Long Road - 5. Lon Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“About a four-hour drive, 330 kilometres East of here by road, via Wubin, 145 kilometres due east as the crow flies,” Lance replied. “Holy cow, when did all this happen?” I responded. “Apparently, Uncle has been negotiating a deal on the purchase for a month or so, and that the settlement took place on Friday just gone.

He says it is 420,000 acres in area, with just a 350-metre driveway off the main highway. The station has a three-bedroom homestead, shearing shed and yards, machinery shed, orchard packing shed, 6-bedroom workers quarters, with a separate recreation, kitchen and dining shed, and ablutions shed, an original homestead, and an airfield.

Uncle Vince is bringing all the information that we need, as well as all of my belongings so we will know a lot more before long” Lance said to me. “Sounds like that this is going to be a longer stay than just two days, I better give the university a call, to let them know that I will be away for a week” I commented, as I pulled out my phone to make the call.

I ended the call all smiles, with permission given for me to be absent for just this week, and not seeing Lance around, I went for a walk around town for a little while, and about ten minutes later my phone buzzed with a message from Lance.

“Hey mate, where are you, Uncle Vince is coming into town” and I sent a quick reply to say that I was on my way back to the roadhouse. Just as I was approaching the roadhouse, a blue Holden Colorado arrived and pulled up behind my vehicle and trailer. Expecting a much older guy, I was surprised that the man approaching us was in his mid to late ’30s, and he stopped and shook Lance’s hand.

“Uncle Vince, this is an old school mate of mine, Harrison Alpike, who was competing yesterday, and won two events with his stock horse – Bonnie, he is also a trained Farrier and studying to be a doctor of Veterinary medicine,” Lance said, and I shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I have a week off from studies, so I have agreed to come with Lance on this new adventure of his” I commented.

“Well, it is good to know that he has someone with him, as it can get lonely out there. The place is empty, apart from one station worker, whose name is Davey Kent, so I am sending Lance out there to manage the place, and to keep things going.

At the moment, it has about 5,000 head of sheep on the property, Davey knows everything, and will help you out, he has been on the station for only about 4 months, but he is a fast learner, and apart from meeting him twice when I went out to the station, I have been keeping in daily contact with him, since the previous owners and the other three workers left the station, over two weeks ago.

Lance, you will be taking this vehicle, as yours is not suitable for the station tracks out there, but getting to the station homestead is not a problem” Vince said.

“As Lance has said, I have just competed in the rodeo, so I have my horse, and equipment with me, and I would prefer to have them with me instead of sending them home” I answered, “Very well then, right, load up your trailer, onto the Colorado, which has a large ice box and two car fridges with supplies for the next few days, till the supply and mail truck arrives.

It does fortnightly mail and supply runs to the station, coming in from the direction of Wubin, and the fuel truck comes in when required to refill the fuel tanks, for the station vehicles, and the power generator, which until recently was the main power supply.

I have had a large set of solar panels and batteries installed, which now supply all of the power to the station buildings, I suggest that you drive as far as Wubin today, and the rest of the way tomorrow morning, the whole journey is on highway 94 from Wubin onwards, so it should be easy travelling.

The vehicle has a UHF radio and Satellite Phone, for emergencies, and Davey is expecting you no later than noon tomorrow,” Vince said.

Once we had transferred all of Lance’s belongings into the Colorado ute and hitched up his trailer, Vince waved goodbye, as he let us know that he will call us at the homestead tomorrow at 11 am, to make sure we arrived ok. “I will miss that old ute, it’s my very first vehicle, I hope Uncle Vince looks after it” Lance commented, as he headed back the way he came.

After grabbing a snack and some drinks, we set off South towards Wubin and our long drive to the station. When we did arrive in Wubin, we stopped for a late lunch, and after loading up the spare space in the back of the trailer, and the back of Lances Colorado, with extra hay and bags of horse feed, we decided to push on.

After lunch, I pulled Bonnie out of the trailer and lead her around for a walk for a good half an hour, before reloading her again, before we travelled for another 1 ½ hours, till we arrived at Ninghan Station, which is just 6 kilometres off the highway, and where they have station stay accommodation.

Lance had thought of the brilliant idea of calling the station and arranging for us to stay there, which is 55 kilometres before Payne’s Find. The owners were very welcoming and happy to assist with getting Bonnie settled in for our overnight stay.

With it being just 105 kilometres to the station, we would have a nice and comfortable drive to the station in the morning. After a very restful night, we were up just after dawn, and after breakfast, I gave Bonnie some feed, and water, before letting her get some exercise in a large yard, and while she was doing that, Lance I talked with the owners, to learn more about the station, and what the weather conditions are like for this region.

“So, you are not heading towards another rodeo further north?” the owner’s wife asked us, and I chuckled at this comment, “No Ma’am, I was just volunteering for the Mullewa Rodeo, and my good friend Harry here, competed in it and won two events, and my uncle now owns Wydgee Station, and we are heading up there to manage it, for a while” Lance replied.

“Well he is, I am just tagging along for a week before I have to head back to university in the city” I added.

“I see, well it is a nice station, we had visited it often about ten years back, as we were good friends with the owners at the time until Mary passed away from Cancer. Good luck with your new adventure, I hope it all goes well for you, young Lance” the owner said

Once we had packed up and loaded up Bonnie, we set off again, stopping briefly to refuel at Payne’s Find, and less than 1 ½ hours later we turned off the highway, with buildings clearly visible behind the tall shrubs, and we pulled up just outside the machinery shed, which is just passed the main homestead.

A young man, who didn’t look any older than Lance and I stepped out of the shed and smiled as he walked towards us, and Lance went to meet him, while I checked on Bonnie, who was starting to get a bit restless, so I decided to let her out of the trailer, and walk her around for a bit.

“Danny, this is my good mate Harrison Alpike, and his horse Bonnie, who just won two events at the Mullewa Rodeo, this past weekend,” Lance said making the introductions, and I shook his hand. “There are small stables, to one side of the sheep yards, with an adjoining rectangular yard, for plenty of exercises, just follow me and I will show you the way,” Danny said, and we walked the 150 metres to the stables.

While I was settling Bonnie in, making sure that her pen was suitable and safe, and bringing the trailer close by, so I could offload the hay, oats & lucerne feed and water bucket, Danny and Lance had wandered off somewhere, and so I just stood on the side of the yards and watched Bonnie as she wandered around the shaded yard, and bucked a few times.

Once I was happy that Bonnie was settled, I backed the trailer around so it was close to some trees, close to the stables, and I opened up the awning, and set up the camping chairs, before sitting down and relaxing, as I looked around the area.

Although it is the middle of winter in the Southern half of the state, it was getting quite warm, as the day went on, and I wondered if it was a mistake bringing Bonnie out this far, especially when it is so remote, and still reasonably early in the morning.

After sitting around for nearly half an hour, and with no sign of Lance, I headed to storage locker of the trailer and retrieved the tack gear and saddle, and soon had Bonnie saddled up. Once that was done, I retrieved a collapsible water dish, and six one-litre bottles of water from my fridge, which I loaded into my backpack, grabbed my wide brim hat, one of the portable two-way radios and my portable GPS before climbing up in the saddle and starting to walk Bonnie out of the Homestead, heading West towards the hills nearby.

Going through the shrub was fairly easy, as it wasn’t too thick, so there was plenty of room for Bonnie to weave around the high bushes. We had only been gone for less than five minutes, when I heard a call from Lance, over the radio.

“Wydgee Station to Harrison, do you copy, over?” he said, sounding concerned, and I stopped Bonnie to make it easier for me to speak into the radio. “Receiving you Lance, if you are wondering where I am, I am on Bonnie, and we are approximately 5 minutes’ walk West of the Sheds, over,” I responded.

“Right, well don’t go too far away as it is very easy to get lost out here, over,” Lance said to me, “Received that Lance, I have 6 litres of water, and GPS with me, I am just going as far as the hills just west of the homestead, over,” I answered.

“Right, well, please let me know where you are going in future please, I don’t want to have to get a search party started to look for you, do you have an ETA of your return, over,” Lance said to me.

“Yes, no later than 1 pm, so a bit over three hours from now, over,” I replied, “Ok, understood, over and out,” Lance said, and I set off again, taking it nice and steady, so as not to tire out Bonnie too much.

About an hour later, I reached the bottom of a small range of hills, and once securing Bonnie to a branch of a shady tree, I took off my hat and poured some water in it and let Bonnie have a good drink, before I had a small drink, and set off on foot, to do a little bit of exploring.

After about 45 minutes of difficult climbing, avoiding any hazards that may injure me, especially ankle injuries, I sat down on a group of rocks and took another drink from a water bottle. As I looked around my surroundings, I notice that I there was various colours in the soil and clay, that is around the hills, and it was a dull rock that caught my attention, as it didn’t look like it belonged there.

Standing up I walked the 15 metres till I was in the middle of a steep rocky gully, and it took me a few moments to find the rock that I was looking at earlier, and I picked up, surprised at how heavy it was for such a small rock, that was about the size of a small can of tuna.

Wiping away the clay and dirt off the rock, my heart began to get stronger, as I realised what I had actually found, and I turned it over in my hands for a few minutes, before slipping the two hands-sized rock, into my top pocket. Before leaving the area, I set a marker on my GPS, for the exact location that I was standing on before I began to walk back to Bonnie.

Giving her a pat on her neck, I gave her another drink, before climbing up into her saddle, and I grabbed the radio mike. “Harrison to Lance, do you copy over,” I called, and it was after the second time I called, that I received a response.

“Danny here mate, can I help you with anything, over,” Danny said, “Na, just wanted to let the boss know that I am on my way back, and I would be there in about 45 minutes, over,” I announced, “Righto, I will pass the message on, over” Danny said in reply.

Once again, taking it easy, we headed back to the homestead, and as soon as we were back in the stables, I let Bonnie have a good drink while I retrieved some feed and fresh hay for her. While she was eating, I removed the saddle and tack, before giving Bonnie a good brush down, before leaving the gate open so she can wander out into the yard when she feels like it.

I made my way over to the homestead, and I knocked on the door, but there was no response, so I wandered into the kitchen, where I could hear some music, and I found Danny preparing some lunch, with the music up fairly loud, so he would not have heard me knocking.