Fishing and Roos at Tom Groggin Station

And two months have passed again which means my visa is up in PNG and it's off to Australia again.

Bags are almost packed.

Can't forget Bongo.

I landed in Sydney at about 9:00pm on Friday night and Mel and Bee were waiting to pick me up.  Wahoo!!  The next morning we were off to Tom Groggins Station, which is about 2 hours south of Canberra (and about 4-ish hours south of Sydney).  Before heading out though, we had to make a very important stop.  Krispy Kreme!  Two dozen donuts later and we were officially on our way.  You'd think I would have been satisfied with two dozen donuts (by this time four of which were in my belly), but I wasn't.  A pit stop was required about halfway to get gummy snakes.  A road trip just isn't a road trip unless you have a pack of gummy something… gummy worms, gummy bears, gummy snakes… all are acceptable.


 

Mel (left) and Bee (right) stoked for donuts.

And a very happy me!

So apparently there are giant things all around Australia and
people do a tour to see them all.  We came across the giant
sheep along our way to Tom Groggin.

Donuts and gummy snakes and my life was complete.  

The drive down to Tom Groggins was stunning.  I absolutely love southeastern Australia.  It has some of the most beautiful scenery.  I kept sticking my camera out the window to capture the beauty.  Not so sure Mel and Bee appreciated the window going up and down and up and down… and up and down, but they were good sports and humored me.

I love seeing road signs that say 110 (kilometers per hour so about 70 mph).

The clouds look abnormally close to the Earth here. Amazes me.

I thought the random rocks with trees were intriguing and insisted
on taking 700 photos of them out of the car window as we drove by.

After arriving at the beautiful farm that is Tom Groggins Station I met Mel and Bee's family including Pop Pop who insisted we go feed kangaroos.  I most certainly was not opposed to this idea.

The farm.  Insanely beautiful!

A smidgin of snow on the mountains.

Roos!

The one brave roo having a snack.

Hopefully this video plays. (To my Deaf friends
there is no talking so no need for captions.)

Again no talking so no captions needed.

Such a sweet guy.

So many mommas.  It seemed like every
3rd roo had a joey in its pouch.

Also, I learned that there can be a big joey and a teeny tiny joey
in a momma's pouch at the same time and the big joey doesn't hurt
the little joey even when it dive bombs into momma's pouch.

A fun Christmas tree.

The following day it was time for my first fly fishing lesson.  Belinda and Pop Pop Morrison showed me how it was done then insisted I practice in the yard.  Only after I was able to repeatedly hit a target (Belinda's shoe) while casting did I graduate casting school.  Then it was time to go fishing!  And by fishing I mean casting because I didn't catch any fish.  Didn't even get a nibble, but my casting was pretty good.  Pop Pop Morrison told me so. :)

Belinda showing me what's up.

Then the pro Pop Pop Morrison stepped in and took over the lesson.

Momma Mel getting me dressed in waiters
to go for my first fish.

She even let me borrow her hat.
She's a keeper.

My first attempt.

Annnnnd I got my fly stuck.  Good thing
the 90 year-old Pop Pop Morrison was there
to retrieve it.

Then demonstrate what to do… again.

Mel's turn for a fish.

Belinda enjoying some sushi.

You can't tell from this picture but the bridge in the background
is made from an old train car (I think it was a train car).

I'm a big fan of drift wood.

There's something beautiful about
fallen, dead trees.

I didn't have my zoom lens so it's hard to see
but these are wild brumby horses.

How stinking cute is this cow!?  I want to scratch his head.

Going for a run with the moo cows.

Emus!

I was put on gate duty… too bad I couldn't figure out how to open the
gate.  After much studying I finally figured out the locking mechanism.

This cat migrated from lap to lap for cuddles.

After 5 days of fishing and relaxing (I mostly stuck to the later) it was time to head out.  It was a wonderful "Welcome to Australia (again)" and I'm so very luck I have friends who know of little gems like this place and are willing to share them.  Tom Groggin Station is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Goodbye Tom Groggins.