Porongurup Pure tris

Time goes on peacefully, at the pace of the animals ... From a mild and rainy spring, we enter summer, hot and dry! The paddocks turn yellow, temperature rises and farmers harvest their cereals ... The driest continent on earth begins its long summer cooking! And, this year, after a particularly dry winter, it's pretty harsh ...

Besides milking and working in the cheeseroom with Nic and Scottie, we are hired in the neighbouring vineyard for a few days: we have to lift a first level of wire in November and a second in December. The purpose of this work (in addition to develop our little arms and pectorals): straightening the vine and exposing the bunches of young grape to the sun ... It is a complete sport : going up and down every row of the vineyard becomes something like a ten kilometers walk.

Emerson's progress is constant: he is speaking more and more clearly and will soon be fluent in French. He currently knows the words "voilà", "coucou" and "merci beaucoup". He particularly likes the trampoline and the tricycle. Sometimes we play sleep : first to fall asleep for a nap wins. The big winner is Miller (the old dog who snores when his head touches the pillow), followed closely by Rossana (who is asleep after a few kilometers in the car). Emerson rarely falls asleep that easy ;)

Our concreting skills came to the attention of Hamish and Kylie, friends of our hosts and we are hired for a short day to build a wall in their garden.

We also found work with another friend of Nic and Scottie who has a avocado orchard. For ten days, we become professional avocado pickers. Fitted with an avocado net (similar to a butterfly net) and a belly bag to store our harvest, we climb the trees to pick all the fruits. They are still rock hard and will mature in the warehouse. The atmosphere is relaxed, our "colleagues" are freshly graduated from high school and our manager is not much older. When it's too hot, we even have an ice cream break in the afternoon.

In all these odd jobs, we often receive some kind of extra : unlimited dairy products, medal-winning wine and lots of ugly avocados (therefore unsellable) but excellent. Is it possible to overdose on avocados? We will keep you up to date in the next episode ...

We could probably write a whole book about the daily adventures of the farm. When Harrison plays sheepdog with the hens. When Jodie and Darryl, the two orphan calves (named after Jodie and Darryl who help at the farm) chase you dribbling across the paddock for breakfast. When Rossana forgets to turn off the vat tap and spills the milk of the day on the floor of the cheeseroom. When Hope, the most dreamy, delicate and slow to eat of all cows, forces us to leave the dairy running until she finished her meal. When you help Miller (who is old and a little stiff) to jump on the quad so that he comes with us to repair the fences. When Haley loves scratching and backbone massage. When Big Red becomes Red Pirate with a blindfold to protect her eye from flies and the sun. When...

Rested, clean, well nourished and pampered by Nic and Scottie for more than three months, it is time for us to hit the road towards the rising sun. As dawn breaks on this new decade, we set out for new adventures in another australian region.