With a little planning to make sure home was in capable hands, we did a family road trip last week.

Around 1700km in 48 hours with 7 of us in the car.

And it really was a lot of fun!

We hit the road in the wee hours of the morning to get a good few kilometres under our belt before breakfast.

Would you believe we disturbed a few grey nomads at the camping spot at Lawgi Hall, south of Thangool, as we piled out of the car!? The air was crisp but it was good to stretch the legs and enjoy fruit and yoghurt. A coffee would have been welcome but somehow we left the Thermos on the kitchen sink.

Nobody complained about buckling up again, as we were all kept entertained listening to the audiobook version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

Even the occasional stop to empty the carsick bucket didn’t perturb anyone.

Everyone was keen to arrive at our first stop near Proston to oversee drafting of some cull cows. Not that it was much different to home, but these kids have a fair idea where their bread and butter comes from.

After lunch and a chat, we journeyed on to Wonga Plains Feedlot on the Darling Downs. This is my old stomping ground and I think the kids are always astounded that I was ever anything else bar Mum.

While the infrastructure is markedly improved, many of the principles remain the same and I was able to give them a few feedlotting insights.

I demonstrated how to do a Bunk Call and what key information you could determine with the animal’s eartag. The kids were amazed that cows like almond hulls and were fascinated to watch the process of corn kernels transform into cornflakes.

Of course the machinery also caught Rob’s eye.

Everyone was excited to see Uncle Bryce who hosted us for the night. He did repeatedly comment on the noise level of our tribe, which obviously Rob & I are oblivious to now …..

Andrew proudly demonstrated his drone flying and we got a bird’s eye view of the feedlot pens and surrounding crops.

Everyone was interested to learn a little about the wheat. The crop looks good but rain to encourage grain fill in the next week or two would be welcome. Two crop dusters were spraying army worms in a barley crop while we were on the ground. The ‘air show’ was definitely a highlight for the boys as they watched the pilots accurately apply pesticide mere metres above the crop before swooping back into the sky, looping and returning to do another lap in the opposite direction.

Dalby Sale was underway as we passed through on our way home, providing an opportunity to gauge market conditions in the south.

Again, a chance for the kids to have exposure to all facets of our beef game.

It was then time to get the hundreds of  kilometres back home under our belt for we had cattle to muster ……

…. horses to ride

…. and supplement to put out.

For while the cattle in the feedlot are thriving and look great, here it is the dry season and we need to keep the protein levels up.

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