We took the Bakes’ car as he could charge the gas to the legal department since he would be doing some work while we were there.
We left shortly after 8 am and the weather was cloudy with periods of rain until we got out of Sydney. It was quite cool. We drove to Goulburn and stopped for a rest at the Merino Sheep gift shop. Jay found a wool sweater he absolutely had to have and it was fortunate that he bought it because the weekend proved to be very chilly, bordering on down right cold!
We took the scenic route through the countryside and made note of how dead the little towns were, it being the ANZAC holiday. On the way in we stopped in Narrendera for groceries and split the cost with the Bakes.
We arrived at the farm in the late afternoon, met Margaret (who talked incessantly and would not shut up for a second). She and her husband are from Canada and are employees of the Church and take care of the farm. They live in a lovely house attached to the old homestead where we stayed. It has been there since the early 1800’s and is a beautiful building with a ton of antiques in every room. We had a very large bedroom with an attached bath. Bakes stayed across the family room in a smaller bedroom but still large, also with an attached bath. The bathrooms had heaters as did the bedrooms but we didn’t turn ours on until the second night
which meant that Friday night was very cold! The queen size bed was comfortable and had a down comforter and another blanket so once we were in bed and warmed from our bodies it wasn’t too bad.
The homestead had a large family room with a TV, a large dining room, small kitchen, very large living room with a piano room attached. The farm is located on the banks of the Murrumbidgee river. It is about 10 minutes from Darlington Point, a very small town of about 785 people and 30 minutes from Griffith, a much larger community. It consists of 125,000 acres and is a combination of three farms. Today they raise cattle that are fed to a certain weight and then shipped to Japan for further fattening before being sold worldwide as beef similar to Kobe beef. It nets about 3 – 4 million dollars a year on the beef. They also plant some crops.
Friday night we went into Darlington Point and ate at the club there that served Chinese food. It was very good and cheap. Our favorite dish was the Crispy beef in Peking Sauce. The chef cut the beef in narrow, slim strips, coated it with corn flour (corn starch), then deep fat fried it and served it in Peking Sauce. It was very good.
We returned to the farm and watched the movie Where Eagles Dare. As we arrived at the homestead there were 8-9 kangaroos on the front lawn.
Saturday we walked around the farm, taking pictures of old trees and the river. We drove into Griffith, a town about 30 minutes away to find the church where we would be attending our meetings on Sunday. In the evening we watched more movies and snacked on Ice cream floats and popcorn!!!
Sunday morning early we were awakened by rain pounding on the roof. It rained off and on all day. We went to church; then returned to the "warmth" of the homestead and watched Out of Africa. Two of the missionaries who serve in Griffith stopped by. Elder Richards is from Boise. The farm is in the Melbourne East mission.
Monday we drove back to Sydney! It was a great restful weekend.
Merino Wool Shop in Goulburn on the way to the farm.
Merino Sheep
Kooba Station, the Church farm.
Old love seat at the homestead.
Antique buffet at the homestead.
Stained glass window in the piano room.
Stained glass window - piano room.
Beautiful antique piano. Note stained glass windows.
Stained glass window in the dining room.
Homestead and Caretaker's House to the right.
Back of the homestead.
Bad picture of a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch on the lawn.
Fireplace in the dining room.
Antique buffet in entrance hall.
Antique desk in one of the bedrooms.
Elizabeth in front of a hole in tree on the farm.
Swinging out over the river.
Front of the Homestead.
Side entrance of the Homestead.
Veranda
Elder Leota from Hawaii, Elder Richards from Boise.
Bakes and Oldroyds in the Family Room at Kooba, the name of the farm.
Church in Griffith.
Stained glass windows in dining room.
Hearth tile in dining room.
Cattle on the farm.
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