peaceful beaches. One another day we hopped on the motorbike and corralled a flock of sheep and cows into another paddock - I felt like a cowboy, just with a mechanical horse!
The trip to the country was amazing, both relaxing and adventurous. Leonie fed us like royalty and Pop thoroughly entertained us. This was the longest Mick's family had ever really spent with an "Yank", and when I asked Mick's dad if he would ever want to go to America, he replied "Why, I've already had my American Experience, this whole weekend!" So hopefully they had as much fun with me as I did with them. In just 30 short days Mick and I are off to South America. Ole!
