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Cars, Celtic Stones and The Farm

Posted by on September 2, 2013

So this morning after breakfast, I thought I would head out to the car and install the new relay for the second battery. Wasn’t too difficult a job as the wiring was already in place so all I had to do was swap the relays.

I disconnected and removed the battery, and determined how to mount the new relay which of course was a little different to the old one. Was all going well, and I was almost done with only the final wire from the second battery to connect when….snap!! The bolt sheared right off!! Wasn’t all that tight either!! The snap was followed by a number of expletives….

As I calmed down, I thought I might be able to open the relay and replace the bolt with one from the old one, but no, the little man in China had done a great job of covering the bolt in solder 🙁 was just not to be.

Cursing some more, I put everything back the way it was and will have to buy another one (for another $150) when we get to the coast. Grr… nothing is ever easy is it!

So, car stuff done, I had a shower and we headed into town to get some rolls etc for lunch. Got to visit the local Bi-Lo, but they must have known I was coming and I couldn’t see anything really wrong with the store. Was old and needed a make over (as most Bi-Lo’s do) but everything looked ok. I’m told that the store itself isn’t really a problem, but certain staff who have been there forever are making it not a good place for others, and annoying customers as well. Oh well, guess someone else will need to fix that one!

After our quick visit to the shops, we headed up the hill to the Celtic stones, a number of standing stones on the hill where they hold the annual celtic festival in May. Apparently people come from all over Australia for the festival to celebrate their celtic heritage. The kids had a ball running around the stones, then we had salad rolls and cakes for lunch.

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After lunch we headed further up the hill to the lookout to see the town from on high before taking a trip out to the farm.

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Ray had pulled a herd of cows into the pens so he could tag some of the young ones, and give some of the sick ones some medicine. He had a little calf in there that he pulled out so the kids could give it a pat. They all thought it was fantastic, especially Jess our little animal lover. She named the calf “Mike” cause he has a boy… otherwise he would have been a “Krystal”… Ray said he will have to keep us up todate in Mike’s progress.

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Kids weren’t so keen on the next part though. The cows were herded into a single line pen, then one at a time put into a cage where they were locked in across their necks and bellies then flipped on the side as they had their ears clipped and tagged, got a few injections and some medicine forced down their throat. The male ones even got a little ring applied between the legs. Tara was good with the process, but Zac was looking a little pale, and Jess burst into tears. I think the blood on their ears put them out a little bit! Our city slicker kids were not so sure about the farming practices.

I thought it was amazing to see what was done, but after about half a dozen, the kids wanted to go. At least the girls are not so sure about getting their ears pierced anymore!!

The drive back to town was spent explaining that the cows are all ok. Luckily we were able to distract them as we saw a couple of Kangaroos, a snake and a lizard crossing the road, and a little dog that came out chasing the cars as we went past. Back in town everything was fixed as we bribed the kids with an ice-cream… good old ice-cream will fix everything!

This evening was spent having Chinese at the Bowls club. Now that is not where you would normally expect to find a Chinese Restaurant, but the food was fantastic and the drinks were at RSL prices, so it was fantastic. The girls had a ball dancing on the dance floor.

At dinner I asked the girls what was the best thing they did today, and they both said The Farm, so obviously they have got over the experience.

Anyway, that’s it for today, tomorrow we leave Glen Innes and head for the coast to reunite with the Waldron’s. The kids are very excited and can’t wait to get to the theme parks, that is certainly all they have spoken about for the last few weeks anyway!!

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