I feel I should set Dad's mind at rest as he's rather worried I haven't mentioned seeing any kangaroos so far - I have seen lots, some are 6ft tall red and grey and there are also lots of wallabies and wallaroos around. They haven't featured much in my blog as they're so common I've almost stopped noticing them, and they're regarded as a pest as they can eat as much as a sheep, which is feed that it would be more economical for the cattle to eat. There are also a few dingos around, not many here compared to other stations, but they're also regarded as pests as they attack and kill the calves. While we were up at Mellish Park we ran over one in the truck and everyone cheered, at which I was slightly taken aback, but you soon get used to.

This week we've been back out at No3 and I've proved that I am now officially acclimatised - at 15C I was in agreement with the others that it was absolutely freezing! We had a couple of nights when it went down to about 7C which is bloody cold when you're sleeping outside. I found that I managed to get to sleep ok but then I woke up about 3am needing the loo and couldn't get properly warm again to sleep. The mornings are the worst, because even though you might not be very warm in bed, it's a lot warmer than when you have to get out of it and get dressed. I spent two mornings riding around with a shirt, fleece and fleece lined jacket on, and still only just kept warm. The wind's the worst, it just goes right through you, though we were lucky that the two days it was very cold the wind had dropped a bit.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent clearing up the 20mile (the big paddock that all the bullocks were in), checking for any that were left and taking them out. It involved a lot of man hours for a total of 60 or 70 beasts - bear in mind there were 2000 in there originally! We loaded the trucks on Thursday, then Friday and Saturday we started trapping the weaners (steers weaned from their mothers last year) in the cooler (fenced off area with a trough in it). The cooler has gates in and out so the cattle can come in to water, and on each gate there is a set of spears. It's hard to describe but they are basically 3 rods of metal about 3m long, hung horizontally one below the other from two chains. There are two sets of these hung diagonally at each gate so they form a triangle shape, so one set is wide on the outside and narrow on the inside allowing them to get into the cooler, and the other set is wide on the inside and narrow on the outside so they can get out. To trap them you close the gate over the outward spears, so they come in through the inward set, but the spears are too narrow on the inside for them to get out again the same way. We managed to trap 380 the first day and 340 the second, which was pretty good going, then it was just a case of walking them back to the yards at No3. There they all had to be dipped for ticks and then have a hormone pill put in their ear. This means that they still put on weight and muscle, which they wouldn't properly otherwise since they've been castrated. They are also dehorned again to make everyone's life safer, which is definitely a good thing as some of this lot were mad. I had a slight mishap on Saturday while we were chasing up the cattle into the drafting yards. I was shaking my tin filled with stones (it's like being in nursery again!) to move the cattle away from us, then one broke and ran straight for PJ and me. As they would say over here he was really upping us. Luckily for me he went for PJ first who was already halfway up the rails, which gave me a bit more time to climb. I just managed to get almost to the top when he turned and came for me, at which I thought b*****, better get over the other side. Only problem was that I only had one hand since I was still holding my flipping tin, so I just let go and landed splat on the floor 6ft below!!! Surprisingly it didn't actually hurt much, and I just thought it was hysterical that I hadn't let go of my beloved tin. PJ, Anne and Josh thought I'd hurt myself, but once they realised I was fine they all saw the funny side as well.

We came home last night (Saturday) and it was so nice to sleep in a proper warm bed in a house! Today's been day off as usual, and we're also off tomorrow, which was a nice surprise, although I do run out of things to do pretty quickly. I've taken to helping Bev in the kitchen making cakes and biscuits etc for our smokos during the week which I enjoy and it keeps me occupied too. The other bonus is that I get to choose what gets made!

Time to go - more washing to do. I never knew I could create so much dirty washing in a week - it's mad, but it does mean I'm becoming very domesticated with all this cooking and cleaning - Mum would be proud!