A Day out on the Station - the Old Cattle Yards.

It was the weekend and Kim, our cook, decided it was time for us to have another go at finding the Old Cattle Yards. We had been out on our own with friends James and Kerry in July and turned back before reaching them. These yards are well over 100 years old and no longer in use, but in excellent condition. The posts and fencing were built with mulga, a very hard wood. The yard was amazing to walk through and as you can see I couldn't resist walking through ' the race ' with its old stone loading ramp. No need to say anymore, the pictures tell it all.

We visited one of the modern cattle yards further ' up the road ' which had an old camp kitchen on site.

Posted by Lynne

Innaminka for the Weekend

On the last weekend in August we had another visit from good friends John and Gaye, from the Sydney Wanderers chapter of the CMCA. They were determined to see Innaminka while they were here, and it just happened that the Innaminka Picnic Races and Gymkana were on the same weekend.
John and Gaye arrived Friday afternoon. After a quick tour of the station buildings and a walk down to the Cooper River we joined everyone for a station BBQ dinner.

On Saturday we headed out to Innaminka which is across the border into South Australia. At times the dirt roads were very rough and shook our poor bus till it felt like a washboard, but we arrived safely in time for the Picnic Races. There was 5 races with 3 riders in each. The main race was the Innaminka Cup which was a Calcutta in which the horses were auctioned off. All proceeds on the day went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. It was an interesting experience as the photos below show.

On the Sunday the three boys we teach and their mum Michelle all competed in the Innaminka Gymkana with great results. It was my first Gymkana and I found it very interesting with barrel races, pole bending, flag races and others I can't remember the names of. George took some excellent shots of  the events, so I will leave you to feel some of the excitement through them.

Posted by Lynne

A Wonderful Opportunity to Fly !

Shortly before I returned to Sydney George and I had the opportunity to go up in the station 6 seater plane with the station pilot, Hari. He was taking the plane to Windorah with passengers who had to connect with a flight from there and offered us a chance to see the station and local region from the air.
The flight virtually followed the path of the Cooper Creek and it's Channel Country to the north of the station. The country is very dry and the drought is taking its toll on the surrounding country. The Cooper Creek was a series of standing strips of water cut off from each other.

Durham Downs Station

                              

                                     

  The town of Windorah

 Windorah Airport

 Views  from the Flight

Posted by Lynne

The Dig Tree

On our way home from the Innaminka Picnic Races and Gymkana we decided that while we were out this way, and as our bus was already being shaken up considerably, we might as well take the detour to the Dig Tree !

For those of you who are not well versed in Australian history, this is the place where the infamous Burke and Wills expedition came to its fatal ironic conclusion. Burke, Wills and King having missed catching up with the others in their expedition by hours and not understanding the message left for them about supplies, dwindled to death in the harsh Australian desert.

The Dig Tree is the site of Camp 65, the second depot camp, where the supply camp waited 4 months for Burke, Wills and King's return. They returned on the afternoon of Sunday, 21st April1861 to find the camp empty. The supply camp party had left that morning, missing them by only hours.

 

The blaze showing B-LXV (Burke, Camp 65) is still visible. The other blazes, the Dig blaze and Date have overgrown

  

The Face Tree is 30 metres from the Dig Tree it has a carving of Burke's face. It was carved by John Dick and his wife Minnie Ghyn Thompson in November 1898.

                                             

Views along the Cooper Creek ! We were really wishing we had time to camp overnight as it was a beautiful spot, but we had to be in the schoolroom in the morning.

Posted by Lynne

The " Travelling Shop "

The boys called it the " Travelling Shop " and were quite excited as Kent Saddlery only visit once a year. For me, it made me think of the old hawkers carts I've read about. 

They arrived in the afternoon and left the next morning. We were their last station before heading home to their family business base. They had visited 135 outback stations in 5 months. They sold a wide variety of things from saddles, whips, leather wallets, belts, spurs to shirts and jackets or you could order from their catalogue.

Kent Saddlery also take the yearly Staff Photos and provide them the next day. The staff from the outstation, Woomoonooka, come in to the main homestead for a BBQ dinner and the photos.

Posted by Lynne