Family History – Clover Hill Diaries – Join Me and Be the Change

Remembering those who came before us – Part 3

Continuing the stories of my family treasures.

This one is a real treasure ( both of monetary and sentimental value ) and hence is stored in a safety deposit box to be given to next gen who will value it

As mentioned in Remembering those who came before us – Part 2 Eric Lindsay and his brothers were very impressive footballers and tennis players

Way back in the early 20th century when you won a premiership you got “real” gold medals

Charlie Lindsay played 1st Grade football for Port Kembla and they must have won the comp in 1922

Eric Lindsay and Charlie Lindsay played 1st Grade football for Dapto and they must have won the premiership in 1919

In 1906 Eric Lindsay won the Junior Tennis Championship and again his win was celebrated with “real” gold

and they all came with this beautiful “real” gold fob chain

I decided to keep up the family tradition and had my son’s national ski championship awards replicated in gold and added to the family history fob chain. I am confident the next gen will value them as much as me.

Whilst it is sad they are kept locked away, I would be devasted if I wore the fob chain and lost them and just having the capacity to share their story gives me great joy

See Part One and Part Two of this series

Remembering those who came before us – Part Two

I am very fortunate that my great Aunt Soey and my grandmother Ethel Lindsay shared some of the Lindsay family treasures with me

Aunty Soey provided little stories with hers – which were jottings sometimes on envelopes and others info she gathered as she talked to others. I asked her for a photo of my grandfather Walter Lindsay ( bottom row -2nd from the right) This was the only photo she could find. Apparently he wasn’t keen to have his photo taken because he had a hair lip and cleft palate which couldn’t be repaired in his lifetime. See more about Walter here

I also have my grandfather’s bible

Aunty Soey also gave me these, also with little stories

Firstly I am super excited to have pix of the majority of actors in these stories

Left to Right Eric (Gug) Lindsay, Doris ( Dos) Lindsay and Soey Dunster

So here is the story…

According to family legend Eric was a pretty impressive sportsman and played first grade football for Dapto. He won the teapot stand for being MVP

The Teapot and the Jug were handed down from Tommy Lindsay and Lizzie Lindsay who lived at Kembla Park ( see previous story )

This little snippet from Illawarra Pioneers ( see below ) explains all the lineage of family members

Walter, Eric and Doris Lindsay

Tommy and Lizzie ( Lavinia)

Thank you to the team behind Illawarra Pioneers for their commitment to record keeping

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

See the next post in the series here

Remembering those who came before us – Part One

I am excited that my house decluttering has revealed a number of photos and stories I wasnt aware I had and I am delighted to share them with you

Firstly my aunt Ruth Rae ( nee Lindsay) wrote this article about my grandparents and my great Uncle Eric (who we all called Gug)

Walter (Bottom Row 2nd from Right in 1920s ) * (see bottom of post ) and Eric Lindsay ( in 1960s ) were Dapto dairy farmers who operated WD & ES Lindsay, later to be called Lindsay Bros.

The farm was located in Darkes Rd, Dapto what is now Integral Energy Park, Landform Gardens, Dapto Automotive and Australian Motorlife Museum

Walter and Eric began to value add (to use a modern expression) to their dairy farming activity by becoming vendors of milk. Eric was the entrepreneur (to use another modern expression) and Walter the anchor man. To upgrade the herd Eric went to New Zealand and bought a prize bull.

At its height, Lindsay Bros was retailing more milk in the Wollongong-Port Kembla district than any other firm including the Dairy Farmers Cooperative Milk Company. Some 8 or 9 farmers in the district sold their milk to Lindsay Bros, where it was cooled, stored and distributed through some 3 domestic milk runs and a wholesale network that included almost every milk bar and general store from Dapto in the south to Austinmer and Coaldale in the north.
Eric would go to bed early and set off in the wee small hours with a laden truck to start the day’s distribution. Particularly in the hot months he would leave the milk in the cool room till the last possible time necessitating the early rising.

After the war draconian and unfair government regulations were imposed that forced all other farmers to sell their milk only to a government agent which was the rival Dairy Farmers Milk Cooperative.

With the loss of their major source of supply, Lindsay Bros were forced to sell their domestic business and retain only the wholesale business in the city of Wollongong itself. Their milk was subjected to regular and intrusive testing, while that of the rival company was not, but was always found to be well above the prescribed norms.

Eric bought the farm, “Kembla Park” and a subsidiary dairy was set up to augment the supply of milk.

Location of the Kembla Park farm between Rickard Rd and Waples Rd Unanderra

Lindsay Bros also bought a small farm at Albion Park to run dry and young stock, but the retail business was only a shadow of its former size. The company could not afford or warrant upgrading its machinery to enable processing and pasteurization which were beginning to be an important part of the industry and the business and herd were sold in 1958.

The sale of the herd attracted buyers from across Australia

The Dairy Farmers Coop bought the plant which they scrapped to forestall potential competitors but the herd, which had become well known for its productivity in the State herd testing scheme, attracted excellent prices for the time. Walter was 65 at this time and Eric 64 so retirement was timely option.

After the business was sold the garden became a pleasant hobby for Walter and Eric.

The Kararra garden regularly won the open section of the Wollongong Garden Competition

Walter always had a love of nature and knew all the birds around the farm. He watched them nesting and was so determined that they would not be disturbed that he told nobody about it.

See next post here

* Who else is in the photo

Top row Left to Right Billy Bovard, Ted Smith, Charlie Lindsay, Jack Bovard.

Bottom Left to Right Hessel Lindsay, Roy Lindsay, Walter Lindsay, Arthur Lindsay.

What is the Lindsay connection

Hessel and Arthur ( whose first names where John and William)

Charlie, Roy (Joseph) and Walter ( my side of the family)

Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856 – 1950), Friday 24 October 1930, page 9

OBITUARY. MR. JOHN LINDSAY.

Mr. John Lindsay, a member of one of the pioneer families of the Illawarra, died suddenly at his home, West Horsley, Dapto, on Sunday evening, aged 73 years. He had only returned home on Friday after a holiday trip in the Western districts, and appeared in the best of health. The late Mr. Lindsay was born near Unanderra, and was a son of the late Mr. John Lindsay, of Kembla Park, who was a noted breeder of Ayrshire cattle. The late Mr. Lindsay was also a noted cattle breeder, and met with many successes at agricultural exhibitions. For many years he was a member of the committee of the Dapto A. & H. Society, and at the time of his death was one of the trustees of the Society; he was also a Churchwarden of St. Luke’s Church of England, Brownsville. He was held in very high esteem in the district, being a man of very high principles, his word being his bond. The funeral on Tuesday was one of largest ever seen in the district. A short service was held in St. Luke’s Church of England, prior to the interment in the cemetery attached to the Church grounds. The Rev. O’Neil, an old friend of the family, and the Rev. Chapple were the officiating clergy. The late Mr. Lindsay was predeceased by his wife some four years ago, and he is survived by five sons, Messrs. Charles, Walter, Eric, Harold and Hilton, and four daughters, Misses Muriel, Estelle, Doris, and Hilda. One son, Roy, died some years ago. Messrs. George, Thomas, and Charles Lindsay are brothers, and Mrs. E. T. Evans, Dapto, and Miss Lindsay, Kembla Park, are sisters of the deceased. Mr. Charles and Miss Hilda Lindsay had just arrived in Tasmania on a holiday trip, when they received the news of their father’s death. They immediately crossed to Melbourne and arrived in Sydney on Wednesday by means of one of the aeroplanes of National Airways Ltd. We extend our sympathy to the bereaved family. Source

I am smiling for some bizarre reason whilst I have no photos of the women in my family from this era, I have plenty of photos of them at my wedding in 1978 ( they were stayers)

Memories of my Father

RIP John Lawrence Lindsay 18th June 1930- 9th February 2023

My dad, John Lindsay, in his happy place

Over the years I have written a number of posts featuring my father here and here and here and here

I invited him to share with me his journey but I never managed to persuade him. There is a believe in the digital age that if you are not on Google you don’t exist. At this point in time its my memories of my father that document his life. I think that’s sad because my memories are a little tainted by my PhD in judgment

This post will be work in progress – I will use it to document the memories as I reflect

My memories of my father are crisp

He loved his dog Lucy and Lucy was his nickname for me so I will take that as a sign

John and Lucy in October 2013 – with special thanks to Colin Seis for making my dad happy

We are all products of our life experiences and the decisions we make are often a result of some of the first things our parents say to us.

My father was the first born son of a pioneer Illawarra dairy farming family and he hated milking cows.

A well remembered mantra to his children growing up was “never learn to milk a cow”

My father convinced his father to sell the dairy farm at Dapto and buy a farm for us at Cowra – my father leading a cow at the sale of the herd in 1958

He was a traditionalist. Another mantra that is front of mind is “the first born son always inherits the farm”

When you are told from an early age boys are more important than girls and you have a highly competitive nature, you may be very determined to disrupt the status quo. At times I feel it has consumed me

Some things I remember

My father had a great eye for a good show horse. He could spot potential everywhere, driving past a paddock, at the knackery and other people’s cast off’s

My brother, sister and I were all good show riders – but it was the competitive spirit in me that my father tapped into to realise the potential of the “bargains” he picked up

My father was very proud of his haymaking skills

Early days on the farm at Cowra in the early 1960s

My father loved raising prime angus steaks for your table.

The look on his face when he topped the sale yard

My father was a disciple of the Ford XR6 and belonged to that special group of octogenarians who drive utes with low profile tyres

He even had a short term career as a brand ambassador

John Lindsay – influencer 😊

and on this day 45 years ago

I imagine over the next few weeks I will locate the photo albums and more memories will surface

We can all spend our lives trying to convince one person we are worthy OR

Please share with me what you are doing to create a movement of change

#movementofchange

and a big shoutout to my dad’s next door neighbours The Jamiesons – they are magnificent humans and the best of the best of neighbours – they took very good care of my dad whilst his family were far away

A little bit of family history scandal makes fascinating reading

With a close friend currently doing dairy genomic research in Ireland I was inspired to try and locate my family origins and see if she was close by

Both sides of my family arrived in the Illawarra region of NSW via Ireland between 1830 and 1841.

By the time I found myself back to my dairy roots, my father’s family hadn’t been dairying for 20 years and family history was rarely discussed

But as they were early settlers there is no shortage of family history online and I must admit I was fascinated by the evocative language of the time. The obituaries (see bottom of page) in particular make compelling reading.

And I am so glad I did this research I just would have loved to have known my great, great grandfather. It appears he was a bit of a trendsetter, didn’t mind standing out from the crowd and had his fair share of knockers.

John LIndsay

This is how he is recorded in local history – don’t you love the language

‘John Lindsay was one of the leaders in the dairy industry. John was an innovative thinker, willing to take risks in building up his dairy cattle. He owned a herd of Ayrshire dairy cattle that was the envy of his peers.

Lindsay was born in Ireland, in 1832, arriving in Australia in 1841 on the Orestes. In 1878, John created a minor scandal when he purchased “The Earl of Beaconsfield’, an Ayrshire bull, for 100 pounds ($200). Local farmers thought this was foolish and extravagant. These cattle enabled him to make his herd outstanding, producing prized dairy products and show animals for many years. A daughter of Lord Beaconsfield named Honeycomb was declared the Champion Cow of the World in 1889 wining 62 ribbons and producing 36 litres of milk per day.

and the fabulous HoneyComb

Cows in Australia today can produce up to 120 litres per day and over 23,000 litres per year and some 160,000 plus litres in their lifetime. One of the key visual differences is the length of the cows teats. In 1889 it was preferential for cows to have longer teats because they were milked by hand.

Today their teats are much shorter, their udders more compact and cows have been bred to have the ability to produce large volumes of milk from increased feed conversion efficiency ( that is ability to turn grass into milk very efficiently) which means they generate less green house gas emissions per litre of milk produced.

I am confident my great, great grandfather would be very excited about the dairy cows of the 21st century and would be enthralled by the genomic research that Dr Jo Newton is doing in Ireland. I feel a guest blog coming on

* the obituaries make compelling reading. This is how the death of my great, great grandfather’s younger brother was reported

THE LATE MR. T. F. LINDSAY.

As briefly stated in last issue, Mr. T. F. Lind

say, of Unanderra, died somewhat unexpectedly

at his residence on Friday afternoon. Mr.

Lindsay had been in his usual state of health

Thursday, on which day he was engaged branding

calves. While overheated, he drank rather

copiously of water, and in the afternoon com

plained of severe cramps in the stomach. Dr.

Thompson was sent for, and pronounced the

attack one of British cholera, at the same time hold

ing out little hope of recovery. Though everything

that medical skill could devise was done, Mr.

Lindsay, after a brief illness of less than

twenty-four hours, but which was very severe

while it lasted, succumbed to the dread malady

in the afternoon of Friday. Mr. Lindsay being

widely known throughout the district and

deservedly held in the highest esteem, a very

large concourse of people had assembled at his

late residence at noon (the hour fixed for the

funeral), but a telegram having been received by

the family from an only sister of the deceased

gentleman who resided near Melbourne to the

effect that she was leaving by the express train,

and asking to delay the funeral if possible, the

mournful procession was delayed until 2 o’clock.

The funeral cortege was one of the largest ever

seen in this district. On reaching St. Luke’s,

the coffin was conveyed into the church, where

the Rev. J. Stack, the incumbent, conducted a

short service, after which the body was consigned

to the tomb in close proximity to the graves of

the deceased’s lamented father and mother

and other members of the family, Rev.

J. Stack again officiating. The late Mr.

Lindsay was of a genial and kindly disposition,

and universally esteemed for his many virtues.

For some years past he took a warm interest in

municipal matters, and occupied a seat in the

Central Illawarra Council. He also took an

active part in the formation and furthering of the

interests of the Unanderra dairy factory, of

which he was also a director. Like the rest of

the family of that name, he was a successful

dairyman, and at all times took a prominent part

in connection with the Dapto Agricultural and

Horticultural Society, being an active member of

the committee up to the time of his death. The

deceased gentleman was the youngest member of

the Lindsay family, and was almost a native of

the district, being only one year old when he

arrived here with his parents. He died in the

full strength and vigor of his manhood, having

only reached the age of 49 when he was thus

suddenly cut off. He leaves behind him (in ad

dition to other relatives to mourn their loss) a

widow and twelve children, the ages of the latter

ranging almost from infancy to well on towards

25 years.

Don’t expect to see positive change if you surround yourself with negativity

As soon as you pass through the magnificent avenue of trees at Gundowringa at Crookwell you realise you have arrived at a farm steeped in heritage

Charlie Prell inspired by the visionaries who came before him

On your left is the 160-year-old woolshed that in its heyday accommodated 16,000 sheep and the stone shearer’s quarters built in 1916

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Today it sleeps up to 18 to supplement the farm’s income through fly fishing and farmstay opportunities

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On your right is a stone cottage of the same era and to the right of the stone cottage stands the pavilion that once overlooked the cricket oval

But the pièce de résistance is the homestead. Everything else is a reminder of when the country rode on the sheep’s back. The homestead underpins why the family is so committed to making farming work for them and the generations to come in the 21^st Century

Gundowringa Homestead was built by Chas E Prell in 1905 out of basalt and granite and roof tiles that were used as ballast on ships doing the round trip from UK to Australia

Chas E Prell – the first of 5 generations of the Prell family on Gundowringa

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The gardens were laid out while the house was being built. There are some very impressive large trees, some now over 100 years old. Including what is believed to be the oldest and largest Linden grown in this country. Other breathtaking species include an evergreen example of the liquid amber family the Liquidamber festerii

It was the rose garden and the horizontal elm, with the flattened canopy designed to allow you to walk under that caught my eye.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The house has maid’s quarters and when first built visitors were greeted at the door by a butler. At the height of the wool boom the property supported thirty jobs

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The homestead was adapted to use as farmstay accommodation in 2000 by Charlie’s parents Jeff and Jess Prell until Jess death in 2008

Jeff Prell – a man with every right to be proud of what his family has achieved and the perfect host to share his family heritage past

Jeff has found love again and married local artist Margaret Shepherd whose studio and artworks bring a new vibrancy to the homestead

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The current generation have a lot to inspire them and inspired they are. Inspired to adapt and move with the times. Inspired to respect the landscape and work in partnership with it

Jeff and Charlie Prell marching into the future

Like his great grandfather and his namesake Charlie Prell knows that pioneers who advocate and help drive change are often initially perceived as being radical in the extreme particularly by people entrenched in the past

Charlie Prell – a bright future relies on innovation and making the most of the ssets you have

What we often forget is what traditionally sets people like Charlie and his great grandfather apart is their commitment to the greater good. Charlie Prell has leased part of Gundowringa to a company who will install a wind farm. He is also helping farmers across Australia find alternate fresh income streams from renewable energy technology.

The site of the future Gundowringa Windfarm

Charlie is using part of his new stream of passive income to reinvigorate and drought proof the farm and embrace the opportunities that the combination of the diverse income streams of renewable energy, tourism and food and fibre production offer to sustaining generations of Prell family members as long as they wish to remain there.

Nobody will ever be able to say that Charlie Prell is a victim of the disconnect between reality of the vargaries of farming and the idealism of the view that food and fibre production alone will keep Australian farming families in business for the long haul in the 21^st Century

Today it’s hard to believe that the now acknowledged visionary Chas E Prell the man who epitomised the “producing more with less’ ethos and pioneered pasture improvement utilising superphosphate fertiliser was in his time considered a maverick who didn’t follow convention. Its a reminder that its important not to forget the past. What’s even more important is to learn from it.

Change is the law of life

I recently heard some-one say the jobs available in ten years’ time to young people currently in primary school wont have been heard of today. My greatest hope is that agriculture becomes a visionary in learning from its past and embracing the opportunities a partnership between farmers and nature offers

Todays Youth Tomorrows Farmer

Last weekend I went back to my roots and visited my dad who I have always called John

John is one of a large number of farmers who are contributing to the rising age of the average farmer i.e. still going strong at 83.

John and Lucy

I always thought the ‘average age of farmers’ figures are pretty woolly in that farmers who continue to live where they work never retire.

Just to prove my point meet John’s next door neighbour also called John (on the bike – check out my John’s hot Ute) 82 years old and still running a slick operation his farm

As my John says “what would I do”. Indeed unless your lifelong dream is to spend your retirement travelling the world then where better to spend your time than doing what you love best.

In my dad’s case that is growing prime Angus steaks for your table

And growing the best pasture he can (and conserving it) to make sure those cows he loves so much are well fed

Now my dad is still waiting for his son to return to the farm.

Things where looking up 3 years ago when all his worldly possession arrived on the door step

But he was lured away by lucrative offers from the mining companies and my dad lives for the time he comes home on short breaks as he is this week. I will do a whole blog post on my dad and his farm shortly.

We know young people are the key to success for agriculture and I know agriculture has talented young people ready to take on the challenge. Young people with fire in their bellies taking every opportunity to generate a buzz around Australian agriculture .

I know this because I work with these exciting young people every day

This weekend I am down in Bega and taking time out to visit two of these dynamos in Art4Agriculture Young Dairy Farming Champions, Andrew D’Arcy and Tom Pearce.

Both Tom and Andrew have been farming side by side with their dads ever since they left school (and in reality since the day they were tall enough to put cups on cows)

The Pearce family lives on Pearce’s Rd as you do when generations of your family have farmed in the one spot. My dad lives on a road named after his farm

940 acres of rolling hills, bush and pasture. The pasture is currently 50:50 perennials to annuals with the traditional kikuyu base over sown with perennial and annual ryegrass, chicory and plantain over sown with oats in the autumn for those into the technical

Norm and Tom Pearce work side by side to milk 260 cows in a 16 aside swing over herringbone dairy

The farm is beautiful

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And the cows _

and their offspring are happy and contented

This one peeking around the corner of the tree is a bit like Tom’s dad a bit camera shy

The farm is heaped in tradition and I so enjoyed the walk from the ‘new’ dairy up to the original walk through dairy where the cows where milked by hand up until the 1950’s

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tom’s sister is getting married shortly here and you can see the views will make for great wedding photos

The Pearce’s have recently installed a K-Line irrigation system to improve water use efficiency. Whilst they have a 560 mega litre water license , they currently only have a 40% allocation. Water is indeed a very expensive and very precious water resource.

You can check out how K-Line irrigation works in this great little vid

Tom Pearce is of course the farmer who puts the cheese on your cracker

and was recently immortalized on the front of Bega’s Colby Cheese

Tomorrow I am off to visit the Andrew D’Arcy. Wow wait till you see the technology on Team D’Arcy’s farm

BTW Curious like I was what this is

Tom tells me this is an antique wooden ice chest now home to Roger the Rat

History is remembered by how the historians write it

When I first started writing this blog just over 12 months ago it was (or so I thought) an opportunity to share with the community and provide insights into what happens on our dairy farm and the diverse ways beyond the farm gate I use to share that story and advocate for the people and the places behind the food we eat .

Now as it turns out my readers are invariably much more interested in my agri-political commentary so these days my posts tend to be more about the challenges of farming and the supply chain that delivers the milk from my farm to your glass. That’s fine that’s what my readers want.

For me it has become a record of my life and the way I think and feel about a number of things. Its also an outlet and a hobby ( of which I have too few). Its cathartic. There are times when the web that strangles agriculture so frustrates me I want to scream so I sit down and I vent through my blog and I feel better and I can get on with life and and have a productive day. I love the feedback. Its like having a huge virtual support network to get you through the tough times

It has other advantages too. My father is an avid reader of my blog. As I am dreadful at keeping in touch with family and friends the blog helps make up for this flaw in my personality

I have been hassling my father for quite some time to write me some guest blog posts and share with my readers some insights into his life growing up on the dairy farm. Remember this is the man who constantly told me growing up “Lynne never learn to milk a cow” so obviously dairy farming wasn’t his idea of the ideal career pathway. I am not sure if he jinxed me but I did try once to milk cows and it was a disaster and I quickly learnt to stick at what I do best

Whilst I was in WA in November last year I took the opportunity to visit my father’s brother and his wife – the gorgeous Uncle Dave and Aunty Ros, In an effort to gain family solidarity in my drive to get my father blogging his family history I told my Aunt and Uncle of my plan and how I thought it would help greatly if we had some photos

I was very excited when Uncle Dave and Aunty Ros said they believe they have some photos going back to when my dad was just a youngster in boxes in their garage (mine are in boxes in my roof – that goodness for the new digital age) and they are unearthing them for me and then we can see if these ‘blasts from the past’ give my father the necessary inspiration

What they have unearthed to date is this

That’s me on the left with Uncle Dave on his wedding day. My cousin and I were flower girls. I was thrilled to see I was even a fashion icon way back then with pink glasses to match the pink flower girl dress.

BTW Dad you are on notice – its time to start tapping on that iPad

Got my walking shoes on today

With my 2013 mission to live everyday as if it was your last, today Michael and I joined forces with our good friends Bev and Don to do the magnificent 6km section of the Kiama Coastal Walk from Kiama to Gerringong.

Bev and Don are doing a walking holiday through Spain and Morocco later in the year so now looked like as good a time as any to get fit.

And before you knew it we were off – looking pretty confident at this stage considering all four of us had major surgery during the year

Our section of the walk took as on a ‘dramatic, coast-hugging route between Kiama Heights and Werri Lagoon’.

A popular spot for taking out the tinnie

Looking back to Kiama

The boys were keen to set the pace. Check out that work boot tan

Sadly there were far too many fisherman playing Russian Roulette on the rocks without lifejackets

and illegal squatters Tut tut

Kiama’s very own ‘apostle”

The Kiama coastline at 8am this morning – just divine

says Michael

A little bit of history for you from the brochure ……….

“The Kiama area was once dominated by a vast rainforest known as the Long Brush. By the time the cedar-getters arrived in the Kiama area in 1815, the local Aboriginal people would have been aware of the impending changes to their way of life. Strange and deadly diseases would have already arrived and the spread of the destruction of the bushland was certainly feared.”

By the 1820’s Kiama was supplying 9/10ths of the Sydney Cedar Market. The round insert and reference on the map shows the tiny patch of coastline that still supports the rainforest. As you can see from the first picture the cows in the pastures along the coastline would welcome the return of some trees

“As land grants were taken up, the traditional owners were forced from their lands.”

“Before long the magnificent forests were cleared to provide timber for the new colony, expose the volcanic soils for crops such as potatoes and wheat, and clear the way for dairy farms”*

Kiama Pioneer Butter Factory – Australia’s first Dairy CO-OP opened in 1869

At the half way mark we were all starting to feel pretty confident we were going to make it

Lynne and Michael looking confident

as did Bev and Don

When you see these magnificent cliffs you know have made it and you can pat yourself on the back.

Before we knew it we had reached Werri Beach Lagoon

and Kerrie was waiting to take us to breakfast

and how lucky were we to avoid the queues we saw as we left ?

after tasting the food. (Which dairy farmer chews his nails????)

and drinking the milk shakes and lattes

and taking in the view at the Sea Vista Cafe, Gerringong, we could understand why people were prepared to wait

Such a special day, so many wonderful natural resources to appreciate and along the walk you may be reminded of days past,

Sea caves, rock platform and exposed cliffs

VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

or you may just enjoy the rolling hills, boulder beaches, sea caves, rock platforms and exposed cliffs that create the dramatic scenery and from May to June and September to November, the walk provides great vantage points for whale watching.

Well worth a visit we can guarantee you !!!!!!!

* BTW You can read the history of dairying in the Illawarra here

Coles and Woolworths in the Spotlight

Its another week on the road for me doing different and exciting things every day. I am noticing in the background Colesworth are getting their share of the conversation on Twitter and in the press from all angles.

Firstly twitter is a buzz with indignation from farmers and their supporters that the big two are major sponsors of the National Farmers Federation Congress. I have some considered thoughts on that so expect a blog post later in the week on this one.

Then there is Animals Australia in the news again and the Coleworths PR machines earning their crusts piggybacking on the media circus surrounding them.

Animals Aus now their is one clever organisation organisation with seemingly endless buckets of money to fight for their ideals for animal rights. Whether their vision for animals is right or wrong I just shake my head. Its man’s inhumanity to man that is indefensible and the suffering of women and children in some third world countries just beggars belief, yet rich people and some not so rich donate millions and millions of dollars for Animals Australia Trojan horse campaigns to convince meat eaters to become vegans. Enough said on that

Yesterday saw me back at my old alma mater Sydney University for a board meeting. This gave me the opportunity to catch up with a very special young man doing agricultural science at Sydney Uni who lives at Andrews College which was a hop skip and jump away from my board meeting venue. Though when the rain bucketed down as I was walking there it wasn’t near close enough and to top it all off I had hot pink shoes on and now I have hot pink feet.

Richie Quigley has stepped in at the last minute to a fill a gap in the Cotton Young Farming Champions team.

The facilities at Andrews College at Sydney Uni are quite astounding. I asked Richie to pose behind the bar for this shot

With a blog post, video and now a PowerPoint presentation and after yesterday a two hour session with Art4Agriculture personal and professional development coach Annie Burbrook now under his belt wow does agriculture have a superstar rising fast.

Richie’s family run Quigley Farms. Check out their Facebook site here and Richie’s blog post for Art4Agriculture here. This is one family crazy about cotton and very proud to grow it in the most efficient way they can. What an inspiring afternoon I had learning all about it from Richie

Richie as I said earlier lives at Andrews College on the Sydney Uni Campus. Andrews College is steeped in tradition and it was quite a déjà vu moment to walk up the steps yesterday.

There are photos of the walls showing cows in the paddocks in front of the college. Apparently in those days you could donate cows to the college to pay for your board

Magnificent wood panelling and stained glass windows everywhere

Andrews College has many fond memories for me. I mentioned to Richie I had attended a formal with HT ( short for heart throb – the nickname given to Michael by my uni friends) there where the bands Airsupply and Sherbet and Andy Gibb played all on the one night. I had a feeling their albums where not in Richie’s collection.

I just had to take a picture of this tree yesterday. This is where HT first said those three little words that make a girl’s heart sing when she knows the man of her dreams feels the same way about her. Aaaaaaaaaaaah mmh memories