Doof Doof In Ze Shed

Last year we had the pleasure of hosting Thibuat (Teebo) and Thierry for three months. These two French boys embraced station life like no other and have become firm friends. The last time they visited was to be Thierry's last, as his Visa was due to expire and he was unable to stay. Just a few of the fun times we had with them follow....

Two Frenchmen arrived, outback adventures they seek

Fresh from a viewing of the infamous Wolf Creek

Greeted by a lady with her rifle on shoulder slung

At that point they wondered what they had done

The boys considered if they should not have just fled

But instead made their way up to the massive steel shed

They stopped at the house and there met all of us

Of their encounter with our guest they made quite a fuss

‘’We did not know if we should stay or should go!’’

And that was our first laugh with Thierry and Thibaut

We showed them around, and they both shook their head

In awe at the scale of things, especially our new shed

They decided to stay and we set them to work

World Wars aside it can’t be said the French shirk

First job was faecal tests, not the best for a newb

All I can say it involves gloves and a fair amount of lube

‘No more joke at the Kiwis, I think that is misled,’

grinned Thierry that night as we drank beers in the shed

Mustering and fencing, marking and drafting

The boys did it all, and all with much laughing

Here for three months, both had a visa to renew

So both got stuck in, there was so much to do

But it soon became obvious and not needed to be said

That what both enjoyed most was tinkering in the big shed

The shed is impressive, but I have to confess

When they first saw it the place was a mess

So first task was to tidy tools back where they go

And to make it more pleasant, I brought in a stereo

Thierry eyes lit up, as though his thoughts I had read

‘Now we can ‘ave some doof doof in ze shed.’

The I.T. man he is we soon had that thing wired

Plugged in his Iphone and up the old girl fired

Cranked the dial to ten and the music was loaded

When the first note hit the rafters the swallows exploded

And as the cobwebs shook to the sound of Led Zep,

I could see Thierry was pleased with his doof doof in the shed

From then on the boys weren’t hard to be found

All you had to do was just follow the sound.

The maestro selected his choice for the day

And away they would work as his music would play

From French pop to punk to the bloody Grateful Dead

Anything goes when it comes to doof doof in the shed.

A challenge I set them, to get an old bike going

And not a second later the tunes started flowing

So many French curses I learnt that afternoon

With the bikes refusal to go the boys started to fume

Thierry jumped on that kicker until his cheeks were flushed red

But the bike only coughed in time to the doof doof in the shed

The bike was abandoned and a new task decided

To build us a pizza oven, the type was woodfired

 A month of welding and grinding and my scrap heap depleted

Until finally one day the masterpiece was completed

The inaugural cook up certainly left us well fed

All to the sound of the doof doof in the shed

Time goes too fast and those three months flew by

Farewells were said, all with some dust in our eye

But they stayed down in Perth and would make their own way

Back to Gabyon for Christmas and even a birthday

And each time Thierry would eventually be led

Back into the workshop for another doof doof in the shed

But last time they called in, they gave us the bad news

Thierry’s Visa was up and attempts to stay had fell through

Not to far from now he’ll be back home in France

So he wasn’t missing this Gabyon run, not even a chance

And after a big night, when guests had gone to bed

Quietly Thierry snuck up and put on his doof doof in the shed

I followed him up and we talked for a long time

Of women and work and music over much beer and wine

All the while played the greats, as well as the rest

Echoing through the night down to our guests

Eventually I left him there and started to head

Leaving Thierry alone with his doof doof in the shed

And I’m not ashamed to say tears welled as I lay in my bed

Listening to what would be Thierry’s last doof doof in our shed

 

 

 

 

 
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