For the love of Country

Nicole Alexander says the inspiration and motivation for her writing comes from her desire to communicate the grazier’s deep love of and commitment to their land.

We’ve been at Spring Creek now for over eight years and although I understand Nicole is talking about generations of graziers managing, nurturing and developing their properties, I’ve had an inkling of what that feels like, even in my short time on the land.

The Grand Entrance

Several times recently, when driving back from town or back from a visit somewhere, I’ve had an inner stirring, a sense of pride, as I’ve driven down the road, approaching our grand entrance (it’s not really that grand but we are proud of it). It’s not that Spring Creek is looking its best at the moment. The winter cold and frosts have snuffed the green landscape. Though, thankfully, we still have plenty of grass from a good summer season, it has hayed off and gone brown.

The colours of the Traprock

But it’s weird, it’s that “hayed off” colour that I find so charming and appealing. It’s the colour of the Traprock.

We  spent last weekend visiting friends on their beautiful block outside Kyogle. The Richmond River district is such different country to the Traprock – green and lush. Though I thoroughly enjoyed imbibing their landscape for a while, I have to say, I’ve realised there is something far more endearing about the Traprock, despite its coarse surfaces, rocky outcrops and shaly valleys.

It has a rugged appeal of its own that I have truly come to appreciate.

I never thought I would have said this. I remember driving around the block with the previous owner, checking it out, considering the purchase. I sat in the back. I was quiet. I was overwhelmed with its size and the amount of work required to make it look “nice”.

But I’ve realised you never really make the Traprock look “nice”. There will always be fallen logs, dead trees, stump holes and regrowth. That’s part of the Traprock charm. (Yet it’s amazing what a few hours in the dozer can do to clean and clear some space.)

We’ve done a lot work. We’ve made a lot of improvements. We’ve built and repaired a lot of fences. We’ve made it home and I’m starting to feel that stirring deep within when I leave and return.

I’m surprised myself to actually feel that … maybe I even love Spring Creek. 

Been MOOC'd lately?

In making the leap from the corporate office to running a cattle property, I had to go through numerous adjustments ... as you can imagine.
My work at Virgin Blue was implementing change at the corporate level. I was bumping heads with strong-willed general managers. It was extremely intellectually challenging to navigate their ambitions yet change their ways of working to help consolidate a young, fast growing company.
In coming to Spring Creek, I missed the fiery, stimulating intellectual debate my relationships at VB had afforded me.
I've had to look for new avenues for intellectual stimulation.
It's not that living in the bush isn't intellectually challenging at times. You are more often than not drawn into significant problem solving - the dozer stuck in a dam, the fallen windmill that has to be re-erected ... and these are more frequent occurrences than most would like.

Cute Jewish Professor

But ... it's different.
Then I discovered MOOC's (Massive Open On-line Courses)! They are brilliant. They are delivered over the internet, they're free and they're university standard.

The view from my office

I've just finished my first one: Neurons, Synapses and the Brain.
I sat in my remote farm house, looking out across the paddock, listening to a cute Jewish professor instruct me on the intricacies of neuroscience - at the perfect level for my current understanding. Brilliant!

A dendritic tree - a neural network

Discovering www.coursera.org has definitely filled a hole for me.
I now understand the current thinking and research on the workings of the brain. Why do I want to know about that, you ask?
Of course it isn't just for the pure fun of it ... it's research for my next book.
But overall, I guess it's about finding my way in a remote, isolated community. I still want to grow and develop and learn. I want to think along new lines and explore new avenues such as ... do we really have free will or are our actions dictated by the neural networks in our brain? Now that's an interesting debate and has sparked a few conversations.
Can't wait for my next MOOC and to see where that will lead my thinking!