Olympic Fencing Team
What could be better than a couple of beers with your mates around a fire
Wild uncontrolled fire on private property never ends well, especially when it is in a remote or hard to reach area. Such was the case for Julie and I last December when our beloved property in the Wolgan Valley was engulfed in flames during Australia’s horrid bushfire season. Amongst our sadness arose an offer of help from mates I’ve been running with for many years, guys who are more comfortable on the beaches than in the bush. But never mind, a group of them shouldered arms and joined me at the property for a weekend of fence building and beers. What could be better?
Our burned property is slowly showing signs of regeneration
Morgo is dwarfed by a burned-out tree that was probably over 100 years old
And so it came to pass that over a couple of days the seven of us cut down trees, dug out old burned posts and put in new ones, replaced bent star pickets, repaired broken barbed wire and reattached wire to countless posts. In between we managed to enjoy a couple of beers around the fire, have a few laughs and enjoy the splendours of a regenerating bush. The resounding monument to our labour was a new corner post, fully braced, bolted and rewired, ready to stand the test of another 100 years.
Chook and Gaz perfecting the art of attaching barbed wire to a picket
Frenchie seemed to prefer going solo
Victory! Our first post successfully goes in with a minimum of fuss
Transport between work sites was in the back of my trusty ute
The corner post was a major engineering feat, forged from a nearby fallen tree, a deep hole dug, the post fitted and then secured
Some of the team celebrates our monument to teamwork
Sleeping arrangements were strictly five star in our empty new home
It was a hard day at work and we earned a few cold ones as the sun set
To Gaz, Pablo, Frenchie, Hoppy, Chook and Morgo, thanks a million for your herculean effort and rest assured there’s always more fence if you ever want to come back!
Gaz and Pablo found new uses for hammers and pliers
Many hands make light work – mastering the fence strainer was the key to our rapid fence repair work
Wet weather on the second night forced us to take shelter on the wide veranda but it didn’t dampen our spirits
I was very impressed with your little Wolgan Valley hide away Mr Bill and Julie. Speaking from all the PSR boys that ventured there, we had a ball. And I hope Julie’s work load has been lessened. Up for more work when you need me Billy
Thanks Hoppy. You’ve certainly lightened the load for Julie in her rebuilding our fences and made my supervisory job much easier as well.
Hi Bill
I’ve just read your blog. You are lucky having such a supportive and industrious group of mates. That’s true friendship and the Aussie way. Great effort by them all!
Cheers
Pete
Thanks Chook. And you blokes are lucky I’ve got 4 kilometres of burnt out fence line so we can have more great weekends repairing them.
A great weekend at your lovely bush retreat with a little work and a lot of good times (some I remember).
Thanks Morgo…good times indeed and a fabulous new fence to boot!