Next Stop: Somewhere Else: A Visit to Australian Farmland

Craig:

Growing up as kind of a farm kid, I still love to learn about farming. In Toowoomba, we had a very unique opportunity for this. Roger Gwynne came to the U.S. in 1987 on a trip to see some of the American farmland. He just happened to meet the good folks at Logan Valley Equipment in Wayne, NE. Ever since then, he has been a loyal customer of the Wayne John Deere dealership and now talks to my dad on a regular basis and visits the U.S. when he can. My dad told me a long time ago when I had talked about going to Australia that if I went, I should look his friend Roger up, so that is exactly what I did. I got in contact with him, and Bridget and I made the drive out to his farm for the night.

Roger’s farm is about 15 miles outside of a small town in Queensland called Jondaryan. Some say Nebraska is very flat land but it is mountainous compared to the land that Roger farms. We first met Roger’s parents, Alec and Barbara. We had a cup of tea with them and then went on a drive around the farm to see the crops of sorghum, corn, and cotton. We then drove to Roger’s house and met his wife, Lisa, and their three children, Brady, Sarah, and Harrison. It was cool to see Brady had a Nebraska Cornhuskers hat on his wall. Lisa prepared a fantastic meal of rack of lamb and roasted vegetables, complete with the traditional pudding (dessert) and tea courses. We talked the night away about U.S./Australian similarities and differences and they explained all the new Australian lingo we had been hearing. We learned that in Australia, “tah” is thank you, a spanner is a wrench, a header is a combine, bichman is blacktop road, and fenders are little shields that go around your ankles to keep things out of your boots (they are definitely not called “skirts” as Roger pointed out to Bridget). We awoke to a fantastic Australia “brekky” of bacon and eggs. After another drive around the farm and another cup of tea we said our goodbyes and got back on the road. A very warm thank you goes out to Roger, Lisa, Alec, Barbara, Pete, Brady, Sarah, and Harrison for showing us a great time out on the farm. We enjoyed ourselves very much!