Early Bird Cycling and Other Stories

From Day 1 of this trip, I have somehow managed to constantly tire myself out through physical exertion. No matter what, I have ended almost every single day exhausted and with aching muscles. Most jobs I've tackled have been like a long workout, when exploring new places I've inevitably ended up walking miles upon miles, and when I've had some spare time I've embarked on runs and ab workouts. Sometimes it's been unavoidable, such as when I've been handed a strenuous job, but other times it's my own fault, such as today. When my host Anita asked me yesterday if I wanted to join her and a friend on a 6am mountain bike, why did I say yes? Then, when I enquired how long we would ride for and she replied "about two hours", why did I not reverse my decision? And when the shout of "Alistair, are you getting up for cycling?" permeated obnoxiously through my bedroom walls at 5.23 this morning, why oh why did my response not consist of two words, one being "off"?

Getting up wasn't actually too difficult - In Kojonup I've been going to bed around 10pm and waking up at 7am, so I'm on a fairly early schedule and have plenty of sleep in the bank. Furthermore, Anita had cooked eggs and toast and by the time I'd washed this hearty breakfast down with a cup of tea I was raring to go. I both hoped and expected that a beautiful sunrise would be the rewarding worm that this early bird would catch, but it was disappointedly cloudy. Then it started drizzling. The first rain drops since October, and they were falling on my head as I was about to commence a 6am bike ride! Unbelievable. Is was a false alarm though as the rain abated in a matter of minutes.

The ride was well worth waking up for. We cycled along dusty gravel roads that transected scenic farmland and didn't see a single car until the home stretch (unsurprisingly, given that the Shire of Kojonup is home to over 1 million sheep, but less than 3,000 people). The ride was moderately tough, as although there were no steep hills it was a route of non-stop long gradual ascents and descents. Biking certainly proved to be a great way to see nature: bright green parrots regularly danced out in front of us, foxes scampered sinisterly across fields, a pair of emus strutted goofily around a paddock, making a peculiar knocking noise not unlike the sound of a drum, and at one point a trio of kangaroos hopped classically across the road. These creatures were all marvellous to my eyes, but (with the exception of the emu duo) they are all a bloody nuisance to gardeners and farmers. Towards the end of the ride, the clouds started to disperse and the morning sun cast some beautiful lighting over the hillsides, distracting us from aching legs. After the cycling I carried out four hours or so of work in the garden, which wasn't strenuous but still demanded a fair degree of physical exertion, so it's another day where sitting down comes as a relief. Tomorrow I'm going on a 6.30am road bike ride, doing more gardening work, and then playing tennis all afternoon...

***

While I was working in the garden this morning, Anita yelled "Alistair" with an urgency suggesting that I wasn't being summoned for morning tea. A fire had broken out nearby and we hurtled towards the billowing smoke in the ute. The firefighters here are just the local farmers, who rally around the blazes in makeshift fire trucks when a cry of smoke is sounded. Meanwhile, the women (plus myself today) do their part by making sandwiches for the firefighters. So we entered the home of the farm where the fire had started and worked frantically in the kitchen, chopping tomatoes and buttering bread with an unprecedented intensity. The fire was catered pretty well, with sandwiches, fruit, biscuits, tea, and coffee. However, judging by the dismay of the homeowner at not having any cake in the house, previous fires have been done better. When we arrived at the paddock the fire was already out and there was just a large black section of field and a lingering burning smell. What I had pictured as a dramatic scene of flames, smoke, and battling hoses, ended up being a tea party held off the back of a ute. Another fire broke out as we sipped and chomped, but it was out of our jurisdiction. Then at around 1.30pm more smoke was sighted, but it was far away and probably didn't need catering as it was just after lunch.

***

From emptying a house of furniture to extracting tasty white stuff from cows, I've worked plenty of jobs that have had a satisfying end result. Perhaps the most rewarding yet was yesterday's fencing with one of the farmers. By fencing, I of course mean putting up a fence rather than poking beekeepers with a bendy sword. Barely a minute had passed after I secured the final section of fence into place before a legion of sheep came dashing into the paddock and towards the very recently boundaried river. Sorry lads, it's fenced off now.

***
Earlier this week I learned how to drive a tractor. Besides drinking copious amounts of cider, there are no skills more classically Somerset than milking cows and driving tractors, so it's funny that I've done these for the first time in Australia, despite living in Somerset since I was ten.

Some sheep on the farm.