Firstly I will apologise for the lengthy time between drinks, or blogs I should say... (I often get emails from non-Australians seeking clarification of my overuse of Aussie-isms). I have been having all sorts of issues with my internet connections in Melbourne... kinda hilarious that I had a better time getting on the net back on the farm!!!! Thanks John Howard for satellite internet for the isolated Australians in the Outback. 

OK, excuses for not typing aside, welcome to the new version of farmerdave.com.au, it's pretty exciting, and a huge thanks goes to Tim our web developer who puts in more time, sweat and tears then the Egyptians did on the pyramids!!  Hopefully you are having as much fun as I am navigating around. There is plenty of new stuff being added every day by the team... and hopefully a lot more by me now.

So you would probably be aware I have made the big move to Melbourne, leaving the dust, debt, sheep and my beloved horses and kelpies behind... for the time being. It wasn't an easy decision, but like the droves of farmers taking a break from their farms to earn much needed incomes, I can't just sit around and wait for a miracle... I have to go and make it myself.

I've read 'The Secret', listened to the CDs, watched the DVD and I've lived through a fair bit for my 28 years, so it's all about the 'Law of Attraction'  and up on the farm I wasn't attracting any rain...probably because 'like attracts like' and there was bugger all water to attract any more!!

What I did have though was a great mob of people around me, a growing breeding flock of drought resistant sheep, who despite the continued dry still produce prime lambs without the use of grain feeding or chemicals or fertilisers, a government grant to complete the sustainability programme of the property, a supply chain to directly sell my lamb to the public, an incredible and growing customer base for my lamb and most importantly the almost illegal will never to give in.

After some very David tears, some 'seeyalatas' and a marathon 24+ hours of driving, I made it to Melbourne, found an apartment with an ace flatmate (who is a barrister...pretty flash huh!) and an ace view, happened upon a perfect job and made it into a swag of newspapers with my new workmates... with every article outdoing the other with its puns... a lot of 'Dave goes to the Dogs', 'In the Dog House Now'...

I'm working at a dog daycare centre aptly named Dog Central in a suburb called Yarraville, which despite being only minutes from Melbourne's skyscrapers is like a country town with a total village atmosphere. The centre is just as homelike as the suburb. I went there just to see if I could help out and hang out with my favourite animals for a couple of hours each morning and not go insane living in the city. Well, I now find myself the Manager and do the dog training there, which is just heaven... seems like this 'Secret' thing is working.

I went round to a heap of dog daycare centres, but none were as perfectly aligned with my morals and beliefs as Dog Central. Chelie and Steve are in love with the dogs under their care and have begun the processes to start an academy for the disabled to assist them getting into the workforce by doing training and apprenticeships at the centre, which is perfect as many people with disabilities find themselves with low self esteem, and I think all of us who have been around dogs know that they are the greatest givers of confidence and love.

Already we have a staff of so many variances, including five different nationalities, awesome work experience people and committed volunteers, all sharing the love of animals. In short, I left the farm thinking that I needed a miracle and I seem to have found myself right in the middle of one.