All good things come to an end…

Here we are at Ross River Homestead, surrounded by gum trees with a touch of the exotic from the palms near the front entrance. Our final 2 nights are to be spent here, another historical homestead that was a cattle station and built in 1898. Back then the Ross River station owner, a man named Albert Wallis, was suitably entrepreneurial and started growing vegetables to sell to the miners. He probably made more money than most of the gold diggers…

Now it is a tourist resort.

It has been a very satisfying week, with time to truly look at the scenery and try to capture the form and colours of this amazing area.

“I have learnt that what I have not drawn I have never really seen –

and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing,

I realize how extraordinary it is.”

Frederick Franck

“The Zen of Seeing”

The final day is to be an easy laid back, wind down affair. Time to wander around and choose our final subjects to draw.

I liked the way the managers house, further up the hill behind the homestead, blended into the background.

Our accommodation was in these cute little huts. They made me think of Hobbit houses. But they were very cosy with reverse cycle air conditioning and en-suite bathrooms. The heaters were definitely appreciated as the night time temperatures dropped to approx. 3C-4C degrees. The days were a beautiful 25C-27C but the cloudless, clear blue skies let all that warmth quickly disappear when the sun went down.

So we really appreciated the roaring fire in the dining room for our evening meal. The meals were a delicious buffet of hearty, home cooked food. Though I must admit it was a race to not be the last person in who would have to sit at the head of the table and be almost cooked by the end of the meal….

After our meal the manger had lit a large camp fire outside so it was a perfect end to the week to all sit around swapping stories before going back to our little Hobbit houses for a final good nights sleep.What a happy bunch of people, a pleasure to have been on this adventure with them.A very big thank you to Renata and Sharon for a 5 star experience with their “Redback Tours” (find out more about their background here) They both looked after us with dedication to details and good humour. I highly recommend their tours if you are looking for an Australian experience with a difference.

But wait, there’s more, the outback adventure is not over yet. (to be continued)