4.3.11- Eagles and socks
Sitting in the truck in the cooler morning sunlight, I spy three large birds circling high in the blue dome of the sky. Bill and Geoff are walking the electric fence, trying to find a fault. Geoff has left binoculars, which I borrow. They spring into clarity, hooked white beaks, yellow and brown feathers, wide wings spread like fingers. They cruise in slow circles, higher and higher. They are Australian Wedge Tailed eagles. I scan the horizon, nearly 360 degrees. I can pick out at most eight other houses, no road, pylons or aerials, and only a few dusty tracks. Butterflies, dragonflies, and a large thumb-sized type of beetle, like a small bomber plane, flit, whisk and buzz by. The fat beetle is called a Christmas Beetle, I’m told. Tall elegant pink flowers, called November Lilies nod by the wall of the homestead.
The road back to Sydney takes about four hours. When we were in Virginia, USA, I took a liking to the letter boxes they have at the end of their driveways. They have them here too, and deep in the country, they make them to suit. First take one oil drum, cut a panel out of one end and secure with hinges, hang the finished item on right angled post, and hey presto! Mail box. You can also use a milk churn, or, if you fancy something stronger, a beer keg.
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| Crookwell |
On the way back, we stop in Crookwell, a farming town with a lot of charm and a small sock factory. We enter the factory shop – about the size of our shop – which is packed with socks in rainbow piles, of every size, colour and length. Through the back is the tiny factory, about a dozen somewhat ancient machines being tended by one young and very enthusiastic lad. Socks are appearing in plastic tubs below each machine, in the form of long dark blue tubular worms. They’re working on a big order for the Australian Ambulance Service, hence dark blue. He pulls out a length of this knitting, and shows us how it is in fact a string of socks, each with heels and toes, ready to be sewn up. ‘Is it computer controlled?’ ‘No – computers are not reliable enough. They are all mechanical’. Back in the shop, we take the chance to restock on hiking socks, at half the price of the ones I bought in Glasgow, and much prettier colours.
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| Sock factory |
Hadley Homestead was a fantastic experience – a real one-off. Tomorrow it’s a cruise on Sydney Harbour. This adventure just goes on and on.
Socks!
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