Kangaroo's last stand (and Ned Kelly's too)

Before I tell you the story of Shaun vs. the Kangaroo, take a look at this marvelous piece of commemorative artwork. This is a statue of Ned Kelly, the infamous "bushranger" (aussie for "outlaw") who fought against the oppression of the Irish underclass by the English government and police force. Here we are in Glenrowan, a town not far from where I'm currently staying, where Ned Kelly had his final and climactic confrontation with the police. Wearing a suit of home-made armor, he survived under siege in the local inn. He was taken alive (shot through the legs) after a glorious firefight, and taken to Melbourne to be swiftly tried and sentenced to death.

That was Ned Kelly's last stand. Now let me tell you about the kangaroo. Earlier this week, while we were working on the chook pen, we heard the neighbor's dog barking and saw it running in circles around something. Shaun went to investigate, and Kazuki and I watched from afar as he tried to coax Steve (the dog) away from a sick kangaroo that was lying in the grass. As Shaun tried to pick up a stick with which to tap Steve on the bum, the kangaroo perceived a threat and jumped up. Shaun looked up just in time to see the beast bearing down on him at full speed, only a few feet away! There was nothing to do but run, and run he did. Luckily the kangaroo was old and weak, and its sprint only lasted a few meters before it collapsed, but it was quite a chase while it lasted. I am sorry to say I did not have my camera trained on the scene while it was happening, but I went down a few minutes later and got a picture of him lying where he fell. The next day, I found his body just down the hill near the creek. He must have died during the night... but at least he had one last glorious run! or hop, or whatever kangaroos do.

Check out the hands on this guy. Its a good thing he didn't catch Shaun!

Alright, here's the update on the chook pen. Shaun welded up the steel frame that will be the structural front screen-wall. We had rolled out the steel last week. It was tricky, especially the top piece that curves in two planes. Once that was in place, we built a wooden sub-structure and platform that is the base for the concrete formwork. We'll be shaping the underside of the slab with gravel, then a plastic membrane. You'll see when I post next...

until then!

stones, bones, and chicken homes

Here are those steps I was talking about last time... they are made of recycled bluestone. Most of them are old windowsills from a demolished masonry building. We put the staircase together last weekend. Below, Shaun and Kazuki demonstrate proper form for lifting heavy stones.

Here Shaun is reenacting an accident he had 7 months ago. He was up in a tree installing a solar powered motion-sensing light outside his workshop. The branch he was standing on broke and he fell 8 meters (25 feet) to the ground. He shattered his right kneecap, broke 4 ribs, and fractured his left tibia so badly that it was protruding from his leg. Nobody was around to help, so he dragged himself 75 meters to the nearest phone and called an ambulance. After three operations and 6 months on crutches, he's walking fine and laughing about it.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the chook pen, our primary project. We're having a lot of fun. I love working with curves, and I'm especially excited about the thin-shell concrete roof we'll be capping it off with. At this point, we've laid all the block and are ready to start fabricating the steel structure for the front wall. I'll post some more pictures soon.

Benalla Market

We drove to the town of Benalla this morning to go to the monthly market. There was a lot of good produce, some local crafts, and a lot of flea market type fare. Oh, and two separate booths selling manure (one sheep, one cow). In the pictures, Shaun is wearing the red shirt, Nobuko is the one with crutches (she had foot surgery recently), and Kazuki, their nephew, is the Japanese fellow in the green shirt. He is visiting Australia for a year to learn English, travel a bit, and play some Football. Right now, he and I are on the same program: work for food and shelter.

After market, we stopped at an outdoor equipment shop so that Shaun could get some chainsaw files. The owners of the shop want me to come work for them for a little while doing some gardening. Maybe that will work out. Kazuki and I got our pictures taken on the American yard machine. It was a special moment.

We spent the afternoon looting some local ruins for stone slabs, then brought them back and started building a staircase. It was dark and rainy when we stopped, so I didn't get any pictures, but here is Shaun and his trusty bitch Diva on the way to the dig. Kazuki and I were following in the Ute (pickup truck) which we loaded to maximum capacity with granite and bluestone before returning to the homestead.

...and of course, the obligatory kangaroo shot (with wombat in the background)...

Shaun and Nobiko's

This marks the end of Thursday, day 4 of my trip. I am currently the guest of Shaun and Nobiko Murphy, with whom I felt at home from the very first. Their house is beautiful, built over 15 years by Shaun's hands. Actually, it was built in 5 then promptly caught fire and burned down. He took a few years to recompose, then rebuilt it. You can see where he sandblasted off the charred timbers and reinforced them with iron. Like the pheonix, the house was reborn from the ashes even more beautiful than it was to begin with.

The Murphys live in a co-op, which is divided into 8 shares. The land (about 120) acres is cooperatively owned and managed. There is a hydro-electric generator that provides power for everyone. However, for the past 10 years the rainfall has been steadily decreasing (global warming), so it no longer runs year-round. All of the houses have solar arrays or petrol generators to supplement.

We are working on two projects while I am here. The first, which we started yesterday, is a chicken house. It is to be concrete block walls and a concrete shell roof. So far we have dug and poured some shallow footers for the walls (above). While we are waiting for the block to arrive, we have started excavating for the second project, which is to be a stone retaining wall on the north side of the house. Its not much to see yet.

I'll post more soon. My connection is slow here, so it takes a long time to upload pictures. Otherwise there would be more. Until next time, enjoy!