Australian Countryside

We leave Australia tomorrow for New Zealand after a weekend in a Swire farm house in new South Wales.  We went off on Friday evening in two cars, a friend of George's from Swire shipping came too and drove for 4 hours or more!  However when we got there we were at the top of a hill with a ha ha round the grass in front of a very nice modern house.  Of course it was dark when we arrived so after a cheery supper we all went off to bed.  It would be hard to describe how beautiful it was when we woke up, both beautiful in terms of landscape which rolled in comfortable hills away from the house with a green valley below which spoke of a river.  But it was beautiful because there was no artificial noise, just the sound of many birds and of course the cows and sheep who called across the space.  There were masses of swallows who were practicing their flight from the house and more exotic birds like crimson rosellas and flaming gallars as well as doves with cockades and many many species.  Richard saw some early morning kangaroos who obligingly showed up and then jumped away into the wood.  We went down to the river with fishing rods and walked along a fairish length, George and Liz swam, or sort of, got into a rather shallow bit just to show it could be done.  We had an evening barbecue, and again the morning arrived with all the glories of nature on display.  More dangling flies in the water in the morning before lunch and heading back into Sydney.  Will post some photographs before too long  but don't know when we will next be near a computer.