Sunday 26th May – Day 13

We mustered the biggest paddock today, started at 8 and finished just before 4 – one very long day tearing around on a quadbike!  I seem to be getting the hang of navigating my way around.  I still mostly have no idea where I am when I am in the bush, but so long as I know the direction I need to go and where the sun is I can usually make my way to the end point!  Came across a couple of uncooperative cows today, so had fun zooming around after them.  I also had a bit of a run in with a grumpy bull; head down, snorting and pawing at the ground he tried to face off against my quadbike – what can I say, bull bars really do work!

Luke also had a very moody cow, he managed to get her down and tie her rear legs.  We then tied her front legs and picked her up using the loader… tada upside-down cow!  She was then deposited back in the holding yard, in front of all the other cows … fingers crossed they all took note of what happens when you don’t co-operate.  Sadly we didn’t have a camera on us so we weren’t able to take a photo, my only memento of the event is a bit of a dent in my shin where the cow kicked me whilst I was holding her legs to be tied.  Bad cow.

Monday 27th May – day 14

Today we drafted the cattle, these were mostly cows with claves so we separated the weeners from the cows and sorted the cows further into dry/wet.  We had to take the calves away from their mothers because with such little food the cows were really starting to suffer and look bony.  I worked the back yard, which means bringing cattle through different pens in order to be sorted.  Generally the cows are well behaved and trot through without too much effort and arm flapping, although I had a bit of a hairy moment when one decided to charge at me.  Thankfully I had a yard stick (just a bit of blue pipe we use when drafting to help block cattle) so as it came at me I was able to tap her on the nose and jump out of the way… The Three Musketeers would have been impressed by my parleying skills!  I will admit that the experience got the blood pumping a bit.  Who needs rollercoasters and other adrenaline sports when you’ve got angry cows in confined spaces.  Of all the different types of work we do, being in the yards with the cows makes me sweat the most.  Cows really can be quite scary.  Once the cows were all sorted we headed out to check the dams and make sure there were no cattle bogged.  On the way we came across the 4 resident camels who are very friendly and let you go right up to them for a pat … or rather a scratch.  It must be the most amazing feeling having someone scratch you when you don’t have hands and fingers of your own.  I’ve never noticed before how goofy camel faces are, next time we come across them I will get the camera out for a close-up.

Luke has some friends staying with us for a few days, Tina and Tony with their two children Brianna and Liam.  It’s been nice having some kids around – made me realise how much I miss all little squirts back home (who are probably not all that little now!)                                                                                                                                                                                                    


Tuesday 28th May – day 15

Walked cows out to Dripping Bore paddock which as the crow flies is about 24 kilometres.  It’s quite a long way to take cattle so it was quite slow going, although we did have a few try and break out from the mob .. which is always a bit more exciting.  I gave riding a motorbike a go today, can’t say I am the most graceful at it!  Took a couple of attempts to get going, the country out here is quite rough so it’s not the easiest stuff to ride on.  Apparently if you go at 90kms you glide right over the bumps, (not that I tried that mum, honest!)  Things were going quite well on the bike until Luke asked me to cover the lead for a while.  All you have to do is keep them steady and make sure they don’t start running.  Of course no sooner did Luke disappear did the lead cow start running.  Managed to wiz by and stop them, circled around to turn back and face them and ZOOM off went the lead 3, straight across the rough stuff.  Somewhat flustered I tried to pursue and get them back in but with 1 hour’s motorbike riding behind me I choked L  Gears got stuck and conked out in the middle of the rough.  Thankfully Nena was on the quadbike and was able to get them back in.  Epic fail on my part.  Later on switched back onto the quadbike to give my butt a bit of a break; the same cow decided to try and get away from the mob, so I got a chance to get some revenge on it. Whizzed up to turn her back in and she started coming at me, so hit the gas and gave her a bit of a bump in the right direction.  If only someone had filmed the whole thing, it was pretty bad ass!

Wednesday 29th May – day 16

Bit more of a relaxed day today.  Did a water run this morning and then a few odd jobs during the day… no exciting encounters with cattle.   Got to drive the loader a bit more today moving some concrete feeding troughs… it’s not exactly the smoothest of rides – as Nena observed driving in it is like having really bad ….

Anyways later on we watched Luke cold shoe a horse, looks like pretty hard work!  I’m now sat waiting to tuck into a delicious smelling roast with everyone.  Yummmm.

Day 9 Wednesday

Couldn't muster today; the rain had cleared up but because of yesterdays rain the cattle didn’t need to come in to drink so they were scattered all over the place.  Instead we fixed another tyre and spent most of the day fixing fences.  Man I hate barbed wire, that stuff is evil!

Day 10 Thursday

This morning we headed out to do the water run.  The names of the paddocks are finally starting to stick, and I think I am starting to remember the various routes to the troughs and lick tubs.  When we got back there was just enough time to grab some lunch before two gentlemen arrived from The Australian (one of the national newspapers).  They were here to do a story about the seriousness of the drought in the Queensland outback.  I've hinted in a few of my posts about the lack of water and dry conditions, but haven’t really touched on just how bad it really is (mostly out of respect to the guy who runs the place, and not wanting to get too grizly with the details)… however I think when you read the article and see the photos you will get a fair idea of conditions out here. .. To sum it up the reality is that there is little to no grass for the cattle to eat.  Wet cows (cows with calves who are still feeding off them) have been hit the hardest, trying to sustain a calf on minimal food has resulted in many of the cows looking like a bag of bones.  In particularly bad cases cows become so exhausted they lay down and can’t get back up.  If we find them in time, we can use the loader, and some chains to try and pick them up and put them back on their feet (see photos in the article).  If they can stand then they should be strong enough to survive, however if the cow cannot stand then the most humane thing to do it euthanize it which is done by a single bullet in the brain.  Sadly it is not always possible for us to find the cow to try and save it, and so we often come across newly deceased cows.  I’ve never been a fan of crows anyway, but the ones out here are especially viscous; they peck at cattle that are too weak to move away from them – and normally start by pecking the cows eyes out.  Although it is not nice having to euthanize a cow, it is by far the quickest and less painful end.  Since I have been here we have had to ‘pick up’ 3 cows, of which only one was able to stand and walk away.  Another problem with low water levels in the reservoirs is that it leaves the edges of the reservoir exposed and very boggy.  Thirsty cattle come in to drink and get stuck and become distressed trying to get out.  We check the dams on a daily basis to try and make sure that we get to bogged cattle asap (by putting a chain around their neck and pulling them out using a truck), however again the survival rate of bogged cattle is pretty low because the cattle just aren't strong enough to pull through.  On my first night here a cow had to be shot after getting bogged in…. Welcome to the real outback.

Anyway sorry for getting a bit graphic but I thought I should explain a bit about the information in the news article.  It is not all doom and gloom, yes there are some cattle which are in pretty bad shape, but for those we are doing what we can with food supplements (the ‘lick’ I talk about) which helps the cattle get as much nutrient out of the food they do eat and making sure that there are no leaks in any of the water pipes and troughs.  I should also note that for every cow in a poor state there are also lots of cows that are far healthier.

Here is the link to the online article;

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/galleries/gallery-e6frg8zf-1226649992215


Day 11 Friday

Time to muster more cows.  This time we rounded up all the cows and calves from two paddocks named Nora Creek and Booroma…  These paddocks surround the house, so felt a little bit more familiar (until I got stuck in thick Gudgiee Trees and prickle bushes!) and was not as daunting as the first time we mustered.  Haven’t had the chance to learn how to ride a motorbike yet, so I was out on the quadbike again.  Something to remember in future …. PUT SUNCREAM ON HANDS!  I now have very tanned hands, and white arms!  Ooops, will have to wear gloves for a while to give my arms time brown up!!

Whilst out mustering I came across a small calf bogged down in a reservoir.  I did my best trying to pull him out by his tail but ended up knee deep in the bog myself!!  Thankfully Nena arrived at that point to help me out, we then managed to get a rope around the calf’s head and pull him out, although again I ended up knee deep and covered in mud… worth it to see the calf walk away – and hey can’t knock a free bush mud facial!  It would have made a great photo, however we were both so caked in mud we would have ruined the camera by touching it!

As it is Friday we dragged our tired butts out to Friday night tennis in McKinlay.  It’s a good chance to meet other people who work out on stations in the area and to have a bit of fun playing tennis – the downside is that as it is now ‘winter’ it gets bloody cold at night!!  Who would have thought I’d be shivering in the outback in jeans, boots, long sleeve T-shirt, jumper, jacket and a scarf!!!  I think next week I will take a thermos flask with some tea in it – I’ll just have to hide it in the car (as Friday night tennis is very much a soft drink free evening!)

Saturday 25th May; Day 12

Front page news!!  The story about Colwell made the front page of The Australian– and I’m in one of the pictures!  Although it’s not much to get excited about given the context of the photo which is of myself and Luke trying to stand a cow up, who was just too weak and had to be put down. ..

Anyway ..

We picked up a few extra helpers at last nights Tennis, so there were plenty of people to help draft (sort) the cattle today – it’s amazing how much easier it is with just a few more people!  I branded my first calf, and got to see how they castrate the Micky’s (baby male calves), ear marking (cutting a bit of the ears out to help with identifying cattle) and also how they remove cow horns.  It’s all a bit bloody and so not for the faint hearted.  I can’t say it doesn't hurt the calves, but it do doesn't take long for them to get back up and running around like nothing happened.  I’d be ok with doing the castrating (drawing on my feminist fantasies) and ear marking, but removing the horns looks pretty scary!! 

It’s been a pretty busy couple of days so haven’t had much time to get the camera out, so sorry for the lack of photos.  I did manage to take a couple of shots showing my view from the quadbike whilst  mustering … couldn't get better photos as no sooner did I pull the camera out than some naughty cows broke off from the mob and started trotting off in the wrong direction!  

Day 7

Bit of a rest day (phew!) got to have a lie in, did some housework and then spent the afternoon fixing the darn motorbike tyre from the day before.  We also did work on one of the fences on the outskirts of the property.  Not too much more to report on really.  Was nice to have a bit of a more relaxing day and to catch up on some Zzzzz'z.

Day 8

So the plan was to muster today … but the weather was having none of it, and I guess I shouldn't complain seeing as they are in the middle of a very bad drought!  Apparently there is little to no point trying to muster cattle in the rain.  In part because the dirt/mud clogs up your motorbike tyres and also because cattle will not (no matter how much you try to make them) walk into rain!  Can't say I blame them really!  

Before it started to rain too much I did learn how to drive a loader (like a big fork lift/tractor thing) and successfully picked up and deposited a large bale of hay into the holding paddock.  We then sat about waiting to see what the weather would do, it rained on and off and at times reasonably heavily, almost felt like being at home! 

Myself and Nena were then tasked with fixing yet another motorbike tyre… I think we have both decided that we do not have a shining future in fixing tyres.  We tried 3 times to patch the bloody tube to stop the leak, only for the patch to peel off once air was pumped back in …. Luke then had a go, and much to our (secret) satisfaction his patch also came right off.  The only thing we could think that was any different to fixes we’d done in the past few days was the weather … so fifth time lucky we left the glue to dry for a long time before trying to put the patch on, and eureka!  Woop.  Whilst waiting for the glue to dry I learnt how to drive the tractor – this place is like heavy machinery heaven!!  Maybe I have a future as a truckie?! 

That’s about all to report for the last couple of days.  It’s been nice to get a bit of a rest but I am looking forward to getting stuck back into it tomorrow (weather permitting).   Hopefully I will get to give the motorbike a go also! 

SUNDAY (DAY 5)

Today we were up an hour early (5.30 wake-up) so that we could do a final bit of sorting out of cows as well as pregnancy testing, checking ear tags and their teeth.  Today I worked the head bail, where you run a cow down a shoot and trap it in a ‘box’.  From there Luke pregnancy tested the cow, and then I had to entice it out the front and then quickly catch its head in a vice type thing.  I then checked for ear tags, which they have to have before they can be sold (to help trace where cattle came from) and then checked their teeth.  It’s not always easy to get them to open wide when you have them stuck in a box struggling to get out, and man do those cows has sticky slobber!!  My jeans looked like they had been run over by hundreds of slugs by the end of it!  The purpose of checking teeth is to help with aging the cattle.  I also learnt that I may have missed a calling as an ear piercer.

Once we got this lot up and onto the truck we drove out to Winton where the cattle were being held and sorted again – before sending some off for sale.  Winton is just a casual 250 kilometres away from the station, on what seemed to be one long straight road surrounded by yellow scrub and red dust …. And I thought the M25 was boring to drive along.  Apparently Winton has a bit of a reputation for bar fights; not too different from Winton at home really!

We finally rolled in just after 9pm – so was a pretty looooong day.

MONDAY (DAY 6) 

Today we spent the morning doing a water run around the various paddocks.  I am doing my best to try and remember their names and where all the dams, toughs and feed buckets are, but don’t think I have it all figured out just yet.  Hardest thing is that at times some of the roads are only tracks and it’s not always obvious which way to go.  I will have to study the maps some more, and I think that once I drive the route myself I will start to remember it all… but I will make sure I take an apple and some water with me, just in case!

After lunch I learnt how to change a motorbike tyre – not sure I have mastered it however, there are so many different things to remember!   Myself and Nena were then given one to fix by ourselves, we did sooo well, but looks like a bit of the inner tube must have been punctured again during the final stage of putting it all back together because 30 mins after we fixed it, the bloody thing was flat again!! Booo, oh well practice makes perfect and all! 

So far new skills learnt (but not yet mastered) in 6 days;

• Mustering cattle on a quad bike and horseback
• Moving cattle between yards on foot
• Identifying a good looking cow 
• Tagging cattle
• Checking cattle teeth
• Pregnancy testing cows 
• Changing car tyres
• Fixing inner tubes (car and motorbikes)
• Driving a lorry
• Driving a 4x4 truck
• Fixing wire fences
• and many many more!

In other news we get to have a lie in tomorrow!!  Woop, I am definitely going to make the most of it as it is going to get crazy again from Wednesday when we start round 2 of mustering. 

For now I will leave you with some photos of Heidi, the beautiful house calf who decided to try licking me to death tonight … I guess I can skip this evenings shower now!!


(grr these photos are a pain to load ... sorry if it doesn't work right now, I will try again tomorrow) 

Oooh-eeey!  What a couple of mad, crazy days chasing cows by quakbike, horseback and truck over miles and miles of Australian Outback.  Friday we did all the mustering, first by quad/motorbike and then in the afternoon we switched to horseback… I can’t believe they used to muster the cows only using horses out here.  There’s so much distance to cover and sweet jesus the saddle sore; I don’t just mean a bit of an achy butt, I mean actual sores on your posterior.  Ooof. (Don’t worry no photo attached)  Mustering on quakdbike was much faster although it did get a wee bit hairy at times – not because of mad cows but because of all the lumps bumps, thick sand, dry creeks, prickle bushes and low hanging branches, which were all doing their very best to try and bump me off the bike.  I will admit to at times feeling so unbelievably lost, with everything looking so similar it is very difficult to work out where you are. 

Following a gruelling days’ work what else do you do other than take a quick shower and head out to Tennis at McKinlay?! (the nearest town which takes about 40 mins to get to in the car) Tennis mostly involved drinking lots of beer and talking to random truckies at the famous Walkabout Creek Hotel (aka Crocodile Dundee’s hangout).  We left around midnight – so managed to get a solid 6 or so hours of kip in before starting day 2 of mustering …

Dragged myself out of bed bleary eyed and sore.  The body is definitely feeling the strain of yesterday… I better be losing some weight!  We then headed down to the paddocks where the cattle from yesterday were held overnight.  The 150 plus cattle then needed sorting out – this was done based on the gender and also the quality of cows.  Good = thick chested, pretty faced with good legs and a nice temperament (not too different from human criteria eh?!)  Bad = bandy legs, long skinny faces, fowl temperament and shallow chests.  Sorting involved first drawing some cattle (on foot) into a holding pen and then pushing them into circle with different pens coming off.  The person in the middle then needed to whizz around the place opening up the correct gate.  Sometimes got a little scary, especially with those moody cows, although generally (Luke assures me) the cows may puff at you a bit but will normally turn and walk away rather than charge at you…. Not something I particularly want to test!  Apparently you can spot a ‘dangerous’ cow by their posture.  Head high, ears forward and up pacing and or/shaking… In those instances it seems to be best to (Try) and stay calm and present yourself as non-threatening.  If that doesn’t work and you have to make a run for it the best thing to do is run off to the side, as the cow cannot turn as fast as you can and will then generally back off.  I had a one run at me a bit, scary stuff.  All I can say is that this whole experience will not have put me off eating beef – instead I think that I will enjoy my medium rare slab of steak even more!

Once the cattle were sorted they then needed to be pregnancy tested, chipped/tagged and have their teeth checked.  Pregnancy testing involves a very long glove (to the armpit), some veterinary lube a strong stomach and long arms!  Yup you go in up the butt, past all their poop and then you can feel down onto the cervix and feel whether there is a calf in there.   And man do cows have hot butts!!  On a cold morning sticking your arm up there would be way better than a pocket hand warmer!  All I can say is THANK GOD humans can just pee on a stick!  Once the first batch were all tested and tagged we moved them into a double decker cattle truck for them to be taken about 1.5 hours away to be sold. 

It was a pretty intense day, hard work and nerve wracking.  I started to get the hang of it late afternoon, but it took some stern internal talking to myself to pluck up the courage to carry on at times.  MY body aches horribly, more than yesterday but I think that’s most likely due to all my nervous energy today…. Feel like I have been running on adrenaline all day!  Who needs roller coasters and bungee jumping when you have lots of agitated cattle!

Anyway I must be off now as have a 6.30 start tomorrow – have to be up earlier to make sure that we get the last of the cattle tested etc before the next truck arrives to take them off to sale. 

All I can say for now is that I am thoroughly shattered and am a teeny bit chuffed with myself, but mostly I just want my bed and new muscles.  I could also murder a chicken korma .. although on second thoughts maybe I’d rather have a beef madras... 

So tomorrow is the BIG day, time to muster some cattle!  Unlike in Wyoming, this station musters their cattle by motorbike and quad bike, so I spent most of this afternoon tearing around on a quad bike getting used to the way it works.  Loads of fun, although I will admit to being a little hesitant at first as flashes of Ozzy Osbourne’s near death quad bike accident ran through my head.  But lets face it, I am not an aging alcoholic rocker with substance abuse issues, so all went well and I seem to have got the hang of it.  Fingers crossed I will get a chance to learn how to ride a motorbike ready for the next lot of mustering … it looks so very Charlies Angels!  Anyways back on topic, tomorrow we will be mustering cattle from 4 Mile Paddock all the way back to the paddocks near to the house.  Not sure how far that all is but from looking on the map I've been given, I think it will be a full days work chasing cows around in the outback.

As for the morning’s antics Nena and I headed out (unsupervised) to check water troughs and salt lick (a nutrient feed for the cows) to some of the further away paddocks.  We did pretty well finding most of the troughs, although did get a teeny bit lost at one point… again it all looks very similar this red dust and prickly bushes!!  Came across an old disused house at one of the paddocks and had a look around – all very creepy, especially one room that just has a dusty old hat sat on the end of the bed… I will have to get some snaps next time we are out that way, lets hope the hat remains in the same spot, otherwise the place really will freak me out! 




Insect report – none (that I was aware of; other than the creepy albino gecko in my room last night)  In other animal news I got to see lots of Roo’s, Emu (who look rather odd in motion) and some Camels.  Sadly my camera died so only managed to get a few snaps of the camels.  I will do my best to try and get some snaps of us mustering tomorrow. 



Anyways sorry for not getting this post up in ‘real time’, I sacrificed some finer editing and uploading pictures in order to get an early night ready for tomorrow…. Wish me luck.

Hello I am alive!!  Sorry for going dark the last few days – Cairns ended up being a total rainy wash out, so other than the rafting I didn't get up to much. Here is a quick rundown of what has gone on since my last post;
 

• Goldfish Racing in Cairns
  
• Caught a bus to Townsville on Friday, naturally the weather in Cairns picked up!
  
• Spent 4 nights in Suzy’s beautiful home (mother of the guy whose Station I will be working at)
  
• Met little Gemma who is also staying at Suzy’s, is from the UK and who has just got back from 2 months working on a Station managed by one of Suzy’s daughters.
  
• Saturday the two Gemmas hit Townsville and the Mad Cow bar pretty hard – in the process met some AFL coaches who turned out to be a riot (and pretty easy on the eyes too!)
  
• Sunday rolled in at 4am, so thank god I changed my bus to leave 7am on Tuesday rather than leaving the same day.
• Tuesday took a 10 hours 45 minutes bus trip inland to Cloncurry and then another 1.5 hours to the Station which is just outside of the town of McKinlay.  (Famous for the Crocodile Dundee hotel, as featured in the film)
• Baptism of fire at the Station L
  

So today, was my first day at the Station.  It started off fairly slowly watching Luke and the other girl here (Nena) fix the loader (a truck type thing), which blew a hydraulics hose the other day…  apparently the loader is a piece of equipment that is very similar to Ikea furniture – there’s always some extra bits left over once put (back)together!  Unconcerned by a few extra bolts we shifted some heavy pallets and then myself and Nena headed out to fill up the salt lick toughs and check on the water holes...  I wonder if I will ever get my bearings out here, I thought I was good with directions but one piece of red dust and a bush looks very much like all the other bits of red and bush out here!

After lunch I got to fulfil one of my dreams to drive a really big truck really slowly, it was fab maybe I was a trucker in a past life?  Whilst I drove the others rolled out a water pipe that will help pump water into one of the biggest reservoirs at the Station.  The whole of Queensland is in severe drought so conditions have been very tough for the poor ol’ cows out here, and the water level is seriously low in the reservoir so this was a pretty important job. 

Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me so I didn't get a chance to take any snaps of all our hard work today – I will do my best to remember to take it with me tomorrow.  I have taken a couple of photos of the station at sunset for you to browse... but annoyingly they won't load right now - but you can see them on my FB page. 

Insect alert – saw lots of very red bummed red back spiders whilst loading up the water pipes eep.  :S, also not strictly an insect but there are LOTS of lizard things in the house! 

Although I currently feel like I've been through a cold wash in a top loader, and will probably wake up tomorrow with a bruised nose and some very achy shoulders all I can say is what a fantastic day that was!  Rafting the Tully River with the Raging Thunder crew more than made up for the crappy rainy Cairns weather and the early (5.30 am) start.  Not really sure how to describe the day other than super exhilarating and so much fun!  Cliff jumping, grade 5 rapids, flipping the boat and swallowing half of the Tully whilst swimming through grade 2 rapids pretty much sums up the day.  It also explains why we signed a disclaimer stating the company would not be at all liable for any personal injury or death!  After all, what's life without a little danger to spice things up?!

Anyway got some photos of the day but will put them up another time as right now I am going to take my tired muscles to bed.  I will leave you with a horribly bad joke thanks to Paul the rafting guide (all I can say is thank god most of the people in our boat were not native English speakers!)






How do you tell the sex of a banana?
When you peel a female banana the skin splits into three as it has three skins.  You can tell a male banana as when peeled it splits into four sections, because male bananas have four skins .









*** Creepy Crawly Update ***

• 1 large (Cookie size) all black I think (although I didn't fancy getting too close to this fella) hanging out on the lock of a ladies loo - which made for a very swift pee indeed.
  
• Also a smaller more spindly looking thing (but still about the size of a 50p) which somehow managed to cling onto me in the raft.  Sadly (for him any way) after spotting him crawl up my leg he went overboard.