Lucindale Field day, Harry and his dog!

Having only visited UK agricultural shows in the past I was very interested to go to my first rural Aussie one.  The Lucindale Field Days are packed full of lots of things agricultural and rural crafts.  No animals on show as there are in the UK but the Yard Dog Championships were being held. There were also a couple of sideshows, a pair of hilarious daredevil lumberjacks clowning around and lots of local craftsman (and women) selling their creations, from quilts, gorgeous alpaca jumpers and wines to handmade glass beads.  Deb and I had planned what we wanted to see ahead of the day and luckily they were the same things.  Top on our list were the Yard Dog Championships so we set off early determined to get good seats.

These dogs are amazing, to start with the breed is unique to Australia but seems to have its origins from a Scottish black and tan Border Collie.  They are very slight in build, agile and incredibly intelligent and the way they drive the sheep is unique to.  When the sheep are in a confined space and need encouraging forward these little dogs run along the sheeps backs, once they're moving the dog jumps down and runs back to the back of the line under the sheep.  It is amazing to see.  The best ones needed very few commands from their boss.

It was a full on day, lots of walking and sampling of local foods (very tough but somebody had to do it), gathering of bargains all accompanied by much laughter and fun.  A very different show to what I had been to before and a really good experience, far too much to see in just one day.

We've also had our next visitor from the UK, our mate Harry has been visiting and causing much mirth in the town with his imaginary dog.  

Harry and his imaginary dog!

It was great fun to see just how many people joined in with the many adventures of this dog.

Showing H around this part of the world we kept spotting wildlife, Rick rescued this little turtle from the middle of a busy road and stopped to help him across.

And then we spotted this dear old boy just sitting in a field, he was a wee bit moth eaten and woolly and we were unsure to start with if he was a wallaby or kangaroo.  The puzzle was soon solved when I got out the car to get a better photo.... he bounced off into the bush with a much greater stride and tail than any wallaby could muster.

And back at the block I had an audience of Galahs chattering in a nearby tree and sounding like they were offering me advice on planting up the veggie bed.  They soon got bored and went off for a drink at the cattle trough.