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Monday 1st July
Happy New Year to all the Bean Counters!
We think the Boomtown Rats may have almost got it right with their late seventies hit "I don't like Mondays....". A longer than expected day in the saddle covering about 30 kilometres was a little premature given the horses present lack of work.
A pretty early start this morning, riding out about 8.15am after a 6.00am feedup. Good news arrived in the form of a phone call - Ian's stolen clothes had turned up after being found at Cox Peninsular Road, a few kilometres from where they were stolen, and were ready for collection from Palmerston Police Station. This was a fortunate thing, as it is on the way back into town where Bruce had arranged to get a quote for repairs of his car.
Bek got in a bit of trouble from the local authorities, as she was driving the escort car which had a non-functioning amber flashing light. She went on ahead and Ken managed to find a quick fix of the broken wire and broken globe.
Had a couple of riders join us for shorter sections today and they thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Barry Pett is a cancer survivor and learnt to ride at the age of thirty-four. It is always really nice to meet people like him, as he has time to help out with the RDA teaching riding to people with disabilities - even though he has a disability as well! He has a brilliant outlook on life and had some wise words in "no matter what crap life throws at you, it always prepares you for something that may happen later on. Sometimes we wonder why the hell things happen... and later we realise that if that thing had not of happened we would not be able deal with something else that happens in future."
The most bizarre thing about Ian meeting Barry was finding out the name of his horse. His quarterhorse is registered as "Bozzy-Boz" - only one day into the ride and a strange spin of planets has a horse with the same name as Duane Boswell's nickname turns up!
The team of riders arrived for a late lunch, where Catriona looked a little worse for wear, having not acclimatised from the Melbourne cold quite yet
Another mechanical drama today - an exploded brake drum on the horse float... $160 thrown at it and an hour of labor and it was brand new again!
After the team had the horses settled and watered, it was time to head back to town to pick up Colin's truck, grab a bit more horse tucker, get quotes for Bruces car and do a quick shop prior to heading down to Adelaide River and Pine Creek.
Dan, Lucas, Bek, Colin, and Barto all went to Adelaide River for the Territory Day Fireworks whilst John, Yola, Catriona and Mat went to the Noonamah Pub for the "Topless Night" (one of the local barmaids impresses visitors with her curvaceous form each night). Ian, Bruce, Dale and Ken stopped back at camp, as they were quite late back from Darwin after getting quotes and leaving the damaged car for the insurance assessor to view.
Nothing like tapping out about six hectic and action packed days worth of journal entries when one is tired...
Tuesday 2nd July
The team left in dribs and drabs from Noonamah yards between 7.30 and 8.10am. Ian was the last away, which was fortunate, as Barry was a little late arriving and had to do a fair amount of cantering to even catch Ian. The next stop was Acacia Van Park, where the facilities and hospitality was first rate. Col had organised a donation for horse food and flew back to town to organise that. Dan had been invited to go out to a station just out of Adelaide River to do some Buff and pig spotting, so he shot through early. Ian, Bek and Ken drove back to Darwin to get Ian's replacement card for the one that he lost in Singleton, and as par for the course, it hadn't arrived... No money, no cards, and no access to internet banking... another recipe for success.
The great news for the day was the insurance company approval of repairs on Bruce's badly damaged car. A big thanks to Ken Jones at Top End Smash Repairs for going in to bat with the assessor and insurance company to get the job underway as soon as possible, rather than having the car written off.
A couple of new riders in sisters Rebecca and Georgina arrived just after dark to ride the next day and settled into camp. We all settled around the campfire for a yarn and managed to make it into bed before midnight...
Wednesday 3rd July
8.00am start and right on time. The new girls who were starters did not manage to get away as Rebecca had an asthma attack and realised that she did not have her medication for it. Therefore, Georgina had to accompany her home as a safety measure. Barry was back in form and had another great ride.
Coomalie caravan park was our destination and we arrived together just after 1.00pm. A quick lunch and then Dan and Col got to clipping Pherkin, who stood like an old trooper.
A bit later on Ken, Col, Dan, Bek and Ian headed out to Litchfield National Park for a quick swim - much appreciated and relaxing after the past few days...
Dinner was great tonight and Lucas was lucky enough to catch a Black Bream in the nearby river, so a few people got a taste of the results of his angling prowess!
Thursday 4th July
Guy Fawkes day in other parts of the world...
27 kilometres today to make our destination of Adelaide River. The War Cemetery in town is as beautiful as ever and is a must see for anyone visiting. All of the persons killed during the Japanese bombing of Darwin in 1942 are buried here and Adelaide River was in fact the evacuation point for all of the residents of Darwin after the initial attacks.
There are bridge works going on in town at the moment and we discovered very quickly that the only set of traffic lights for over 100 kilomtres in any direction are a handy spot for doing a spot of tin shaking. Many of the vehicles stopped made wonderful donations and nearly $700 was raised from that spot alone.
Quite a few of the locals turned out to see us ride into town and cheered us on, which was really quite inspiring. The freshly clipped Pherkin carried the Australian flag with great dignity. A bit later a few of them joined us at the bar at the Showgrounds Caravan Park for some singing, yarning and joke telling. An excellent night and one that makes us really look forward to getting to each of the smaller towns along the road.
Some more great news arrived in the form of emails that let us know that our departure had been seen on the National News and that the John Laws interview from two days ago had certainly gained a much wider audience than we had imagined.
Friday 5th July
Reasonably early start this morning, marred by a couple of birds scaring Pherkin and Toppy whilst Bek was leading them around to the truck, just as the whole crew were leaving Adelaide River Show Society's (ARSS) Caravan Park. The outcome left Bek crying buckets and two loose horses. Bek's foot looked like it may be broken, so it was immediately iced and elevated. The local first aider at the clinic believed the foot was broken as well, so it was decided to run Bek to Katherine for x-rays and do a few jobs down there...
Meanwhile, John was busy shaking cans at the roadworks light on the outskirts of town, and managed to raise a further $500.
The riders and support crew were awestruck by a surprise airshow during the afternoon. Two F-18 Hornets did some low level dog fighting close to the Stuart Highway, and also did a fly-by right over the horses! The noise and spectacle of a couple of jet fighters in battle mode is something to behold - and we all felt pity for anyone who may have had to face their intimidating presence in battle.
The riders had made it safe and sound to the roadside camp - the first real true self contained camp of the trip so far - and settled the horses in for the evening. As it was Saturday night, the team headed back into Adelaide River for a fundraising night at the pub. The night was a great success with about $1000 worth of merchandise being sold and another good night had by all.
Ian, Ken and Bek all went to Katherine - Bek had to spend over 4 hours waiting for the outcome of her x-rays (which confirmed a fractured, but not displaced toe bone; halfway along her foot.). Ian and Ken had the job of running around organising media releases, street parade and banner erection approvals from the Council and signwriting for the banner. Unfortunately, as it was a round trip of almost 400 kilometres, they missed the pub fundraiser, but managed to pinpoint suitable camping spots along the road on the GPS unit.
Saturday 6th July
After the previous evenings drive in, the team was informed that the local maps were a little out of date and we were to make our longest day yet, totaling 34 kilometres (as opposed to the map's 29 kilometres).
The ride was relatively uneventful (except for viewing the scene of a road train off-road excursion about 5 km out of town) and good time was made - we arrived at Hayes Creek at about 1.30pm. Hayes Creek has a beaut camping area and really spacious shower cubicles - more than enough room to swing your elbows around! The pub also has a top feed of an evening and any meal on the menu is worth salivating over.
Sunday 7th July
Today's destination is Emerald Springs, a small truckstop about 23 kilometres south of Hayes Creek. The new owners (20 months ago) have done a huge job in starting to get this stopover cleaned up. The previous owners/occupants had let everything go downhill. The folks here have managed to spruce things up quite well and they certainly have green thumbs - everywhere you look is a plant of some description, be it on the bar, out the front, or hanging up somewhere around the facility. Lots of work done - but there is still much more to do...
One of the more unusual things is the old car and truck wrecks out the back - even a mid sixties Desoto can be found in the long grass. Speaking of car wrecks - if one has the chance to follow the route of the old highway (as we have had to do on several occasions!), there are many quite old wrecks that have simply been left where the came to rest after accidents. All have been ravaged by the effects of fire, and the extremes of the seasons that have passed since their demise from roadworthy state.
Along the way into town we were allowed to pass along a section of the new highway presently being upgraded, and met a plant operator (read excavator driver) by the name of Jim Browne. Jim is a Prostrate Cancer Survivor. In May last year he was told he had one month to live - would never work again - and would spend the rest of his life on the pension. Not so... he went back to work three months after his operation and has not looked back. Jim moved up this way after Cyclone Tracy and has been strictly Territorian ever since. Gee... it makes 'em tough up here - Good on ya Jim!!
Late in the afternoon, Col and Lucas went to look for the local pigs and brumbies - they were not disappointed and managed to get within about 100 metres of a group of brumbies, and saw the aftermath of the previous nights pig shooting expedition - several large carcasses. The brief journey was marred by yet another automotive mishap - a staked tyre on Danny's car - one of the two he had fitted in Darwin less than 2 weeks ago.... Anyway - laugh and carry on...
Monday 8th July
The team had a long ride today and the temperature was a little warmer than the previous few. The ponies felt the heat a little - but we had a really great day with many people waving and shouting encouragement from their vehicles as they passed. It seems that word of our ride had reached the polocrosse fraternity that were competing at the national titles in Darwin over the past week. EVERY vehicle passing towing horses gave us a toot and wave - and I suspect more than one donation has been made by these folks.
We stumbled upon a Billabong en route to Pine Creek, about 500 metres off the road, and decided to wander down. As luck would have it, we had found a spot where heaps of waterbirds were spending time - pelicans, burdiken ducks, shags, cranes and various other cormorants. The surrounding grass was sweet and green, as was the water, so the horses ate and drank readily.
As we arrived in town, a heap more polocrosse folks turned off and headed into the town centre - so rather than head straight to the Pussy Cat Flats racecourse, we headed into town. We met the boss of the Pine Creek Hotel and Col mentioned that he may wish to ride his newly acquired racehorse as he had been going along brilliantly and could be described as "idiot-proof". Without blinking an eye the publican mounted the horse, rode him up the street, and turned back into the front verandah of the hotel. Col watching the whole show stood there with his mouth agape as the publican turned the horse (one week off the racetrack!) in through the door of the hotel and into the bar! The doorways are pretty low and we were all stunned when the publican then rode out the other door of the bar, and out the front door of the pub!
We reckon Col just put the price of the horse up another $1000....
We raised about $150 in donations as we rode in, and raised another couple of hundred at the Lizard Hotel tonight, we will be back in town at the Pine Creek Hotel on Wednesday.
It looks like tomorrow will be a rest day so we don't overstress the horses (or arrive in Katherine too early), and give Bruce a chance to get back to Darwin to pick up his (hopefully) repaired car.
Tuesday 9th July
A looked forward to day as we had made very good progress so far - 200 kilometres in eight days. John, Bruce and Dale headed back to Darwin. John is picking up his daughter, Sandi, who is coming to spend a few days with us during school holidays, whilst Bruce and Dale will pick up the almost completely repaired car (still waiting on a couple of trim parts) and some groceries as well.
About a dozen folks from the Australian Polocrosse Titles camped overnight and departed early in the morning - they were part of the NSW team and came from areas such as the Hunter Valley and Braidwood areas - there was even a couple of visiting Kiwi's thrown in for good measure!
As for the rest of us... Yola, Jenny, David, Lucas and Col headed into Pine Creek to sell more merchandise to passing caravanners and tourists, and Danny, Ian and Bek caught up on some overdue rest.
Ian decided to try his hand at gold panning, as Pine Creek has a rich history of gold prospecting. Unfortunately, his efforts resulted in nil return - not even dust!
Later in the afternoon, another team of riders arrived at the rodeo ground. They are riding from Darwin to Adelaide to raise money for the Outback Parents Support Association in a relay ride, and covering around 160 kilometres per day! That means their ride will be finished in two months. Many of the participants offered kind words of encouragement and support, and several expressed there wish to join with us for parts of our journey.
The day turned out to be pretty warm and we all adjourned to the Lazy Lizard Hotel for an open mic' evening. A local performer, Den Buchanan, Danny and Janine (part of the other charity ride team) put on a top evenings entertainment and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves again - it was also another opportunity to do some fundraising and we made the most of it!
A HUGE thank-you must go to Rod and his staff at the Lazy Lizard who were very generous in their patronage and support. It is a great spot to stay and camp if you are travelling and has a great atmosphere
Wednesday 10th July
Back on the ponies again today and another warmish trek down the road. After leaving Pine Creek, we moved into Franz Weber's property, Bonrook Station. It operates as a resort and a few locals mentioned to us that Mr Weber has basically set aside a huge area of land to basically "let go" back to nature. Unfortunately, going back to nature also means that large numbers of feral pigs, buffalo and horses are being allowed to breed up. These introduced species have no predators and therefore are increasing substantially in numbers.
We witnessed this first hand by the amount of droppings, footprints and roots close to the roadside and by spotting three groups of brumbies at close quarters during our 25 kilometre ride to our second roadside camp. The only downside of the camp was a rotting cow carcass not to far away which wafted the odd unpleasant odour in our general direction.
The afternoon got a little interesting. We had set up a small yard with the electric tape and our horses were happily feeding on grass inside. Most of us were enjoying a quick afternoon siesta (before our planned function at Pine Creek Hotel). About four o'clock we heard some unusually load whinnies and discovered two brumbies (a stallion and colt) at the temporary yard. Knowing that we had a mare amongst our group we hunted the intruders fairly quickly with the stockwhip and a bit of yelling, then either one of the ones we hunted, or another one, came charging straight through the electric tape and dragged it amongst our horses. Thankfully, at this stage, enough hands were on deck to prevent a rush and to grab all our horses prior to them being well and truly spooked by the flailing tape and scared brumby. Dan just missed the whole thing on video as he was scrambling on to the roof of the truck for a better shot...
We then secured all our horses to sturdy trees with neck collars and waited. The brumby stallion in particular was very cheeky, hanging in close to our horses, and was eventually chased off by Colin and John, who had saddled and mounted. Ian was pretty keen on shooting him as he appeared top be a bit of a pest - but he was a very good quality of horse in excellent condition - and would have no doubt made an excellent mount if he was easier to catch!
Night came and most of the team headed off to town - Bruce, Dale and Ken stayed behind to keep an eye on camp as the brumbies could still be heard whinnying in the scrub, albeit some way off.
Ken heard some odd noises in the direction of the carcass and shone his torch that way and was surprised to see a dingo feeding at the carcass less than 100 metres from our camp. He scanned around and saw what he believed to be a cross breed wild dog even closer to camp, but in the scrub.
The part of the team in town had a great evening. Over all, Pine Creek has been the best fundraiser for the population hands down. We raised just on $3000 for our time spent in town in terms of merchandise sales, donations and auctions. Even the national manager of the company which operates the local gold mine got in on the act. Malcolm shaved his head and eyebrows to raise $500 in a matter of minutes.
Probably the most amazing feat that came out of the evening was the aluminium can pushups performed by Wally - who works at the Pine Creek Hotel. A former circus performer and army PT instructor, Wally commenced his act by challenging anyone to do a pushup using an empty aluminium can. He demonstrated the feat by lying on his stomach, spreading his legs, placing the can at arms length in front of him and, placing his outstretched hands on top of the can performed an "extended" pushup. no-one in the pub could repeat it, and for each that tried and failed, $5 went to our fundraising. His encore performance saw him repeat the feat with an astounding six cans stacked one on top of each other! (We also have the video to prove it for any doubters out there).
I almost forgot to mention - Wally is also 57 years young!
We are forever indebted to Shane and Kerry at the Pine Creek Hotel for organising such a top notch do... and also we must thank Jenny and Bunni aka Hidden Ajenda (from Airlie Beach) who played for the evening absolutely gratis. Nice folks and we hope to see them again for a function in Katherine in a few days time. And last but not least, the Adrail workers who are putting in the hard yards building the long overdue Alice Springs-Darwin railway line. These guys are a hard-working, generous bunch, and our team wish them all the very best for a safe and on-time completion of their toil - All the Best Fellas!!
If you read this and happen to be travelling to the Territory soon, make sure that Pine Creek is on your agenda, and take time to speak with the locals and call into the museum, Ah Toy's Store, the Pine Creek Hotel and the Lazy Lizard!
Thursday 11th July
A little longer day than expected today - about three kilometres extra - as the campsite that we had picked out was not very suitable for access with Moby. Not a problem as the next best site is on the banks of the Edith River, which unlike many of the creeks and rivers thus far, is flowing well. Unfortunately, a recent fire has left the camping area a bit scorched and charred so we are all sporting a bit of a charcoal look on at least one part of our bodies or clothes.
The horses that got to travel by truck were left behind with the road crew for loading this morning, and they got a little more than they bargained for with the return of the brumby stallion who again ran amok. The crew had just loaded the mare on the truck when the stallion appeared out of nowhere and startled the other horses, which were being held by Sandi. Some of them escaped and the crew thought they may have lost them for good - but being the well trained and honest workers that they are - they didn't go too far. We don't think the stallion was too interested in geldings anyway...
We all enjoyed a dip, either at the Edith River Falls (about 20 kilometres away), where some of the crew went, or in the river closeby. It was a pleasant offset to five consecutive nights of fundraising efforts.
Friday 12th July
The ride today takes us to within 28 kilometres of Katherine, making the ride thus far about as long as the trip from Albury to Melbourne! Unfortunately, a spare wheel fell off the back of Bruce's caravan as they drove out from last nights camp... He returned later to find it, but someone had "borrowed" the vinyl cover off it! The team were guests at Bruce and Michelle Fryers' place and it was good to have secure fences between the horses and the highway. We were surprised to see Amy, Bruce's 13 year old daughter, working around the yard when we got there, and she was a great help getting our horses settled in.
One thing you notice if you are camping close to the Stuart Highway between Katherine and Darwin is the "rush hour"... normally between 6.30am and 8.00am. Not so much a huge number of cars, just a few cars doing huge speeds (remember there are no speed limits in the Territory!), some I would guess at close to 200 km/h.
The ride was relatively uneventful, however we managed to follow the old highway (which generally follows parallel to the new, a few metres off to one side) about three kilometres out of the way, and rode a little further than we needed to - the good news was that it was only a 15 kilometre day, so a couple of extra kays was not an issue.
After getting to Bruce and Michelle's place, Lucas, Colin, Jenny, David and Dan did raffles at Katherine Country Club. Ian, Bek and Bruce went to town to take care of some urgent business back home, and later Ian and Bek did some tin-shaking at the Workers Club.
Dan invited Bunny and Jenny from Hidden Ajenda to perform as support act for Sara Storer for Tuesday nights concert, which they graciously accepted after their sensational performance at Pine Creek Hotel on Wednesday. Sara will be bringing the very first copies of the "Trail of Dreams" CD in her baggage from Sydney, so the people of Katherine will be the very first in Australia to get their copy (although a few of the crew were keen to get some out of the first box!)
Caroline (Clancy), Danny's girlfriend, rang from Nhulunbuy (Gove) to let him know that she had just heard "Trail of Dreams" played on the local radio up there. Everyone is very excited about the album being launched on Tuesday.
The final surprise for the evening was Bek getting off crutches after only ten days - her foot has almost fully recovered and is looking much better than the anticipated three weeks on crutches that the doctor advised...
Saturday 13th July
Heading into Katherine today! We have to cover about 34 kilometres today, so lunch will break the ride up a little. We had lunch on a section of road that had been closed for the Adrail railway construction earlier in the morning - and the machinery was already in full swing! A D9 dozer, three scrapers and a grader were all working flat out just a few metres from where we had stopped and it was amazing to see how quickly work progressed on putting the groundworks in place. We were talking to a couple of the staff and they said that the area is very close to a sacred site (caves, paintings and burial ground) so the railway had to be diverted from its original alignment to a more satisfactory one. In addition, the contract specifies that all earthworks undertaken must be reinstated to its original state... a huge undertaking in itself!
We celebrated the crossing of the Katherine Bridge (the old railway bridge is to be opened to pedestrian traffic tomorrow, after a $180,000.00 refurbishment) with a chocolate paddle-pop, courtesy of Danny! After a fairly warm day in the saddle, it is remarkable how good those paddle-pops can taste. We are looking forward to a big week of fundraising, culminating with the Katherine Rodeo next Sunday.
We arrived at the Pony Club grounds, which Jenny had arranged for us, only to find that the hot water was not working, so our much awaited showers would have to be put on hold for a day or so...
 On the other hand, Sandi found herself in hot water, literally... She was making a cup of tea for dad, John, when she dropped the boiling billy on her legs. Thankfully the scalding was no too bad, and no permanent damage was done.
Bek and Ian decided that the speedway racing may be an avenue to get some more donations, so they headed across to the track to run a raffle of some campfires merchandise. It turned out that the regular commentator had injured his back early in the day, so for a donation of $100, the speedway club managed to hire Ian's services for the evening. Having never commentated motor racing before, it was a challenge, and people listening from camp (the speedway is about 500 metres from the pony club grounds) were astonished to hear that it was in fact one of their own commentating!
Even more hilarious was the offer of regular work, the next meeting being a fortnights time. It's a shame to knock back work that you love - but we gotta get on down the road... Thanks to all the folks at Katherine Crossroads Speedway for their support - they are a great club and even managed to point us in the right direction for a hot shower!! We wish them all the best for their future meetings.
Dan caught up with Jenny and Bunny from Hidden Ajenda again, and along with Col and Lucas did another very successful raffle at the Country Club. Jenny organised posters for the Wednesday pub show by Hidden Ajenda and distributed these through town
Sunday 14th July
As Sunday is normally regarded as a Sabbath, everyone from the crew did a fair bit of their own thing - mixed of course with bits and pieces of running around organising the various fundraisers planned for Katherine.
John surprised Yola and Sandi by organising a helicopter flight over Katherine and the Gorge for them all - which they thoroughly enjoyed.
At almost the same time, Lucas, Dan and Col were airborne on their own flight and took the video camera and digital still camera with them to get some great shots from the air - they even managed to give base camp a call on the UHF as they passed over the campsite!
Ian spent the afternoon cutting up the fliers (or handbills as they were once referred to...) for the Sara Storer and Hidden Ajenda shows on Tuesday and Wednesday night respectively, so that they could be distributed at the ABBAsolutely FABBAulous show, being held at the Katherine Sports and Recreation Club. He and Bek headed out in the early evening to place fliers at all the caravan parks in town, so that people travelling through had the opportunity to take in the show.
One thing that Katherine people did mention was the lack of live performances that come to town... Not true this week - three shows in three nights - almost as good as Vegas!
Dan, Jenny, Yola, David, Col and Lucas got busy and hit the carpark at the ABBAsolutely FABBAulous show, as their were around 400 people there, placing fliers under the wipers of parked cars. They all had an opportunity to see some of the show and said it was very good. In addition, they conducted a raffle at the conclusion of the concert and sold a small amount of merchandise. They had hoped the show would have an intermission, however a couple of power failures during the performance put paid to that...
John had a ball - dancing up on stage - Must be a huge fan of "Dancing Queen"....
A late night for all - but worth it for the coverage and fundraising!
Monday 15th July
Yola started showing signs of a cold and was feeling a little under the weather - we will all have to be a little careful with the hours we are keeping at the moment that we don't overdo it and end up crook...
Jenny and Yola had a busy day, catching up with Jenny Remfrey, teeing up Ian Anderson for some photos and also the CUB Clydesdales for tomorrow's street parade. in the afternoon they had an appointment to see the President of the Brahman Breeders Association to discuss the potential of our "Cow for a Cure" initiative.
When they weren't doing these things they were helping the rest of the team distribute fliers, and shaking tins at the local shopping centre, show and streets. We really have to put in hard to make sure we have plenty of people at Sara's concer
Tuesday 16th July
Another very long but exciting day today, with the Katherine Street Parade and Sara Storer Concert. We were a little bit concerned that Sara had been delayed due to flight problems.
The day started off by giving the horses a really good clean, prior to heading off to the showgrounds so that we were ready for the parade at 11.30am. Russell Green had agreed to spruke for us as we drove down the support vehicles down the main street, and Sara arrived just in the nick of time - about ten minutes before the parade!
With local police closing the Katherine Terrace (the main street), Sara took pride of place, on the CUB dray, being pulled by the magnificent Clydesdales. The campfires team followed close behind, although Toppy and Matty did have some pretty big issues with the giant horses and float in front..., followed by a number of local riders and the support vehicles. We had "Trail of Dreams" playing loudly from the speakers in Moby Dick, with Russell Green giving a great performance telling the Katherine crowds what we were all about. A former Albury girl, Bernadette, who works for the Westpac Bank, seconded a heap of her workmates to assist us with collecting donations during the parade - which was a great help! Bernie from Katherine Small Engines also chipped in with some tin shaking and managed to raise just on $100 for the trip down the main street. Ian's brother (Ken) used to work for Katherine Small Engines a few years back, and stays in touch with Leigh and Bernie.
As a matter of interest, the biggest horse in the CUB team stands 18.2 hands, only 10cm shorter than the biggest horse in the world!
Right after the parade, Ian, Dan, Bek, Col and Lucas had to rush back to the Pony Club grounds, paddock the horses, grab a pile of the "hot off the presses" CD's that Sara had brought with her in her luggage, and get back to the local music store for the first signings and national launch of the Trail of Dreams album.
After catching up with Sara for a little while, everyone went their own ways to prepare for the concert in the evening - some to the Country Club to set up - some to get showered and cleaned up and others to organise the items for the planned auction during the concert.
The show kicked off with a great warm up by Bunny and Jenny from Hidden Ajenda, which was really enjoyed by the more than 300 strong crowd. Sara then took to the stage about 8.00 o'clock and performed a few of her old favourites and a couple of songs from her upcoming album (due for release in November), before having a break.
During the intermission, Greg from L J Hooker in Katherine auctioned a range of items, including an air conditioner, Akta-Vite Campfires Against Cancer memorabilia, and Sara Storer collectibles. One of the highlight items of the auction was a framed copy of the words to "Trail of Dreams" signed and authenticated by Sara. It will now take pride of place on one of the local homesteads walls, having been sold for $405.00. The auction contributed just over $2,200 toward the total for the evening.
All up, the concert raised around $10,000.00 toward the cause - which would never have happened without the kind offer of Sara. Sara Storer is a fine young lady, who represents the true spirit of Australian mateship and camaraderie. Thanks heaps Sara, and we all hope to catch you around the fire a little further on down the track!
While we are handing out thank-you's, a HUGE THANKS must go to Mr Garth Porter, whose drive and initiative made the "Trail of Dreams" compilation a reality. If you have not got a copy yet, order it through our merchandise page - or keep an eye out for it in your local record shop (you may have to ask them to order it in for you though!). It is a great album for travelling in the car, with a diverse range of totally Australian country performers - only $29.95 and all proceeds go to finding a cure for cancer!
To the people of Katherine, thank you for your support of the concert - and Frank at the Country Club, thanks for all your hard work in making the concert a marvellous success!
Wednesday 17th July
After his great performance of last night Bunny and his partner, Kim, came out to the Pony Club grounds and enjoyed a ride on a couple of our horses, John keeping them company whilst they were out.
Jenny headed out to the showgrounds and caught up with Wendy Pearce, and then the bullock teamsters who are raising monies for CanTeen. We will most likely catch up with the bullocky's at the Daly Waters pub in a few weeks time, and will likely catch up with them during the Show Grand Parade on Friday.
The team also did a heap more fliers for the Hidden Ajenda concert at the Katherine Hotel tonight. Unfortunately, the show turned out to be not very well supported and we only raised around $200 for the night - still the music was good and everyone who didn't come missed out on a good night.
Jenny and Yola also caught up with Jimmy Matthews at the showgrounds. Jimmy knows just about every one in the cattle business from one end of Australian to the other and used to Rodeo with Jenny's dad, Ron and apparently Yola used to campdraft with him as well! A bit later on, Jenny, Yola and John, had a really big tidy up and attended the Brahman Breeders Ball at the Katherine Agricultural College and met a few station mangers and owners who may become donors as part of "Cows for a Cure". The ladies looked great, and as it was a formal affair, John even donned a bow tie especially for the occasion!
Yet another late night - and again definitely worth it
Thursday 18th July
Colin's campdraft day - Col had two runs in the Maiden division and managed an outside score in his first run, and a complete run, inside time in the second. At the end of the day his performance was good enough for seventh out of 103 entrants.
Most of the team took it relatively easy today, catching up on washing, sleep, and correspondence. Bruce had some urgent business from home to take care of so he, Dale, Ian and Bek made pests of themselves down at Katherine Small Engines, making use of the email, internet and fax facilities, kindly offered by Leigh and Bernie.
Lucas kept busy organising merchandise for the show tomorrow and all the boys were put into a bit of a flurry, as the show organisers had told them to get Moby into the grounds and set up TODAY instead of tomorrow as originally planned. Seems that the show was being very well supported by exhibitors this year and if we did not take our place then someone else would. The Katherine Show Society gave us one of the highest traffic locations outside of sideshow alley, so it was excellent to have a high profile for the duration of the show. Mark Barton (aka Bardot) gave a good hand in setting up the site and the truck looked a treat with the merchandise trailer set up and the flags flying proudly overhead.
Tomorrow the show starts in earnest, and everyone is looking forward to a busy and profitable weekend.
Friday 19th July
Show day! Today is a Public Holiday in Katherine and surrounds, as it is show day. For a town of its size, the show is awesome. It makes shows for towns ten times the size look small. Sideshow alley would have to be almost as big as that as Sydney or Melbourne Royal. Without doubt the show is a real tribute to the organisational skills and commitment of the local community, here around Katherine. One could easily fall in love with the relaxed outback lifestyle, so much simpler and far removed from the hustle and bustle of southern city living...
Those not camping at the showgrounds were a little late to watch Danny ride in the beginners campdraft, and arrived one run after he had completed his. Dan performed unbelievably well and got an outside score of 66 from his run, just missing out on the gate. After the dust had settled, he had finished 5th out of 58 competitors - not bad for his first ever go! Col had another run in the Novice, but missed the second peg with a fast running steer. Between Danny and Col, the Akta-Vite Campfires team performed admirably. Ian had a few regrets about not entering, but after the events of Tuesday with the horse fall, was not too disappointed with not having a go
One of the highlights of the ride so far was to lead out the Grand Parade - well, just after the CUB Clydesdales anyway! Danny and Ian were extremely proud to carry the Australian and Campfires flags around the grounds, and the crowd dug deep to donate another $850 towards the ride total.
Funniest sight of the night was returning to the truck to see the boys perched on top of and around the trailer, Danny playing guitar, with the guitar case sitting on the ground in the busking position... with nothing in it! Smiles alround at the end of the night.
Saturday 20th July
A little bit of a late start for the boys and girls this morning - the show ran pretty late last night, and everyone had a well earned sleep in. Laundry day had come around for some of the crew, as the supply of shirts, jeans and undies was dwindling.
Yola and Jenny organised the donation of two further horses from Reg Underwood, a gelding and a mare, of quality breeding, both are three and a half years old, broken and ready for work. Half of the sale price goes to the cause, and half goes back to the donor... great concept and should earn us a few extra dollars!!
Ian spent half of the day working on an overdue project of building a power supply and data cable for the GPS unit, to allow a link to either the car for power, or to the laptop to save the points that have been marked as points of interest so far...
The horses are all starting to look for some work, and feed times are becoming a little crazy as they are all full of cheek and bad manners!
Jenny spent a little time catching up with Terry Goodear, who was a friend of her father, Ron Boardman. Terry is the marketing manager for RM Williams Australia, and is spending some time at the show with the mobile shop.
Danny was smiling, as Caz had arrived with his sister, Tammy and her boyfriend, Dan late last night. Caz has been working out at Gove for the past few weeks, working as the local radiographer. Caz is off to Brisbane in the next few days to take up a temporary assignment there. It was great to catch up with the Darwin crowd again as well.
It's funny how the same faces keep turning up - people from Pine Creek, Darwin, Palmerston, Adelaide River and many of the places we have passed through have dropped by the truck or stopped us in the street, just to see how things are going and what we have been up to.
On a sadder note, Ian tonight received an email from one of his workmates back at home, letting him know that DJ, a young man who was battling leukemia, had died in the past few days. The teams deepest sympathy goes to DJ's family and friends at this sad time.
Sunday 21st July
The annual Katherine Rodeo has brought all the ringers and riders in from near and far. One can almost smell the adrenalin from the stands as the riders prepare their gear for their various events. Today"s program includes Bareback and Saddle Bronc, Bullriding, Barrel Racing, Steer undecorating, Steer Wrestling, Team and calf roping. As per Pine Creek, Russell Green was again the MC and fired up at 10.00am on the dot.
Most of the showies had started to move on, but alot of the local stallholders had stayed on to watch the action unfold. The Akta-Vite Campfires Against Cancer team participated in the grand parade, with Dan, Ian, Colin and Yola flying the "Year of the Outback" and "Campfires" flags.
There was the usual thrills and spills, but the bucking stock was definitely getting the better of most of the entrants - only one bull rider made it to the final round and went the eight seconds, thereby pocketing the entire prizemoney on offer!
After the rodeo had finished, the team settled in to some donated pizza's with the compliments of Jenny at Katherine Pizza. Very nice they were too. Dan fired up the guitar and we had a bit of a sing around the campfire, and Russell Green and the Mitta boys turned up with some great yarns, poetry and jokes. Some of the team turned in early (about 11.00pm!) but some stayed up and continued yarning until about 3.00am. It was a great evening spent with old friends and new around the fire.
Monday 22nd July
We were SUPPOSED to ride out of Katherine today, however, due to the amount of re-organisation that had to be done for the next leg of the journey, it was decided to postpone the departure until tomorrow. Instead, we spent the day finalising all the thank-you's, getting supplies (for us and the horses) and repacking the trucks, float and trailer for the long miles ahead.
Bruce and Dale have decided to have a little rest from the hectic pace of things so far, and will remain in Katherine for a couple of weeks to rest and recuperate. Jenny and David are also taking off west for a month, and will catch up with us in Mt. Isa. So as it stands, we have a team of seven to head out tomorrow - eight if you include Sandi - but she is off back to school in a couple of days. All the certificates of appreciation have been completed for all those who helped us so much on the way from Darwin to Katherine - to EVERYONE who donated, helped us out, and assisted us in anyway - A HUGE THANK YOU!!
One certificate that was missed was one for Mitre 10 Katherine, who looked after us for a replacement gas bottle after one of ours started leaking, as well as the refills on the other bottles! Thanks guys!
Tuesday 23rd July
A little late getting away this morning. The ride was almost exactly 25 kilometres, and we again made good time. Strangley, Dan and Ian's horses both pulled up with small swellings on their withers... not real sure what is going on at the moment with that... we'll have to wait ''til tomorrow to see what comes of that.
The trucks were a little late to camp today as they struck a spot of bother at the heavy vehicle inspection station. It seems that the construction and configuration of Johns A-frame (on his four wheel drive), which was being towed by Colins truck, and was in turn towing the camper trailer, did not suit the NT regulations for towed vehicles. That will no doubt take a week or two to get sorted through the chain of command - so we will hear the final outcome of that later.
Camp was a roadside location, not a lot of feed around but enough for a reasonable pick. Camp was set up and temporary horse accommodation sorted in good time, and everyone had a pretty good day all round. We will be another step closer to Mataranka tomorrow - and I am sure we will line up for a dip in the springs on Friday when we get there!
Wednesday 24th July
One of our average distance days today, with about 25 kilometres covered to get to Harry McNaught and Glynda Mellor's property, King River Station. King River Station is named for the river upon which it is situated, and covers around 420 square kilometres in area. Harry is a legend, and has worked on most of the stations in various capacities since the late 60's.
Glynda is a keen horse-rider and plays the flute as well, so it made for an interesting jam session around the campfire later in the evening!
When we arrived at King River Station, it was early afternoon. Harry and Glynda made us feel right at home and we quickly had camp set up and the horses fed and watered for the evening in their yards. Harry was having all sorts of trouble getting the diff' plug out of a Toyota van, that was making some odd whining noises in the rear end. Col and Lucas came to the rescue, and with brute strength, ended Harry's two hours of frustration by removing the offending bolt with some vice-grips.
After that was reassembled, Ian turned his hand to get the old Inter farm truck (complete with Holden 308 V8!) running, as well as a 1967(!!) model landcruiser trayback. After a few near misses, both the engines were running well enough to get the machinery moving around the farm.
John and Yola took a stroll down to the river and reported that it was lovely down there. Ian and Bek headed down for a looksee and Ian was convinced that skinny-dipping was the go in lieu of a cool shower later in the day/week!
Harry and Glynda kindly donated a 2yo colt as thanks for the mechanical repairs - so from now on he will be known as Mecca..". Harry also managed to get through to Dwayne Fischlock at Sturt downs, and let him know that the Campfires team was on its way
Thursday 25th July
A comparative short ride today, of some 19 kilometres saw us as guests of Dwayne Fishlock. at Sturt Downs Station. Bek and Lucas spent some of the afternoon helping Ben and Sirri (stationhands) stack star pickets for a 50 kilometre fencing run along the new railway line. Dwayne took Dan, Col and Bek out to look at a couple of buckskins in the back paddock, prior to the team heading in to Mataranka for the Cane Toad Races, organised by rodeo commentator extraordinaire, Russell Green. Bob and Wendy Atkinson helped out along with quite a few locals. A special mention here must go to Barbara and who privided home made delights for fundraising on the night, as well as the Mataranka General Store for donating teas and coffees as well. Colin Smith, the General Manager of Mataranka Town Council also arranged the facilities for us and entertained the crowd with a few rippa jokes.
The cane toad numbers have grown markedly over the past three years, and reach plague proportions early in the wet. Catching the toads and disposing of them after racing only makes a tiny dent in the overall population, and it is a shame to see them now rampantly breeding in this area of Australia.
Friday 26th July
We had a long ride today of some 40 kilometres into Mataranka, having a changeover about 15 kilometres out for most of the ridden horses, and to give Lucas a go at improving his riding technique. It was funny to hear Lucas yelling at Colin (whilst learning to trot) "STOP...STOP...STOOPP!!" and Colin yelling back... "NO!". Then "I've lost my stirrup..." and "Well, find it then!"... poor bloody Lucas.
Everyone headed out to the thermal pools in the afternoon, with Lucas walking as if he had been interfered with... The warm water was brilliant after a long days ride and we made the most of it.
In the evening, Danny, Col, Lucas, John and Yola headed to the Mataranka Homestead caravan park and ran some raffles and sold merchandise, making about $650 for the evening. Colin Smith, invited some of the team (Ian and Bek nominated themselves as representatives) to participate in the first Mataranka Trivia Night. It was all good fun, and Colin's team (including the campfires crew) finished second by a half point. The patrons made a donation of $85.00 towards the cause, which was excellent. It turns out that Colin knows a few friends of Ian from down south - more conclusive evidence that it is a small world after all.
Saturday 27th July
Twenty-eight kilometres backing up right after a forty kilometre day yesterday - just a little bit of wear and tear on the buttocks!
Dan, Ian and Yola had a little bit of a late start this morning as we were finalising a few things around the town, but Colin hit the road running and put a few kilometres away before the others caught up. Ian forgot to grab the portable two-way, which turned out to be fortuitous, as his horse threw a shoe not more that 20 metres from the campsite as he was riding out with the radio! A quick rasp, four nails and he was away!
Tonight we are camping as guests of Tony and Jenny Larsen, who have been very kind in allowing us access to their front bore and electricity for the fridges.
Today is washing day as it be a little while until we get a chance to get to some decent machines - as it turned out there is only one reasonable publicly accessible washer in town, so washing took a while...
We have a further two 25 kilometre days to make Larrimah, and then it is off to Daly Waters for a bit more of a shindig.
Dan finally admitted that for the first time in his life he has understood how important sleep is. He always used to think that sleep was so much of a waste of time and how many things one could be doing whilst sleeping. As he hit the sack a few moments ago (and for the record Dan does snore!) he said that he realises what people mean when they NEED to sleep.
Sunday 28th July
Today's journey sees us making for a roadside camp, with the yards constructed purely of electric fence tape.
We almost thought we were down south again as a very heavy fog greeted us in the morning - so heavy it could be described as mist...
The ride again was a nice one, as for a while a bizarre cool change blew up. The sky was cloudy as if to rain and we had a headwind which was surprisingly cool for this time of year.
The entry to the campsite is a little hard to see, and it would be pretty easy to ride past if it were not for all the campfires vehicles in their Akta-Vite colours parked about 50 metres from the roadway.
The horses are fairly tired, so they fed very happily in the evening, as Ian and Bek were left on watch. John and Yola went into Larrimah to make some calls and do some tin shaking in the pub. Sadly, most of the locals had cleared out by 6.00 pm and the pub was shut, however, they managed to organise a bonfire and free meals for the team when they arrive in town proper.
Meanwhile, Colin, Dan and Lucas had shot back to Mataranka - and again it was a thousand dollar night. The aim has been well and truly set now - we MUST achieve the one hundred thousand dollars mark by Daly Waters Hotel, August 1st, the horses and Bekky's birthday.
Monday 29th July
We are looking forward very much to arriving in Larrimah. It is another opportunity to have a nice hot shower and get some more washing done. One thing that one must expect when riding along the road here at this time of year is to get dirty - very dirty...
All the horses kick up dust and dirt from the roadside, and if you happen to be leading a horse, he will without doubt rub up against you with his dusty and sweaty body as you ride along, then when you get to a set of yards or a station track, you face more dust. If luck has it, a fire may have burned through the area not long ago, and along with the dust, you also find copious quantities of ash and char, kicked up by the breezes blowing at this time. I think sometimes the crew wonders if any of them will ever be truly clean again!
Larrimah is pulling out all stops tonight, with a small fireworks show planned and quite a few people coming in from nearby stations for the evening.
Yola in particular made good time today and rides into Larrimah considerably ahead of Col, Ian and Dan.
The boys decided to head up to the pub, as word has it that it is going to be closed in the very near future. Its opening hours at present are, at the least, irregular. Since there are not many tourists in the bar, the boys decided to ride the horses into the bar. The size of the Larrimah Hotel was quite small, and consequently a bit of a squeeze for three horses. Ian's horse ended stuck between Colin's horse and the bar with a barstool stuck in his flank. Colin's horse moved a bit and Ian's took exception and managed to lose his footing - an interesting couple of moments as the horse tried to regain its footing on the painted concrete!
The boys headed back to the Green Park where Di and Greg made us very welcome. As co-incidence would have it Kevin and Marise Bowerman from Thurgoona, old Pony Club friends of Dan and Ian's, were staying at the caravan park as well, and then Kevin and Denise Thorman, also from Thurgoona, arrived also. Denise is also a "muso" like Dan, so it was decided to have a bit of a sing around the fire before the fireworks started! The Thorman's and the Bowerman's don't live very far from one another either...
On top of all that, a party of twelve, including Andy and Tinks Urquhart, a childhood friend of Yola's arrived to join in the fun of the evening.
A crowd of about thirty locals turned out for the bonfire and fireworks, shortly after the crew had enjoyed a wonderful dinner supplied by Di. One thing is for certain - you can get a great feed at the Green Park in Larrimah!
After dinner, the fire was lit and Danny and Denise broke out the guitars. It was a very nice evening and the fireworks were spectacular - for those reading in the southern states, fireworks are plentiful and just like the old days ... plenty of bungers, rockets and mortars! One of the mortars in particular was of show standards, and startled us a bit with its intensity!
During the evening, Ian caught up with Matt from Maryfield station, our intended next destination. Matt is the relieving head stockman on the station and keeps an eye on the younger ringers, both on the job and when they are in town. One of the newer ringers, Regan, was also attending, and Matt gave him big wraps on his performance since his arrival on the station about six weeks previous.
After raising just over $1000 everyone enjoyed a few beers and rums - then it was time to hit the sack - more miles tomorrow...
Tuesday 30th July
We have a 35 kilometre ride today from Larrimah to Maryfield Station, to catch up with Matt again and the owners, Peter and Donna Schubert.
Unfortunately, Danny's young horse, Pherkin,(who has been going unbelievably well) is out of action for a few days, as he galloped through a barbed wire fence last night and suffered a few cuts to his chest and under his belly. We suspect the big mortar last night may have been the cause for that one!
Before heading out, we had our photographs taken by Kevin and Denise Thorman and Kevin and Marise Bowerman.
The ride was quite long and warm, punctuated briefly by a thrown shoe - (steel one) which was quickly replaced by an Old Mac's (gotta love 'em), a couple of water stops and the news that Yola's mare, Lil, had apparently become ill after arriving at Maryfield on the truck. Yola and John went ahead by car to check on the condition of the horse.
Bek, Luke and John had done a wonderful job in setting up the camp (as always!) and had a belated lunch awaiting the riders on their arrival.
Donna came over to say G'day and invited the team to dinner with the rest of the staff, who normally eat dinner at the homestead. The invitation was accepted with salivation, as we had heard via the ringers that the meals were excellent.
Matt, Regan and Dan all came in from their various jobs around the station, and enjoyed a well earned beer afterwards (except Dan, who claims he has given up drinking...) The boys have been busy tailing out the last of the heifers that have been drafted off over the past week or so. Around one thousand head had been moved via road train to elsewhere on the property, more practical since moving the stock to the correct paddock involved driving them all across the Stuart Highway.
About 7.00pm we all made our way to the homestead, where dinner had been prepared. As there was so many people, dinner was eaten in shifts. Donna had prepared a wonderful meal of dumplings, ribs, vegetables, salad and.... wait for it... Dessert!! Upside down pineapple cake and ice cream - sensational.
Matt and Larry (Peter's workshop manager) told us a bit more about the property and its development over the past three years, for the benefit of the video camera.
After a pretty big day, everyone was in bed by about 10.00pm - although the noise of the big generator engine made sleep difficult for those of us no used to it!
Wednesday 31st July
Morning arrives to show us another fence drama. Overnight, Ian's horse, Matty, has run through a barbed wire fence, levelling two star pickets and three panels of fencing. He has suffered a deep laceration to his hind leg and he is very sore and sorry for himself. The wound was washed and some penicillin, needles and syringe obtained from the more than generous Mrs Schubert, and then it became very much wait and see.
We ride 29 kilometres today to Kalala Bore, a water bore on the roadside almost exactly halfway from Maryfield to Daly Waters. The manager, David Turner, is filling the "turkeys nest" with crystal clear water from the bore for the cattle that will soon be held in the yards - the water is very mineralised but so clear that you can see the bottom of the turkeys nest clearly - about twelve feet down.
The horses are really starting to feel very tired and most of them lie down in the afternoon sun to relieve their aching legs and no doubt sore feet. Yola and John take in a swim in the clear, cool waters, and use the opportunity to give their horses a pick along the walls of the turkeys nest, whilst Colin makes up for lost sleep with an afternoon nap.
During the afternoon, a crackle comes over the UHF "Any Campfires got a copy?" - Bardo is back on the track and has tracked us down. In minutes he pulls into the campsite and he, Dan, Lucas, Bek and Ian pile into the Patrol with a heap of merchandise and head to Daly Waters Hotel.
The arrival at the pub was a little late as some of the caravanners have gone to bed early, but there are still enough people around the bar and eating area to raise a few dollars. A shirt was raffled and a few pieces of merchandise sold - and we surpassed the ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR mark, with $51 to spare!!
Midnight rolled around and suddenly it was Rebeka's birthday - after a few shots, Bekky was ready to call it a night. As luck would have it, a couple of VERY talented muso's had been at the bar and a couple of guitars were found around the place. At just after midnight an unbelievable, impromptu jam session commenced, and was to continue until 2.00am, when the campfires team really had to call it a night!
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