Butler’s Farm, near Minlaton, Yorke Peninsula
5-7 October, 2019
Saturday 5 October 2019
Although the majority of guests arrived on Thursday or Friday, we made our way up on a warm Saturday morning and were followed by the Plowman’s and Dalton’s.
It was quite crowded with the Thompson’s (Sue, Geoff, Claire, Matthew, Hamish, Liam, Rachel Paterson, Sebastian, Mikaela, Timothy Freeman, Sharlene, Jasmin, Lachlan, Hannah Poel, Grant, Bob & Ivy Reid, Gordon, Ida Atherton with grandkids Ashleigh, Dylan & Marissa. Ian and Emilee Bliemeister, Peter Pyman and Lynne Middelton, Martin & Lynn Galbreath, Terry Hicks, Wal & Kerry Muhleder, Nick Zoneff Andrea Weatherill and of course our hosts Les & Eileen Butler.
We set up camp, had lunch and then for those that were keen Les took us out to explore the area.
The first stop was the ‘Polo Crosse’. Les explained that the game is a combination of polo and lacrosse and played on a grass field on horseback. The objective is to score goals by throwing the ball between the opposing team’s goal posts. The game is very demanding on both the rider and the horse and involves a lot of skilled training and core strength.
It was an actioned packed game and we all gained an enormous amount of appreciation for both the horse and player.
At ¾ time we left and convoyed along stopping at Bluffs Beach. Bluffs Beach is located on the west coast of Yorke Peninsula. The area was used for landing boats and the boats were winched up on poles. The area was established in 1836 and is now used for recreational purposes.
Next stop was Barker Rocks. Apparently we had just missed out on a dolphin show but decided to still all go down to the beach to check out the scenery and wet our feet in the water. Next stop was Port Rickaby where we drove around to view the jetty just for Maria’s benefit.
Port Rickaby is west of Minlaton. There is a Caravan Park, a boat ramp for launching medium sized boats and the jetty. If we had taken our rods we could have tried fishing off the jetty or done some beach fishing.
It was now 5pm so we travelled back to camp where we all scattered to our individual campsites to have dinner and regroup with the other campers around the campfire. This was followed by freshly baked damper slaved over by Grant Reid. It was to die for!
Sunday 6 October 2019
Overnight the temperature had drop quite drastically so it was back to long pants, jumpers and in my case a spencer!
The day started at 9am (daylight saving time) back at the homestead to watch a performance from Harry. Harry is a gorgeous gentle giant Clydesdale who performed a show for us and subsequent rides for the young and older kids and I suspect to watch Maria ride what she thought was going to be a pony ride not an actual Clydesdale. Colin also put a saddle on Bandit (which is a Shetland pony) for the very small kids to ride. Sorry Maria but small kids only.
The Clydesdales are trained by Les Butler’s brother Colin. These horses are extremely intelligent and have a lovely endearing nature which was a blessing for Maria who braved the commentary, the filming and flashing of cameras to nervously get on the horse. And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we also had a whip cracking demonstration followed by YOU GUESSED IT another round of commentary and so on for Maria’s benefit.
Next stop was Yorketown where we went on a tour of the Yorketown Country Fire Station of which Les is a life member. Les & Eileen’s family are also volunteers of the CFS. The kids learnt how to use a fire extinguisher, board the fire truck and got to squirt water from a hose reel.
We then ventured off to the kite flying demonstrations where the kids got to make their own kites and then attempt to fly them. The kites on display were enormous and included a dragon, squid, lion and pander bear to name a few. They were larger than life and very colourful.
After lunch and a bag of hot donuts we all gathered back to the next meet spot to start our travels to Warooka and a beach drive from Point Turton to Hardwick Bay.
The tide had come in but it was still safe enough for us to begin our journey. None of us let our tyres down as Les suggested that the sand was pretty hard and it was unlikely that we would get bogged.
Well that wasn’t quite the case for Rachel who ended up pretty deep in sand some hundred yards later. Whilst they were busy digging themselves out with the help of the vehicles behind them, the rest of us got out of our cars for a social chit chat while we waited for the rest of the convey to catch up.
Off and running again and with no more stops we were back on the road. Next stop was an ice-cream for the Butlers and then viewing of Captain Harry Butlers Memorial and then back to camp.
Drinks and nibbles by the fireplace was the next item on the Agenda for those that wanted to and then around 8.30pm we all took a leisurely walked to a where the ‘stones’ were for a massive bonfire that lit up the sky. You couldn’t toast marshmallows on this fire but it certainly kept you warm.
Monday 7 October 2019
Monday was pack up day for Steve & Deb, Ian & Emilee and Greg and Maria while the rest of the group stayed on to experience a few more days of rest and relaxation without us!
Thank you to both Les & Eileen and extended family who are fantastic hosts!
