Marshmead

I know there are a few months activities to catch up on but I'm skipping straight to May 16 - 17 and will fill in the gaps later. Rosie's school, Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), has an isolated farm property near Mallacoota, Victoria, close to the border with New South Wales. In Year 9 the girls go there for a term and live in houses on the farm, 8 girls per house, 9 houses altogether. Term 2 was Rosie's term to go and she was really looking forward to the adventure even though she was a little worried about being homesick. This was quite a turnaround from last year when she was so worried about that and about not being able to participate fully in the physical pursuits that she was determined not to go. Thankfully, she gradually came round to wanting to go because we were sure it would be a great social experience for our very shy, independent and quite self-contained daughter. On April 22, we and about 70 other families converged on the MLC car park before the crack of dawn to farewell our daughters who were making the 7 hr journey to Marshmead by bus. There were 2 buses and a huge truck which was carrying the luggage consisting of 7 big stripey bags per girl - bedding, outdoor gear, 4 pairs of shoes/boots, clothes for all climates etc. It was freezing to top off the early morning departure but there was excitement in the air.

During the next 3 and a half weeks we had several letters from Rosie (phone calls and emails not allowed) which showed what a good time she was having in the house and on the farm. The girls cook all their own meals which includes menu-planning and food-ordering, do all their own washing and cleaning and help out on the farm including some favourite chores such as bottle-feeding the "poddy" calves, ones without mums. The cooking and baking is right up Rosie's alley and she and her roomie (2 girls per room in the house) were the first ones to cook dinner (tacos). We were all looking forward to family visiting weekend which arrived on May 16, midway through the girl's’ stay.  The quickest access to Marshmead is through the nearest town of Mallacoota and then by boat across a big inlet and up a narrow waterway on the other side. The plan for the weekend was for the girls to come by boat to a jetty near Mallacoota, the nearest town, be met and collected by their families at 1:30 on Saturday and spend the night with their families in Mallacoota or nearby towns. Then, on Sunday morning, everybody would make their way to Marshmead either by boat or 4WD vehicles and spend the day exploring the farm campus with their daughters who would prepare a BBQ lunch. We left Melbourne at 4:45 am!!!!!!!! on Saturday the 16th (I had a concert the night before so we couldn't go on Friday) in order to be sure to meet  Rosie's boat at Mallacoota. As it turned out, we didn't stop for long on the way and the drive was a little shorter than we anticipated so we got to our motel in Mallacoota in time to have a little nap before heading for the jetty. It was quite romantic to see the small boats approaching in the distance bringing us our daughters from across the sea! In no time at all they'd zoomed into the jetty and a happy, excited bunch of girls walked ashore to greet their equally excited families. Rosie's roommate, Amy, had hurt her foot recently and was on crutches so Rosie was carrying her own rather excessive amount of luggage for one night and Amy's bag too. After a short walk and frolic back to our car, we went to our motel where Rosie reunited with Nutella (not allowed at Marshmead because of nut-allergy girls) and opened a present from Sandra, a cute little hot-water bottle which will probably be very welcome on cold nights - temperatures at Mallacoota have already dropped to 2 degrees on some days.

Peter wanted to explore the surrounds of Mallacoota during the afternoon but couldn't find any takers so off he went on his own while the girls and I just hung about.

We had a leisurely meal at the restaurant at our hotel/motel and an early night because we were on the first boat convoy to Marshmead, leaving the jetty at 9 am. The trip was only about 20 minutes or so long, I think, on a speedy boat and very atmospheric and pretty at the end of it when we slowed right down and cruised up the narrow woody waterway leading right to Marshmead.

The walk in from the jetty was only 700 metres and on the way to Rosie's house she insisted we see the chicks that had just hatched the day before. After a Milo at Rosie's place we went on our Rosie-guided tour of the farm, starting with the hen houses where Rosie often goes first thing in the morning to get fresh eggs for breakfast. After a couple of hours of wandering through paddocks up hill and down dale we headed back along the boundary road where we had to step aside several times for the convoy of 4WD cars coming in for the day. Back at the house, we relaxed while Rosie and her housemates got going with lunch. Rosie was on sausage duty with another girl. A couple of mothers brought some supplementary salads and desserts to pad out the girls' sausages, chicken fillets, green salad and bread so we didn't go hungry. Since we were the early arrivals we also had the early departure so at about 2:15 we headed down to the jetty to wait for our boat back to Mallacoota. Although it was only a short visit, I felt we had a really good look at Marshmead and got a feel for Rosie's life there. She looks so confident and happy with the girls in her house and on the farm that I know it will be a memorable experience for her. We watched and waved goodbye to her on the jetty till she was really tiny and we went round a bend and couldn't see her anymore. She'll be back home on June 12th at 6 pm. Luckily, I get back from the Michael Hill Violin Competition in NZ at 8 am that day so will be able to meet Rosie's bus. I'm sure the girls will be sad to leave their farmhouse even if they may look forward to getting home.