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Myrl and Trevor’s Story – New experiences at Fitzroy Crossing

We have had our caravan parked under a metal carport with an adjacent ablution block. The ablution block has a flush toilet and a shower which is provided with hot water by a donkey.

This is my first experience with lighting a fire under a donkey! John (10 yrs) and Mathew (9 yrs) and I went out on the quad pulling a little trailer and collected firewood for this purpose. Here is a photo and you can see the donkey on the left --yes, it a big drum up on a stand so that a fire can heat water in the drum and the pressure forces it up and out the shower head inside the ablution block. This is a first time experience for me! <<...>>

I have been doing some Math and listening to John and Mathew read in the mornings. Steven, who is 11, has been showing me how he solves his Math problems. The boys' mother, Wendy, is their classroom tutor as they are educated by School of the Air; but it is difficult for her to spend the time needed with each boy so she is happy to have someone to listen to the reading. And I have found the boys delightful. When I am not occupied with a reader, I move the garden hoses in the big garden around the home. <<...>>

One day the three boys took Trevor and me down to Christmas Creek. The creek is now just a waterhole so we had the creek bed for a safe place to light a fire and cook our sausages. We had taken our sketching books so as our lunch digested we expressed ourselves artistically. <<...>>

Trevor has rewired the ablution block because the cockatoos had eaten the wiring! Now he is extending the electrical wiring from the old staff quarters to the new staff quarters. This involved digging a 600 mm deep trench from one building to the other - about 12 meters - so he has been getting his exercise! <<...>>

It is mustering time now so the station was a flurry of preparations when we first got here. I was able to support the effort by cooking breakfast for the stockmen and washing up afterwards. Then on the weekend Steven helped Trevor and I find the mustering camp about 50 km away on the other side of the property. We were fortunate that the cattle had been mustered the day before so it was drafting time. I had never seen this process of castration, ear tagging, injection and dehorning before so it was an exciting time for me. I was impressed with the perfect teamwork of the stockmen and efficiency of the process--like a medical team! Here's a photo that shows me helping one of the stockmen hold the tail of the beast in the "crush" so that his surgical procedure can be done. <<...>>

I didn't really help much - we were just observing and encouraging the stockmen as they wrestled calves and did what had to be done. Another lesson in reality for me - God provides and man finds ingenious ways to use His gifts! The experience gave me a new respect for those who manage the land and provide meat for the rest of us.

One day I had the opportunity to experience another bit of station reality when we went out to get a "killer". A grand steer was shot and butchered in the field so that the people on the station would have meat to eat. Sometimes reality is a bit overwhelming! Here is a photo of the results of the steer's life --not one you would want to use for advertising but it shows a generous reality! <<...>>

The boys and I have had many games of Scrabble and backgammon and we had a treasure hunt one day. Another afternoon Steven and I spent about two hours getting the lawn mower going and then using it. The garden here is big! And once again I have relearned the lesson that when we give, we receive in abundance - and in such unexpected ways. On our last night we joined the family for dinner and the boys performed a little skit for us. I then performed a couple of poems for them and we had words of appreciation to share. This has been an experience of a lifetime and one that I would recommend for anyone.

And at the end of every day we sit outside our caravan and watch our Creator's last gift of the day - and we are grateful for both our Creator's and our host family's generosity.<<...>>

We'll be volunteering again sometime Noela but probably not this trip. It looks like we have a long way to travel and our time is fast disappearing.
With faith and joy,
Myrl Eddy & Trevor Smith

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