A yarn with Andrew Murray, young exhibitor and shearer
Thirteen-year-old Andrew Murray is from Dripstone, a small town on the outskirts of Wellington, NSW, which is five hours by road from Sydney.
He is the son of Jim Murray, a shearer and entertainer at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Like his dad, he’s been working since he was young.
Though not yet old enough to go for his driver’s licence, the bright young man can describe in detail how hydraulics work and are maintained on a tractor.
He comfortably changes and fixes tyres, fuels and oils up the family tractor – which he can drive, and carries out mechanical work on it.
The tractor is one of various vehicles Andrew drives at home, which also include utes, motorbikes and quad bikes.
Other talents in his skill-set are sheep crutching and shearing, and alpaca shearing. He also helps his family take care of horses, dogs and chickens on their small property.
Andrew is in year 8 at Wellington High School and spends most of his free time going out with his dad to various locations, where he shears and teaches for a living.
“I go every weekend and holidays with my dad, from the start of spring ‘til Christmas, shearing sheep and alpacas,” he said. “I enjoy it a fair deal.”
When he has time left to himself, Andrew also enjoys whipcracking and football. He has competed in whipcracking competitions before, but is not yet old enough to compete in sheep shearing.
But the competitive aspect of agriculture is not a great concern for him. The astute, laid back young man is just happy getting things done, and simply sees it all as part of life.
“I have one plan - it’s to shear my way through university, get a degree in PDHPE, and start teaching,” he said.
Each year the Murrays come to Sydney with sheep, merino rams, alpacas and dogs. Andrew, with his brother, helps his father for the duration of the Show with daily shearing demonstrations, and shares his knowledge with the public.
“It’s really good fun,” says Andrew.
He enjoys his stay at the Show each year, as he has a chance to catch up and hang out with other mates that attend every year as well.