FISHING!

Hi again!  Me here, about to fill you in on what I think was one of my best weekends yet in Australia!  There have been heaps of great weekends in the last five months, but pulling in a fish like I did this weekend doesn’t just happen every day!  So, shall we?

So the week before the long weekend is a four-day week pretty much everywhere that celebrates Easter, and being as excited as James and I were, Friday morning couldn’t come fast enough!  Life has been busy here at Wentworth, as it’s branding time and the Low Stress Stockhandling school is coming up and the goal is to have the property and the houses immaculate for our guests.  Thursday afternoon, I wasn’t done work until after 7:30pm, which was the longest workday yet, but Dyan was away and I wanted to make sure everything was done for her return Friday morning.  Needless to say, come 7:45pm, that rum and coke went down niiiiiicely!  We were sleeping at a good time, and were up and getting packed and organized by 7:30am – or at least I was up by then, apparently James was like a kid on Christmas morning, up at 6:00!  We waited for Ben (the friend of James’ I met last weekend at the campdraft) and his girlfriend Chloe, and once we were all collected and the Esky (what the Aussies call a cooler) was packed and on ice, we hit the road!  We were expecting about a five hour drive, but that five hours turned into a departure at 9:30am and an arrival at 7:30pm.  PROPER LONG DAY.  There were some events leading up to that extended travel time, which I’ll get to in a pinch.

James and I were in his ute, with the dog cage behind the cab of the truck, our swags, fishing rods and our Esky.  Benny and Chloe were behind us with the same haul, minus the dogs.  The day was perfect for driving, and we had the windows down and music cranked.  A few clouds, sun shining, and the promise of an amazing weekend in the air. 

Ever had a moment that completely stops you in your tracks and puts your thoughts on pause?  One that stretches a smile across your face, and fills your lungs with air, making you feel so at peace and so happy that you wish it would last forever?  Driving down a highway, not saying a word, just listening to music in a comfortable silence between James and I, I had my arm out the window catching the sun with the back of my hand.  We passed a large mob of moving  cattle being mustered by some Aussie ranchers.  James pointed out to the left and said, “ay, they’re musterin’.” – That’s when my moment hit.  James and I both waved, and the grazier waved back with a smile on his face, a wordless acknowledgement and greeting, while riding at the end of his mob.  I felt the urge to scream and tell the world that I LOVE AUSTRALIA. 

Dyan and Richard own another station called Strathalbyn, which is about three and a half hours from here, and was only slightly off route towards Home Hill, where we were headed for the weekend.  James was to deliver a dog to the station manager, Greg, on Friday.  We stopped in for a cold drink and a visit before heading back out on the road.  Greg and his wife Anna have two little boys, and have a third little one on the way.  They’ve been there for a few years now, working and managing the property.  Strathalbyn is about 84 000 acres, and is in a gorgeous mountainous area with lots of trees.  Home Hill is near Ayr, so you can locate it on the map if you’re interested.  We were south on the coast, from Townsville, then inland 30km or so.

Leaving Strathalbyn, about thirty minutes out, James and I realized that Benny and Chloe weren’t behind us anymore.  We pulled over and waited five minutes or so, then turned back to go find them.  They were several kilometers back, with a nasty blown tire!  The boys put on the spare, but the pressure was too low, so they took it back off and took it back to the last station to fill it with air.  That set us back about an hour total, but luckily the tire, or “tyre” as they spell it here, was filled and we were safely back on the road.  Once we got to Home Hill, the boys got gas and we all got a small bite to eat, knowing we’d be eating barbeque dinner once we arrived at the camp. 

When we finally arrived, no one was there!  They were all still fishing!  Lucky bums!  We waited, and after cracking a cold one, heard the truck and buggy coming up hill.  Everyone was well into their long weekend, with smiles on their faces.  Three fish had been caught, all about 30-35cm long. “Pan sized!”  We gathered in the shed and socialized for a bit, while some organized dinner and others watched some tv to wind down from their day.  There were heaps of kids running around too!  One fella was right into the drink, and was talking to a friend of mine about fishing.  After finishing his thoughts, he looked at me and mumbled out, “ah, well you don’t even know what we’re talking about because you don’t know how to fish and you’re too blonde to get it anyways.”  Then he turned to Chloe and said, “and you, well, you just look too fancy to even be here right now.”  I kept my cool, but said to him as sternly and politely as I could, that “I in fact have two degrees there, chum, and I could talk you in circles about pretty much anything.  I know quite a bit about fishing, as I’ve done it the majority of my life, and I’d be happy to show you.”  He avoided me for the rest of the night, and got the hint that I wasn’t about to tolerate his flack.  (You’ll understand why this little run in ended up being glorious!!)

 

As people started to hit the hay in preparation for an early start on Saturday morning, James, Chrisco, Benny, Chloe and I all headed down to the river for a big bonfire and a few drinks.  We talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for hours!  The fire was huge, with big pieces of driftwood, and we all had folding lawn chairs to sit in.  We were down there until around 3am, when we finally decided to head back up to the camp to sleep.  All in the back of Benny’s ute, we were ready to head up the hill.  But in order to get to the bottom of the hill to drive up, we needed to get across the beachy part of the river, which was actually the bottom of the river when the water is really high.  There were some different sandy banks that we needed to go up, some areas steeper than others.  Benny was a little too ambitious, and bottomed out his ute in the sand!  - aaaaand that’s where it stayed for the night!  We all just walked up, which is only about 500m or so back to the camp. 

We were up around 7am, and breakfast was being cooked up!  Eggs, toast and bacon!  We all had a quick feed, and god the boats and lines ready for an 8:30 start on the water.  James, Chrisco, Chloe, and Benny went in one boat, and Wade, Charley, their two four year old twin girls and I went in the other.  There was a third small boat, but the others didn’t come down until later that day. We were fishing for an iconic fish of Northern Australia, called Barramundi, or Barra for short.  In Queensland, they predominantly occur in the central and northern coastal regions, and we were on the Burdekin River, near Home Hill.   We were using 30lb test line, but I couldn't believe when my friends told me that Barra can grow to be 1.5m long and up to 40kg, but most common is 80-120cm for a big Barra.  The season runs February to November, and there are pretty strict size limits for size and quantity taken home.  Between 8:30 and 2pm, Wade caught a small Barramundi, and that was it!  We went home basically skunked and pretty discouraged, and that made me want to fish even more.  I had to show that guy I could catch and clean a fish!

We went back up to the camp to eat, and the girls went down for an hour or so.  The plan was to go back out on the water around 3pm, but that turned in to getting ready around 5pm, and on the water by about 5:30.  This time, everyone went out.  Wade, Chrisco, James, Chloe and Benny were in one boat, the guy who called me dumb, his broad and some backpackers were in another boat, and Charley, the twins and I were in the third boat – an 8ft tinny!!  It was so small and tippy, but Charley and I were beyond determined to catch at least one fish.  Each boat went to a unique spot along the edge of the river, around “structure” – logs and fallen trees in the water.  We laughed a few times about “structure” and making sure to cast near the structure, but not on it!  Charley and the girls and I tied our boat to a “lucky structure,” where we’d been early in the day but only had a few bites, nothing serious.  We casted a few lines and weren’t there long before I decided to try a more colourful lure than I’d been using.  First cast, I hit the money.  The lure had just hit the water, and was diving into the river when WHAM!  A huge hit!  But I had remembered what everyone had warned me about Barra – they have a soft mouth and even can spit treble hooks out quite easily!  So I left it set before cranking the end of the rod up to reel it in.  Barramundi are a sport fish, and let me tell you - reeling in the Barra I caught had me shaking with adrenaline and excitement!  I thought a good bass was fun to catch, but it was nothing like pulling in that Barra!  (Mind you, this was the biggest fish I've ever caught!)  It was like reeling in a whale, especially since the drag wasn’t set properly, so every time I’d crank it in, the line would go out twice as much.  I was screaming and laughing so loud that it caught the interest of the people in the other two boats, and they started to make their way over.  I knew it was a fish.  You know when you’re fishing and you have a fish on, that it’s a fish.  However, it was real when it jumped out of the water completely and let Charley and I see it!  IT WAS HUGE!  At this point, I’m shaking in excitement, and Charley is just as excited.  The girls can’t really grasp what the hell is going on, and why I’m screaming so loudly!  (Whatever happened to staying quiet in a boat was lost with this fish on my line!)  Within seconds of it jumping out of the water, it felt like the fish had wrapped itself around a log, of huge solid “structure” at the bottom of the river, and there was no give in the line or give and take at all.  I kept working the line, and Charley kept saying “I hope it isn’t s snag now! I hope it didn’t wrap around a log!  You have to get that fish in here!!”  Especially now because the two boats were within a few meters of our boat, watching the entire episode.  It crossed my mind how devastated I’d be if I had in fact lost it, even more so now having attracted the others and making such a wild scene in the boat!  Luckily, the Barra came back out from wherever it had been tucked, and that was some liiiiiiiive action!  It even crested the surface of the water so everyone else got a glimpse of the beast on the end of my line, and you could feel the excitement soaring even higher!  I was still screaming with excitement, and when it finally got to the side of the boat, I kept the line tight while Charley pulled the fish into the boat!  SUCCESS!  We finally got a good look at the fish too, which had me even more excited!  I couldn’t tell how long it was right off the bat, but I knew it was huge!  It was pretty lazy in the boat, which was for the best with the twins, and stayed pretty still.  Something that big flopping around in a little tinny with two girls is hectic!  I was riddled with excitement and adrenaline.  My hands were shaking, and so were my legs!  I couldn’t tell you the last time I was that shaken up with pure excitement.  

What a rush!! Best part?  The fella that told me I was a dumb blonde who knew nothing about fishing and told me I couldn’t fish, WATCHED me bring in the biggest fish they’d seen in ages, properly! (Minus the excessive volume levels! Hahaha! I couldn’t help it!)  PLUS HE GOT SKUNKED!  Didn’t pull one in all weekend!  Did that ever feel good!! The front treble hook is what landed it, and the other two got stuck in it’s throat, hence the chopped look in the picture.  We had to bleed it out, and did so while cutting out the lure.  You can see the happiness splashed across my face!  We measured it on the ruler sticker in Wade’s boat, at 80cm, and weighed it when we got back to the camp at ounces away from 13lbs.  I was thrilled with the circumstances!  The Canadian caught one of Australia’s most iconic fish on her first Australian fishing adventure! (and the jerk got skunked!!)  Although I know how to clean and fillet a fish, I’d never expected to have to clean and fillet one so monstrous!  Wade helped me out in that department, and then cooked it up the proper way for everyone that night.  We ate the fish within an hour and a half of catching it!  Wade cut the filleted white meat into pieces about a centimeter thick, and as big as the palm of your hand.  We lightly battered it in a peppered flour batter, then deep fried the pieces until fork tender, and sprinkled a bit of salt and fresh lime juice onto it.  DELICIOUS!  I think it tasted even better because I caught it and fed over 10 people with the fish, but I seriously think it was the best fish I've ever eaten.  Absolutely melted in our mouths, and has the most pleasant, almost sweet, fish taste.  I was even approached later that night and told I did a good job bringing in that fish, and that he was surprised I didn’t lose it since they can throw lures so easily, by you know who.  I soooo did not require his approval at this point, but knew he felt silly, so that was rewarding. 

After we had a huge feast, (Barra, steak, burgers, veggies), the same five from the night prior headed down to the beach for the night.  We packed up the ute, and brought our swags and an Esky this time.  We were all exhausted, and sleeping at a decent hour; the sun does that to you.  We each found a spot in the sand and laid out our swags.  James and Chrisco apparently had the better ideas – Chrisco was in amongst some trees for some shade when the sun woke up, and James was under the smoke that was coming off the tired bonfire, to keep the mossies (Aussie term for mosquitoes) off.  I woke up around 3am from being completely and utterly tormented from mossies.  That annoying high pitched buzz that we can all relate to, was unavoidable and was such a nuisance!!  I found some AeroGuard and showered myself in it, which helped, and I was able to fall back asleep.  Not for long though, as we were up shortly after the sun was.

Oddly enough, in the middle of nowhere, we must have been near a cell service tower, because I had full service!  This in the outback is like hitting a goldmine.  I was able to call Mama and Papa and my Mom and Dad!  - that was all my morning really allowed me time for, or else I would have perched myself on a rock and called my entire home contact list for a chat.  It’s always so nice to hear the voices of those you miss the most.

I took the buggy up to the camp, and brought down the portable barbeque, and Wade and Charley and the girls came down for breakfast.  We had all brought meat and ribs and such, and that was the best breakfast I’ve had in a while!   It was a mean feed! Just what was needed, especially for another attempt at catching some huge Barramundi! 

We wrapped up our fishing weekend with a group adventure out to the “rude fella’s” TOP SECRET SPOT, where there are apparently heaps of Barramundi just waiting to be caught.  He catches one every time he goes… We all got skunked.  Minor waste of a few hours, when we could have been back on the river where we were all happiest in the boats! 

James and I left and everyone else stayed, since James had to muster on the holiday Monday.  WHAT AN AMAZING WEEKEND!  The picture below is a little fuzzy from the steam and smoke from the barbeque, but from left to right, it’s Wade, Chrisco, James, Charley and Benny.  Chloe was still sleeping, the little devil!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

  

Capella Campdraft

Overcast day with a breeze, out on the veranda with a cafe latte, my thoughts and reflections, and my Mac.  Sounds like a perfect opportunity to get lost in some blog writing!  I’m going to have to do a split blog again though, to keep them at a readable length.  I have got two great weekends to fill you in on!

Lets start with the Capella Campdraft weekend!  James, George and Sonya left on Thursday after work, and headed down with six horses and the horse truck. I worked Friday all day, and headed down myself in one of the Wentworth work utes when I was done my workday.  A friend of our named Chris - who we call Chrisco, drew me a lovely map so I wouldn't get lost!  It was a very simple drive, with only a few turns, and went by a HUGE mine!  Definitely the biggest I've ever seen.  The drive was perfect, and I arrived at the grounds shortly after 7pm.  Horses, trailers, trucks and collared shirts everywhere!  I was so happy to have finally arrived.  I love that camping style show weekend atmosphere!  Music was going, and you could hear some events from the day wrapping up with the whips from the judge and the commentator’s voice booming through the speaker system.  I found the Wentworth horse truck, and parked the ute adjacently to it for the weekend.  I met up with James and a few friends of his, and we headed for the bar where we socialized and danced for the remainder of the evening.  They were giving away florescent beer coolies, and I snagged three!  Handy souvenirs!  Ben, a friend of James that he met in college, came back to our camp with us and the three of us had a few more drinks and then set up our swags for the night in the back of the ute.  We woke up with the sun in the morning, and I got organized for a 30min drive to another town called Emerald for breakfast with a friend and a long overdue hair appointment!  I had met a girl named Jenna on Friday night, and gave her a lift to Emerald!  She was great company, and made the short drive seem even shorter.  A friend of mine who I met in Melbourne who is also teaching through ANZUK is working as a nanny on a station in Emerald.  We’ve been keeping great communication since we met, and we arranged to have breakfast together before my hair appointment at 10:30.  Ange is very much like me, but she’s brunette!  We get along like we’ve been friends for years, and she’s such a gem to be around.  We met up shortly after 9am at “Luv-a-coffee” and both ordered French toast and fruit – it was made on thick fresh bread, and we both nearly licked our plates when we were done.  Deeeelicious!  Conveniently enough, my hair appointment was in the same shopping centre as where we ate out breakfast, so we parted ways at exactly 10:30!  I was into a chair immediately, and was there for nearly two and a half hours – most females can relate to this or even longer – and left with a head of ash blonde highlights and three inches off the ends!  It felt like a millions bucks, and was much needed.

I drove back to Capella, and sadly missed James’ event for that day by 30 second – literally.  I was pretty disappointed!  Ah well.  We watched some events and ate, and hung around our site for a few hours munching and keeping hydrated.  It was so hot and humid!  Humid isn’t humid until you can’t dry off from a shower.  It’s horrible.  You might as well just get out of the shower and put your clothes on while you’re soaking wet. 

That night, there was a horse and rider auction that served as a fundraiser for the committee and for RACQ (CQ Rescue, a helicopter rescue service).  The ten horse/rider combos from the Open were some of the best campdrafting horses and had scored the highest over the course of the weekend.  They all had red shirts on that were made for the weekend, and they were really nice!  The auction was a Calcutta style auction, where people bid on a horse and rider combo - whoever they think will win. The money made was divided accordingly between the winner, the winning ticket, the person that “bought” the winning horse/rider combo, the committee and the charities.  The horse and rider combos were very impressive to watch even before the “top ten shootout” started.  Just while they were riding around having people bid on their win in the shootout was awesome to watch, as they demonstrated their quick turns and stops and pivots and team work.  The top ten shootout came after the auction, when each combo got to compete for the win in a final campdrafting event.  Two people ended up in a tie for the win.  It was exciting to watch such skilled horses and riders compete!

Angela made it out to the campdraft with a lad she works with at her station named Rob.  I was so happy they could make it!  They showed up just after the shootout, and I introduced she and Rob to James and the others.  We had a hoot together, introducing ourselves to randoms, and makings friends!  (like two peas in a pod, we are!)  We met all kinds of people, and laughed all night.  We danced and sang, and had one helluva night. I had my eye on those red shootout shirts, and was challenged to getting one.  Challenge: accepted.  I asked for a few nicely, but wasn’t willing to kiss randoms or flash the upper half of my body to compelte strangers, so I just waited for the perfect opportunity!  Towards the end of the night, I did a shirt swap with one guy and although I ended up having my good shirt stretched and misshaped, and no longer in my possession, I scored another wicked souvenir!  (I’m actually wearing it right now!)  A big men’s work shirt, with the Capella Campdraft and RACQ logos on the chest of it, and Rio Tinto, a big mining company’s name across the back shoulders.  I win! 

We mucked about for a little longer, and had a few more drinks before calling it a night.  Ange ended up sleeping in her swag by Rob’s truck, and I slept on the floor of the horse truck.  It cleans up really well and even has a wall and a fold down bed!  George and James along with other horse owners established small horse pens with fences for their horses for the weekend, so the truck is more like a farm style motor home!  In the morning, I met up with Angela for breakfast.  Ten bucks for a full plate of greasy bacon and eggs and beans and toast.  Perfect!  We watched a few more events, and then Ange and Rob headed home.  I hung around, and watched James’ event, then helped the crew pack up the campsite.  We headed out shortly after 3pm, and made a stop in Clermont to see Ben. 

When we made it home, we unpacked and watched some Nitro Circus before passing out!  Another great weekend in Australia!

I’m going to call it a wrap for this entry, and start on the next one!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

A Note on Branding Cattle

A quick note in response to some comments made about a picture I posted on Facebook last Thursday of me branding a cow.  For starters, I understand that this is an issue with two sides, and that it is an endless discussion.  However, I took offense to some comments insinuating that I was taking part in animal cruelty, when that isn’t the case at all.  Also – do you know where the meat you’ve been eating comes from?  What kind of life those animals live and what processes and procedures are followed to get that animals onto your plate?  I do now.  Australia is the world’s second largest exporter of beef, and I’m proudly living on a productive Australian cattle station.  (and my boss is Canadian!)

We’ll start with a background of the size of these cattle stations here in Australia.  I am currently employed as a station hand on a 93 000 acre station in Queensland.  Perspective time!  Barrie, Ontario, is about 77 square kilometers, which convert to 19 027 acres.  This station is 93 000 acres.  Vancouver, British Columbia, is 115 square kilometers.  Again – this station is 93 000 acres.  It must also be stated that this station isn’t even a big one!  There are many station in Australia that are over a million acres in size.  Let’s put that into perspective then.  Ottawa, including Kanata, Nepean, Cumberland and Arnprior is 2779 square kilometers.  That is still only 686 705 acres.  If that isn’t clear enough, many station in Australia are BIGGER THAN CANADA’S CAPITAL CITY AND SURROUNDING AREAS.  Now, on to animal numbers, so you can put the idea of ownership and business into this equation.  There are nearly 10 000 cattle here.  That’s more than the population of Minden’s worth, in COWS. Moo.

A quick definition for your read: the word ‘husbandry.’

Noun

[mass noun]

1.     the care, cultivation, and breeding of crops and animals:  all aspects of animal husbandry

2.     management and conservation of resources: low borrowing demonstrates astute husbandry of resources

Cattle, (and sheep and goats), undergo various husbandry procedures to:

-       Improve productivity; by maintaining your animals, vaccinating them and even dehorning them, your herd will be healthier and therefore will lead a happier life in the paddock.

-       Identify individual animals or mobs of animals; branding helps identify your animals from a distance

-       Prevent unwanted breeding; by castrating and monitoring your animals, you will prevent unwanted breeding, inbreeding, and uncontrolled/unmonitored cattle numbers

-       Enhance carcass quality and composition; this means that when the cow is ready to be butchered, its meat is well composed and it’s a healthy weight for eating.

-       Reduce the risk of disease; vaccinating and checking your animals for infection, lesions, and wounds (from fights, dingoes or other wild animal attacks)

-       Monitor for the presence of disease and to meet the requirements of disease control programs

-       Decrease the risk of injury to themselves, other animals and people; by dehorning, you’re keeping the other animals out of the risk of being bruised or injured in the paddocks and during transportation.  You’re also preventing injury to humans during transportation and further husbandry processes.

-       Determine their age and maintain correct animal records

When carrying out husbandry procedures on livestock it is important to:

-       Handle the animals in a way that minimises stress; Australian farmers pride themselves on low stress stock handling. This means fast and efficient husbandry procedures

-       Maximise animal welfare

-       Pay attention to occupational health and safety

-       Take workplace productivity into account.

Most Australian stations practice low stress stock handing, and even host schooling events for locals and for farming staff to attend, to continue the education of low stress stock handling.  Wentworth, for example, is hosting a two-day low stress stock handling school with hands on practicing and a lecture theory portion, in April.

(This is a good read to skim over, if you’re actually interested in guidelines and procedures of animal husbandry! –

http://www.mla.com.au/CustomControls/PaymentGateway/ViewFile.aspx?Fd9qd0zgxeZXw4eJBOzVRUaoLexgFP1XPh/dO/eVFRltRrf/AoD27kAA4pP0N0h43EYMKKAfsht7d1Tnt3BqiA== )

Australian cattle producers care about their animals, and practice the best and most efficient procedures with the animals’ welfare in mind at all times.  During “branding time,” branding, castrating, and dehorning takes place – as does vaccinating, and a quick look over of each animals, looking for lesions, eye infections, or other marks.)  The high majority of Australian beef cattle spend their life grazing in large paddocks on large cattle stations across the country.  They are not housed in tight barns or sheds, and husbandry processes take place out in stockyards on the properties in areas that the animals are familiar with.

The routine husbandry processes and practices of dehorning and castration are essential management procedures that help maintain happy and healthy animals that can be reared and delivered to market in the safest way possible for both the animals and their handlers. 

Branding isn’t mandatory everywhere, but it is mandatory in the state of Queensland for any animals over 100kg that are being sold or transported.  It isn’t a thoughtless procedure that is done carelessly.  There are brand reuirements, location requirements, and the brands must be registered.  Farmers take great pride in their brands. 

Depending on the size of a cattle operation, a bystander may or may not understand the importance of branding cattle to distinguish them from others.  Many beef farms in Ontario (for example – sticking to Ontario, just because it’s where I come from_, have very small numbers of cattle in comparison to larger farms in Australia.  Branding is the most practical and visible way of permanently identifying animals from a distance.  It is essential on large scale operations where it is not practical or even possible to read an ear tattoo or electronic ear tag. 

Graziers/Rancers take great pride in a nice, neat brand, showing their ownership, taking care not to smudge or over brand their animals.  Brands are registered, and each brand is a symbol of a farmer’s or a company’s hard work and years (sometimes generations) of dedication.

Too often, people put their emotions and pain tolerances on animals, such as cattle being branded.  A cow’s hide is much thicker than our skin, and is built to withstand life outdoors.  A brand done properly only lasts two to three seconds, maximum.  (as opposed to freeze branding, which lasts between 30-60 seconds, and hurts for much longer like severe frostbite.)  The animals’ behaviour when they are reunited with their mother suggests that they are more concerned with being temporarilty separated from their mother than the branding procedure.  Once the endorphins of sucking their mother’s milk kick in, they wave their tails in happiness.  The mothers keep the marks clean and infection free.  An efficient group of farmers and station hands will have the calves separated from their mothers, have the calves branded, dehorned, vaccinated and castrated, and reunited with their mothers in only a few hours. 

Many people that form an opinion on such matters have never actually taken part in the actual task at hand.  Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to work with an efficient and careful team here at Wentworth that worked quickly and quietly while ensuring low stress stock handling.  I, myself, even got to brand, dehorn, vaccinate and castrate calves, and witnessed all procedures start to finish – as well as the reuniting of calves and mothers.  

Cattle can handle physical pain very well, but not mental stress, which is why it is so important to handle them properly.  Handling cows with low stress stock handling will help to keep their stress levels to a minimum.  If handled correctly, they don't have any fear of humans or yards when they come in again for weaning, suggesting that it isn't an ordeal for them.  It is documented that if they are familiar with yards/crushes etc , then their cortisol levels don't rise as much as those that are encountering the experience for the first time.  This shows the importance of running them through the crush for a "practise run".  (A crush is either a manual, or hydraulic piece of equipment that holds a calf in place by applying pressure to their chest cavity, holding them still so vaccinating, castrating and branding can take place with as little movement as possible from the animal.  A crush does not hurt the animal.  Instead, it helps keep them calm.  

Initially, I was really upset by the comments made on the picture I had posted, but instead of lashing out and saying something ridiculous out of anger, I figured I would do some research, talk to real farmers in the area, and write up something educational so that it’s known that I am not in fact living on a farm that takes part in animal cruelty.  I hope you learned something from this!  It’s not much, but it’s a start.  The debate is endless. 

Lastly – call them farmers, bogans, rednecks, hillbillies, whatever you like.  Just make sure you thank them for the food you eat.  Without them, you’d be scroungin’.

Cheers!

Wild Weekend, and Life at Wentworth

Finally, an evening to let my thoughts go and share another blog!

Lets pick up where we left off, before I get to tell you about what I got to do last week! (BRAND COWS!!)  So back to two weekends ago, where I didn’t even get to start, since that weekend in itself requires a blog!  I will give the shortened version…

So two weekends ago, on a Friday night, James (roommate) and I decided we were going to drive up to Longton for the weekend.  Longton is the station owned by Richard and Dyan’s oldest, Kelva, and her husband Simon.  The plan had been sorted basically the weekend prior, and it was a go.  We were so excited about it, and the plan was to leave right after work on Friday evening, around 5:30.  Late afternoon, it started to rain pretty hard, and the issue with heavy rain out here is – the roads often become so bad you can’t drive on them!  I got done work a little later than planned, and took Vinny (James’ Pit Bull) for a run, and the sky looked ugly, with shades of grey and green laced through it.  Not looking good for Amanda and James… It must also be stated that James took the entire afternoon off with a migraine.  While out with Vinny, we met Richard and Dyan on the road, and at this point it’s not raining, but it looks like at any moment we could be in trouble.  Dyan put a little guilt trip on James and said, “Well James, you know, it doesn’t look good, having had the day off, and now you’re going to party…”  Sooooo, we did a U-turn, and headed back, under the agreement that we were just going to go the next morning. 

Back at the house, we went in to Richard and Dyan’s place, and Dyan invited us to stay for a game of cards and dinner – “at least until it looks safe.”  In the meantime, it’s pouring at Longton, and there is a 90km dirt road from the main HWY into their station house, so it’s looking grim regardless of what time we leave.

Cards were fun, dinner was delicious, and the skies clear, so James and I decided we were going to just go. YOLO – YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!  Into the truck around 9pm, Vinny in the back, and we were Longton bound!  Phone calls were coming in all night, asking us if we’d left, and what time we were due to arrive, and everyone up there was getting antsy for us to arrive and start drinking with them!  Sure enough, our adventure had really only just begun.  Smiles on our faces, new music loaded up on the iPhones, and a full tank of… wait. What? A quarter tank?!  That’s it?  James noticed this once we were over 50km from the house.  Between where we live and Longton, there is one place to stop, in a little hole called Belyando, just over half way.  Whutttt dduuuhhh… The decision was, go to Belyando, and see if we can get someone to turn the pumps on, and if not, camp in the tray of the ute (utility vehicle, aka tiny pick up truck!!)  We started to get a little weary about Belyando letting us get gas, and were banking on a sleep under the stars in the ute, and had brought our swags (outdoor sleeping bags) along for the weekend anyways.  When we got to the servo in Belyando, the servo side was shut down, no lights on.  Great… But we figured we’d go in to the bar side anyways, and it proved to be a solid idea, since they turned the pumps on for us!  The bosses’ daughter was working that night apparently, and was in charge of the bar and the servo that night, so she turned on the pumps for us! WIN!  There were about eight people hanging around the Belyando bar, two of which were shirtless men in Akubras, one sporting a star brand on his chest! Quite the bunch.  So, James and I were on some sort of high leaving Belyando with a full tank of gas, let me tell you!  We were pumped to be back o the road, and making it to Longton in about an hour and a half from the servo! 

The roads in the outback are long and dark, without houses lining them, and only rest stops every few dozen kilometers to break up a drive.  It’s common to drive an hour or more before entering the next town or servo!  Anyone who has heard of the movie “Wolf Creek” knows how terrifying the plotline is.   “Just when you thought it was safe to go hiking into the bushes of the outback again, along comes Mick Taylor.  Kristy, Ben and Liz are three traveling backpackers, all in their twenties, who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park, in the Australian Outback.  The trouble begins when they get back to their car, to find out that it won’t start.  The trio think they have a way out when they run into a local bushman named Mick Taylor, who seems to be friendly enough to help them out.  Wait until you get a load of what Mick has in store for them… their troubles have only just begun.  Well, lets just say that Mick killed a lot of backpackers.  So, when we started to get tailgated for kilometers on end, no matter if we slowed down or sped up, it was a little nerve racking – especially because you rarely have someone following you late at night in the outback.  We slowed down, sped up, and were hoping that these people would either take a hint, or just pass us.  Neither.  James sped up a but, and out of no where, there was a huge thump under the truck that we could feel up through the bones in our legs and into our chests.  The truck started to smoke, and the vehicle behind us started flashing their lights.  I. Was. Terrified.  I grabbed James’ arm and even he looked nervous.  I told him to forget pulling over, and just keep going!  Don’t stop!  WOLF CREEK ALL OVER!  But we both knew we had to stop.  I reached down into the side of the door and grabbed a pig knife of James’ and instantly felt a little better.  I tucked myself down in the front seat and tried to stay hidden.  I don’t even know if they knew I was there at all!  Out of the truck that was behind us jumped out two big burly men, covered in tattoos.  They had dog cages and Pit Bulls in the back, and swags and fishing stuff all over the top of the dog cages.  They both had pig knives in their chest pockets, and sleeveless shirts on!  James put his head light on, and went to see just who these two fellas were.  He left his phone in the car, and it miraculously had enough service for me to call Kelva and send a few texts so that people knew where we were and what had just happened – JUST IN CASE!  You never know!  So these guys walked around the truck mumbling to themselves, but ended up being pretty helpful, handy Aussie dudes. They legitimately seemed concerned enough to help us out.  We were on the side of the road, hearts pounding, for over a half hour!  My hand hurt from holding the pig knife with white knuckles.  Turns out the tranny plug fell out, and we had to have some road side work done!  The two guys managed to help James sort things out well enough to get us to the turn off to the Longton farm – again, still 90km from the house!  They left and said they’d follow us to the turn off, roughly 40km from where we were.  Oddly enough, they had our hearts racing double time again when they disappeared behing us, and then peeled passed us and left us in the dark again!  James just took it easy and we made it to the turn off to Longton.  We pulled off the highway, about 500m, and turned the truck off… Overnight under the stars!  At least we didn’t die, and I got to cross “sleeping under the stars” off my bucket list!  Even retelling the story doesn’t do justice for how fast my heart was racing, and how much I actually felt like shit was seriously going to hit the fan when we heard that thump under the truck and had to pull off the road!  It was terrifying, but we made it!  So James and I put the swags out in the tray of the ute, and fortunately the rain had passed completely.  We tied Vinny to a tree beside the truck and hardly slept a wink all night.  We had a few drinks and talked and laughed all night.  James is such a great roommate to have.  We’ve become great friends since my arrival, and we’re always taking the piss out of each other.  So the night could have been much worse!  It just turned into a legendary story. 

In the morning, around 6:30, Christ – who we call Chrisco – and Dyan and Richard’s son Bristow, made their way to the end of the road where we were, and helped us out!  They’d had a long night and had hardly slept, but James and I were so thankful they’d made it out to help us!  They fixed the tranny plug well enough to get us further into the farm road, then we dropped the truck off at a house near Longton where it stayed for the weekend.  (the guys found a bung nut for the tranny in the old junk yard at London so we could make out way home safely on the Sunday night!)  So James and I were exhausted, but had drinks in our hands before noon and were ready to go.  We hit a water hold with everyone for a swim, and played a few games, with music going all day.  The socializing and meeting new people was fantastic!  I loved it.  Great weekend, with lots of laughs!

A little more about life on the farm!  I’m thoroughly enjoying it!  My days are starting to be a little more split now, between outdoor jobs and mustering or handling cattle, and housework for Dyan.  I can’t even describe how much I love being a part of the work that goes on here, and I’m proud to be an employee here.  Mustering is one of my favourite things to do, plus I get paid for riding a horse!  Although it can make for a long morning or afternoon, it’s outdoors, in the sun, and in good company.  I get along really well with the other staff here, and it’s more like working with some friends than coworkers.  The rustling and swishing of the grass under the cattle, and the snorts and whinnies between horses puts a smile on my face.   

For a week and a half, Dyan and Richard had some company from Canada!  Their names are John and Sue Simkin, and they are from Consort, Alberta.  They are ranchers, and were an absolute delight to have around Wentworth.  They came mustering a few times, and were great company after the workday was done.  They were here when we had two cattle trucks come, called road trains!  They are HUGE!  I got to go down to the yards and watch them load cattle up in the trucks, compartment by compartment.  The trucks have two levels, and the ramp that gets the cattle up to the top becomes a floor on the front of the compartment when it rises with hydraulics! So neat.  They separate the compartments on each level and put equal numbers of cattle in each for proper weighting.  Each cow is scanned electronically by their ear tag as they walk by a scanner getting on the truck.  The load was taken to a feedlot where they’ll stay for one hundred days to fatten up before slaughter.

 

On Thursday, we branded some calves.  (The next post I put up will be an elaborate response to some comments made on a picture I posted.)  I even got to brand some and I helped move calves between pens, while recording numbers of bulls/heifers.  It was a good day, and I learned a heap!

On Saturday, Dyan invited me to a High Tea event for Quota International!  There were nearly 200 women there, and a speaker named Julie Cross, who was fantastic and extremely inspirational was there too.  She had us howling! She was so energetic and funny, and had everyone in the room’s attention.  The High Tea was a fundraiser for CQRescue, a helicopter emergency airlifting company serving a large portion of Queensland, and an organization called Life Education.  Some ladies were dressed up really fancy, and the audience ranged from ladies in their late teens to ladies nearing 90 years old!  There were prizes for best tea pot, best tea cup, prettiest tea cup, biggest tea pot, best dressed, etc.  It was a lovely afternoon, and I’m so thankful for the invite! (www.juliecross.com.au)

Next weekend, I’m joining James, Sonia and George when they travel to the Capella Campdraft!  Campdrafting is an Australian sport, involving horses, cattle, and a rider.  In an event, a rider is on horseback, and must “cut out” one of the cows from a mob of several.  They yard they ride in is a long rectangle, and using their horse, the rider must move the cow back and forth without allowing the cow to pass or escape the rider’s control and return to the mob.  They must turn the cow back and forth a few times to show the judge the control they have, and then take it out of the yard through a course around pegs in a figure eight, before guiding it through two pegs called the gate, which ends the time – must be done in less than 40 seconds!  James, Sonia and George are all riding in the event, and George is even taking several of his horses down.  We are all taking swags and camping there for the weekend!  I’m exciiiiited!

There is always heaps I want to write about, but I can enver remember every detail.  I will try to write again soon, and will be sure to fill you in on the campdraft weekend!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Wentworth Cattle Station (pt 1!)

I know it’s been too long, and because of that, I have so much to write about!  I’ve been itching to write a blog since I got here on the 21^st of February, but have been busy busy since I started!  I get up at 6:30am daily, and am exhausted by the time I get home, have dinner, wind down, and am usually sleeping by 9:30!  I think I’m going to have to divide this bad boy into two, but we’ll see how it goes.

Where to start?! First of all – where am I?  I’m 45km outside of a little mining town called Moranbah, in the state of Queensland, on a cattle station called Wentworth.  Wentworth is a 93 000 acre property, holding roughly 10 000 cattle and about 40 horses – and there are heaps of kangaroos everywhere!  Can you believe that a 93 000 acre property is considered a small station?!  There are stations around here that are a million acres or more, which is so hard to wrap your mind around.   I am living in the staff quarters across the driveway from the owners’ house, with a fella from the Sunshine Coast named James, who is 20.  We were living with a backpacker from Holland named Brend, who left Sunday for a few weeks traveling with his parents in Western Australia.  I think he’ll be back in three weeks or so.

Wentworth Cattle Station is owned by Richard and Dyan Hughes, and Dyan is originally from Consort, Alberta!  So, leaving Toowoomba was difficult, and many sad tears were shed by all of us – but we all knew it was time for me to move elsewhere for work and try something new!  I left Big Head behind, since he had fallen in love with the Girdler kids, and he wanted to keep living with them.  So I wrote the kids each a letter, and had some extra Dr Peppers that I left for them so they had a surprise in the morning when they got into the kitchen.  Big Head guarded the letters and pop for the kids after I left in the morning!  So I was up at 3:30am, and caught a shuttle directly to the Brisbane airport for my 8:30am flight.  I flew into a small city called Mackay, and that’s where I met my new boss, Dyan.  She picked me up at the airport, and I immediately felt at ease.  She’s lovely, and keeps great company.  We went out for lunch with her Drucilla, her youngest daughter and middle child.  Richard and Dyan have three kids, Kelva (28), Drucilla (25) and Bristow (18).  After lunch, Dyan and I ran a few errands and picked up a few groceries before the nearly four hour drive inland to Moranbah.  We drove over the Great Dividing Range, the same strand of mountains that Toowoomba is situated on further south, and the sunset was incredible!  Like burning red and orange embers amongst the dark coal grey clouds.  Once at the station, I was greeted by Brend and James, who helped us unload the truck, and I made my way into my room to unpack before sitting down and hanging out with the boys for a bit before bed.  I was just knackered!  Early starts on the farm – up at 6:30 or so, and start at 7am. The boys work outside and with the cattle and around the house, and I’ll be working with Dyan mostly, with the opportunity to muster cattle and even take part in other farm chores and “outings” like castrating calves and even dipping the cows for ticks!  Dyan threw out her back severely, and I fill in as her extra set or hands and strength with lifting and doing housework.  We work 7am – 10:30am, then have what the Aussies call “smoko” for 15-20 minutes.  Then back to work until lunch time, where we have an hour, then work until 5pm or 6pm, sometimes later, just all depending on what the day has in store.

 

The property around the house is gorgeous.  It’s different than I was expecting, in the best way possible.  I wasn’t expecting the pits, but I certainly wasn’t expecting such a big, lovely home in the middle of nowhere.  The house is mainly one story, with an upstairs bedroom and office and hallway between the two with railings that look out over the kitchen and dining room.  There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms total, including the master wing of the house.  There’s a pool out back, and a large veranda with a big table that we often socialize at after work or for lunch.   The area we’re in is much greener than I expected, too, but apparently we’ve had a lot of rain, and it’s the wet season for this part of Queensland.  They call it the dry tropics, because although it’s tropical weather, it’s much drier than the coast is. 

During my first weekend here, Kelva and her family (her two kids Baylee (6) and Theo (4), and her husband Simon) came through Moranbah on their way to a wedding, and dropped the kids off for the weekend with their Grandma and Grandpa.  Bristow also came for the weekend, as did one of the boys’ friends from a few stations over, Dave. 

I got to muster a few times during my second week here, which was so amazing!  What an experience!  To gather the horses in, someone takes out one of the fourwheelers and finds them in the paddock that surrounds the house.  They use the bike to chase the horses in to the holding pens, where we each go find our horse and put their bridle on, then lead them back and saddle them up!  (I’m obviously in heaven!)  Then we load the horses into the horse truck (picture is there!) and take them to the paddock where we muster the cattle.  It’s hard to imagine nearly 10 000 cows.  Seriously.  Especially when we muster only a few hundred at a time!  It looks like heaps of cows, then you put it into perspective.  Same way when you’re out riding and mustering a paddock for five hours, you think you’ve gone so far… then you come back and look at a map of how far you went, and it’s a minor distance!!  I even got to drive the big truck!  It has eight gears, and I didn’t even stall it!  I even backed the sucker up to the loading ramp.  I have learned so much here already, and I’m loving every minute of it.  I’m exhausted by the time 5 o’clock rolls around, and am sleeping by about 9pm every night, but life on the station is good!!  

The atmosphere around here is so addicting.  Every morning, there is a slight mist lingering above the grass, and the sky is partially cloudy.  The night allows everything to cool down from the daily heat, and is so nice to wake up to.  The horses are free range around the paddock that the house is in, as are the milk cows – THAT I GET TO MILK!!  It’s such an exquisite view in the morning to watch the horses wander by as they graze happily before their work day starts.  The whinnies and snorts from the horses as they wander around the quarters in the morning is something I could wake up to every day.  By mid morning, the heat picks up a little, depending on the day, and by lunch time it’s waaarrrrrmmm.  Evenings cool down nicely at this time of year after the sun goes down.  Some days without a breeze, the sun is unbearable, but there is air conditioning to help us escape from it.

 

I am thoroughly enjoying my time here already, and it has flown by!  I need to split this blog up into two, because what I’m about to write about this weekend just gone, is a hoot!  So get ready… I’ll post it soon!  I was just happy to have an evening that allowed my brain the power to write a blog after so long!  I will elaborate more on things that come to mind as well!  Enjoy!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!