I was joined by my son Bill his wife Kellie and the their new son Charlie, my grand son.
We took Dad to the Stockman's Hall of Fame and also to the show that is held at the back of the hall every day at 11am.
It is called the The Stockman's Show. It was extremely good and well worth a visit.
This is the bloke that does the Stockman's Show.
One of the horses he calls Red White and Blue Cavier!!
He does amazing work with bullocks
Dad was born and breed in Longreach.
And as happens quite often had been through the Hall when it was first opened some twenty odd years ago, but hadn't been through since.
Dad and Bill
Dad with is grand son Bill and great grand son Charlie
Dad is quite amazing as he has written 3 books about his life.
He loves to write and can remember things that happened years ago. He can even tell you the names of all the horses he ever rode, all the men he ever worked with , and being a great old sheep man you only have to hold up a random photo of a ram taken 50 years ago and he will tell you it's name and every ribbon it ever won.
Dad was born in the Longreach in 1931 and raised on a station called Strathdarr which is between Longreach and Winton .
This is the Strathdarr Homestead . Sadly it was burnt to the ground in the late 60's.
Interestingly I was born in Longreach as was Bill.
After settling Dad back into the home we drove to Isisford.
Isisford is a small town south west of Longreach
It is my husband Tony's hometown.
His father Dick McLean managed both Emmet Downs and Isis Downs when Tony was a child.
They are now owed by CPC.
It is interesting that when Dick was the manager of Isis there were up to 50 or more staff needed to run the 200,000ac property. Now due choppers motorbikes and the fact that Isis Downs now runs cattle instead of sheep the men it takes to run the place has come back to a very few.
I wanted to show the town and Isis Downs to Bill and Kellie as Kellie had never been there and Bill hadn't been back since he was a pre-schooler.
After Dick retired he bought the property Mt Grey at Emmet which is not actually a town but a railway siding on the Blackall / Yaraka line. When Tony and I were first married we lived at Mt Grey. Tony's parents ahd bought the ajoining property Lone Hill and lived there.
Both Bill and Lucy were born while we were at Mt Grey.
The first thing we did on our arrival in Isisford was to have beer in one of the 2 pubs in the town.
When Tony and I were young and before we were married the watering hole where everyone from the surrounding large stations gathered was the pub with the iconic name of Clancy's Overflow Hotel.
Sadly it was closed so we had our beer and toasted our return to Isisford in the Golden West Hotel.
From there we visited a tree which was planted behind the town hall in memory of Tony's father who was Chairman of the Shire from 1976 to 1984.
There was also a tree planted for Tony and I and our 2 children Bill and Lucy
( our youngest AJ wasn't born at that stage)
On the same plaque it was also in memory of Tony's brother Ian who was killed in 1976.
Next we drove out to the cemerty where Bill saw for the first time his uncle Ian's grave.
Ian was 21 when struck by lightening and killed while drafting sheep at Isis Downs.
From there we drove on to Blackall along the Paddy Behan Way.
On the way we called into Isis Downs which is only 20 odd k's out of Isisford.
We were in Blackall to attend the engagment party of my nephew Andy Picone , my sister Wendy's son.
There I met someone who actually reads my blog!!
I left Bill and Kellie and Charlie to drive home and they to drive home to Stratton Roma.
It was lovely to see little Charlie who is growing like a weed and as cute as a button.
Next time I see him will be at the Roma Campdraft where I will be baby sitting all weekend while Kellie works and Bill rides.
That's all for now as I am up to date
Check out my art work on my website
What a trip down memory lane!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of history in longreach, and a great little town.
ReplyDeleteMy mother is in the RSL Pioneer home as well.
My grandparents had the Ilfracombe store in 1923.
We have livestock agisted in the area and spend quite a bit of time there these days.
On a personal level were there recently to lay plaques for my sister-in-law and her father on the memorial wall in the gardens, a serene place to reflect with loved ones passed.
Thanks Jacqueline. What is your mother's anme and I will say hello next time I'm up seeing Dad. Thanks for your comments.
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