Day 45
It’s hard to believe it’s been 45 days already. I’m slipping into week seven. It’s even harder to believe it’s already been 12 days since I have left Brisbane.
I’m in the middle of the Queensland outback, this is the Australia I came looking for. Kangaroos are everywhere – the largest group I have seen being about 20 roos. We see them every day. They race the bikes from a distance, and watch carefully at your every move. I have also seen emus, wild pigs, camels, plain turkeys (which stand almost the size of an emu), blue-tonged lizard and many different birds
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At the moment I am stationed about 800Km west of Brisbane, just north of Augathella, Qld, long the Warrago River. I am on Lochinvar Cattle station trying my hand the cattle life. It’s been quite an experience thus far. We began mustering cattle on motorbikes and 4-wheelers last week (most people don’t use horses for this anymore like we see in the movies, such as Australia, though the concept is the same). That’s right, become a bit of a modern cowboy I have for the moment!
Mornings come earlier than I thought ever possible, but 4am and I have began to get along. I’ve been placed riding tail while we push and muster – I am the last rider in the group of six that hold the ‘mob’ together on the way to the stock yards. It’s my job to keep the cattle moving at a steady pace.
After the muster the cattle are ‘drafted’ in the yards and separated into different herds based on age, type and ownership. This is done, here, in a somewhat still old-fashioned manner, by pushing the cattle one at a time into a small circular cage with many gates leading into different pens. Someone stands inside the cage as the cattle come through and guides them through the correct gate. I have also been given the job in the cage. It certainly keeps one on one’s toes! Some of these cattle are less than thrilled to be in the cage with you -as was the case with one particularly moody bull.
When this bull started getting too rowdy for comfort I made an attempt to jump up the gate and get out of the cage. Well, this bull decided he would help. Long story short; his head plus my leg, plus an eight foot steel fence equals... “Ouch!” But luckily I walked away with only a few bruises, scrapes and a bit of a sprained ankle, but the show must go on!
Being out on the station puts me right in the middle of what is classed as “Downs Country”. Arid grasslands fill miles of rolling hills with small scatterings of trees here and there. This is a great location for studying the terrain and gaining heaps of info and insight on the land and bush survival.
The station ringer, Davie, whom I work with most days, is your original outback bush man. He knows every inch of land here; what animals to find where, edible and nutritious plants, water sources, and how to use the land not only to survive, but to live. I’d say all-round, a good guy to have as a boss out here.
On a rather exciting and tasty note, I have been feeding very happily off fresh, wild kangaroo meet which I did in fact harvest (legally might I add) a few days ago. I am not sure what to compare it too, but they sure do have a lot of meat on them!
My gear has been getting a good work here. My Mountain Hardware Fluid 26 pack has been a huge help on the long days out in the fields far from camp. It holds all the gear I need for the full days out and about, and packs in tight thanks to the side and front compression straps for light short hauls. This leaves me with a streamline, versatile pack with no worries of load shifting while racing herds of running cattle on the bikes. This can be quite an issue with some packs with the use of a camelback water bladder. But this pack is definitely pulling its weight for me here.
I have definitely strayed slightly from my original itinerary, but I am enjoying the spontaneity and adventure that has come about so far. I am trying to not plan to far ahead for the time being. I have covered a lot of ground so far, but have a lot to go.
On a final note, it has been very VERY cold here. Many people are claiming it to be one of the coldest winters on record. We even had ice forming this morning on water pails. Even inland where the winter nights are known to be quite cool it has been unusually cold, as low as about -5 here some mornings. Thanks Matt and Dana for the heads up!
Happy Birthday Sarah!
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