Four generations of the Christiansen family lived in this home and were happy and content to do so. It was situated on a family property so work was the order of the day and plenty of it. We ran sheep and cattle and grew crops for fodder and sale including lucerne.
Life on the land can bring joy and sorrow but if it is only the elements you are fighting, you go with the flow but when banks supported by government starts interfering, then you have trouble.
About 20 years ago in Australia the government at the time took water rights away from the farmers and for farmers to use water they had to pay exorbitant amounts of money to water their crops, that caused many farms to go under which maybe what was intended. while the bureaucrats behind, were trading water to the highest bidder wherever he lived in the world. This scandalous practice has been moving at speed and coupled with a long drought, Labor Green ideology which does not allow anyone to burn the fire hazard fuel which has been growing and building for many years, all combined to bring on the disastrous fires of the past summer. In times gone by farmers were allocated water each year and if they didn’t use all the water for that year, could sell the remaining allocation to another farmer as it didn’t flow on to the next year.
During my lifetime doing the right thing and acting with compassion was part of my DNA as with the majority of people but of late, greed has reared its ugly head and has moved forward with speed and taken over the world. One wonders just how much money these people need because you can only spend so much and you cannot take it with you.
Every twenty years we had a major flood and as we backed onto the Dumaresq river we would face huge problems like stock losses, crop wipe outs, sheds vehicles and machinery under water. After a great loss and from the depths you have to pull yourself up and start building again because no one is coming to help. There is no way to avoid a flood but you can built out of flood reach, which in our case was the homestead and the shearing shed but in the 1976 flood, because of changes in the river , the water reached both places and beyond. Entering our home but not the woolshed.
Shearing is a very busy time for everyone, for those in the shed, those bringing in the sheep and the kitchen where I was, as I had to supply three meals , two smokos and lunch. As I was really sorry for the shearers having to bend over for two hours I made them steak and salad sandwiches which they loved, rather than a cooked meal, which made the two hours following lunch more bearable. It was a time I enjoyed and for some unknown reason, I actually looked forward to shearing time. The cattle had to be brought in for various reasons periodically, drenching weaning , branding and that was a hot dusty time for everyone and everything but the animals needed to be cared for, regardless.
Life on the land which came with its ups and downs but which allowed one to look back down the years and remember the journey with affection.
S
Nelle's journey 