Dick Laurie is sitting in a wheelchair gazing up at the decades-old photo of himself, pictured as a handsome, strong farmer leaning on an old Holden next to a saddled horse.
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It was purely a coincidence that the now 88 year old came to recognise himself on the wall of the University of Canberra rehabilitation hospital. It was his granddaughter who first spotted the image, black and white, adorning the stark white corridor and providing a window to the past for those coming and going, and those staying.
The photographs are a welcome relief from the sanitised setting, happy memories from a life in the nation’s capital - crowds swimming beneath the diving board of the Civic pool, Mr Laurie lazing on his Holden on the side of the road near Gundaroo.
That picture, taken by a Canberra Times photographer in the early 1980s, was at a time when the region was in drought. It wasn’t as bad on the land as it is today, according to Mr Laurie. But back then, he and his son took 5000 head of sheep on a cross country journey just to find them enough food to survive.
"We fed our sheep and cattle all through the winter until Melbourne Cup Day, and then we left home and put them out on the road. We sent the cattle away on agistment," Mr Laurie said.
From the farm near Braidwood, Mr Laurie, his son Robert then aged 21, their neighbour and his son and 5000 sheep and lambs travelled all the way to Yass over five months, returning home on April 4.
"We headed off towards Captains Flat, we had two or three days to get there and then we camped in Carwoola Lane. Into Queanbeyan we had a police escort across the highway, they stopped the traffic. We camped under the bridge that night."
Mr Laurie said the farmers took temporary fencing - pictured on top of the old Holden in the black and white photo - and dogs to make sure the sheep stayed at the camp.
They camped at a government paddock for a day, before heading along Sutton Road travelling about five to six kilometres each day - four men and 5000 sheep.
"The lambs were a damn nuisance, they kept getting through the fences into people’s paddocks, so we sold them. We got $2 [a head] for the best of them. They weren’t worth anything, it was a drought."
Mr Laurie said they lived "pretty well" during those five months. Sure, it was hard work, but the sheep were finding food and friendly country-folk would make them dinner or baked treats and bring it to their campsite.
"We were headed for Yass Road, and then it rained," Mr Laurie remembers fondly, saying those first drops felt like heaven. "So we turned around and came back."
"We got home and there was grass that high," he said, motioning to about waist height. "The sheep just layed in the grass and got fat."
Mr Laurie has owned his property, Glenhaven, near Braidwood for 70-odd years. He grew up on the farm next door. Up until six months ago he was riding horses, until an aneurysm in his leg meant he was left without much feeling.
He’s spent 10 weeks in the rehabilitation hospital in Belconnen, which he said had been fantastic, but he hoped he'd be back on the farm soon.
The photo on the wall, spotted by his granddaughter, was a pleasant surprise.
"It did bring back memories. It was good to see it, but I got a hell of a shock," he said.
