Flatlands 2

Flatlands 2

I arrived at nearby Billabulla early the next day to find my new hosts Kate and Rod Mildner breakfasting on bacon and eggs. I was asked if I’d like a cup of coffee, which I accepted, then was told I’d have to wait a few minutes while Rod went out and milked the cow. They farm to sustainable energy principles and move their cattle through the paddocks so they don’t get flogged out.

After Kate gave me a quick tour of the property, I thought I’d draw the spot where the 8 mile cowal meets the 5 mile cowal with the sun setting off to the left –

“Where the Cowals Meet”

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The next morning I was ready for the lagoon/wetland with the sunrise behind me –

“Early Morning, Billabulla Lagoon”

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Then I went looking for the way to the river, which, due to the dense cover of rape and hidden sinkholes, was out of my league. So I drew this instead –

“Blue and Yellow”

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I went back to the homestead for lunch, wondering what to do next, when an extended family, camped on the river, turned up, and offered to escort me. Bob Fowler with his two sons and assorted progeny were enjoying one of their frequent visits to Billabulla,

On arrival at their camp, the Fowlers were keen to get me pissed, but I managed to fend them off for an hour or so while I drew the kids on the river (‘I’m doing my job, that’s why I’m here’). They’d caught a yellowbelly the day before, encased by an enormous cod. Unable to get the yellowbelly out of the cod, they chucked them both back in. A yellowbelly succumbed as I drew the kids, but shortly afterwards the river went up a bit, from a Burrendong discharge, and the kids started pulling in carp. Burrendong Dam controls the pulse of this river.

“Jimmy, Alby, Annii and Banjo Fishing on the Macquarie at Billabulla”

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That’s Annii with two eyes.

I asked Bob how the ‘new’ owners of Billabulla compared with the ‘old’ owners from the time he lived here 50 years ago. He was quiet for a while and I thought he must be trying to frame a diplomatic comment on the unusual (organic and energetic) practices of the Mildners. Eventually he said “I reckon about 20,000% better”. I regarded this as high praise from an old bushie.

The next morning I made a short trip to Boomanulla to draw the old ram shed on the banks of the Macquarie before returning to Warren to set up for the exhibition opening at Bill Phillip’s RiverSmart Wetlands Centre –

“The Old Boomanulla Ram Shed on the Macquarie”

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I decided not to draw the outside of the shed, as I thought it would take too long (I was knackered at the end of the week). The inside took me five and a half hours.