The moon smiles at Springvale!
Host: Yeeda Pastoral
Written by Kim – Station Hand, Yeeda Pastoral Company.
My name is Kim and I am 21 and from Germany. I started working out at Springvale last year in March. I got the job from Gumtree and had never worked on a station before.
It is so different for a backpacker to come to this new world which is so different to back home. At the beginning everything you have to do is so hard, things like changing a tyre for the first time are so difficult and your first day in the yards is horrible. Everyone in the yards knows what to do and they have their jobs but you just stand there feeling like you don’t know what to do! Looking back though it is really funny. All farmers should look after their back packers, they are like new little puppies in a whole new world!
Kim standing back and learning.
Eventually you learn to work the cattle and Dave the manager is a really good teacher. He would always shout at me “Kim move your hand”, “ Kim watch your fingers”, “Kim – move!” I was always in the way of the gate or the cattle but always seemed to be lucky and move just fast enough. I was very lucky to have such a caring and protective boss looking out for me and teaching me these lessons! By the end of your time working at Springvale you can’t believe you didn’t know how to do it all before.
Kim learning how to use the crush to help process the cattle.
Every day is so different I am trying to think of a special time . . . the best time of day is always knock off time! Even though the day was really stressful having a beer and a laugh after is amazing.
Some of the Springvale team after a big long day.
The best thing about working on a station is the evening after a big muster or day in the yards. Coming back to a camp fire, cooking and then laying in the swag looking at the stars and milky way. The best thing about the moon at Springvale is that it is on an angle that makes it look like it is smiling at you!
I went home to Germany at Christmas but knew I would come back. I fell in love with the country. Even though it is hard work the gorgeous rock landscape, the stone, and everything is so beautiful. The experience of being away on the station was so good. I knew I would want to go back. Being on Springvale is like the “real Australia” all the other “back packer” things are like a tourist tick box list and seem like nothing compared to working like this which is why I came back this year.
It is such a special world.
Working in the yards.
The time on my visa has now run out and I am really sad to be leaving. As I left Springvale Dave said “If you can manage to live here at Springvale you can manage to do everything you will ever want to do” and so I am off on my next adventure.
The Springvale girls.