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Tuesday, 1st October
A cool start to the day, and everyone a little late out, about 6.15am rise as opposed to our normal 5.30am kickoff…
Matty hit the road for the first time since reinjuring his leg and went very well, considering the amount of time off he had.
All the horses went down the road really well, although the military saddle on Bull slipped back towards his flanks, causing him to buck severely.
We made good time to the next camp, this time there was a little more pick for the horses.
This morning, Ian’s red heeler got sick from another 1080 poison encounter. Bruce and Lucas worked on him for an hour, filling him with salt water to induce vomiting and dilute any poison still in his system.
Both Lucas and Bruce received bites from the dog, as the poison sends dogs quite mad, and causes convulsions. Lucas was bitten on the forearm, and Bruce received several bites on the hands and fingers. For their efforts, the dog looks like he will survive, but is suffering what appears to be a massive headache…
Bruce, Dale and Ian returned to Cloncurry to give the vet a look at the surviving dog and get Bruce’s bites patched up, and locals were surprised to see us back in town and disappointed to hear the news about the other dog dying.
Dan, Col, Lucas and Liz went back to Mount Isa so that Liz could catch the bus back to Darwin, and Col could pick up his new saddle from Dave Clarke. Dave has made up a Mount Isa Fender for Colin, in a custom layout that looks really good.
Sam Daniels, who met Yola and John at the Cloncurry Show on the way to Darwin, has a son, Jessie, who has leukemia. He is only 3 ½ and has been in the Brisbane RCH, so Yola had sent stickers and cards to him. Sam is sending out pledges to local farmers on our behalf, and stopped Yola on the road and passed over a $500 cheque, and said there would be four round bales of hay waiting for us at McKinley! In addition, we now have four cattle pledges from Cloncurry, so our first official pledges have come from Ronald Bird, Sam Daniels, Danielle Jennings and Jenny.
Wednesday, 2nd October
The team camped 15 kilometres from McKinley on the entrance to Bull Creek Station. It was a 30 kilometre ride and the wind was still with us, keeping us cooler, but dustier!
The spot was great in that the horses could feed around a bit on the grass that was available, which was certainly more than what was visible in the paddocks at present. We got a visit from Heather, Jackie and Georgina, from Bull Creek.
Lucas, Bruce, Dale and Ian sorted the new batch of merchandise and packed it ready for sale, whilst John made preparations for a camp oven dinner.
John and Yola fed their horses and headed out for dinner at Stratfield Station, as guests of David and Heather, whilst Dan and Col went back to Cloncurry to send another CD of ride photos in the mail. Dan had accidentally dropped a CD of the photos in the postbox with another parcel yesterday, so had to redo it to be sent again today, so that the RM Williams Outback Magazine could do another story on the ride.
Dan and Col did not make it back for tea, so Ian, Lucas, Bruce and Dale had an early night – for the first time in ages making it to bed before 8.30pm! It was a windy old night, which made it likely that tomorrow’s ride would not be so warm if the breeze hangs around.
Thursday, 3rd October
Left nice and early this morning and made the 15 kilometres into town in excellent time. We cantered four abreast down the road and pulled up out the front of the Walkabout Creek Hotel for photos, but it was not yet open as it was only 9.00am!. Jim (the local policeman) reminded the team that there were four round bales of hay, courtesy of Sam Daniels, waiting for us.
We unloaded a couple of horses to make room for the bales and loaded them into the back of Colin’s truck. It was a tight squeeze, and three fitted, so the forth was loaded onto the top of Dan’s Patrol – ever the workhorse! By then it was after 10.00am and the pub was open. We went in, had a couple of early beers whilst talking about tonight’s activities with Paul Collins (owner and licensee) and then headed back out toward this evening’s camp
Bruce and Dale stayed on to man the merchandise stall at the front of the pub, and Paul generously allowed them to set up their van at the rear of the pub.
As all the riders had their hands full of leading horses, and there were going to be a couple of extra’s, the decision was made to drove most of the horses along the roadside, it turned out to be fairly hard going as the ground is very soft and dry, so the horses sink into the dry soil very easily.
We continued on a further 19 kilometres past McKinley to a roadside stop, and then Dan, Ian and Lucas returned to the Hotel for a shower and tidy up. As there was a little wait for Dan to finish his shower and make a couple of phone calls, Ian and Lucas snuck in for a quick beer or two.
Friday, 4th October
The day got off to an interesting start when the eight unridden horses broke away and galloped two kilometres down the roadside reserve to a fence corner. Ian was riding lead and the horses to turns at trying to rush past until they finally succeeded. The chase was then on to try and turn them, but as he was riding Matty on his second outing since eight weeks convalescing, Matty was in no frame of mind to be chasing galloping horses – he just wanted to join in too. The horses propped at a corner in the fence and caught their breath for a couple of minutes and then took off again. Eventually, Colin was able to head them where the fence came out to the road again. It wasn’t long before Yola and Dan were on the scene to help keep them under control and push them down the road.
After arriving at our campsite, some 48 kilometres from McKinley, the majority of the crew headed back to town, leaving Yola and John to take care of the final feeding and watering for the evening.
Paul and Jenny had organised a function at the Walkabout Creek Hotel at McKinley, which would see Dan playing a few sets of songs a raffle and the auction of several collectables and pieces of merchandise.
We also were beneficiaries of a wonderful donation of $500 from Len Bode and Margaret Allison, who have lived in the area all of their lives. Unfortunately, Len could not make it, and Margaret presented us with the cheque. She is a wonderful and interesting lady, and it would have been fantastic to catch up with Len - but we might have to save that until the next trip up this way!
The auction raised over $700.00, together with donations and merchandise sales total was just over $1600.00. There were some interesting items on offer, including a chook (looking not entirely the best picture of health), and a fantastic painting done by Heather of Jim (local constabulary) wearing two party hats! Needless to say Jim was the high bidder on that one! Lucas, as well as a few locals, had a go at auctioneering – hot tip… do not let Lucas or anyone else become auctioneer!
The boys returned to find the electric fence gate down due to the wind. As there had been talk of putting all the horses inside the property boundary, none of the late arrivals realised half of the horses were in there and the other half remained in the electric taped section – thankfully they all stayed put until dawn (when the guff was noticed).
Some of the team managed a whole two hours sleep before facing the new day…
Saturday, 5th October
Everyone was up for a 5.30am start, looking forward to the 30 odd kilometre ride into Kynuna.
We were all looking forward to seeing Jenny and David who had made a special return trip from Winton, taking a small break from organising our visit there in a week’s time.
We missed out on seeing the Kynuna Rodeo, which was scheduled for today – sadly it had to be cancelled because of insurance dramas… a sad sign of the times.
On our arrival at the hotel, we all stopped and tied our horses out the front – which made for a great photograph – and headed inside. The Blue Heeler is an amazing place, covered inside and out by the signatures and calling cards of visitors from near and far.
There was something of a stir caused just before we arrived. For some strange reason, one of our full donation tins had disappeared – without a trace! Our host, and boss of the place, Barb, went to work and deduced a (recently) former employee had carried out a theft. Her hunch was right on the money, and the thief was caught red handed with the substantial sum of coin from the tin! Thanks to the quick actions of Barb and the Winton police, the money was soon back in hand!
Barb was a superb host and her staff are fantastic. We were surprised to meet Belinda Streit, the mustering pilot from Kynuna Station, working behind the bar. A few of Belinda’s workmates, including Jim McKibbin and Klint Miller, were supporting the cause by attending the night. By the end of the evening, Dan and Col had almost organised a days mustering work for themselves on the station!
Dan provided a wonderful night of music, keeping everyone on their feet and dancing, and a great night was had by all. The pub partied on until well after 2.00 am, which meant only three hours sleep for some of the crew (mainly the one’s surviving on two hours from the previous night!)
Sunday, 6th October
Today was a designated day off for the horses, as they had been doing a power of miles down the road. This was a good thing for the people power as well, as a couple of the crew had suffered from lack of beauty sleep the past two evenings!
Our horses feasted like kings, thanks to donated round bales of hay, and spent the day idle at the rodeo grounds.
Dan and Col spoke with Nick Murray, the manager of Kynuna Station, and organised to head out for a muster, including a ride in mustering plane.
Jenny, Yola and Dan caught up on Winton program, whilst Ian spent most of the day catching up on journals and keeping his head well and truly out of the sun.
We were all surprised by a visit from John, Tom and Jim Phegan, another group of Dan’s uncles and cousins, and their mates, John and James Suidgeest. They had driven for four days from Albury to make a flying visit, before heading back south again.
Everyone went up to the pub to watch the Rugby League grand final, which turned out to be a great game of footy – commiserations to the visitors from over the "dutch" - go the Roosters!!
Monday, 7th October
We headed out of Kynuna with very fond memories of the place, and had a guest rider in Dan’s uncle, John Phegan. It had been ten years since John had been on a horse, so we took it steady, whilst he worked on his saddle sores…
Yola made very good time and John joined in for a ride about 15 kilometres down the road, leaving his vehicle for collection a little later on.
Meanwhile, back in Kynuna, Moby refused to start at the service station and Lucas quickly determined that it was a problem with the starter motor – he managed to get a tow start from the Mobil HR truck, which happened to be in town at the time, and be on his way. Unfortunately, he could not afford to turn the engine off, as Moby would most likely not start again without another tow!
Upon arriving at the camp, Lucas removed and tore down the starter motor, finding and incredible mess of lunched metal and carbon buildup. Immediately he and Dan jumped on the phone the ring around to find one. As luck and providence would have it, one was located nearby in Winton, so Jenny will bring it out from there tomorrow.
Dan and Colin headed back to Kynuna, in readiness for tomorrows muster. Lucas and the visitors from home went with them and had dinner at the Blue Heeler. Lucas and visitors arrived back at about 9.00pm, just as everyone else was heading to bed – no such things as really late nights on the roadside
John cooked up a really nice stew for tea, which everyone remaining at camp enjoyed.
Tuesday, 8th October
Dan and Colin are noticeably missing from camp this morning, having stayed back at Kynuna Station for the mustering.
Ian, Yola and John saddled up and took eight horses between them for the 37 kilometre run to the next designated campsite. All of the horses behaved themselves admirably, aside from the occasional detour onto the roadway by either Bundy or Jack. Luke beeped at Jack on the way past, but Jack didn’t stray too far from the bitumen – we reckon he knew where his next feed was coming from!
It is still fairly difficult going, as the shoulders are quite narrow and the deep blacksoil sucks the horses down – it would be really easy to run a rodeo anywhere up here – the surface requires no preparation to be soft enough to land on – the only problem is finding enough people to make a crowd…
The terrain is incredibly flat and dry; the paddocks stretch out for miles, and one can easily see where any water bores are. These are around every 10 kilometres, and each turkeys nest is surrounded by a little oasis of green trees, with the mandatory windmill (mostly non-functioning anymore, replaced by a diesel, or most commonly around here, an electric pump.)
Any stock is scattered, and usually close to water, and kangaroos may be seen under almost every tree providing shade. We have seen the biggest kangaroos in our lives over the past few days, both living and dead. One big old Red was crouched over, about to poke through a fence, and he stood as tall as the fence at the middle of his back! We reckon he would stand over seven feet tall when erect. Others that we have seen as carcasses on the roadside had front paws almost as large as an adult hand!
We are starting to get a feeling of being closer to the south, as we have started to see merino sheep and hereford cattle in the past day or so.
Meanwhile, Dan and Col had the day of their lives, surfacing at 5.00am at Kynuna Station. The days mustering was to be executed by three teams at the adjoining station, Dagworth, which is also owned by NAPCO, and made famous by the 1894 shearers strike and uprising that lead to the penning of the lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda". "Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a Coolibah tree…" It was at Dagworth that it all happened.
Col jumped into a four wheel drive with Nick Murray, the manager, whilst Dan and Belinda Streit, the pilot, flew the 60 or so kilometres to Dagworth. By the time that Col had arrived and saddled his borrowed horse, Dan and Belinda were well into the muster. The three teams were split into Dan and Belinda in the air, Col and Jim McKibbin on horseback and Klint Miller, "Nugget" Hudson, Nick Murray, and Harry Clouston on the bikes.
It was a big morning, and after the first two hours of dips, drops and banking turns in the plane, Dan was starting to feel a little green around the gills – in fact, he was as crook as a dog. He reckoned it was the closest thing to dying, but if he did die, at least he was a couple of hundred feet closer to God! Dan didn’t tell Belinda until after they had landed that her snack bag almost got but to an alternative use…
Meanwhile, Col had been given a rank little mare to sit on, who did not seem to like much about Col at all. This was confirmed several times in her attempt to get him off her back! Admirably, Col stuck to his seat, but she got the last cheap shot, cow-kicking him in the ankle as he was unsaddling.
After about 7-800 head were mustered, it was time for Col to grab his saddle, jump in the plane with Belinda and Dan, and head back to Kynuna, so the two boys could commence the days ride that the others would have almost certainly finished.
Dan, Col and the team would like to extent their sincere thanks to the Kynuna Crew, they are a bunch of great people, who have given a lot of fond memories.
Today we received a copy of our local paper from home, the Border Mail, dated October 2nd, in which Howard Jones wrote a nice article about our travels thus far. It is funny to read the Border again, although it does make one realise how far away from home we are (but getting closer each day!). Bruce, Dale and Ian were saddened to read about the passing of their old neighbour, Percy Jones. Their condolences go to Wilga and the Jones family.
Dan and Colin had a very late ride in tonight, arriving at almost 9.30pm. They arrived back out at this morning’s camp at about 3.30pm. Bruce, Dale and Lucas went out to bring the vehicles back, as the Patrol, Col’s truck and the float had been left at either Kynuna or the campsite, and of course Col and Dan had to ride their horses from the stopping point last night. As Lucas made his way back, Dan and Col requested a change of horses at the half-way point. At about the same time, Lucas had discovered that Col’s truck was suffering from the temperature a little, and he was also carrying the new starter motor for "Moby" that Jenny and David had brought with them from Winton.
The easiest solution was to unload the merchandise from the horse float, and tow the horses out to the riders behind Dan’s Patrol. Ian and Bruce took the horses out, and both Col and Dan were surprised that they had only made it to half way when they met up. There was only about 20 minutes of daylight left – and you guessed it – 18 kilometres to ride; with no moonlight! The boys simply followed the bitumen, riding down the middle of the road and getting off whenever any vehicles came along. Although potentially quite dangerous, they said it was one of the most enjoyable rides on the journey thus far.
Upon returning to camp, Lucas jumped straight in and refitted the new starter motor, and Moby was back to his same old self again!
Jenny and David left at the time the boys arrived, after staying at camp for tea. We are presently 98 kilometres from Winton and will catch up with them there again.
Wednesday, 9th October
We are discovering that the roadside markers aren’t entirely accurate when it comes to distances out this way. The signs at Kynuna say that Winton is 155 kilometres, but it is actually closer to 170, based on our measurements…
The team rode twenty-nine kilometres to a roadside stop, exactly seventy kilometres from Winton.
Col’s truck was left at the previous nights camp, and Bruce and Dale returned to pick it up a little later.
Upon their arrival at camp, Col and Dan realised that "Bull" had been left at the camp along with "Jack". Knowing that "Bull" was notoriously difficult to load, Col, Dan and Ian headed back up the road to give Bruce a hand, as without doubt, he would be having trouble.
The boys ran into Dale and Bruce, who were on their way back to camp – without the truck or horses. It turned out that the horses loaded just fine, but now it was Colin’s truck that was refusing to start; two trucks in two days – not bad going!
Upon returning to the truck an interesting thing was discovered. There was a massive oil leak at the back of the engine, in addition to the starting problem, which didn’t augre well after the overheating problems of last night!
After a closer inspection, all became clear. The reason for the overheating was not low water, but a radiator filled with grass seeds, mainly speargrass. The reason for the oil leak was that Lucas and John had filled the "water" in the truck that morning, thinking that low water was the problem – but had inadvertently filled the crankcase with oil instead!
Col was ropable as this was the second time in three weeks that this same thing had happened (a young mechanic at Mt Isa did the same trick when Col got his truck serviced).
Ian and Col worked on stripping the truck oiling system, whilst Dan, Bruce and Dale headed back to camp and then on to Winton to source some fresh oil and a new oil filter. After more than two hours of work and a return trip to Winton, the truck still refused to start; this time the starter was playing up due to the enormous load it had been under trying to crank the full engine. After a quick tow it was running happily, and on its way with the horses on board.
That evening, Klint and Belinda from Kynuna Station called in. They were on their way to Winton Hospital as Belinda had taken a fall from her horse whilst mustering, and fractured her collarbone. All this a whole eight days before she is due to fly out to America!
Thursday, 10th October
Wednesday 16th October
We had a nice long haul today, some forty seven kilometres to Morella - which consists of a QCWA Hall, a telephone box and a disused rail siding! There was a turkey's nest not too far away and good grass in the adjoining railway land. The horses are able to walk through the open gate between the grassed area and the turkeys nest for water.
Morella used to be a railway station with a small community, mainly railway fettlers and their families. Most of the buildings were removed in the seventies, as rail became less utilised compared to road trains, and the Queensland Rail service was rationalised.
In the afternoon, Bruce, Dale and Ian headed out to visit Alan and Lyndall Harriman at Pauralos Park, the property where they are live. It was 40 degrees in the shade at the back of their place, but the air conditioning brought welcome relief, as did the wonderful shower. An invitation to dinner was gratefully accepted and everyone enjoyed a great meal. Meanwhile, the rest of the team had a lovely dinner as guests of David and Gail East at their property Breedon, and a welcome swim in their pool. David and Gale are terrific people, and went on to ring around the neighbourhood and adjoining station owners to organise a communal campfire for the following night on the banks of the Darr River.
Meanwhile Jen and David had set themselves up in Longreach in mid 40 degrees heat to organise the Longreach function together with our cattle drive launch at Goondiwindi, New Years eve at Bingarra, and the festivities at Tamworth late January.
Thursday 17th October
Another very early start to the day, up at 4.00am, trying to avoid the heat. Another 40 kilometre day took us to the Darr River, which is a pretty good camping spot on the banks of what is now a waterhole, as the water has stopped flowing.
Dan headed into Longreach to give Jenny a hand, as the amount of organisation that had to be done with respect to the function, street parade and Council reception was fairly huge. Jenny, as usual, had done a great job finding venues, so our stay in town would be a nice one. Dan was amused to find the Campfires office temporarily set up in the cooler surrounds of the football changing rooms at the Longreach showgrounds.
Lucas tried his hand at fishing and managed to get a few bites and caught a small yellowbelly, as well as some local freshwater prawns.
The horses had a nice spot with shade trees, the first we had seen in many days. They had a really good feed up and could get a drink any time, provided the deep black mud surrounding the waterhole did not put them off.
Later in the evening, a number of locals joined us for a BBQ dinner. It was great to see the four wheel drives and utes roll into camp. Dan pulled out the guitar and sang a few songs, and Jim O'Connor a local gentleman and poet entertained the crowed with a few verses. An impromptu auction was organised for some of the items that we had been donated for fundraising back further up the track. Several blocks of LNT horse lick were very popular, as the supplement allows horses to better digest the dry feed, which is basically all that remains in these drought conditions.
Friday 18th October
We are almost used to getting up by starlight now, as yet again we rose at 4.00 am to beat the heat that has come upon us somewhat unexpectedly. We knew that it would be fairly warm at this stage in the trip, but even the locals have told us that the present heatwave is unseasonably hot.
A few people at the function last night had decided to ride in to Longreach with us, and most met up with us along the route. It was good to have some more people to talk with as we made our way along the roadside.
Dan, Yola and Col made really good time into town and arrived around 9.00am. Audrey and Peter joined with them for the ride into town. Audrey used to undertake many endurance rides, and Peter was kind enough to show the riders the shortcuts, making the trip shorter and safer.
Ian left a little later and walked a fair amount of the way, talking with a John and Marie, who rode part of the way into town. It was another 40 kilometre day, and Ian got a chance to swap onto his new horse, Chevy.
We had a bit of running around in town to take care of - and the temperature was really getting up there, around 42 degrees in the afternoon, very timely indeed for the street parade. The parade was the biggest we had participated in, as it also celebrated national children's week, so there was representations from not only the local Pony and Rodeo Clubs, but also all of the local schools! Jenny adjudicated proceedings and the afternoon rolled smoothly.
Thankfully it cooled a little before our function at the Central Hotel in the centre of Longreach. Our hosts, Bruce and Jossie Pilon, had generously allowed us to use their hotel for the fundraiser. Dan played a few numbers in the dining area and then became auctioneer for the charity auction in the bar, which raised just on $1000. It was a great night, well attended by the local community and thoroughly enjoyable.
Saturday 19th October
We rose again early this morning, but had to delay our departure to make time for some photographs at the Stockman's Hall of Fame. It took a little longer than expected, as we needed the sun in a reasonable position, and the morning sun is not the best for getting great pics of the bronze statue at the front of the Hall of Fame.
It was warming up well and truly before we got on the road, the real consolation being that we were only riding 27 kilometres to Ilfracombe, and the Wellshot Hotel is airconditioned!
As the crew had to pick up horsefeed, water and do some shopping, the riders made good time to Ilfracombe, and arrived well ahead of the support vehicles. A counter meal at the Hotel was in order, as lunch time had rolled around, and a couple of quenching ales took care of the thirst that we had each built on the road. Just as the support crew arrived, Dan was organising the campsite at the Ilfracombe Racecourse, and as we were walking out of the Hotel to move the horses, the owner, Damien Curr, arrived.
Damien is a real character, and puts on a great show in the arena at the back of the hotel, using trained horses, dogs and sheep. He is also married to Brigit Adams of "Getaway" fame. The Hotel has got a heap of memorabilia hanging from the walls and some great photos of rodeo, showjumping and Damien's livestock tricks. Visitors can also take a seat in the real saddle "stools" in the back bar at the hotel.
We all realised just how hot it had become as we rode the horses the two kilometres or so from the hotel back to the racecourse. We were amazed to discover the thermometer in the shade in the back of Dan's truck (in the cool!) was reading 45 degrees! This is a record October temperature for Ilfracombe.
We suspect that the temperature in the sun (as there is no shade on the roadside) was somewhere in the 48-50 degree range. It kind of made us all appreciate the comfort of home, like air conditioning, none of which we had!
Ian sought out the sanctuary of the pub for the afternoon to work on some advertising layouts, and was stunned when Bev presented a donation of $400 which had been collected through fundraising at the local golf club. Not only that, but when Dan arrived to pick Ian up in the evening, the lucky winner of the pub draw also donated $200 cash to the cause! Absolutely amazing for such a tiny (but tidy!) town.
The racecourse had good facilities for both the horses and riders, and made quite a good spot to stop for the evening.
That afternoon Dan had a lengthy phone catch up with Lee Kernaghan. Lee is donating his time to put on a large outdoor concert for us when the ride approaches it finale at Albury on the 5th April 2003. He is a terrific bloke and his support is hugely appreciated.
Sunday 20th October
All th e riders rose at 4.00 am again this morning. After yesterdays heat, more was expected, so an earlier start meant an easier time for the horses.
The horses are starting to get a little leg weary again from the hot days and big kilometres they are covering each day.
Yola was lucky not to be injured when Lil put her foot in a hole caused by subsiding soil. The horse executed a somersault, marking the saddle fairly badly, but not injuring Yola. Lil departed the scene and continued down the road to catch up with the other horses. Luckily, Yola had not let Reg get away, and rode him with just a headstall to catch up with Lil down the road.
The afternoon was again hot and we discovered that it had set a new record for the hottest day recorded in Barcaldine. Interestingly, the past four days have seen the record temperature be broken again consecutively on each day!
Monday, 21st October
We are really starting to notice the towns getting closer together, riding into the third town in four days - Barcaldine. The distance covered today was 40 kilometres, with all the riders using two horses. Almost unbelievably, Ian left a mere 5 minutes after Dan and Col, did not see them for the rest of the day! The land is starting to undulate, so the rises and corners obscure the riders ahead.
The tiredness of the horses was evident again today, as Col had a fall from his horse after he put his foot in a hole, very similar to Yola's experience yesterday.
The team put in a big day doing office work at the Council Chambers organising the upcoming Art Union, fundraising function at the Iron Bark Inn, Certificates of Appreciation and emails. Graham and Rhonda gave the crew another much appreciated hand, organising the donation of auction items for the function. Nearly every business in town donated something for the auction, which was amazing given the current economic downturn due to the drought.
Later in the afternoon, six bales of lucerne hay were delivered to our campsite at the showgrounds, courtesy of Mark and Kaylene Reynolds. Mark had been delivering some building materials to the showgrounds in his truck not long after the team arrived and had enquired about the ride. A lovely gesture, and much appreciated at a time when good feed is hard to find.
At 7.00pm, everyone made their way to the Barcaldine function at the Iron Bark Motel, where our hosts were Rob and Deb Chandler - including merchandise sales, dinner and auction the night raised in excess of $1000, absolutely brilliant for a Monday night!
Tuesday, 22nd October
The team headed out of Barcaldine at about 5.30am in the cool dawn light, making a 38-kilometre day to a roadside camp.
Matty was left in Barcaldine as a guest of David McKenzie, the local vet and an old schoolmate of Yola's. David is kindly removing an annoying wart on Matty's ribs that is increasing in size, right in an area where the saddle sits. The team also received four bales of high quality hay courtesy of David, and his donations and work are sincerely appreciated.
Dan, Ian, Col and Lucas returned to town to assist Jen with yet more office work, including advertisements for national magazines, and to distribute the local certificates of appreciation.
It was David Edrich's birthday today, as well as Catriona McGauchie's, so there were a couple of reasons for the team to sing happy birthday at the pub after the days work was done.
As the boys were returning to camp in high spirits after a productive day, Dan's car threw a fanbelt about 5 kilometres from camp, resulting in the motor getting quite hot, thankfully the computer switched to limp mode, preventing further damage. Unfortunately, there was not a correct spare belt the same size in the car, no torch and insufficient tools to make the repair. Bruce was called on the radio and a trip back to town to Viking Autoparts (who was somewhat reluctant to open specially for us after 9.00pm!) to get the necessary belt. The boys finally made it back to camp around midnight, somewhat exhausted.
Wednesday, 23rd October
At last the weather is starting to cool a bit, a much more pleasant day for riding. We knocked over some 40 kilometres today, and everyone is noticing that the horses are starting to get a tad leg-weary - even though they are all superbly fit now.
The amount of dead wildlife littering the road gives some indication of the numbers of kangaroos, emus and pigs that must live in this area. We would have seen in the vicinity of 200 carcasses today, mostly 'roos.
The horizon is hidden today by a large amount of dust and smoke in the air. It is a really light coloured haze, and it is the first time we have seen quite so much floating dirt in quite a while.
Dan went ahead to Blackall to finalise arrangements with Jenny and Dave for tomorrows drive to Warwick. This month has really flown by and the Warwick campdraft and rodeo are upon us already.
Jenny and Dave headed off toward Roma late in the afternoon, and will stop at the smaller centres along the way to distribute posters and fliers for our upcoming visits.
Thursday, 24th October
We had a 28 kilometre ride into Blackall today, and managed to complete the distance by just after 9.00am. The riders carried the Australian, Year of The Outback and Campfires flags through town, although not many people were around to witness the arrival. We continued to the local Performance Horse Club grounds, which had been very kindly loaned to us for the next ten days, and unsaddled.
After feeding up and a quick team meeting to discuss the plan of attack for the next week and a half, Dan, Col and Lucas hooked up the float and headed off toward Roma to meet Jen and Dave and then it was onto Warwick Campdraft and Rodeo approximatelt 1000km's away - all this before 10.30am!
The team would be split up all over Queensland for the next week or so. Yola, John and Ian will return to Longreach for the Rodeo on the weekend; Dan, Col, Lucas, Jenny and Dave will be in Warwick at the same time, and then will head off to the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Jimna, where there is a big concert, bull ride and mud bash the following weekend. On completion of the Jimna Mud Bulls and Music Bash they will return back to Blackall and back on route to make up for lost time.
Bruce and Dale will look after the horses, with the invaluable assistance of Graham and Rhonda, whilst the rest of the team is absent.
Blackall has a beautiful mineral spa and pool and Graham, Rhonda, Dale and Ian headed down to try it out for an hour or so. The spa was sensational and eased the aches and pains of the road greatly.
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