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Back on the Darling River.

At the end of another years prowling around the Australian backcountry attending shows, field days and race meetings and having camped at all sorts of interesting places, most with out water views, it was relaxing to finally camp within spitting distance of the mighty Darling River at Wentworth for six wonderful weeks in the lead up to Christmas. This spot is also one favored by Sass, she spent many hours playing in the water during the heat of the day and had ample time to bury bones which would then be left for time enough so they acquired that special vintage aroma then re-serve them at the time of her choosing. Initially, there was an issue as to where these re-birthed meals could be...

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A blog by Sass, (Steves mate, the red cattle dog).

Smelly, but good to chew on. This is my passport photo. It was four years ago now and I was happily playing in the yard at a Goondiwindi station with my brother and sister puppies (all red cattle dogs) when a ute pulled up at the homestead. The bloke from the ute chattered with the lady who owned the station then suddenly she grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and handed me to him, the bloke gave me a few pats then we jumped into his vehicle and off we went. This was the start of my new life with a fellow named Steve, a friendly sort of bloke who gave me plenty of food which I didn't...

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The Winton outback festival.

   Many of the town and district events I visit in the far outback are pretty much in house affairs whereas at Winton, a small western Queensland town is quite the opposite, it specializes in entertaining thousands of travelers most of whom come from the coast or nearby inside country. Winton is best known for three major events in history, firstly being the birth place of Quantas, secondly the place where our unofficial national anthem Waltzing Matilda was first recited and written of course by none other than "The Banjo" (A.B Patterson) whilst visiting Dagworth Station, and thirdly the Dinosaur stampede. This was discovered by a local station manager who first noticed strange marks in the soil which were later excavated and proved to...

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The Heartbreak Hotel to Birdsville then onto Coopers Creek, (1909 k's)

  Armed with a Mrs Mac pepper steak pie and a carton of iced coffee Sass and I left the Heartbreak Hotel and headed south down across the vast open plains to camp the night at the Barkly Homestead. The previous extended wet season left this country in good shape with plenty of feed so the stock were in forward to fat condition. Even the odd few water holes that exist along the track remained full enough to hold a variety of birdlife that would normally moved on well before this. Eventually we arrived at the Barkly Homestead and I pulled in beside another gooseneck horse trailer where the bigger riggs camp.The bloke who owned the rig was keen for...

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Borroloola camp draft and rodeo.

Ringers from the top end .  On the map Borroloola appears to be somewhat isolated sitting way up in the Gulf but it's only a 7 hour drive to Katherine or about 10 hours to Mount Isa. Most of the every day items required to stay alive can be purchased locally, the quality and choice may be laking especially in fruit and veg but you soon get used to that. The hard part is getting used to the prices they charge, especially for beer and the winter temperature sitting on 35 degrees tends to make one consume more beer than ever. Just north of Borroloola towards Bing Bong there is a turn of to the popular fishing retreat called the...

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