The Strength In Us All by Sara Henderson

Author:Sara Henderson [Sara Henderson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781743341698
Publisher: Momentum Books
Published: 2012-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

September 1992–October 1992

We had one more muster to complete the end of the season. Because of the court judgement against us, and the continuous drain on our cash reserves to meet the payments, I could see we wouldn’t have enough funds to get through the rainy season to April of the following year, when our cash flow started again. We had already sold our yearly turn-off, so with regret we now had to sell some of our breeding stock. We’d known we could fall back on this plan—if the unthinkable happened and we lost the case—and sadly the unthinkable had happened and we were now at that point where we had to lose some of our hard-earned breeders. I couldn’t help but do some silent cursing. With heavy hearts we moved into Six-Mile, our biggest breeding area, and started to sort the cattle. We sold just enough to get through and economised wherever possible. It was a dreadful time.

My days were still busy in the office, answering non-stop phonecalls, faxes and letters about the book. On the 10th September I had to leave on the New Zealand promotional tour. My itinerary would take me to Auckland, Christchurch, Invercargill, Gore, Wellington, Masterton, Waipukerau, Hastings, Napier and back to Auckland.

I left the station on the 11th, overnighted in Darwin, took a 6 a.m. flight to Cairns, where I spent the night to wait for the connecting flight to New Zealand. I started the tour in New Zealand the day before my birthday.

I loved New Zealand. I thought I would freeze to death, having been told by everyone how cold it was in September. I was bracing myself, and had the suitcases full of thick, woolly clothes. The day I arrived it was declared an Indian Summer, and for the next ten days the sun shone and the weather could not have been more perfect. So I walked around the streets of Invercargill in a longsleeve, light blouse. I wore my three lightweight blouses most of the time and only put on woollen jumpers at night.

Everything about New Zealand was perfect—the land, the colour, the people. Having lived all my life listening to the rivalry between New Zealand and Australia in cricket and football, horse racing and various other fields, I was a bit worried about how I might be accepted. But I needn’t have been concerned—I was welcomed with open arms and treated like visiting royalty, and the welcome was without doubt sincere and genuine. The smaller towns were so appreciative that an author had travelled this far to spend time with them that they couldn’t do enough for me, or tell me how pleased they were. However, I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with being referred to as an ‘author’ and being ‘famous’ and from ‘overseas’, and I would frequently get the urge to look around to see who they were referring to.

The daily schedule was as gruelling as the Australian tour, but it surprised me how much you can achieve in one day when everyone you meet is pleasant and complimentary.

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