the farmer who had sold us the land was taking a kindly interest in out efforts and gave us valuable assistance, locating a mile of good secondhand polypipe of the right size, helping us to build the stand for our first 2000 gal tank and negotiating with our neighbours who were sharing the pump and line for the placement of the pump on the river, not on the billabong between us and the river, even though that would have been cheaper, because he knew that billabongs dry up in a drought year which out here is fairly frequent. so with a very few months and before our first summer began we had water up on our block, a mile from the river. now instead of bucketing a small supply into a dozen drums of different sizes, we simply had to drive down to the pump, switch it on, and come home to hear it filling the tank and then drive down again eight or nine hours later to switch it off - and every few weeks, not twice or three times a week. pure bliss!
our first garden flourished. we'd had flourishing gardens in town and had brought many herbs in pots and these were planted out and most of them throve. our first trees succumbed to heat and wind and kangaroos and it was clear that we'd need good fences. but for the time being, sherry the dog's presence kept the garden and our four hens and proud rooster safe.
at this stage we were still living in tents, and a teepee had been erected by one couple under a big mallee tree. this couple didn't stay long - she got pregnant and their parents descended upon them and carried them off to civilisation, leaving nellie and me to cast about to try and find others. but we were happy enough without, so didn't try very hard. we still had people visiting us now and then and had access to grass roots magazine and later earth garden and a good supply of books by rodale, the nearings, culpeper, juliette de bairacli-levy and many others, to teach us everything we needed to know about organic gardening, herbs, natural animal care and self-sufficiency.
and of course the wildlife. having a water supply brought the kangaroos and emus sniffing about our camp looking for water. we found a couple of old but intact bathtubs from the dump for free and brought them home in the back of the ute. wombats abound here but i've never seen a healthy one at the water we provide for them - they seem to cope very well without it, surviving on dew and becoming less active during dry spells.
and we still visited the old river very often in warm weather, to swim, or just sit and watch the water flow...
