Johnny Hart's Heroes Report

7th March

Pg. 39-40

Barramah Downs, Barramah - North-East New South Wales.

Weather: hot and cloudy.

This trip so far has definitely been characted building. Johnny isn't letting much about himself but I sure hope he is a kind man.

Kate seems to have a great life. She has two younger sisters, she learnt to ride a pony when she was 3, and she has a big house! What more could someone ask for?! She inherited her stuff from her grandpa, unlike us. We got a cat called Ratty from our grandma.

Dell must be going through a hard time at the moment. Now that she told me her husband passed away I feel as if I know her a bit better.

Tomorrow is a new day for all of us. Things will definitely happen, and hopefully my Banjo Patterson fan, dad, will be interested. He has the record, but or course Kate's family have the more "sophisticated" book.

Ralph Paglia

Johnny Cashbox arms across Martin

Ralph Waldo Emerson

8th March

Pg. 51-52

Sawcut Creek. 10 kms South of Barramah Downs. North-East NSW.

Weather: warm to hot. No clouds.

No sheep have died today, which is a good sign. This just shows how valuable we are to this boss ... well hopefully. He is always watching over Ralph and I and it is starting to get on our nerves. If that isn't bad enough, I have to listen to Kate's accent!

The train line behind camp has given me a lot to think about. Those soldiers are heroes, coming back from fighting for our country in a war, and still building a train line. As if they didn't already do enough for our country.

Ralphy and I have our hopes up; we just know we'll get everything under control soon. It's just a matter of time.

9th March

Pg. 56

Billowbrook. 20 kms for Barramah. North-East NSW.

Weather: hot, saw one cloud.

Billowbrook. A small, quiet town, until twenty little kids came rushing up to a old Bett and I. The town has a general store, ten houses, and a small public school. Michael Disney joined the kinds and said that the district all knew about the drovers in the dodge, us!

Those little kids were so annoying! The questions never stopped. They told me about their project, but that wasn't so bad, some of them had interesting ideas.

Listen to this! Make to me to let everyone see that we're on the road, on TV! He said for me to drop by later. I'll see how everything goes. The only bad thing is, how is the television crew going to find us?

10th March

Pg. 62

Candilla Creek. 32 kms South of Barramah Downs. NE NSW.

Weather: dry and warm.

Death is an extremely weird and strange thing. I have been thinking about it. If someone dies does it mean they are gone forever? I can't believe Em is not with me anymore, but sometimes it seems as if her presence is around me.

Speaking of death, today our first sheep died, Johnny put her out of her misery by a bullet to the head. No rain, no TV crew, no luck.

Hopefully things'll get better. The sheep are going fine, except the one lying on the ground with a bullet in its head, and tomorrow is a brand new day.

20th March, maybe 21st

Pg. 77

Piah Creek, North-East New South Wales.

Weather: warm

After seeing the old lady I just realised how short life really is. She must have had dreams or goals in her life, but they were never accomplished. Everything isn't perfect, but we need to something that we enjoy in our lives. Ralph and I can't be stuck in this job forever. I want to get our and I am looking hard for away.

I need to stop thinking about death so much ...

30th March

Pg. 92

10km from Piah Creek. North-East NSW.

Weather: hot, a few clouds, no wind.

We all just got in the biggest fight. Johnny was right; we shouldn't have done what we did. It was a big chance to prove ourselves as worthy drovers. I hope Johnny forgets about this because I seriously regret what I did. I should have looked after the sheep, but Ralphy was in trouble. I don't know what I should have done anymore.

Off to bed now.

4th April

Pg. 116-117

Weather: clear, pretty warm.

Coota Lake (puddle).

The TV guys came and went extremely quickly. I barely got to meet them; they seem like nice guys though. It was a shame they couldn't have stayed for a bit longer.

Ralph is a mystery in himself. I can't understand him no matter how much I try. It is completely different being friend with him than being friends with Em. I think Em and I had such a strong bond because we grew up together. I want to be friends; it's just hard to understand him at times. He has forty thousand years of history behind him. All I know is that secrets destroy even the greatest friendships.

7th April

Pg. 124-125

Weather: cool, grey, lovely.

Daggar Station.

Today was boring, really boring. We sat around polishing boots and mending clothes. Ralph was speaking about some teams of Aboriginal shearers. Shearing has changed now, especially with money. I bet Ralphy would be an awesome shearer, he learns things really quickly, quite a talented boy.

Dell is a tough girl. She has a lot of weight on her shoulders at the moment, but she'll do fine. She and Johnny will do their absolute best to get to Barramah, I know it.

Em is still with me, in my mind. I am constantly thinking about her. I'll see her again one day in heaven, hopefully not too soon.

12th April

Pg. 134

Weather: beautifully drizzly.

Deep Creek.

I can't believe I rode a galloping horse! But I don't think I'll be trying that again though ...

Sometimes I feel like I got the bad part of this job. I have to clean, cook, and all of these other chores. Whereas everyone else has it easy, walking with the sheep, but at least I have got the car. So I guess it isn't that bad, especially with the TV guys around me.

It's a bummer though, Sly Simon reckons the heat is coming back and I agree with him. I think I have done pretty well so far. I've ridden a horse, I've got stuff to offer, I may not be your next top model, but maybe I don't have to be!

13th April

Pg. 141-142

Weather: hot again

Unnamed Creek.

It is still hot, again. We have stopped moving away from Barramah and now we are doing our 10 kms walking this way, that way, this way, that way. As I said it is still hot, and dry as well!

I hope Ralph doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, because if he's not holding anything back, the police will find out. Simon better not spread false rumours or saying something that isn't true, because it could all get out of control.

Ralph is innocent ... I hope. Ralph didn't kill him; he could have just been someone that couldn't swim. Okay, so now I'm not so sure anymore. I guess we'll see how everything unfolds.