by T. L. Huffman
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by T. L. Huffman
Jay Johnson, 28, of rural Gallatin, didn’t now exactly what to expect of Australia.
“I was totally ignorant, really,” he says. “I was expecting to see kangaroos, wombats, poisonous snakes. But the only place you’ll see those in Australia is in a sanctuary.”
Jay found out the vast country offered a rich treasure of travel experiences as he took part in a Group Study Exchange program in February sponsored by The Rotary Foundation. Jay was sponsored by the Gallatin Rotary Club District 6040. The program provided a travel grant for Jay and four other team members to visit Australia for six weeks.
Rotarians from District 9820 in Victoria, Australia, played host to the group and provided for meals, lodging and group travel within their district. In exchange a team from Australia visited our area in April and were given the same accommodations.
It took Jay a little while to get used to the Australian accent.
“Aussies are lazy with their words and they’ll be the first to admit it,” said Ray. “They abbreviate everything and put a y on the end. They’d say, ‘Watch out for the mossies.’ It took me a minute to realize they meant mosquitos.”
Australia is a huge country, made up of steep, rolling hills, and flat, rocky bottom ground.
“The soil is very acidic and there aren’t a lot of row crops,” said Jay. “There’s some corn planted, but mostly wheat.”
Australia is steeped in Aboriginal lore and the drama of the outback made famous by Crocodile Dundee. But most of the 20 million population lives on the coast. They don’t live inside the continent because of the harsh weather.
“It’s hot and the ground is not very good, not conducive to agriculture,” said Jay.
Jay saw a lot of dairy farms and sheep. The top soil is an inch thick in the northern area.
The soil was better where Jay visited around the city of Foster in Victoria, Australia. Victoria is a state in Australia located in the southeast part, considered the corn/wheat belt.
It was not unusual for farmers to run a half-million acre spread. They would round up their cattle by helicopter. At Foster, the group’s host owned a 3,000 acre farm with 1,200 head of Angus. They used horses on the ranch and Jay watched a cutting competition while he was there.
Jay lives on a farm on Hwy. M south of Gallatin and he was able to observe his own vocation as practiced abroad. Jay’s group took site tours of a strawberry farm, a robotic dairy, a winery, a beef cattle operation, a “piggery” as the Aussies called it, and saw some olive groves.
For social and recreational events the group drove along the Great Ocean Road on the coast; saw the Penguin Parade; and went on rain forest hikes.
Jay and the other members of his group spent the first week at Rye. Rye is a tourist-type area located on the beach. Their host was retired and did odd jobs.
The next week was spent at Foster, which was more of an Ag area, not too far from Wilson’s Promontory National Park. Their host owned a 3,000 acre dairy farm.
Their third week was spent at Trafalgar in the LaTrobe Valley. This was an industrial area. Their host was a Case Implement dealer
After a day off at Lakes Entrance, the group spent a week at Orbost, a timber industry town. Their host was a retired engineer from Scotland. They went to Bairnsdale for the District Conference over the weekend. About 1,200 people attended.
The final week was spent at Pakinham, a suburb of Melbourne, an Ag-type town. Their host was a veterinarian.
Team members were able to experience the host country’s institutions and ways of life, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.
“The people were the best part,” said Jay. “Each area had its charm. We got to hear different takes on the local culture and government. Every club had character. It’s what our area would be like without an interstate or consolidated schools,” observed Jay. “Every town was independent and self-sufficient. They had their own butcher shop. Their was a bakery in every town. They did all their shopping in their own town.”
And Jay did get a pleasant surprise. One evening his host at Foster took him on a late evening walk into the national park.
“There were heads everywhere,” said Jay. “Thousands of kangaroos!”