Delatite Farm - Victoria

Having discovered a great website called 'workaways', Delatite Farm in north east Victoria, was my first experience, and a great start!

Mansfield is a country town surrounded by mountain and is considered the south west entry point to Victoria's alpine country. A memorial in the main street commemorates the death of three troopers shot by the infamous Ned Kelly and his gang in 1878, the crime for which he was hung in Melbourne in 1880.

It was great to explore the grounds to the homestead

including this swing bridge

cottage rose bed

wild flowers

The main house was under renovation, and was quite a project! It will be amazing when finished, but hopefully these give you an idea

The gardens were extensive and beautiful.

A swing bridge led across the river to where a platypus has been spotted. One of my missions whilst in Australia is to see a wild one, having spotted one briefly in Tasmaina.
So I got rather excited when I saw this:

only to realise it was a big fish!

Then I got excited when I turned round and saw this

but on closer inspection of the rather poor photo, it looks, and moved, more like a water rat type thing!
So the mission continues...

My accommodation was a separate converted 'shed'.

the view from the veranda was great.

Perfect spot for a beer in the evening after a hard days work

with a perfect spot to watch the sunrise in the mornings

If there was any peace from the Cockatoos

I was only lacking a boiled egg holder, but improvised...

Oh, and for luxurious comfort, I treated myself to the 1920's cinema in Mansfield. I've never seen anythgin like it - massive leather recliner arm chairs with waitress service for beers and treats

One particular evening a storm had been brewing and resulted in a tremendous thunder storm, that rumbled around for hours.

It was great to sit out on the veranda and watch the lightening in the distance.

Although suddenly it wasn't in the distance,

and then a huge bolt of lightening hit what must have been meters from my little tin shed, lighting up the area like daylight, and making my heart skip more than a few beats!!

The stars were always beautiful from the veranda

As always, I like to get a different view on the places I visit, and being in the complete middle of nowhere, Delatite Farm was great for sunsets

and star trails

This was the view from the shed at night

and always, the moon seemed to be there, day or night. This was as the sun was setting, with the moon in the top right corner

The ride to work (to the wool shed) each morning offered some spectacular sunrises

and the sunsets from the homestead were stunning