Ribh's D'Coopage

[Kris5902]

@CrazyChookChookLady : I'm going to answer your comment here rather than on MJ's thread because if I'm going to rabbit on I'd best do it on my own thread. I'm going to state a couple of obvious points first because I have heard of tourists who expected to do The Sydney Opera House, The Great Barrier Reef & Uluru all in the same day so: Australia is BIG.

In winter it snows in some places [some places it's been known to do that in summer] so depending on what you want to see you need to plan your time & whether you are going to do your travelling by car, train or plane. That will decide where a lot of your money goes & how long you can stay.

That all said I am going to assume you want to see the country, not do the culture vulture shuffle. Because we are so big every state is different & has a different climate.

Not exactly dissuading is here.... just means we will have to spend as much time as legally permitted seeing the awesomeness! And I want to see it all (well, except for the spiders...)

Jeannie, you've done a wonderful integration. The girls are doing great. Your assessment of visiting AUS is akin to visiting the states. Where to start and where to go. I've lost all hope of visiting AUS as I would need at least a year to see everything I wanted to.


I'm doing great and love seeing how things are with you.

Bob, I now hate flying, but I don't fly American. Last four flights, well 3 and almost flights I had with them convinced me that I'm not going back. First three, I see structural defects as we're in flight and just pray that we land in one piece. When we landed I told the crew what I saw, quietly and was politely told "that's normal". NO THAT IS NOT NORMAL! I have a degree in aviation and am an aviation maintenance officer. Then for the icing on the cake.... I'm boarding a flight and the captain is greeting the passengers. As he greeted me we went eye to eye.. Yea, the reason he was no longer flying for the US Air Force was because I took his wings. I looked at the head flight attendant and told her to get me on a different flight, same class, same times, etc or I would happily tell the entire passenger contingent why I was not going to get on this bird. She initially pushed back, but the pilot told her to give me what I want. He really didn't want me to share.

To quote a favorite comedic band re Canada

“The economy is lousy, we barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly 'cause Canada's really big
We're the second largest country on this planet earth
And if Russia keeps on shrinking then soon we'll be first
(As long as we keep Quebec)......

Most people will tell you that France is pretty large
But you can put fourteen France's into this land of ours
(It'd take a lot of work, It'd take a whole lot of work)
We're larger than Malaysia, almost as big as Asia
We're bigger than Australia and it's a continent”
The arrogant worms

Lol, but sadly a lot of that is really cold and tundra-ie. As DH says “we burnt your fries, so we gave you extra”

And as to the whole captain incident etc.... great, you’ve now reassured me that trains are probably safer... but I still don’t think I’m going to take a boat to AUS, even if that was how my mother travelled to Canada.

 

[MaryJanet]

I blew the roost photo up to have a look & her toenail seems shorter but all the toe is there & It it hasn't affected her movement so I'm thinking we're all good.

Yay!!

 

[LozzyR]

Not exactly dissuading is here.... just means we will have to spend as much time as legally permitted seeing the awesomeness! And I want to see it all (well, except for the spiders...)

To quote a favorite comedic band re Canada

“The economy is lousy, we barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly 'cause Canada's really big
We're the second largest country on this planet earth
And if Russia keeps on shrinking then soon we'll be first
(As long as we keep Quebec)......

Most people will tell you that France is pretty large
But you can put fourteen France's into this land of ours
(It'd take a lot of work, It'd take a whole lot of work)
We're larger than Malaysia, almost as big as Asia
We're bigger than Australia and it's a continent”
The arrogant worms

Lol, but sadly a lot of that is really cold and tundra-ie. As DH says “we burnt your fries, so we gave you extra”

And as to the whole captain incident etc.... great, you’ve now reassured me that trains are probably safer... but I still don’t think I’m going to take a boat to AUS, even if that was how my mother travelled to Canada.

I’m sure there’s a great cruise you can do to get down here and see things on the way!

 

[Kris5902]

No, but he'll often wander past & stand & watch them for a while. My chickens always amaze him because they're not completely neurotic & he finds the sight of any escapees spotting me out & about & promptly heading back towards the run , where they squat & wait to be lifted back over the fence, exquisitely funny. He also finds the breeds I've chosen pretty. He worked on a family farm for a bit & has nothing good to say about how the animals were treated & he compares their chickens unfavourably to mine, who may be nut jobs but are generally calm & happy birds.

My family think I'm mad; they may have a case. However, a couple of years ago my eldest came to visit on her own. I had a very sick hen in the house (think intensive care) when she arrived and I explained to her that my venturing out was highly restricted and voiced some concern that she may get bored. I also had a mum out and about with three youngsters.
My daughter asked if she could touch the sick hen. Once she had stroked her something sparked up. She spent a week here looking after the chickens with me basically. I did take her out to lunch once with some friend on the coast so she got to swim and sunbath but she started asking a lot of questions about the chickens and what I did with them.
It was a bad week. The sick hen died on my bed as we watched. I think this was a first for my daughter. A hawk took one of the chicks and it was very hard for me to explain why I didn't seem particularly concerned. If a mum is out with her chicks and comes back one short at roost time and the chick doesn't show, I'll look until it's too dark to see properly and after that it's over. If I've seen the hawk and the mums still alive then I don't even look. The chances of finding a chick here at dusk in this terrain are nil. You would need to be lucky.
My daughter got to know Fat Bird a bit and Fat Bird would take food from her hand if I was close by. She also got to hold a couple of roosters.
Before all this it was obvious she thought the chickens were cute and she would often say she would like some. At the end of the week she thought that maybe given her circumstances and other life commitments, plus having a Husky that the life she could offer a chicken wasn't going to be good enough.

That sounds like a positive experience, albeit sad and maybe a little too real for many... and a very sensible choice. If you don’t mind my asking, about how old is your daughter?

Yes. I cut my visit with my mum short this year because I know my BRs go broody in summer & the man isn't aware enough to do something about it. To say nothing of the cats who loathe me being away. I just prefer to look after my animals myself & am blessed to live somewhere I really, really like so long as most of the people stay away.

And this is why I haven’t seen my friends in over 2 years! I have until June 2021 to arrange a chicken sitter for a weekend wedding, because gosh darn it, I practically adopted the boy at 15, and he’s been engaged for two years (our last outing to see friends and pre-chickens!) of course by them there will be a proper place to sleep, so that should help...

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

@CrazyChookChookLady : I'm going to answer your comment here rather than on MJ's thread because if I'm going to rabbit on I'd best do it on my own thread. I'm going to state a couple of obvious points first because I have heard of tourists who expected to do The Sydney Opera House, The Great Barrier Reef & Uluru all in the same day so: Australia is BIG. John & I used to laugh in Europe about how many countries we'd been through in one day! I think our biggest day was about 6. That doesn't happen here.

In winter it snows in some places [some places it's been known to do that in summer] so depending on what you want to see you need to plan your time & whether you are going to do your travelling by car, train or plane. That will decide where a lot of your money goes & how long you can stay.

That all said I am going to assume you want to see the country, not do the culture vulture shuffle. Because we are so big every state is different & has a different climate. MJ lives on the edge of a desert. You get some of our big wineries there & the Great Ocean Road hugs the coastline of Victoria, next door. If you want to experience the outback some of the biggest & most isolated properties do take tourists. You'd have to ask your tourist guide but some of the properties are absolutely incredible. Our beaches are incredible but they are all dangerous. I can't emphasise that enough because every year tourists drown because they've never heard of rips & just go in anywhere. In summer the big beaches are all patrolled by life guards who put up flags to mark the safest areas & post about the conditions. We have one deadly species of octopus & some nasty jellyfish type things so check before heading into the water anywhere.

Then there is Queensland. We are a very cool state. We have the Great Barrier Reef up north & the hinterland has amazing walks, spectacular waterfalls & birdlife you won't see anywhere else like the cassowary. We have the largest sand island in the world, Fraser, & some big & amazing national parks. We go all the way from monsoonal tropical up north to a more temperate climate on the border. We have Steve Irwin's zoo [expensive but worth it I'm told ~ I've never been] & some lovely touristy places like Maleny [they have a cuckoo clock shop ~ sorry, I'm a big kid @ heart]. You really need months rather than days or weeks to even begin to see this country because everywhere is just so different & the distances are huge. I've barely scratched the surface & have no real idea of the sort of thing you'd really like to see. Just driving out west you're likely to see kangaroos & emus & of course if we all want to try & meet up...oh.my.

I’ve been to Steve Irwin’s zoo a couple of years ago. Mum told me she saw some kid poking a bloody blue ring octopus!!!!! Where the heck was that kids parents?! It was getting angry. I have been stung by a blue bottle but iragangie are DANGEROUS, I heard some kid died from not wearing a wet suit when he went swimming in North QLD.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

This kinda sums up Australia

 

[Kris5902]

That is an interesting thought. Am I perceived as a hen or a rooster? I suspect the girls know the difference. Are roosters, like their human counterparts, more prone to risk taking behaviours? While the girls seem to know who John is they also know he's not their keeper & interact with him quite differently than they do with me. They will tolerate him for short periods. It makes me wonder how distressed they become if forced to change keepers.

Oh my... the secrets lives of chickens!

Yes. All mine do that - like putting themselves to rights after 'an unfortunate encounter'.
And my cats all lick themselves after I touch them - like they are ridding themselves of my scent even if they initiated contact.
Hurtful in a way, but I am resigned - I pay for the food, I get cuddles if I want them and everyone just has to accept that deal.

Maybe it’s more a I taste my human with the cats? But with the chicken girls think of it more like an after s** cigarette cliche.

Edit to add:

Actually you may find your cats are actually mingling scents. There will be a *family* scent that identifies everyone as *belonging.*

X2 this!!! ^^^

 

[Kris5902]

The big girls sharing a sand bath while the littlies eat.
View attachment 2034521​

Lavender is really going to town there!

 

[Kris5902]

I’ve been to Steve Irwin’s zoo a couple of years ago. Mum told me she saw some kid poking a bloody blue ring octopus!!!!! Where the heck was that kids parents?! It was getting angry. I have been stung by a blue bottle but iragangie are DANGEROUS, I heard some kid died from not wearing a wet suit when he went swimming in North QLD.

This kinda sums up Australia

And this is why I want to visit! I know I’m strange.... it’s ok though.

 

[Kris5902]

And that requires a musical response...

And for our American friends (don’t hate me please!)

And just because while I’m at it...

The song that introduced me to the cultural mockery (just listen to all of live bait if you really want a decent sampling)

BTW Saskatchewan is completely land locked... for context