It's been a busy week - after Anne picked us up on Monday we had a 4hr car journey from Mt Isa to Nardoo, with a stop at Cloncurry to pick up supplies on the way. To start with the roads were pretty good, all tarmacked (?) with 2 or 3 lanes, but quickly went down to single track, which would be a problem if you met something coming the other way (especially if it was a road train) but I think over the whole 4 hours we passed 5 cars!!! Some parts of the road weren't even tarmacked, although the council are working on it. When Ting and I got into the car (a massive 4x4) we were a bit worried by the 3 big cracks in the windscreen, but by the time we'd arrived at Nardoo we'd added a 4th! When you're driving along it's so difficult to avoid hitting things, the cattle don't get out of your way, but are fairly easy to avoid since they're so big, but the birds are a nightmare. We got hit by a big one, whose name I cant remember, and it made a huge crack at the centre of the windscreen. Apparently we were lucky it wasn't a bush turkey, as they totally smash the windscreen and practically land on your lap! We saw lots of wildlife on our drive including kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabies, snakes and cockatoos, which are just so stunning when you see them in huge flocks.

Nardoo is a huge place, covering 385,000 square miles, and the Webber family also own a place called Mellish Park which is 375,000 square miles! In total they have about 14,000 head of cattle and 250 horses, although they don't ride all of them. Nardoo is a family run station - there's Allan and Bev, with their children Anne, PJ and Bridget (who lives in Townsville at the moment I think), and Ege with his wife and son Billy who's married to Amanda and they have 3 boys, Shannon (11), Leyton (2) and Darcy (8months). There's also Kev and Josh (Anne's boyfriend) and Joe and Tumma living here. I'm in the house with Anne and Josh, but we all eat meals at Bev and Allan's house with their side of the family.

Days are full - getting up at 5:30am, breakfast by 6, then helping make flasks and lunches before going out asap to do different jobs. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday with Anne, painting troughs to stop them from rusting, as most of the water here comes from bores, and so had minerals etc that speed up the rusting process. It's pretty hot, especially over the middle of the day, but as long as you've got your water bottle and your Akubra (hat) it's not too bad. I'm not sunburnt yet, as we work in jeans and long sleeved shirts, which isn't as hot as I expected it to be, but I'm being very careful with suncream too.

The best thing about Australia so far is smoko. It's basically a tea break that you have mid morning and mid afternoon and you get tea, cake, biscuits etc - well worth having! And much needed since you're generally not finishing till about 6:30pm.

I'm trying hard to learn all the different types of birdlife, but not doing so well. So far I've seen ibis (black and white), egrets, wedge-tailed eagles, kitehawks, bush turkeys, gullahs and very unusually a sea eagle which has nested at one of the water holes.

Thursday was interesting, as PJ took me to Burketown, which is about 2h30m away to get fuel and fish for Good Friday. It's a strange little place with a petrol station, a pub, a hospital and an airfield, but not much else, and most of the people who live there are Aboriginal. When we went to get the fish, we found out that just before we got there a king brown snake (vvv deadly poisonous) had just gone into the house, and the guy who lived there was having some trouble catching it. PJ helped them, and although he managed to find it and hit it, it was too quick for him, and it got away before he could kill it. On the way out to Burketown we'd had to drop in some post to a neighbouring station, Augustus Downs, and arrived just in time for smoko - which was amazing! So many different kinds of cakes, biscuits, fruit etc! Had to try my best not to be too greedy! The people there all seemed very nice, and Nardoo and Augustus had had a joint barbeque about a week before, so everyone was on friendly terms.

When PJ and I arrived back, Allan and Anne had found some cattle in a paddock where they shouldn't have been, and asked PJ to chase them out using the helicopter. He took me with him and it was AMAZING! This tiny little 2 seater chopper, with no sides - like the ones you see on safari programs, flying no more than 10feet above the ground sometimes! Such an experience, and I was very proud of myself, as it was pretty windy and I only felt a tiny bit sick!

As it's Easter we've had Friday, Saturday and today off, so I haven't really done much, except help Anne and Josh sort the house out, and watch a couple of DVDs yesterday while they went canoeing. Today we just chilled out this morning and then PJ and I went to burn some papers in one of the paddocks where lots of kedgee (a type of tree that spreads very quickly and becomes very dense) had been cut down. We went on a bit of a tour on the way back and PJ was teaching me about what things I should be watching for in the cattle when we're mustering, types of plants, birds etc, and just general bush knowledge of which I'm so ignorant. He was very shocked to find that despite a degree in Zoology I know nothing about the reproductive cycle of cattle or how best to breed them, so he's helping me become better informed.

Everyone here is so friendly, and I'm beginning to feel more settled and at home, now I've begun to realise what's expected of me in various situations. Josh had donated me several pairs of jeans that don't fit him anymore, and Anne's shared some T-shirts, which is really useful, and today Bev, Anne and Amanda all gave me an Easter egg each! Which was so kind of them, and consequently we've spent most of the day eating chocolate!

We start mustering on Monday, which will mean camping out 5nights a week and only returning to the homestead for Sundays (our day off). I'm looking forward to it, although PJ keeps telling me how sore I'm going to be from riding and sunburn, and how much of an upset stomach I'm going to end up with from drinking all the different types of bore water that I"m not used to. Ah well, it's an experience anyway!

Anne's organising a race day and bull ride in Gregory in June, which should be brilliant fun, and she's already started having ideas about what outfit I should be wearing, borrowed from her or her mum Bev's wardrobe! I even have to wear a posh hat!!! I'll make sure I get some photos, as I doubt that's something that'll ever happen again!

Better go - calves to feed...