Living Rural - www.livingrural.net

Anecdotal stories, observations,comments and discussion pieces as insights into living in Rural Australia

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Living Rural - November 2007

Farm Stays

November 10th 2007 03:29

Suddenly a log becomes a cubby or a horse to ride

There are thousands of Australians who have little or no contact with the rural life. Up until about fifty years ago, a majority of city folk had a cousin – or some other vague relative that still lived either on a farm or at least in a rural town. Visits to farms were part of the childhood holiday plans and a taste of how the other half lived led to a better understanding. Of course there was the nostalgia of the perfect life “in the bush” where no-one would hassle you about being home on time or cared if you rode around on the back of the ute or did wheelies in the front paddock on the motor bike.

Now, of course there is a sense from some city folk that the outer suburbs are the bush and the closest they will get to farm life are the animal pens at the Royal Show.
Some fortunate children, often with parents who are re-living their own childhood, venture onto farm stay properties for a holiday and these can be a great experience, especially if the occupants have catered well for the visitor and enjoy having the family join in with the activities. But a fortunate few still have those cousins – or uncles that have a real farm, with real jobs.
We often play host to such families – nieces and nephews with their children and sometimes their children’s friends. The rules of such visits are usually fairly simple. Leave the gate as you found it (Shut it if you aren’t sure!), wear a bike helmet if you even think you are going to ride the three wheeler motor bike, and keep your dog under control.

We do have two dogs that visit occasionally. I have been told that one, a Labrador, gets excited even when its owner picks up his farm boots in the shed. When she arrives she gets out of the car and jumps on the ute, even before having a drink of water. She goes home with orange streaks in her pale coat from swimming in the clay dam and bits of sheep manure stuck to her fur – and sleeps all the way home.
The kids also leave exhausted. We aren’t a farm with horses or other animals to play with. There has been the occasional pet lamb to feed and there are always chooks to feed and eggs to collect. But there are other things to do. Collecting various skeletal remains from a long departed sheep can result in a great news story for “Show and Tell”. Mind you there is a fair amount of protest if the remains are a little too fresh for transporting in the car! Then there are gilgies (marron, crayfish- depending on which State you are in) that need to be caught. Lots of squeals – not just from the girls, and a messy meal after cooking them in hot water is par for the course.
If the farmer has any sense he will ensure that the extra work force ends up doing some sheep work – drenching, drafting even crutching can do with extra hands to move the sheep around. Or perhaps it's time to burn up a few dead logs in the paddocks – that can be fun stacking the wood to make large bon fires. Or logs can be a source of imagination - a cubby base, or a horse to ride.
The kids learn a lot. They learn that there is a life outside the bedroom and computer room. They learn that they can entertain themselves – building a cubby or having a camp fire (in the right season) and playing hide and seek among the rocks. They learn about people who physically work for a living and that they too run a business with all the computer models and high tech machinery that is part of farming today. They learn to get dirty – and that dirt and a scraped knee or a pecked finger doesn’t kill you. At times they learn about new life and about death. And as they get a bit older, some will even have their first driving lessons in a large paddock where they can sort out the basics before hitting the roads – usually accompanied by some sound advice from the uncle about driving on country roads.
If you are fortunate enough to have farming relatives, then make it happen – but bring some extra food with you – it will be appreciated. If you know no-one from rural areas, look up Farm Stays and consider it as a holiday.
This blog is to help people understand a little of rural life. But it can only go so far – if you really want to know – come and live it for a while.