Mustering: the First Yard of the Year.

  There was tension and anticipation building amongst the group as the date for the first muster of the year approached. As we drove in and out of the homestead paddock each day, we could see bull catchers appearing from under tarps, yards being reinforced and hay arriving just as the skies were clouding over.

  We had seen this four years ago and were eager to be part of the game…However, we aren’t of particular use unless we’re helping to set up the yards and move vehicles before and after the muster…BUT in return, we get a front row seat in one of the bull catchers!

  Bull catchers, four in this case, are old utes (landcruisers of course) with the roof, windscreen, doors, and seatbelts removed and replaced with steel panels all around to help ‘encourage’ the cattle/buffalo in the right direction…For those of you worried about safety with the lack of these relatively necessary structural components, their absence actually makes it safer for the driver and passenger should a cow or buffalo want a ride, so to speak.  You can get out and start running for safety!  On the front of the catcher are usually two old tyres (tires), wired to the bull bar that helps to buffer the animal and car should they hit at speed. On one bull catcher is a motorised “arm” that can be used to hook buffalo or cattle around the neck and restrain them.

Naughty bull in the arm!

  The set up of the yard is quick with many hands; the panels are pinned and roped together to form pens—one for the cattle, the other for the buffalo (they do not play nicely together). Hessian wings (burlap for our American followers) are then set up like a V from the pens out about 200m on each side (see photo). The hessian is held up by star pickets and wire ties, so all a matter of illusion really…but the animals don’t know that!

  Out here the terrain is so rugged that you can barely navigate it in a 4WD, let alone have any chance of getting out of first gear to chase cattle!  But these guys have been doing this for awhile, and can run down a stray cow no matter the kind of country.  Well, everything has limits, but if you saw where these vehicles go you’d be impressed.

  Most of the cattle are kept within a paddock not far from the homestead, but aging fences and naughty buffalo that can bulldoze their way through anything unscathed means that some of the cattle mustered the year before have now found their way to some far flung part of the sanctuary. There are also cattle that have been missed in previous musters or are so mad that they were deemed not worth the effort. This all means that there are several areas that are mustered every year, in all corners of the sanctuary. 

  The only way to round up the cattle is with a helicopter. The pilot does most of the work, pushing them towards the yards, while we all sit and wait on the outside of the wings of the yard. It’s an ambush of sorts, and sometimes camouflage is employed to disguise the bull catchers so the animals don’t see us and run away.  When the mob comes close we are off and running.  Speed is the aim so as not to give them much of a chance to think about what’s happening or where they are headed. The four catchers close in on them, racing their way across the flats, dodging trees, termite mounds, pig wallows, logs, rocks and any other type of obstacle that might just result in either you being flung from the vehicle or busting something on the catcher, neither an ideal outcome.  All four catchers converge at the neck of the funnel, forcing the mob into either yard, depending on the species.

  When all is said and done, they get loaded up into the big trucks and get taken to the yards near the house for processing.  All very simple sounding, and some of the most fun you’ll have on four wheels. 

Friends!

In the midst of the madness over the past 6 weeks or so, there has been some severe lack of posting on our blog.  All apologies to friends and family that read our posts, and in the next week (before our next trip begins...more on that later) we'll try to update you all on what's been going on up here.  Having said that, here is a post about our friends coming to visit way back in June:

To the managers’ amazement, we actually have friends crazy enough to want to visit!!

The scene was set; we had talked the talk while staying with Sally and Landon in Darwin in April. We were now thought to be harbouring the biggest fish in the NT that hook themselves…Disclaimer: our fishing adventures, as previously stated, are catch and release only, as this is a wildlife sanctuary. It was all well and good until they decided they might just have an opportunity to come and visit!! 

This was great news though: never did we think anyone would be crazy enough to voluntarily drive the 300km’s into the middle of nowhere on some of the roughest, rockiest, most corrugated roads in the country. But luck was on our side - a date was set in June and marked on the calendar.

Landon had given us a tray of lures and a rod- Ethan was the most excited about the rod as he could make it lefty! He had also been given the down low from Landon in May on each type of lure and when to use them. I, meanwhile, had bought myself a new rod and reel as I was fed up with spending more time on the bank with the line in knots than actually in the water…

We headed out at every opportunity prior to Sally and Landon’s visit, eager to find the perfect spot that would deliver us the goods. It seemed like the new rods and lures were not popular with the local fish…only the undesirable ones. We began to panic! No one could even get a hit, let alone land one! We emailed Sally and Landon with the bad news and let them know that we would understand if they cancelled their trip.

Sally and I weren’t too concerned about the situation as long as there were books to read, wine to drink and shady trees… Fortunately for our social life, the boys weren’t deterred and we excitedly made plans for the weekend.

We met them on the way in to provide some running commentary and guide them through the washouts and tight bends in the road. We quickly ate some lunch, then headed out for the afternoon. We never quite caught the big one… although I may have hooked it, battled it and saw it roll on the surface before it snapped my line and left me with nothing. Landon definitely caught the most fish and Ethan the biggest. Sally and I had a relaxing time, while also trying our luck from time to time. Ethan and I picked up a few tips from Landon on the art of barra fishing and I’ve decided it’s all rather labour intensive and may or may not be worth the effort. Despite the lack of fish, we enjoyed camping out for one of the nights and were treated to some excellent meals cooked up in their Weber Q.

The weekend was topped off by making a trip to Barunga Festival, an Aboriginal community on the road back to town just 80km’s from Katherine. Sally and Landon were meeting friends from Darwin and we were invited to join, we agreed and were not disappointed. Some 3,000 people attended, many from the communities all across the NT. Gurramul, a world-renowned Aboriginal musician (who even played for Barack Obama), was the main draw and it was just perfect under the stars.

Thanks to Sally and Landon for a fabulous weekend and bringing all the food and conversation we had been missing!