A Surprising Day

Wow - what a day!  This was supposed to be a "free" relaxing day, but it turned out to be such fun.

Our hosts decided to take us to visit Sue who runs a "boutique winnery" for lunch and a few sips of her cabernet sauvignon "Wando Lodge" label.  Then it was off for tea since no day here is complete without "a cuppa" tea and lots of delish desserts.  As we were getting ready to leave, one of the Aussies named Ken decided to invite us for a flight on his Cessna plane to Hamilton.  We said sure "no worries" - we would go and before we knew it, we were driven to the local airport.  We helped him push the 4-seater plane out of the shed and took off into the blue sky over the green farmland. 

It turned out that Ken just wanted to go for a spin to get some airplane fuel.  We landed and helped him fill up the 2 tanks and off we were!  We viewed a gorgeous waterfall over one of the rivers from the air and on the way back, buzzed the Mayor's house in Casterton. 

If that wasn't enough, the Casterton hosts were concerned that we had not seen enough kangaroos and wallabys "in the wild" bushland that surrounds their community.  So off we went!  We visited one of their friends, Tony, who owns a lot of land (they call the fields "paddocks").  Tony told us that we would have to wait until dusk for the  best chance to see the most animals.  So after some more wine, he loaded us into his 4-wheeler and off we went.  First, he took us to see some of his "Highlander" cattle.  They were gorgeous long haired creatures with horns. 

Next, he unlocked the gates of his paddocks and we cruised over uneven land over 4 foot thistle patches (that looked like spiney grass) in seach of "roos."  For some reason, the kangaroos were hiding.  After many paddocks, we spotted 3 huge Moms with Joeys in their pouches.  As we headed home, we saw quite a few more.  Tony drove the vehicle with one hand, while he shone a huge spotlight with the other.  As we were commenting on his driving prowness, oops, he got stuck in a bog.  He stepped out and sunk up to his ankles in the muck and headed back to his home to get a chain to pull us out.  No worries - again!   We were free with a great story to tell.  We went back for more wine and cuppas!   What a fun day!  It will be sad to leave this Casterton Bunch.  We feel like we've made so many friends.  These folks have gone over the top in hosting us and making us part of their community!