Recap: Lochinvar to Darwin - Part 1

            Recap: Lochinvar to Darwin - Part 1

Working on a cattle station had its ups and downs. Many more ups than downs though. While I didn’t get very much time off away from work I did manage to find ways of making use of my time to turn work into more of an adventure than one may have thought possible.

            As I mentioned before, Davie, the station Manager/Ringer was very helpful and extremely knowledgeable about the bush: wild foods, medicine, identification, you name it. I was very impressed.

            I spent many afternoons quizzing him about different plants and animals we would stumble onto. He even began pointing out a lot on his own after a while. I think my sense of adventure rubbed off on him. He would get nearly as excited as I would when we would stumble onto a snake track or goanna hole.

            I was given a 4-wheeler to use during my time on the station - For work and for play. This made getting away to the far reaches of the station much easier whenever I had a little time to kill.

            I had a pack sitting beside the door ready to go for anytime it looked like the work day might finish up with daylight left to spare. Wasting no time I’d be off across the country side flat out to see what I could bump into in the fading light. Every good explorer knows that dusk is the best time to go searching for critters. They are all just poking their noses out for the night, AND there is just enough daylight left to hopefully snap a good picture or two in the process.

            Everyday held no shortage of interesting and exciting elements. Hope you enjoy these highlights of the last two months...

            Warning: The following may contain slightly disturbing and icky content... But this is real life folks.

                Piggin’

                How much more fun could you get in a day of complete and utter failure!

                I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with a local roo-shooter, Reece, who is also an avid wild pig hunter. Hunting pigs Aussie style is quite different than anything I have really seen, but completely up my alley!

                There are no guns, or bows or firearms of any kind used with these guys got out for a day of piggin’. A good dog and a big knife is all you need to get the job done. I had the knife!

                These guys spend the day cruising the river banks, fields and tree lines looking for tracks, poop, pig holes, any sign of animals in the area. When sign is found the dogs are put on the trail to track down the pig. If the trail is hot the chase is on! We had several exciting starts on trails with the dogs going wild, unfortunately none of them turned up any pigs in the end.

                But, when the dogs get onto a trail and track down a pig, the run it down and corner, or pin it, and hold it until you can put that trust big knife to work.

                While our day ended empty handed, just the thought of racing along through the trees with your dog – in hot pursuit of the pig – to down your catch with your bare hands is, well, well that’s just kind of epic, no?

                I did make many attempts after that day to down a pig, but was eluded by the same huge porker every time. I think he could tell when I was coming, and if I was armed or not, as I would usually only catch sight of him with I was completely unarmed or was racing off to finish a job or round a mob of cattle.

                Going Banana’s over Goannas

                A LOT of people give me strange looks out here when I talk about goannas. Most people find them to be quite a filthy and disgusting animal – at least when eating them is in context. I suppose that is understandable when you have seen enough, watched them feeding and actually understand what they feed on. But, now fully educated on the subject, I still like the buggers!

                So what is it that they feed on? Well I am glad you asked!

                For the most part, the species that I encountered most often, the goulds goanna, feed on rotting, decaying animals. Yummy! There’s nothing quite like pulling up in front of a dead cow and finding a large lizard chowing down, buried waist deep in a rotting carcase.

                Grilled goanna for dinner anyone? I suggest a back leg or the tail.

                Goannas have been a crucial part of bush tucker for hundreds of years. It is a classic dish usually cooked by laying the whole lizard on hot coals and slowly roasting it whole. This is the traditional and probably best way to cook them, as the skin is very tough and protects the meat while cooking, then peels off effortlessly after cooking. But if fired lizard guts aren’t you thing then skinning and gutting them also does the trick, in which case it is recommended to roast them on a spit over a fire, or, if available, marinade the meat in vinegar and roast wrapped in foil (or leaves, whichever is handy!).

                It was winter, the dry season, while I was at Lochinvar. Most reptiles were hibernating for several months in our area of South West Queensland. But who could blame them! I never would have expected that I would be waking up to frost every morning in Australia! Regardless, the odd goanna poked about on the warmer days in the earlier months, but as the season died and what you would class as spring came upon us, they were everywhere! Green goannas, blue goannas, yellow goannas, brown goannas! I was blown away!