GOLDEN HAZE
Starting in late April 2005, a huge golden haze will roll slowly along the Birdsville Track through the parched deserts of Queensland and South Australia. Kicking up this dust cloud will be 600 bellowing cattle driven by men and women on horseback, mostly amateurs, reliving one of Australia's greatest outback adventures. The trail from Birdsville to the railhead at Marree was one of the greatest of Australia's cattle routes. From April 30, riders on the Great Outback Cattle Drive will spend six weeks droving 514km along the track. None camps will be established along the route, each taking 70 paying guests signing up for an entire camp - which can be anything from four to six days - at around $430 per day. Don't worry about sleeping bags on hard ground and meals flavoured with trail dust. This camp has two-person tents, beds with sheets and pillows, hot showers, a bar and gourmet food. The terrain along the way is scorched and unyielding. The Birdsville Track traverses some of the most parched landscapes on earth - seared sandhills and plains strewn with golf ball-size red rocks called gibbers. Vegetation is sparse and stunted. The average annual rainfall in this region is around 15cm. But the abundance of birdlife is astonishing. Wedge-tailed eagles ride the thermals high overhead and the waterholes along the trail are crowded with birds. A typical day beings early with a substantial breakfast before saddling up. At 11.30am, riders dismount for a two-hour lunch and rest, then continue until about 5pm, when it-s back to camp to freshen up before dinner and a long evening around the campfire. On a typical day, riders cover about 13km. The cattle, needing to graze as they walk, set the pace, set the pace - no drover wants to arrive with underweight and exhausted beasts. Although the horses are station mounts unschooled in the niceties of equestrian behaviour, the cattle drive is open to riders of all abilities. Even complete beginners have no difficulty coping with the ambling pace. The saddles are well padded and the experts are close at hand to instruct in the finer points. A strict no-galloping rule applies to avoid the risk of injury and to preserve the quality of the cattle. Apart from the landscape-s raw majesty and the chance for an authentic boots-and-spurs adventure, one of the best reasons to join the drive is the people. The outback breeds a special kind of Australian, and meeting them on their home ground is one of the greatest experiences the country has to offer. You-ll meet Keith Rasheed, with his famous pink Land Rover, head drover Shane Oldfield, Johnno Hammond (the publican at the Mungerannie Hotel0, and Lyn Litchfield from Dulkaninna, who has spent half her life in the saddle. Around the campfire at night, they-ll tell you stories that will have you rolling - and, most of all, they'll give you a lesson in warm-hearted hospitality that you won't forget in a long time.
Join the heard on the Great Outback Cattle Drive from Birdsville to Marree by Michael Gebicki reproduced from Qantas - The Australian Way |
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