A Roo loose in the Top Paddock

As I write this story, my 75^th birthday is hurtling towards me with indecent haste. I mention this because as you will see it has some relevance to this story.

For the past three springs, for a period of three to four weeks, my wife and I have been lucky enough to look after a friends rural property in the Margaret River area whilst they take their annual holiday.

The property in question is Two Blind Cows (twoblindcows.com.au) which is about 120 acres and features four glamping tents. During our period on the farm, the tents are not open to the public.

Principal amongst my caretaking duties is taking the three dogs, an Irish Wolfhound called Murphy and two kelpie crosses for a walk twice daily. This involves a stroll around the circumference of the property, morning and evening. It is brilliant meditation and something I rejoice in.

One of things, that the owner has warned me about is the chance that kangaroos find their way onto the property. Murphy, the Irish Wolfhound, and kangaroos are not a good match.

As I walked the dogs one misty morning I emerged from a clearing and looked across to one of the tents and to my dismay, saw two kangaroos standing stock still and staring in my direction. I immediately turned the dogs around and headed into another paddock and closed the gate.

I then got them back to the house and shut them indoors amazed that they did not see the Roos. I then got the buggy out and headed up to the tent with the intention of shepherding the Roos into one of the paddocks that I never take the dogs into because a local farmer sometimes runs his sheep on it. Again, Murphy and sheep, not a good mix.

As I approached the tent, I saw much to my solitary shame that what I thought were kangaroos was in fact, a wooden chair and brazier. My only defence, it was a misty morning.

As I drove slowly back to the house, I uttered to myself: ‘You daft old bugger – get your eyes checked’.

With enough excitement for one morning, I made myself a cup of tea and sat back and relaxed but not for long. The dogs, now outside, erupted with furious barking. These outbursts often prove to be false alarms but as I looked out of the window, I saw, alarmingly, two heavily armed individuals approaching the door.

Plain clothes policemen, apparently, and on the lookout for an individual that has been sighted in the area who had a propensity for stealing cars. The policeman warned me not to leave keys in the car – something people tend to do in the country.

They also said that they had noticed a quadbike track up near one of the tents and I said: ‘Oh, that was me. I had to go up and chase a couple of kangaroos off the property’.

I did not elaborate.