Another Story by Will
Host: Country Downs Station
Written by Will Elezovich
Like last year, William, our eldest son, was happy to write another blog telling everyone about some of things that he did over the last year. So, I will pass you over to Will for you to see and read about what we have done through the eyes of our 9 year old. – Nikki
Hi! It is Will again and this year I am 9 years old. We still have the same animals as pets, but we have lost some but also got some more. We now have 7 pigs, 3 dogs, 4 cats, 11 chicks, 5 hens, 2 roosters and roughly 5,000 head of cattle. The types of cattle we have on Country Downs are Brahman, Charolais, Senepol, and Brahman crosses. We only get to see the cattle when we do a bore run because it so overgrown here at the moment since we had a really big wet season this year. A bore run is when we go out to the dam or a trough and check the levels and the cattle around it and the quality of the water. We take old work utes and cars to do this. Some other jobs my little brother, Rory who is 6, and I do work on the station are feeding the animals, helping on bore runs and with mustering, trapping and drafting.
The good things about being a kid on a station is getting to see all the animals and wildlife and learning about them from my parents. We also get to help out and learn about a lot of different things like mustering and trucking cattle and feeding poddy calves and goats. We also get to incubate and hatch our own chicks. We are going to do some duck eggs soon too. I learnt how to ride a motorbike last year and that is fun.
The bad things about living on a station include not having friends out here, no close neighbours, the risk of fires and not being able to go to the shop very much. I like going to the shop because I earn my own pocket money now and can buy my own things like lollies and toys.
In February 2017, my parents moved us to Emu Creek Station in the Pilbara, which is also known as Nyang. It is tough to live out at Emu Creek as there is not much pasture and a lot of bare ground. To make up for this, my dad puts out lick on the bare patches, so the cattle can break up and turn over the dirt.
Rory and I with our pets at Emu Creek Homestead.
A lick block on a bare area for the cattle to break up the ground.
On the bright side, there is the Yannarie River that runs next to the homestead. Our Govie used to take us down there to swim every afternoon. We had rope swings, grader tyres that we used to float around in, a kayak and a row boat. It was a lot of fun! There is also a lot of Aboriginal artefacts around the station because there is a lot of Aboriginal history in the area. We like to walk around and find some of them.
We camped alongside the Yannarie river at the campsites near the homestead.
We got to go and see places like Exmouth and Coral Bay. They had great beaches with lots of rocks and rock pools that Rory and I tried to find sea snails and crabs in. Our Govie also took us to the Ningaloo Research Centre where we learnt all about Ningaloo Reef. There was a touch screen where you could make your own fish and then you could put it onto a bigger screen where other people’s fish that they made are also there. There is a big aquarium that they were still building, and they were going put sea urchins and sand and shells and coral and lots more fish in it. I want to go back and check it out when it is finished.
The beach at Coral Bay. Dad, Rory and I looking for rock crabs and sea snails.
We are back at Country Downs now and to me, it is home as I have been here my whole life. It is very different to Emu Creek because it gets so much more rain. I would like to visit Emu Creek again see all the friends that I made down there.
The “pool” down from the homestead at Emu Creek.
Thank you for reading my blog,
From William Elezovich.