Leongatha

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HUGH KING ASKS ME TO HELP HIM DO A SITE SURVEY TODAY IN LEONGATHA which is in the South Gippsland region. I agree without reservations because a) I like his attitude, b) I have nothing pressing to do, and c) I have flown over Leongatha and the surrounding areas a lot but I have never been to these places. This opportunity to visit Leongatha appeals to me a lot because it will be fun to see the places I have flown over and spend some time on the ground and I am getting paid for it!

We set off in our cars from Dandenong South at 10.15am and track in a South Easterly direction past Cranbourne and Korumbarra. I make a pit stop at Korumbarra and take some photos. Photos here show the Korumbarra train station and the public toilets where I answer my nature's call. Korumbarra is 15 kms from Leongatha and has an airfield, so does Leongatha. So from the air I could identify the 2 towns well by finding the 2 airfields. Leongatha is 95km from my office and I reach there in about 1 1/2 hours and park my car in the Mackers car park to wait for Hugh. I then buy a KFC lunch box and have lunch with Hugh in the shade outside the Leongatha Small Bore & Air Rifle Club. 

Our site visit today is to Murray Goulburn's milk and butter facilities.  Murray Goulburn processes about 1/3 of the nation’s milk supply into quality products which are sold on both domestic and export markets. 

MG manufactures long life milk under many brand names including the famous Devondale (we use their 1 litre milk long life milk in my home); and others like Dutch Lady (for the China market), Paul's, and Pura Milk. I take a picture of their processing line but the conveyor is moving so fast that my phone camera could not capture a nice picture.

We spend some 3 hours on site taking in all the details. What do they need? What helps them? What can be done better? Taking photos and jotting down all the nitty gritty of their existing material handling fleet does take a lot of time.

At 3.30pm we leave the site and it's coffee time. We find this cafe "LULU" (still in Leongatha) interesting - lots of knick knacks, oil paintings, signage and quirky stuff. Hugh and I spend an hour there in the cafe talking about our lives and life's views. He is a people person and it shows. He demonstrates he is sincere and helpful to others. I have learned to be helpful in a corporate sense through him. Good one, Hugh.

4.30pm we bid each other good wishes and leave in our cars to head home. Hugh lives in a rural town called Flinders in the Western Port. I guess he will go sailing this weekend because it's a long weekend. As for me I plan to travel a few hundred kms out to visit a few smaller towns in Victoria. It will be good and I am looking forward to the trips.

68km out from Leongatha towards Melbourne I stop by the Tooradin airfield just outside of Tooradin, to take a look if there is any plane taking off or landing there. A friend of mine Grant Nelson, flies his plane out of this airfield. Nah, not this afternoon although it's been a beautiful day to fly. There is a gentle breeze coming in from the north west but nothing that a good pilot cannot handle. Great day to fly, great day to live, and great day to be in this part of the world.......