nufsaid

December 2010 - Posts

• HNY

  They certainly know how to do it in Sydney. Happy New Year to everyone back in Blighty, and to the ace friends I’ve made all over the world this year. 2010 wouldn’t have been half as good without you all xxx Read More... Posted Dec 31 2010, 11:43 PM by NufSaid Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Travel, Australia, Sydney, New Year [Edit Tags]

• Today was officially a holiday, ok?

  I’m in a weird lull between Christmas and New Year where I can’t crack on with Nuffield stuff as offices are closed and farming types are all off BBQ-ing hunks of meat with their families or desperately trying to get the rest of their crops... Posted Dec 29 2010, 11:35 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Nuffield, Travel, Australia, Sydney, tourist [Edit Tags]

• Dear Pierre Cardin…

  …your suitcases suck. Big time. There’s nowt like being forced to drag what feels like a bag of rocks through a busy train station and then down busy pavements in blazing sunshine after the wheel on your case explodes. It’s even better... Posted Dec 28 2010, 12:41 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Travel, Australia, Big Norm, blue mountains [Edit Tags]

• Aussie Tweet-up

  Guess who I bumped into today? That’s right, only Big Norm ‘off of’ Twitter. I’ve headed about an hour out of Sydney to Richmond to say hello to Norm and his goats. While he may type that way, Norm doesn’t speak in 140 characters... Posted Dec 27 2010, 12:05 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Twitter, social media, Communication, Australia, goats, Big Norm, Alpaca [Edit Tags]

• Boxing Day races

  What could be better than spending your Boxing Day going to see the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race? Shame this was all we managed to see of it: Unfortunately, Princess and I assumed the ships would set sail in the harbour, so didn’t... Posted Dec 26 2010, 12:05 AM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]

• Well, that was different

  It’s weird enough waking up to Christmas morning when your friends back home are in the midst of their drunken Christmas eve celebrations. It’s even weirder to open the curtain to find Christmas morning is a balmy 27 degrees and the sun’s... Posted Dec 25 2010, 02:12 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Nuffield, Travel, Australia, Princess, Christmas, bondi, bondi beach [Edit Tags]

• A Christmas orphan

  I’ve flown back to Sydney, bringing Christmas to Bondi Beach. No, the other cards didn’t arrive in time. It’d had better be sunny on Saturday or I’m going to be mightily narked I’m missing quality bingo prizes, mouldy carpets... Posted Dec 23 2010, 11:34 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]

• Size isn’t everything

  I fell for it again today. Not having much old stuff in the country, touristy spots attempt to make up for what they’re lacking in age by promoting their size. There was the giant cassowary near Cairns, the enormous bull in Rockhampton and the whopping... Posted Dec 23 2010, 10:41 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Travel, Australia, Adelaide, giant things, botanic gardens [Edit Tags]

• Christmas shopping for cowgirls

  The one good thing about being away from home at this time of year – aside from the freezing temperatures, the snow, the travel chaos and the fact my usual festive venue, Chez Ma and Pa Stocks, is slowly going mouldy thanks to a flood – is... Posted Dec 21 2010, 10:27 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Australia, RM Williams, Christmas, boots, shoes, shopping [Edit Tags]

• A sign of things to come

  If there’s one thing Australia knows how to do, it’s signposts. Aside from the previously-mentioned helpful ones to keep you awake on the roads, there are dramatic signs warning you about the dangers of the general surroundings: There are... Posted Dec 20 2010, 08:59 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, signs, warning signs, bitey things, penguins, sign posts [Edit Tags]

• A load of abalone

  Every year when me and my sister were little we would go up the road to my grandparent’s for Christmas day. Aside from my grandad’s amazing stuffing (I still regret not ever finding out the recipe), chocolate eclairs and fancily-cut tomatoes... Posted Dec 19 2010, 11:18 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Food, Australia, kangaroo island, abalone [Edit Tags]

• Blending in with the greenery on Kangaroo Island

  I’ve been experimenting with a new look today. Nice, eh? Obviously, this is Grotbags and not me. As if I’d wear a hat like that. I’m referring more to the green skin. It’s a good look, and one I managed to achieve pretty well thanks... Posted Dec 18 2010, 10:40 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Australia, Government, fishing, ferry, fisherman, seasick, grotbags, Kangeroo Island, china, cray fish [Edit Tags]

• The yawning stretch to Adelaide

  Despite being responsible ‘one of the world’s two scariest driving experiences’, I’ve successfully navigated the roads of three states to find my way to Adelaide. And while some of the route was little more than strips of mud/sand... Posted Dec 17 2010, 10:53 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, driving, road signs, driving in australia [Edit Tags]

• Getting stuck into bee-keeping

  I don’t know whether all guests get this treatment or whether it was just reserved for me, but I was greeted today by a Nuffield chum armed with a roll of duct tape and a pair of rubber gloves. It’s not as weird as it sounds. Or not quite... Posted Dec 16 2010, 10:57 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, Food, Australia, bees, Tintinara, apiarist, Apiary [Edit Tags]

• A floody good time in Keith

  Bearing in mind the amount of rain I’ve seen in Australia so far, it’s hard to get my head around the idea that the land is not usually so green and irrigation systems are vital to crop production. The farm I’m currently staying on is... Posted Dec 16 2010, 01:22 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, Australia, lucerne, Keith, flood irrigation [Edit Tags]

• Wet harvest woes continue

  Once again I haven’t had internet connection for several days, so it hasn’t been until today that I’ve managed to catch up on emails and what’s been happening with my Nuffield chums who’ve been having the harvest from hell... Posted Dec 15 2010, 12:33 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, harvest, Food, Australia, Countryside, rain, australian agriculture, flood, Wagga Wagga [Edit Tags]

• Havin’ a Wales of a time on the beach

  Three days, 285km and 690 photographs later, I’ve finally made it to the end of the Great Ocean Road. I had a long way to drive today so I tried to be really strict with myself and not stop at every signposted viewing area. Having said that, every... Posted Dec 14 2010, 04:00 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Nuffield, Travel, Wales, Australia, driving, Brad, Great Ocean Road, South Australia, beach, Uncle Meurig [Edit Tags]

• A cheesy disappointment

  Driving through this part of Victoria I’ve seen a lot of cattle country, with fields alternating largely between Angus and Holstein herds (or beef and dairy cows, for the non-farmers amongst you). Like a lot of the state I’ve seen already... Posted Dec 14 2010, 01:02 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, cows, Travel, dairy, Food, Australia, cheese, branding, australian agriculture, regionality, regional produce [Edit Tags]

• A thrilling slideshow night in the making

  After complaining about not doing much exercise for the past few weeks, I certainly got my fair share today. Day two of my Great Ocean Road road trip, and I made it from Apollo Bay to Port Campbell. It looks like a piddly little distance on the map, but... Posted Dec 13 2010, 03:45 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, Great Ocean Road, exercise, photography, rainforest, walking, Great Otway [Edit Tags]

• Goin’ round the twist on the Great Ocean Road

  When I dropped off my Toyota Corolla (or my Noddy Car, as Peckie would say) in Melbourne, I thought to myself how lucky it was I hadn’t discovered until so late on in my trip that I quite enjoy driving – I could easily have blown all of my... Posted Dec 12 2010, 01:34 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Australia, driving, Great Ocean Road [Edit Tags]

• Mining for sheep

  I’ve been pretty amazed by some of the scenery on the doorstep of my Nuffield chum’s farms, and none more so than at the final stop of my little road trip around NSW and Victoria. Rowan lives on the edge of a place called Taralgon, about 90... Posted Dec 09 2010, 09:58 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Australians, Food, Australia, sheep, Rowan, Taralgon, wheat, Loy Yang power station [Edit Tags]

• Mad dogs and Englishmen…

  …climb Mount Oberon in the midday sun. And then hang about at the top of it until it chucks it down with rain and they have to sprint 3.5km back to their car. I left Graeme and Gill’s this morning with the intention of stopping off at nearby... Posted Dec 08 2010, 01:16 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, harvest, Food, Australia, weather, rain, crops, floioding, Wilsons prom [Edit Tags]

• Parlour games

  Having somehow developed a somewhat unfair reputation for not being a morning person amongst my Aussie Nuffield chums (7am is surely an early enough start?), I set my alarm for 6am this morning to go and assist Graeme in milking his cows. I say ‘somewhat... Posted Dec 08 2010, 11:36 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, dairy, Australia, morning, milking [Edit Tags]

• I spent five hours yesterday feeling like I was living the Christmas story of Mary and Joseph’s quest to find somewhere to stay. I thought I was going to have to make like Baby Jebus and crash in a stable, but luckily I managed to find the last... Posted Dec 07 2010, 01:53 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, cows, milk, dairy, Food, Australia, fish creek [Edit Tags]

• The glamourous side of travelling? I’m lovin’ it.

  Imagine, if you will, the life of a jet-sett, international journalist. Maybe your mind has conjured a mental image of a sophisticated, coiffured lady sweeping from one interview to the next, her notebook, MacBook and iPhone smartly organised in her Mulberry... Posted Dec 06 2010, 01:18 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming [Edit Tags]