It was one of those days the sort you just know that you should have really stayed in bed. I crawled out of bed at 5 a.m. that is what you have to do when you are going to move cattle in the middle of summer over here in the land of Australia, if you don't do that by the time you get out in the paddock you will find the whole mob scattered around under any shady trees they can find and try and move em , not on your life!
So here I am crawling out of bed at that ungodly hour, get dressed, grab a slice of cake, cool glass of water and then off out to get on the motor bike; of course in keeping with my feelings of the moment the rear tyre is flat.
I push the bike over to the compressor and pump the thing up. Well at least something went right, the tyre looks like it will stay up with out having to mend it. Fill it up with petrol check the oil and finally I can start it and go round up the errant cattle who have jumped the fence and got in the wrong paddock,
The grass is very tall and thick,
I get the cattle in a sort of a mob and head them in the general direction of where they have to go. One stubborn critter decides he does not want any part of moving and heads off at top gallop, I set off after him, straight through a galvanized burr bush I ride, unfortunately I do not see the 2 feet high log buried in the bush, the bike hits at about 20 miles per hour, it stops quickly how ever ,I do not!
I fly through the air and luckily for me land in another galvanised burr bush, which absorbs most of the force, but they do not call them "Burrs" for nothing and I look down and there is blood all over my arm, I think I have cut my self badly, but on closer inspection it is just the thorns which have punctured my arm, so I give it a brush to get 'em out, hop back on the bike and set off after the steer which has stopped a few yards away as if to grin at my predicament .
I manage to get him rounded up and back to the mob, feel ling pretty sore and sorry for myself, I do however manage to get the mob back in the correct paddock.
I get back home, get undressed and have a cool shower, I have been out riding for about 5 hours and I feel very sore and sorry for myself, the cold water makes my body feel a bit better apart for the stinging of the water on the cuts from the thorns.