Report on a Trip to Warrook Cattle Farm
On a very bright sunny day on Wednesday 8th July a group of Probus members from Donvale Hill and Blackburn Central rugged up well and boarded the coach to go to Warrook Farm. After a leisurely morning tea at Tooradin where we sampled Vicki Lamble’s lovely fruitcake and biscuits, we drove to the farm and arrived late in the morning to be greeted by a cheery lady who ushered us all onto two wagons ready for our tour of the property.
Our first stop- off was to feed a couple of Friesian calves who greedily drank from a bottle with much nudging and pulling at the teat. Some of us then went on to hand milk a lovely docile old cow which didn’t seem to mind that we were not experts by any means! A gentle tabby cat rubbed round our legs, probably hoping for some of the milk. On to the wagons again and we passed a few curious emus en route to the shearing sheds. We scrunched up onto a viewing platform and were rewarded with our guide expertly shearing a sheep and explaining about wool classing . Next we went off to see the most beautiful and obedient cattle dog herd a bunch of sheep around a paddock. He obviously loved his ‘job’, trembling with anticipation the minute he was taken to the paddock.
After this interesting tour we had built up an appetite . Time for our Christmas in July Luncheon! Whilst we were eating we were entertained by Ian Castle who could sing just about anything including Johnny Cash and Slim Dusty country music. Everyone wore their Christmas Hats and the noise level was up there with the best whilst we were eating a sumptuous and large country-style Christmas Dinner! A few members joined in with the singing and one-line jokes were flying around the tables.
When we finished our meal and it was time to leave a few of us decided the alpacas looked hungry so we fed them some grass from our side of the fence which they seemed to appreciate greatly. The grass is always greener there!
On the way home we had a further surprise awaiting. A trip round the Robert Gordon pottery at Pakenham rounded off our day nicely and we returned to the bus laden with packages to the extent that it looked as though we had been on one of those Shopping Tours!
All in all a lovely day and we all appreciated the fellowship and fun between the two different Probus Clubs.
Jane Johnson
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