Most of us have seen the elegant equestrian events being televised from show rings around the world. Their pomp and splendour and the wondrous skills of these graceful steeds and the perfect control demonstrated by their equally beautifully garbed riders, impress all who witness their prowess. And then there's the Busk Gymkhana. The only resemblance they share is horses and riders working as a highly-trained and skilful pair, competing for honour and glory. And despite the choking clouds of red dust they raise in their outback setting, their abilities and pride shine equally brightly through the haze.

Episode13 16092015 Ch.8.A Bush Gymkhana1

Episode14 16092015 Ch.8.A Bush Gymkhana2

Episode15 16092015 Ch.8.A Bush Gymkhana3

The city never seemed further away than the day our boss announced the shearers would be starting in a week or so… and I would be cooking for them. Nothing new or unexpected for the 'ladies of the land'—but quite a challenge for a 'new-chum-type' cook. Read about the endless feeding (not frenzied, just constant 'round the clock' meals and teas… and dishes, mountains of dishes!)—and laugh with me as I share my bumbling efforts to 'hostess' the shearers. And as if all else had been unforgettable, there were their last famous words to Kanute – "Tell the missus… ".

Episode 16 23092015 Ch. 11 Click Go The Shearers1

Told you I was naive. I seriously thought it was a good idea to share my birthday night with the fellows, at the exhausted end of yet another day slaving over a hot woodstove. There's 'green' as in callow, even dumb—and then there's 'green' as in being environmentally protective. Believing they would get tired soon and want an early night, certainly coloured me in that first shade of green mentioned. After their first bottle of beer (probably about the fifth they'd drank since downing their shears), those shearers settled in most comfortably for the time of their lives—as I had one of the most memorable of my birthdays ever.

Episode 17 23092015 Ch.11 ClickGoTheShearers2

Some people are moved by different spirits than most. Some people find their sprit inside a bottle (like Aladdin's genie)—and others from another kind of bottle altogether (like the motley crew in this yarn). Then there are yet another kind of spirits that announce themselves in most unlikely fashions. Ghostly? Bizarre? Ever so slightly petrifying? Well, yes… all of those and more are possible in faraway corners of rural Australia. This is another chapter that comes with its own recipe for disaster… or not.

Episode 18 02102015 Ch.14.A Spiritually Significant Circumstance

When you fly over Australia's Nullarbor Plain, you are in no doubt of its vastness and barren isolation. But it still takes less than three hours to cross between the two nearest capital cities. Driving it is another story. When two homesick young marrieds push themselves to the limits in a 39 hour driving marathon, the plot (as well as the bull-dust) truly thickens.

Episode 19 02102015 Ch.17.Going Home1

The title tells the story. 'Home' to us would always and ever be our beloved South Australia. When the moment arrived to put down our roots, the rest of our great country faded into oblivion. Our rose-tinted glasses could see only one path ahead, and a singular destination. Over 40 years later, we're still here in our home State. Seems we really 'got it right'…

Episode 20 02102015 Ch.17+Epilogue

A flash non-fiction story about one of the many furry loves of our lives. 
Taffy was the scruffiest, most mischievous of all our loves, but her heart was as big as... whatever is the biggest thing you can imagine.

cdcraftee