It’s been a while since I’ve had a truly relaxing weekend, and this one couldn’t have come at a better time.
It started on Friday, when my employer received some very good news from a High Court ruling, we had a staff presentation on on it in the morning, then celebrated in the local drinking establishment from midday. With the exception of a couple of meetings mid afternoon, it was a very mellow way to start the weekend.
Saturday morning we drove down to friend’s farm near Brunswick Junction. It was a lovely drive down the South West Highway, stopping for Brunch at the Pinjarra Bakery and Patisserie. They’ve won multiple awards for their pies and pastries, and I was very happy with the Bacon, Egg & Beef pie I had, followed by a Rocky Road slice. Tori also like her pie and tried their award winning Vanilla Slice which she seemed very happy with.
Arriving at the farm, we saw everyone’s cars, but were met only by an eerie silence. The only sign of movement, caught out of the corner of our eye turned out to be a bedraggled peacock, pecking for food under a nearby hedge. It looked at us warily, as if wondering if we were zombies or not, before scurrying off. The farm house was also silent. Too silent, for a house which should have contained six adults and three small children. We entered to find a fire smouldering in the hearth and the remains of breakfast on the table, but no sign of any people. It felt like the scene from an Apocalypse movie, where the protagonists discover they’re some of the only few survivors.
Picking up one of the two way radios, I attempted to contact the others, without any luck, picking up just static. So Tori and I decided to drop our bags off and go for a walk, pretty confident we knew the vague direction they’d likely be in. A few hundred metres away we saw some of them heading back to the farm from around the hill, the rest further behind, so we wandered out to meet them. They’d been out chopping and shifting wood, and viewing the site where the new farm house was going to be built.
Heading back into the current farm house, the afternoon was mostly spent lounging around, talking, reading and drinking red wine (did I mention they have a real cellar, which is very well stocked? I definitely know where I’m going if the Zombie Apocalypse happens). We sat around the spa, and admired the hand made rocket stove heater which Matt had crafted, wrapped copper piping around the flu, and hooked up to the spa’s pump. It turned out the heat from the flu was perfect for toasting marshmallows – heating and roasting them perfectly without them catching on fire.
After dinner, we moved out and the bonfire, consisting of most of a tree piled up, was lit, and my did it roar rather high!
The Bonfire, shortly after ignition
It burnt so well, we had to keep moving our chairs further and further back. At one stage, surrounding grass started to burn, and Matt and I, the most alcohol fuelled, took turns at running in, stamping it out, then running out again to check we still had our eyebrows other hair.
After the bonfire burned down, we moved to the spa which was perfectly heated, and soaked for a while until it was time to retire.
Sunday morning saw a fantastic breakfast of bacon and pancakes with yoghurt and strawberry jam, a regular at the farm, before heading out into the fields to toil for a bit. We were working on the old orchard, clearing it in preparation for re-planting. John and I were unravelling the wire which held the old reticulation pipes onto the wiring, moving up one row and down another, when we spotted a dugite (luckily before stepping on it!). It turned out to be about 1.2m long, and a much darker brown than the dugites I’m used to seeing when bush walking.
Oooh, it's a snake!
Leaving that section alone, we continued on with the unravelling until the lunch break was called, at which stage we traipsed back to the farm house.
Then it was time to pack up, and make our way back to Perth. I enjoyed the drive back too, it’s nice having a car with a bit of acceleration so that I can overtake when it’s safe and not get stuck behind trucks, caravans or other slower vehicles until an overtaking lane.
All up a really nice and relaxing weekend, with great company, just what the doctor ordered. Bring on the next one!
prk.
Leave a Reply