Day 5 (By Kaye Lim, BU6)

By the time we arrived at Springhills Farm for our farm stay, it was already evening and there wasn’t much left to do for the day, but we still had the next day to cover our activities.
We were given a few minutes to freshen up in our rooms before dinner. The rooms were comfortable. We could see the fields with goats and sheep outside through one of the windows. During dinner, we were told not to use too much water when we showered because the farm relied on rainwater for their water supply and it had not rained since November.
I had a quick shower and dessert before going outside to watch the stars. We saw Canis Minor, Canis Major, Orion’s Belt, Mars, the Southern Cross, the Milky Way and various other stars. The moon was really bright and the sky was very pretty. Although the moon was also really pretty, I half-wished it wasn’t there as because it was so bright, we saw less stars than we could have.
The next day we fed the sheep and goats in the fields with bread. We didn’t go beyond the fence. Instead, the animals came to us, they knew we had food. Some of them even let us pat them on their heads.
Then we went inside the shearing shed to watch sheep shearing. Someone came to show us how sheep were sheared. At first, we were worried for the sheep because the shears looked sharp, but after the shearer told us that it wouldn’t hurt the sheep, we relaxed.
After that, we took a ride in the farm truck to the hay shed. During the ride there I was in the middle of the back so everyone in the middle kept falling and clinging on to each other. I fell too, but I didn’t mind, it was fun.
The hay in the hay shed was piled about three times higher than the ceiling inside a classroom, maybe even higher. We were allowed to climb the hay stacks, but only some people tried it. I climbed with my friends and we hopped on the hay as if they were stepping stones, there was a lot of ground to cover.
We then rode back in the farm truck. Those who were in the middle during the ride to the hay shed took the sides. We saw some sheep trapped in the fences, so we stopped every now and then and the farmer would release the sheep from the fence.
We freshened up a little before going to collect chicken eggs. In one of the nesting boxes, instead of finding real eggs, we found chocolate eggs. Everyone got one. Some of the real eggs were even blue. It was strange, but cool.
Near the dining hall there was an almond tree. The farmer showed us how to crack open the almond and then we could eat it. The almonds tasted really good, we couldn’t stop looking for almonds on the ground even when we were told to stop.
All too soon we had to leave the farm for the airport. I felt a little sad, but I was happy that I was going to be home soon.