On Location with 'The Sundowners' Page #8

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- Remember it?

Whenever we talk about a place,

that's the one I'm thinking of.

It's still for sale.

Mrs. Bateman wrote me.

I didn't wanna tell you about it before.

I suppose those farms

don't get sold very quick.

- Did she say how much it costs?

- Two thousand pounds.

At the end of the season,

we'll have better than 400.

That's enough for a down payment.

That's if Dad wanted a place.

First we'll get the money,

then we'll worry about Dad.

Speaking of Dad,

this doesn't seem tactful, somehow.

Quiet.

Quiet!

Quiet!

Right-o, who's for peeling potatoes?

Hey, fellas!

Listen, there's a room outside

with sawdust on the floor.

How is it for a game of two-up?

I've got a feeling

it's us for peeling potatoes.

Woman's instinct, I call that.

Well, go on, booby.

Come on, girls.

Where are all those big betters?

Are we all here?

I'm for five.

- Here's five quid to say I can head them.

- I'll set the center.

- I'll bet he heads them.

- Thirty bob.

- A pound he heads them.

- A pound he tails them.

Two bob he tails them!

- Yes, I'll set you.

- Right.

- You all set on the side?

- Yeah.

Right-o, come in, spinner.

Now, fair go.

Up they go, and it's a head up.

And it's... tails!

I won. You should've bet

the same as me, Dad.

- Son, you see, I only had a quid left-

- I'll bet the ten.

Excuse me, Dad.

Don't wanna miss the next toss.

Four bob, he tails them.

Four pounds, head.

Serving beer on Sundays

and running a gambling joint?

I could get 12 months in jail

and lose me license.

Why don't you make them

stop the game then?

Oh, let them have their fun.

They don't get much, the men out here.

They battle all their lives

just to try and stay ahead of nature...

...keeping this part of the country alive.

And when they're dead,

they're forgotten.

Nobody thanks them.

All they get is abuse.

Getting drunk on Sunday and gambling

may be against the law...

...but the law was made

by city wowsers.

They don't know nothing of what it

takes to keep a man alive out here.

Beer, that's what it takes, Gert. Beer.

Well, it's not like you

to leave a two-up game.

What happened, your luck run out?

Anybody home?

I'm the owner. What'll it be, a room?

Yes, missus, and tucker,

if you can manage.

Evan Evans, the name is.

Just delivered a mob of sheep.

I'm a drover myself.

Paddy Carmody's my name.

- You're late in the season.

- Ran into a card game on the way.

Lasted a month.

Any place my sulky and horses

can get shelter?

Here, I'll put them up for you.

Oh, in case you're interested,

there's a two-up game going on in there.

- Where?

- All right, skinny, after you're fed.

"Skinny. "

You know how much I won already?

Four quid. What's the matter, Dad?

You're not playing.

I ain't got no money.

Which, if you had eyes,

you could see for yourself.

Well, do you want a loan?

Take anything, Dad. Take it all.

A quid'll do me. A quid he tails them.

Come in, spinner!

- Tails, it is.

- Beauty.

You'll do me for a good luck charm.

Two quid he tails them again.

Fifteen years in a pub...

...and I still prefer a good cuppa tea

to a bottle of beer.

Of course, I gotta get drunk

now and then...

...to set an example to the customers.

More tea, Ide?

I'm going to miss the whole lot of you.

Just a couple of more weeks, isn't it?

Don't give me much time

to work on Rupe.

Heads!

- A fiver on tails.

- You're on.

He's going again. He's going again.

Oh, come on. This is a party,

and the food's ready.

- Is that all the money you got?

- Yeah.

- Another fiver he tails them.

- You're covered.

- Paddy's won 17 straight tosses.

- What?

- I loaned him money, changed his luck.

- All right, come in, spinner.

You got it, Paddy!

- How much has Paddy won?

- About 200 quid.

Sean, with what's left in the jar...

...that's almost enough

for a down payment on the farm.

Well, what do you reckon?

You lost a packet already.

Don't worry about me, friend.

This is the air I breathe.

You've cleaned me out.

That's the way it goes.

I'll tell you what, mate.

You put up that horse you got outside...

...I'll bet everything I've won tonight

against him.

One toss of the pennies,

what do you say?

What do I say when I won him

in a poker game anyway?

You're on, friend. And I call tails.

Chilla, you ready?

Brother Carmody,

you've got yourself a racehorse.

- Make more of him than I did.

- And the money, Mum.

And the money too.

Oh, you- You won!

Gee, Dad, ain't he wonderful to watch?

Ever since I was a kid...

...the thing I wanted most in the world

was a horse like that.

You reckon you could ride him flat out

and not fall off him?

Could I? You just watch me.

Go, Sean!

Come on, you little beauty! Let's have it!

Look at him go! You beauty!

Well, how is he?

Oh, darl, he's a beauty.

- What you gonna do with him?

- When we quit here...

...let's take him round to some of

the small bush tracks, picnic races.

Everything works out,

we'll head for a big race meeting.

Could we go back to Bulinga?

- They run a cup meeting and we-

- We could see Kylie Bateman?

No, Mum. That wasn't

what I was thinking about.

Well, why not?

All right, we'll make it Bulinga...

...and we'll stop

and talk to the Batemans on the way.

Got the makings

of a real champion there, haven't we?

Yes, if he's looked after properly,

and I shall see to it that he is.

Why, you know something

about training horses?

Is there anything he don't know about?

I was brought up among horses,

English horses.

Epsom Downs was my second home.

Come on, come on.

What do you think this is, bush week?

I wonder where

the nearest race course is?

We could clean up a packet

if Paddy'd race him.

Come on. You're like

a lot of flaming old hens!

Can't you just see us, darl?

Still moving, going from track to track.

The Carmodys, not just drovers anymore,

but racehorse owners.

Come down to earth. You'll be

winning the Melbourne Cup next.

Well, why not?

Did you ever dream you'd have

- ... besides owning a racehorse?

- We'll have to name the brute.

Hey, that's right.

We could call him Dynamite.

Or what about Fireball?

Fireball? Grotesque.

No, no. Something classical

would be more appropriate.

Wait. Why don't we call him

Sundowner?

Yeah, I like that.

Sundowner. What does that mean?

I've been called that on occasion.

I assumed it was a term of abuse.

No, that's the Australian word

for people like us.

A sundowner is someone whose home

is where the sun goes down.

It's the same as saying

someone who doesn't have a home.

Quinlan's gonna sack you

if this keeps up.

Old friend Quinlan

is the least of my worries.

Care for a cuppa?

You're very chipper.

Is it the prospect of wandering...

...from race course to race course

which delights you?

Or Bulinga, with its farm for sale?

If Paddy knew what was in my mind,

he'd be scared to death.

I want him to look at the farm

before he gets his back up.

Now, since this is nosy day

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