Operation hearts and minds on Marley Farm, Yeppoon.
Tour Journal
Transit day - May 11
- Transit day enroute to Yepoon
- Stop overnight at 1770
- Marry up with veteran Tom Kerwin from Toowoomba for Operation Farm Assist
- Guitar jams!
- Had a great chat with Ian, ex president of Tewantin/Noosa RSL sub-branch prior to departing
Transit day 2 - May 12
- A big transit day
- Met Veteran Bruce Sloper enroute to Beck farmers place “Marli”
- Setup and getting acquainted with Beck
Day 1 - sussing it out
- 20min breathing session
- Recce of the farm and prioritize work to be done to assist with peace of mind and Becks mental health.
- Veteran Tom design chicken coop upgrade
Day 2 - hooking into it
- 40min family walk
- Tom commenced building coops with Havi help
- Claire and Beck fix water tank blockage
- Andy & Phoenix pull lantana on first bank
- Veteran Bruce finished building cattle grid on front driveway
- Andy & Rom introduced by Bruce to Bill Tahu and RSL sub-branch with open arms (met dozen vets and wives)
- Andy given opportunity to quick address the sub-branch on our II tour
Day 3 - the work continues
- 20min breathing
- 100 push-up, sit-up and square challenge
- 40min family walk
- Lantana pulling
- Chicken coop building
- Cattle grate finished
- Helped Mustered the cows in prep for prep testing
- Cooked a dinner with hosts family and neighbors ours assisting veterans and their families.
Day 4 - rest day
- Pregnancy tested cow
- Checked out Emu park memorial
- Kids milked cow
- Rest day
Day 5 - back at it
- 10min square the circles breathing
- 40min walk
- Hooked into finishing off pulling lantana
- Veteran Tom completed the chicken coops
- Met the YV/Gladstone RSL & Yeppoon RSL key stakeholders to organise proposed presentations and thank Jon Felton for supporting our collaboration
- Last night dinner and hangs with veteran Tom before he heads back to Toowoomba
- Commenced DVA approved Vocational Rehab course - Radio presenting - to better our podcast
Day 6 - Fences
- 20 min breathing
- 40min family walk
- Commenced building paddock fence post hole diffing and setting star pickets
- Ran Beck through a 15min introductory active breathing session “control the rage”
Day 7 - Rest and admin
- 15min mobility stretches
- 40min family walk
- Admin day - water, waste and rubbish dump, washing
- Explore Yeppoon central
- Week 2 radio course - online class 2hrs
Day 8 - sprint to the finish
- 20mins breathing
- 40min walk
- Finished tensioning up 2 fences x 250m
- Prep garden beds x 3
Day 9 - finish line
- 20min breathing
- Shoulder recovery exercises
- 40min family walk
- Mulched 3 garden beds (2.5 cubic meters)
- Washed farm vehicles x 2
- Site cleanup (filled box trailer and dropped off at veteran Bruce)
- Prepped fencing kit on new pallet
- Enjoyed an arvo picnic by Limestone creek on property & did family photoshoot for Beck & Judd
- RSL sub-branch campaign finish celebration dinner (met 6 new veterans through Bruce)
- Veteran Bruce connects Beck with members of sub-branch for future community engagement opportunities
The numbers
- Cleared 500m of lantana out of ridge line so cattle don’t eat and get poisoned | 4 days ( 2 x 6 x 4 = 48 hours) | Andy & Claire | Kids 2 x 2 x 4 = 16 kid hours)
- Built 5 chicken coops using recycled pallets | 3 days (6 x 3 = 18 hours) - Veteran Tom | Kids 2 x 1 x 3 = 6 kid hours)
- Main residence handyman work & level donger posts| 1 day | veteran Tom x 6 hours
- Build Cattle grid w/ tractor | Veteran Bruce | 4 days (1 x 4 x 4 = 16 hours)
- Erect 2 x 450m electric fences to make smaller grazing paddocks | Andy, Claire, Phoenix and Havana | 2 days (2 x 6 x 2 = 24 hours | kids 2 x 6 x 2 = 24 hours)
- Mulch 3 garden beds, 2.5 cube m| Andy, Prepare and sort fencing pallet Wash farm vehicle | 1 x 2 x 6 = 12hrs
Total - 170 hrs
