For a while there, it looked as though the autumn rains we so desperately needed had passed us by. We’d get the odd shower, 5mm here, 8mm there, while friends just ten minutes away were getting three times as much. Then, finally, last weekend delivered a magical 30mm. The grass has responded beautifully.

Before the rain arrived, we made the call to wean the calves. It eased the pressure on the cows and allowed us to split the herd across opposite ends of the farm. The calves spent a couple of weeks in the yards being fed and handled, and now that they’re out in the paddock, we’ve been practicing moving them around. It’s remarkable how quickly they’ve settled.

A few days between shifts allowed me the opportunity to set the farm up for winter. A load of hay and a wiz around the paddocks targeting serrated tussock and dreaded African Lovegrass kept me busy. it is great to have the hay in the shed – hopefully we won’t need to use it until August or so when our next generation of calves drop. The weeds are a constant battle, with African Lovegrass being our greatest threat. I have only found three small patches of it on the place, but with each year that passes, it creeps ever closer along the roadside verges from Canberra, meaning the likelihood of it spreading is increasing.

In my last entry, I mentioned I wanted to explore the idea of community a little more.

Our little village, just 5km down the road, gained nationwide fame in the 1970s and ’80s when ABC journalist Mike Hayes and his extraordinary wife Janet brought the Prickle Farm into living rooms across Australia. I grew up reading Mike’s column in the Sydney Morning Herald, and because of him, Gundaroo was always a place I felt drawn to.

Mike sadly passed away in 2003, but his legacy lives on in the way he celebrated the Gundaroo community. He championed the unsung local heroes who chose to make their lives in what was, at the time, all but a dying ghost town.

Today, Gundaroo hums with activity. There are more than 40 community groups in the local area—everything from the thriving primary school and the RFS brigade to the Scout Group, Community Association, Churches and the Colonial Wine Bar (known to most simply as the Pub). Scratch the surface and you find even more. The breadth and diversity of these groups is something truly special.

I’m proud to volunteer with some of them and support others where I can. I was humbled to receive a local award for community service in January. Standing in a room full of all the nominees, I was blown away by the number of remarkable people who give so much of themselves to their community. We are indeed fortunate.

Jo and I might give some of our time in service to our community, but the rewards far outweigh the investment in time. Perhaps it’s simply that volunteering gives everyone the space, and the encouragement, to connect with their neighbours. I’m not entirely sure. All I know is that we are incredibly lucky to live in such a wonderful part of Australia surrounded by amazing people. Perhaps though what I am most proud of is that my two boys are also volunteers as well. They are serving their community as young men -which is exceptionally rare, and makes my heart swell with pride.

And that is a great place to be in this crazy uncertain world.