On the stock route: 18,000 head of cattle travel 1,600kms over the long paddock from Qld to NSW

the greatest Australian cattle drive since colonial times is edging closer to its destination in June South Australian beef Baron Tom Brinkworth started 18,000 cattle on the stock route from Long Reach and last week the lead mob reached a milestone crossing the New South Wales Queensland border landlines Tim Lee learnt about life on the road the dogs are Unleashed forces court settled and mountain once the electric perimeter wire is rolled up a hungry and restrained macht begins walking for its breakfast forage another day's journey on a dusty Queensland stock route but this is no ordinary mob these 1,500 for the first arrivals of 18,000 cattle coming this way in separate herds a week or two apart they all belong to South Australian pastoral Baron Tom Brinkworth who bought these cattle cheaply around $400 a head from the drought parched Bartley table land and Gulf of Carpentaria in the far north he's gambling that by the time they finished their 2000 kilometer southward tripped the cattle market will have improved and that could be good summer pasture on his southern properties this is a history-making cattle drive on a scale not seen since colonial times yeah the actual whole containments the biggest we've ever done we've done mobs of this size before I could break it broken up mobs and we've probably walked a distance before but just the magnitude of the one consignment here that's huge three months ago they left long rich western Queensland and they yet to reach the journey's halfway mark but today marks a milestone they'll cross the Queensland border into New South Wales and better fodder queef has been pretty tough pretty draw back there most of the way the boys pitch to the boys at the back they're doing it tough enough to the edge Troy as soon as we got close to the New South Wales border my enjoy the conditions are better there's still some archiver on the ground is even tissue in amongst the feed quite good feed down here at this stage but first build little has to Shepard his 1,500 head over a two-lane concrete bridge that spans the bow and river then turned the mobs sharp right to avoid mug and dies Main streets a few local volunteer Horseman arrived to give help but these are young cattle easily spooked and eager sizes are kept we'll banking rich cross this can either be really good or they can be really bad like all you need is those can to get a scare for frontal horses more than it is here and once I get a scare well every time the club they're thinking that boogie means there again you know get into that two stage and they run back the main thing is to keep it smooth don't let anybody change the tempo a lot all it takes is the one to get a fright and come back and it's all over and like I said once I break back on that bridge you can have some proper driving there the three decades of driving have taught dualist a great deal about cattle and the crossing unfolds without incidents the cattle and stock horses are soon back into their steady contented stride these cattle come from the nation's largest and oldest beef company the Australian agricultural company mostly breeding heifers they're a mix of six breeds known as compasses that combine the tropical toughness of the Brahman with the better eating qualities of the British Brits they're coping well with the trick the British type cattle fit the black cattle they don't seem to be able to walk and eat they've got to pull up another feed they through 10k down and feed as they go I believe they can feed it probably two kilometers an hour and still move at that rate and still get a feed for the littles driving life is a family affair we're not on horseback Bill's partner Ilona drives the support track that carries horses and gear and hauls a trailer with the kitchen living quarters and support staff we've got 24 dogs and 11 puppies and once day you know I'm can't cook and I bring the truck along and but I've also got to be able to get on the motorbike and pull out the cattle or get on a horse and do some cattle work as well so specifically a jack-of-all-trades really including caring for their children cardia 4 and William - and they do get cranky and it just makes sometimes bill and I have a difference of opinion on what I can actually get done and what he wants me to get done so yeah ok we can't be some conflict sometimes that is stressful too when you're living and working together in tight quarters yeah it's a good life for kids kids kids read on the road seemed to be pretty boys they learned the dangers of life and the dangers the bush they don't have a track you know where the Sun comes up where it goes down had a lot of fire all the basic things in life I think that you need they learn out here it's not real good on relationships driving that's most of everyone's tired and seven days a week and everybody gets tired and cranky it's it's a known fact that not many relationships survives the driving in hot there are other stresses of the road hazard of speeding traffic the dangers of livestock that the age-old tensions between nomadic drivers and the landholders whose property flanks the public pathways there's nothing like a dry spell to cause disputes about who must has the right to graze the crown land stop roots it's only probably 10% of the network that we want to use what there's millions of acres out there we think that should be kept up and running and free of grazing permits and without the queensland government involvement of being pretty afraid that i think that may not may not be the case it's had some ways to think that it could be history and i because it's our day to day job it's our day to day life so but it's gonna be great for the grandkids or something to look back on I think nomadic lifestyle seems to suit some people and looking after the cattle is a bit addictive you know having a good mobile cattle good and you'd like to think you can do a better job than the other bikes and everybody's assigned you know you don't to be a bit comparable you know who's doing the best job and he's spoiling the best grass and it seems Tom Brinkworth bold multi-million dollar venture will pay off there a good spring rains forecast to fall in the pathways of the Drover's pipe he would be home for Christmas but it doesn't matter to me to me at least we'll be making money and not spending money at Christmas

Channel: Greenshack Dotinfo

Views: 41,877

Rating: 4.9163179 out of 5

Keywords: New South Wales (Australian State), Queensland (Australian State), drover, droving, Stock Route

Id: uPPWhJ0WhBg

Length: 7min 12sec (432 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 21 2013