The campground in Wee Waa, just like the town itself, is full of character.
Dry, dusty, but clean and neat with very few of the people sticking noxious weeds that were abundant elsewhere in the town after the first decent rain in ages.
Around the fence line at least 2 metres deep was stacked timber, metal, sheets of iron, frames, chairs, etc etc. As well there were two open sheds and containers full of more ‘stuff’.
One of the owners proudly declared himself a garage & clearing sale Junkie. He follows a website called Australian October GarageSaleTrails.com.au. In their spare time, they are renovating an old hotel down the street that they have great plans for.
The Pelimobile was the only van visible but in the camp kitchen at Beer O’Clock up popped a few other residents from around the back where parament sites were located.
The kitchen was more of a bar than a kitchen with well-stocked fridges, bar stools around a bench top. Mine host drank out of a heavy, ornate silver chalice, everyone else out of cans except for Ian who had his own embossed glass mug – it was more of a jar than a mug really. Ian and his partner work on a potato farm during the season and then move on.
Young Ted the fettler operates the Danish laser machine that straightens heat affected railway lines.
It is intense monotonous work but pays well. When he had been doing the job for a while he began falling asleep after half an hour at work – even though he was getting enough sleep at night etc.
So the medicos ran a battery of tests with body monitors on him while he worked and then came up with strategies to keep him awake as he was basically being hypnotized by the railway sleepers. These work well when you are doing long hours driving any vehicle or machine too as white lines can hypnotize too.
• Move your eyes and take in the whole view – side to side and up and down
• Widen the view every now and then off to the left, right, near and far
• Don’t daydream or let your mind wander off the job you are doing
• Take regular breaks, get out and move your body, stretch
• Acknowledge when you are tired and don’t try to push through
Ted would prefer to be shearing than fettling but it has been so dry that he has had to take what he can get.
He started shearing when he was 14 and when he was 15 his contractor handed him the business and disappeared for 6 years. He worked hard to build up his team and their reputation for being reliable and doing a good job because it had all been pretty slack really.
One day his former boss popped up again and demanded his business back – apparently, he had been convicted of being a pedophile and had spent the previous 6 years in jail.
Within 6 months no one would shear for him or hire him so Ted ended up with his good team anyway.