Back L to R: Tori, Sam, Alex, Mel
Front L to R: me, Cass, Jojo, Caz, Duff, Joe
The farm dog Jack running behind the ute coralling the sheep
The sheep cradle
Caz and Duff ("The Carolines", their real names) dominated the tennis court
Fast friends Cassie and Joe sporting the four wheeler
We were treated to a tour of the farm in two utes – Hughie led one tour and Alex the other. They have a 6,000 acre farm, with two giant fields of more than a million tulips (60% of the profit) and 7,000 sheep (40% of the profit, shared between wool and meat). They grow the tulips solely for the bulbs (roots), not the flower itself. It takes 5-6 years for the tulip to grow big enough to be sellable. However, even at that stage, they sell the bulb to Holland so that they plant it and harvest the flowers to sell themselves. Tasmania is at the same latitude as Holland so they’re actually the second largest harvester of tulips. The tulips must be planted in a different field each year and cannot be planted in the same field for seven years to allow sufficient time for the soil to re-nourish itself and be suitable for flower growth. We were shown the sheep tending ways, including a cradle with stirrups into which the sheep are lifted, then “handled” (i.e. tails clipped, boys castrated, injected with vaccines and nourishment, and ears tagged). In the sheep shed, sheep are shorn with wool sorted into different categories of thickness and type. I learned that lamb meat is generally sourced from lambs around 4-5 months, absolutely no older than one year.
After the traditional farm Sunday lunch (a big meal as a late lunch/early dinner), we played tennis and went four wheel driving on the ATV. Thanks to my northern Minnesota lake trips, I was well prepared to throw a few girls off the back of my ATV on our speedy loops around the farm. Ha, ha, ha (evil laughter)!! Nine of us returned on the same Virgin Blue flight Sunday evening, all lined up in the final two rows of the plane. What a gaggle we were. The flight attendants even announced Tori’s birthday and we all sang to her LOUDLY as we flew back to Melbourne.
After the traditional farm Sunday lunch (a big meal as a late lunch/early dinner), we played tennis and went four wheel driving on the ATV. Thanks to my northern Minnesota lake trips, I was well prepared to throw a few girls off the back of my ATV on our speedy loops around the farm. Ha, ha, ha (evil laughter)!! Nine of us returned on the same Virgin Blue flight Sunday evening, all lined up in the final two rows of the plane. What a gaggle we were. The flight attendants even announced Tori’s birthday and we all sang to her LOUDLY as we flew back to Melbourne.
