nufsaid

November 2010 - Posts

• A spoiled sheep station

  Three hours south of Sydney is a little place many Australian’s seem to hold dear to their heart. “What are you going there for?” one friend asked when I told them of my planned trip. “Don’t stay for longer than a day,”... Posted Nov 28 2010, 11:33 AM by NufSaid Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Australia, Government, sheep, war, australian government, driving, war memorial, Canberra [Edit Tags]

• An Australian pastime

  I’ve been staying with a friend for the past couple of days just outside Sydney CBD. They’ve been doing a sterling job showing me the hot-spots of Australia’s largest city, especially the culinary delights it has to offer. I’ve... Posted Nov 27 2010, 10:36 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia [Edit Tags]

• Green with Outback envy

  Today I experienced a new emotion: magazine envy. It wasn’t a pretty sight either. Goodness only knows what Mark, the editor of Outback, thought as I sat stupidly gaping as he brought out issue after issue of one of the nicest-looking publications... Posted Nov 25 2010, 12:08 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Twitter, New Media, Communication, farming, media, Australia, magazines, OUtback, Ashes, RM Williams, rural [Edit Tags]

• Resc-ewe mission

  It may have kicked off slowly for some (it’s such a hassle when your blood sugar levels drop and give the symptoms of a hangover, innit?), but today I had a whirlwind education on the world of Australian sheep production. I’d gone along to... Posted Nov 24 2010, 12:46 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, Food, Australia, sheep, MLA, EBLEX, Meat and LIvestock Australia [Edit Tags]

• Sheep and a colour-blind scientist. I hope.

  Fed up with the bedbugs and in need of some fashion tips, I flew to Sydney yesterday to catch up with my favourite sparring partner, drinking buddy and wannabe cowboy, Rob. Rob was over from Perth for a sheep CRC meeting (of which he’s a board member... Posted Nov 23 2010, 10:54 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, Travel, Australia, Government, research, agricultural science, Sheep CRC, Ned Flanders, Sydney [Edit Tags]

• Brisbane bites (today, at any rate)

  I’ve never had anyone get on a plane to avoid be interviewed by me before, but apparently that’s what happened to me today. The Brisbane leg of my trip has been a bit of a disaster, I must admit. Meetings I’d planned have fallen through... Posted Nov 22 2010, 10:14 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, hostel, Brisbane, porridge, backpacking, bad girls, bed bugs [Edit Tags]

• Brisbane: it’s not that bad.

  After much sensible discussion and guidance from Magnum, I decided to travel straight from Hervey Bay to Brisbane. Briso, as probably nobody else calls it, is the state capital of Queensland and is the first proper city I’ve been to in the last... Posted Nov 21 2010, 10:26 AM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]

• Cuteness and sheep

  Read More... Posted Nov 21 2010, 08:38 AM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, farm, Australia, sheep, lone pine, Brisbane, koala sanctuary, koalas, merino [Edit Tags]

• Sandig insel

  Wie gehts, meine blog Freunden? Who’d'a thunk I’d end up coming to Australia and learning German, eh? I’m pretty sure there isn’t anyone under the age of 35 left in Deutchsland, as they all seem to be here. It’s like... Posted Nov 19 2010, 11:29 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, Travel, Australia, Queensland, Fraser Island, sand, Fraser, German [Edit Tags]

• Chillin’ with the oldies

  I went for a run on Torquay beach last night. Not the ‘proper’ Torquay obviously, but the one in Hervey Bay, about 120 miles north of Brisbane. It’s obvious Hervey Bay is just a stop-off point for backpackers to catch a trip to the nearby... Posted Nov 17 2010, 06:28 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island [Edit Tags]

• An online whinge

  Two hotels, a boat and four towns since I left Marty’s, and I haven’t managed to get a decent internet connection. This afternoon I got so fed up with the appalling wifi at my hostel (which is charged by the minute), that I’ve cycled... Posted Nov 17 2010, 05:53 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Communication, Australia [Edit Tags]

• Turtley awesome

  I’m not sure I’d want quite so many people gawping at my rear-end while I did this, but tonight I joined about 100 other people to watch a turtle lay her eggs. Happily Mrs Turtle didn’t seem to concerned about having a crowd oooh-ing... Posted Nov 17 2010, 05:38 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Australia, Bundy, Bundaberg, leatherback turtle, turtles, mon repos [Edit Tags]

• Tomato source

  Contrary to what my last two posts might suggest, I did actually come to Bundaberg for a vaguely agricultural reason (you believe me, don’t you?) Bundy is home to Camilla Philip, a 2006 Nuffield Scholar who, along with her husband Andrew, are the... Posted Nov 15 2010, 11:55 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Food, Australia, ag, australian agriculture, tomatoes, Camilla Philip, SP Exports, tomato [Edit Tags]

• Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum

  It must’ve been my time skipperin’ the good ship Pacific Sunrise that did it, but I’ve developed a bit of a pirate-esque penchant for rum, so I ‘ave. Actually, wind that back a bit. Normal rum still tastes revolting. My newly-acquired... Posted Nov 15 2010, 07:07 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Australia, sugar, sugarcane, Bundy, pirates, Bundaberg, rum [Edit Tags]

• Guess who I bumped into…

  Some shocking news for my chums at Farmers Weekly Towers: I managed to out-party Charlie McCarron. He’s clearly gone soft since his Sutton days. Having said that, my smugness was short-lived after he left the bar early and passed out on the sofa... Posted Nov 14 2010, 11:14 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]

• Gettin’ my sea legs

  Continuing the fishy theme of my travels through Queensland, I stopped off at Airlie Beach to hop on a boat for a tour around the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsundays are volcanic islands famed for their white beaches, coral reefs and incredible sea life... Posted Nov 14 2010, 03:01 AM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]

• A natural fisherwoman…

  …or not. Look how comfortable I look at having my fingers lodged in a barramundi’s gills: I’m just glad there was no one around to film the next scene when I dropped the fish on the floor. Something tells me Marty doesn’t have... Posted Nov 09 2010, 01:02 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, fish, Australia, Marty, barramundi [Edit Tags]

• Farewell to the tropics

  After a fantastic week in Innisfail I’m saying goodbye to Marty and my adopted family, Linda, Harvey and Emma. They’ve been fantastic hosts and I’m going to miss them all very much. I hope they’ll consider taking-on the ice and... Posted Nov 09 2010, 12:47 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, fish, Travel, farm, Australia, ag, barramundi, shag, prawns [Edit Tags]

• The sweetest thing

  If there’s one thing I hadn’t expected about this area of Queensland, it’s the array of things that are produced here. From dairy and beef to tropical fruit, tea and coffee, the area could happily be self-sufficient in some of the tastiest... Posted Nov 08 2010, 07:30 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, harvest, Food, Australia, sugar price, sugar, sugar cane [Edit Tags]

• The whole milk truth

  Can you believe it? Marty took me to a dairy today. He’ll try and deny it, but it was a bit embarrassing how excited he was about the visit. ‘Let me see a few cows,’ he pleaded with Emma and me. ‘I miss the smell of the silage... Posted Nov 07 2010, 01:18 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, farm, dairy, Food, Australia, ag, Marty, australian agriculture, Queensland, Atherton Tablelands, Gallo Dairyland, dairy farming [Edit Tags]

• How to lose friends back home

  Apparently it’s 11 degrees in London today and cloudy with rain later. Nottingham’s got it a balmy 10 degrees, but with full winter sunshine. It’s a hard life, innit? Read More... Posted Nov 06 2010, 07:11 AM by NufSaid Filed under: London, Travel, Australia, Nottingham, Waether, sunshine, Mission Beach [Edit Tags]

• If you go down to the woods today…

  So this… ..is why I’m never going to live in Australia. This monster is an orb spider. It usually hangs out in banana plants but today it decided to chillax above the path I was merrily tromping along halfway down Bicton Hill in Clump Mountain... Posted Nov 06 2010, 07:02 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, Countryside, spider, Clump Mountain National Park, rain forest, Cyclone Larry, orb spider, cassowary, Bingil Bay [Edit Tags]

• Goin’ bananas

  If there’s one thing I’ve learnt on my travels, it’s that farmers in the UK share pretty much the same problems as every other farmer in the world. Supply and demand, retailer power, pricing, red tape and high input costs are affecting... Posted Nov 05 2010, 11:51 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, farm, Food, Australia, ag, australian agriculture, banana, bananas [Edit Tags]

• Farm pests, Aussie style.

  Think you’ve got it tough with badgers, pigeons and rabbits on your farm? Well spare a thought for my baramundi-farming friend Marty, who has to contend with these: This ‘little’ fella is a couple of metres long, and was just chillin’... Posted Nov 05 2010, 04:55 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, fish, Weird, farm, Australia, ag, crocodiles, fishing, Crocodile, australian agriculture [Edit Tags]

• Fishermen’s tales

  I’ve driven my first-ever tractor today, and I didn’t crash it. Just lost another bet by any chance, Rob? I’m back on my farming travels having flown just over two hours from Darwin and moved half an hour in time zones to Cairns in Queensland... Posted Nov 04 2010, 06:03 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Australia, Case, fishing, Cairns, baramundi, Marty [Edit Tags]