Kelpie Heaven

As the chilling evening inland breeze starts to waft through our extremely picturesque new kennel location I realise that Kelpie heaven does indeed exist and 'lo and behold' it's where my kin were first bred. Casterton is what Mum and Dad call it. I reckon it's pretty much the bees knees of places where a good dog like me can prove just how much being a good dog reaps rewards of a good dog life. 

We slept in, expecting the rising sun to explode through the windows next to heads of the parents being the alarm clock, little did they know it was cloudy and as such 3 hours later it was an OMG moment in that we had to move the whole kennel scenario out of there in 30 minutes or miss the prescribed evacuation time. As it turns out there weren't time clock keepers knocking on the doors like they do in hotels trying to clean your kennel in time so the next lot of dogs can get in and start laying their scent on the carpets. It really seemed like the 10:00am checkout time is more of a "get out when you feel like it - the roads are wide and open and really - who in their wildest imagination would be arriving at a caravan park at 10:00 am in the morning?" Even as a dog I find this incomprehensible.

Anywoof, by the time we'd packed everything up (with me keeping a careful eye on everything Mum and Dad did - directing them with my very subtle mind control techniques - they really have no idea how much in control of the whole situation I have) we were on our way. I'd directed Dad to fill the water tank in kennel to lower the center of gravity and thus reduce the "swaying" that they were both banging on about so much yesterday. He reckoned I was onto something here because the whole rig flowed over the roads so much better today. (Yay me !).

We had small stretch of corrugated dirt road to navigate in order to get where were we wanted to wander and then found ourselves driving through some very nice countrysides, dotted with the occasional rocky hills, pretty lakes and precariously placed piles of hay-bales. Being Sunday all was quiet on the roads so no stress from the driver who was trying to understand if the rig wanted to start swaying uncontrollably again. Sitting well under the speed limit was not an issue as there was hardly anyone else on these back roads. Neither were there any places selling coffee.

By the time we slided into Lake Bolac, which was a place having enough dogs around warranting a cafe - they were both tearing at the bit, extremely anxious to get their hit. I get the same anxiety when there's a ball right there..all they need to do pick the bloody thing up and throw it so I get my fix of chasing it down and catching it and bringing it back. Same satisfaction reward as coffee for humans. Dog chases ball, human consumes coffee. Same Same. I'm a good dog because I understand.

I also reap the rewards of understanding by getting to stay a day in Kelpie heaven that they call Casterton. But storywise we're not quite there yet. Fully loaded with their caffeine laded cups Mum and Dad then took me to Hamilton (not the stage play, which I thought as a dog was a bit naff, but the town) where we took stock of a camping shop and lunch in the kennel as every other shop in town was closed. I pretended that as a dog this all meant nothing to me. I did however get to ride on an escalator for the first time in my life.

Not so much fun as catching a frisbee, yet still something I can tick off the bucket list. The petrol station out of town was one of those adventure riddled episodes where it just gets better and better (before they play a advert and then revert to where we were 10 viewing minutes earlier - I really should stop watching commercial TV - it's not good for my doggy senses). First up - they could'nt figure out which pump to use, second up after choosing, the people there were having a long winded conversation about life in Hamilton and not caring about the fact someone else was waiting to use their spot. The petrol is paid at the pump - not in the building selling everything else. The toilets in the building are for those buying the food in the building, not for those just buying petrol, rewards cards for the company's chain don't work in the self service pump payment option, the self service payment facilities at the pumps are not dog friendly and then just to make the whole scene worthy of a high ranking comedy sketch (akin to a Zalensky/Trump/Vance press conference) one of the torsion bars flipped off as we were turning the tight corner around the pumps making a hideous scrapping din in front of the local cops who'd just arrived to fill up. That was fun.

Next stop - Casterton. this is where we Kelpies were first introduced to the planet and as we all know the planet is far better off for this happening. I feel at home here (actually, being a happy, loved Kelpie, I feel at home everywhere, but I want to labor the point a bit here). The kennel is perfectly positioned in wonderful redgum lined valley where Dad and I can play frisbee in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. We all wandered through the Sunday afternoon vacated main street to get a feeling of the the place with little success because there was literally no-one around. Luckily the pub was open and Mum  booked a table for our dinner later and after a quick bevvy for Mum and Dad we went back to the kennel for pre's and the frisbee session. This wore me out enough to ensure I was a good dog at the pub later by sleeping under the table while Mum and Dad had a fabulous meal and concocted plans for returning for the Muster in 2026.

Muster Shmuster I say... frisbees are for more important than sheep. I'm a Kelpie and I'm in Casterton, the birthplace of my kind. Kelpie Heaven. What more does there need to be in life?

Just to prove the point .. Dad and I went out in the dark along the Kelpie trail later on. He on his bike, me rounding him up (it's what we we do - don't argue). Pretty weird - they call it Kelpie Trail and then they've paced all these complex exercise rigs for humans to work out on. No sheep to round up, no balls to chase, no automatic frisbee launchers..... from a true Kelpie perspective I reckon we're being ripped off here.

Tomorrow I hope to sort this out. This is (after all) - meant to be Kelpie heaven.