Thursday March 11 - A day of firsts!!

Kyla Kiester - Team Member: Today we had the opportunity to broaden our horizons a bit, and we experienced a few things for the very first time.  The fun loving people of RC Kyabram took us to the Port of Echuca where we went on our first paddlestreamer ride. 

At lunch we were given our first taste of Lemon Squash - a nonalcoholic, carbonated lemonade beverage that was outstanding!  Cara accurately described it as a “flavor blast of refreshment!”

After lunch we went on a “Farm to Factory” tour of the Mulcahy Brothers Dairy, which is Victoria’s largest dairy farmers and one of the largest employers in the Kyabram district.  They are the only family owned dairy business in Victoria that controls the chain from grass to the consumer’s fridge and also the only locally owned milk processor in the region.  Here Cara & I had the opportunity to milk our first cow!!!  (Is it odd that we had to come to Australia from Iowa for this?!?)  The three dairies milk up to 2600 cows 2-3 times a day, and the process is fascinating….at least to this city girl.  The cows walk into individual stalls on an automated “merry go round” and are then manually hooked up to the milkers.  (I apologize for the lack of technical terminology.)  The merry go round can hold up to 100 passengers at once, and after an 8 minute spin around the barn, the cows are unhooked and sent back into the pasture.  Total bovine bliss. 

Last but not least, we had our first attempt at Australian driving!  It is strange being on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road with the turn signal (or “indicator” as Aussie’s call it) on the wrong side of the steering wheel….but we all survived!