A Little Outback Experience

I reached Canberra in the evening on a Wednesday, so there was nothing much else to do, hence I could only start exploring the following day. I booked a farm visit on Thursday as afterall, one never experiences Australia unless one actually went on a farm.

 

So when I was planning my trip, I started searching. Most of the farm visits I came across happened to be a group tour, and could not accommodate the timing I wanted. Otherwise the rest are private farms that offer homestay but we had to do the farm visit on our own without guidance. Some others are too inconvenient to get to.

 

Finally, I stumbled upon this place that actually offers tours despite being a privately-owned farm, and the best news is that it is only a half an hour drive (or an hour bus ride) from Canberra! I wrote in and was told I could join the group going there on Thursday, so I confirmed my registration immediately.

 

The farm visit turned out to be a good choice because the farmer not only showed us how to mind sheep, but also how to shear a sheep, the dogs that mind the sheep, and we were even treated to a delicious Australian barbecue lunch and a boomerang throwing session! What a good deal!

 

The farm specialises in rearing merino sheep, the supplier of fine merino wool. The farmer showed us how to differentiate between the different grades of merino wool and the way to shear the sheep properly. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to shear any sheep as that was only done by professionals. Apparently, a professional sheep shearer can go through two hundred sheep a day!

 Minding sheep

 

 One of the kelpie dogs

 

 The farmer showing us how to get the sheep to sit

 

 Showing us the merino wool inside

 

 The sheep getting out of the pen into the pasture

 

 Sheep lining up in the pasture

 

 The place to shear sheep

 

Starting to shear

 



 The clump of wool

 

 What smooth legs the sheep has!

 

 A clean-shaven sheep

 

Apparently, sheep has natural lanolin, the main ingredient used in hand creams and moisturisers. He encouraged us to touch the clean-shaven sheep and I could feel the oil on my hands. He said that is also the reason why sheep shearers somehow have smooth hands even though they use their hands consistently in the jobs.

 



 Spreading out the wool

 

 Checking the quality of the wool

 

 Rolling the wool into a ball

 

After the sheep shearing demonstration, we went for lunch. There was a big spread for lunch, consisting of a big piece of juicy steak, sausage, whole potato, salad, bread and butter and even drinks like orange, peach and soft drinks. Lunch can be on the outside facing the pasture, or inside with a fireplace.

 



I do not know why, but I have always liked a fireplace in my house!

 



 The inside dining room

 

The outside dining room where I had my meal

 

My lunch spread

 

After lunch we tried out hand at boomerang throwing, which would be elaborated more in my next post. It was a really enjoyable trip, and I would greatly recommend this to those who intend to have a bit of an outback experience. The contact details is in the website, but I would strongly encourage you to book this visit through the Visitor's Centre or drive there. Trust me, that is so much easier than going on your own by public transport.