The Carrathool Family Hotel -- aka "the pub"

If it happens in Carrathool, it happens at the pub. The old pub burned down several years ago and so this one is only several years old. The only other ongoing concern in the town (population 99) is an elementary school with 9 students. If it happens in Carrathool, it happens at the pub. It is the center of social, business, and community life. People bring their kids, business is conducted, and beer is poured. Every Friday night there is a “pub draw” for a growing pot of cash. (It’s now up to about $8,000.) You have to be there when your name is drawn to win. Virtually everyone attached to the gin is there. (That’s about 18 employees.) A meat tray from a butcher about 60 kilometers down the road is raffled off. A dollar a ticket, six for $5. One of the team won the tray and as we’re the only people with a grill – well we took it home and invited everyone to a BBQ a few nights later. Someone from our team won the meat tray three weeks in a row. A tradition was born. So we host a BBQ each Wednesday night for everyone from the project. Everyone was so disconsolate when we didn’t win the meat tray we immediate agreed to get all we needed in town and the party would continue.  

Here are some pictures.

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Sometimes there's a band.  The bands play all kinds of music -- by that I mean both Country and Western.

Our social life consists of going to the pub on Friday night and then hosting a BBQ sometime during the week, usually Wednesday or Thursday.  About 25 -30 people come to the BBQ.

For Thanksgiving we had a special American Thanksgiving dinner.  As Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day proclamation encouraged " those who are sojourning in foreign lands" to set apart a day to honor our beneficent Father" we Americans were happy to share out tradition with friendly natives as our forefathers did.

Last Thursday we had a Christmas party with everyone.

Santa came

This is life in the bush.  We're an hour from anywhere and our diversions are few and simple.  But there is something sweet about it.  Mary and Beth and Emmy are popular for their cooking skills and more importantly for making people feel welcome.

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Cutest driver on the site

So Emmy has become very adept at tractor driving.  She's a new driver so we wanted something heavy and safe.  I believe this qualifies.

A new addition

Last week we had an addition to our family.

He is a Blue Heeler (an Australian Cattle Dog) that is about 6 weeks old.  Some time back you may have seen the cattle that graze around here.  The drovers have a number of dogs and one had a litter -- and well, after this and that we got one.

The first day Emmy kept him in her tractor all day.  He is well cared for.

Things that are different ... to me

The following is an ad hoc list of things that I've noticed that are different.

• Door handles are about 6-8 inches higher than in the States.  In older houses the difference is more pronounced.
• If you are providing a list of number, say, you're phone number like 0457 722 ..., you would say O, four, five, double seven, double 2, ....   I flinch when trying to write this down, and they flinch when I pronounce a digit twice or three times in a row.
• "Z" is pronounced "zed" and "H" is sometimes (but not always) pronounced "haytch".
• The bulletin at church has the week's activities and prayer requests, but nothing about the service and order of worship.
• Lot's of safety regulations.  You are not allowed to hold the phone or even use a Bluetooth ear device in the car.  (If your car has Bluetooth built into the radio -- then that's OK.)
• Internet is via 3G and 4G.  This means it is metered, which changes the way you use the internet.
• Driving on the left side of the road is something that never becomes second nature.
• Food is REALLY expensive.  A value meal at Hungry Jacks (Burger King) is $9.50
• Australia does not serve what we would call "regular" coffee.  There are lots of coffee shops, but you get lattes, espressos, etc.  I end up getting something called a "long black" most often.  It's an espresso with water. 
• Each electrical outlet has a switch for each outlet -- on the outlet itself.
• Australia is incredibly multicultural.
• If you liked the meal you would say it was "lovely" or "beautiful".
• A prominent supermarket chain is "Woolworths" (which I remember in the States as being a drugstore.)  In Woolworths, both the front and back wheels on the shopping cart pivot.
• Fish and chips are awesome -- and everywhere.
• Beginning drivers are required to have a big "L" or "P" on their cars.  L stands for Learner and P for Provisional.

Wide skies and the pits

Construction continues apace.  We are building profiles.  Profiles are boards mounted to stakes that are mounted at specific heights that are found with a surveying tool.  Then strings are mounted to the boards that follow critical lines through the structure -- center of pillars etc.  Below is a picture with one of the profiles in the foreground and excavating equipment around.

The main building (the gin) has a basement over 5.5 meters deep.  That's Jamaal down in the pit checking the depth.

Other endeavors

In what might be a surprise for those of you who are familiar with my devotion to a low-carb diet, we have opened a bread shop in the nearby town of Hay.  Come by and enjoy a meat pie and a cup of coffee.  Or fresh bread.

And if you are wondering what to eat, consider the following.

Surveying

After the land prep, we are surveying.  The very expensive gizmo my brother-in-law Sam is holding has a GPS built into the top.  The survey plans are on the tablet mounted to the pole.  By moving the pole and using the bubble level mounted to it, you can pinpoint within a couple of millimeters where you are.

After everything is staked out, you spray your lines so the excavators know where to dig.

On Father's Day

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.

— J. I. Packer
Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1993), 201-202

Sights from the supermarket

Being an hour from town, a trip to the supermarket after church is pretty typical.

Below are some sights that you may find interesting.

Meat pies

Pumpkin -- a staple almost as common potatoes

Lamb on a stick

Check out the ingredients for fresh dog chow

Morning Tea

A charming tradition here in Australia is morning tea after church.  You have a choice of tea or coffee and people bring treats to snack on.  The second picture you see is of Fairy Bread -- very popular with the kids.  It is white bread, buttered and sprinkled with hundreds and thousands.

Fairy Bread

The Murrumbidgee River

We live on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.  It would be difficult to overstate how beautiful it is.  The whole area is defined by the river.  The whole valley is known as the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA).  There are growers of all sorts around -- citrus fruits, cotton and vineyards.  A billboard I pass on the way to town informs me that 1 out of 4 glassed of wine from Australia is comes from this area.

David fishing below the bridge

Psalm 1

Earthmoving stuff

At this point, virtually all of the focus has been on land prep for the gin.  The "gin" actually refers to a rather large complex with multiple buildings the foremost of which is the gin proper.

It rained the day we arrived and again yesterday.  This creates tremendous headaches for land prep.  Because we were further along in the process the most recent rain shouldn't be so troublesome.  Basically, the "pad" where the building will be was dug out until you got down to "good dirt" (a couple of meters down).  Other "good dirt" is scraped from elsewhere and "dumped" on the pad.  Then it is "compacted" by big rollers that are pulled behind tractors.  When it is well compacted a layer of lime is spread over it and then a layer of sand.  By the end the "pad" is above grade so when it rains the water runs off because of the hardness of the compacted dirt as well the slope.

All the heavy equipment is very impressive.  Stuff breaks regularly.  And as the pictures below show, stuff can get bogged if you get hung up in the muck.  Below is a picture of a "ripper" which had been bogged being pulled out by a dozer and a front end loader.

The Honeymoon Cottage

Mary and I have been here two weeks.  Beth and Jamaal about a month.  It would be difficult to overstate how much work has gone into the little house you see below.  About two years ago there was a flood from the river you see behind it.  They have scraped and painted and scraped and painted again.  The floor has been scrubbed, stripped, had its carpet torn out, been stained, tiled, or carpeted.  It is right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.

Well, the newlyweds moved in last night.  There is still work to be done (as there always is with a house) but it is has become a charming home. The river is right out the back and you can see the Carrathool Bridge in the background of the picture.

The Honeymoon Cottage

More stuff

Good news on the home front.  Thanks to the Herculean efforts of John Hooker, the house is rented.  Not only that, the people renting it want the dog!  (Unclear whether they really want the dog or if Hooker just wants Rugby out of his house.)  No matter.

Find me somebody to love

The scenery here is gorgeous.

Moving Down ... Under

Trip went just fine. Here are some pictures..

View from the cubicle.... (tractor cab)

Rush hour traffic

Jamaal, David, and Emmy have spent the most time on the tractors.  I run into town (Griffith) fairly often and find parts and supplies.  The town we are actually near is Carrathool and we go over the bridge multiple times a day.  One of my first jobs was to purchase the spreader (below).  I can assure you that it will blow out of the back of a "ute" (small pickup) when you start going over 100k's (about 60mph).  That was exciting.  Fortunately it wasn't damaged.

Griffith is home to both Yellow Tail and McWilliam's wineries.  Support our local producers.