ITR - Life in the Australian Outback & More for InTouchRadio.net (Glastonbury UK)

jan

05 Jun 2008, 14:54

Become absorbed in the life of a working outback station.

There are horses to be fed, sheep to be mustered and cattle herded.

Here, in the Australian Outback, they generate their own power,
fly their own planes, carve out their own roads and often, deliver their
own babies.

The men women and children of country Australia are
ruggedly self-sufficient.

For a holiday experience with a difference, why not discover our rural
roots on a farm-stay retreat, the perfect introduction to our way of life
in the bush.

Most stays include good hearty country cooking with fine
surrounds and a chance to experience work, life and play on an outback
property. Some even have swimming pools, spas or tennis courts.

You can swim in a large freshwater swimming hole or creek, go
canoeing on a river, or ride horses.

Or, you can learn to swing a billy, crack a bullwhip, even ride a horse.

Some properties are so vast you’ll need to get around on a horse, a quad bike, or even by air.

Watch the station workers branding cattle, drenching and tailing sheep
and breaking horses.

Spend time with true Aussie cattlemen or eat lunch at a stock camp with the ringers. Meet the outback characters who live and work on our outback farms and stations. Gather round the
billabong and listen to the stockmen’s stories.

Help the stockmen and farmhands round up the sheep or cattle, drive
the tractor, or unload bales of hay. Try your hand at shearing sheep, milking cows, collecting eggs, feeding the animals…there’s so much to do in the country.

But, it’s not all hard work. You can do as much or as little as you want.
Our country folk will extend you genuine bush hospitality and, at the
end of the day, it’s time for a gourmet meal back at the homestead.

At night join in a camp-fire sing along under the Southern Cross, swap
stories around the campfire and find time for a spot of stargazing.

Here in our vast Outback, there’s nothing for miles except bushland
and native animals.

You could be waking to a chorus of wildlife in the
sanctuary of a rural property with only hinterland views, undiscovered
creeks and untouched landscapes to greet you when you embark on a
farmstay adventure.

This is your opportunity to engage with Australia’s
heartland.

Key station life facts

• A land of wide open spaces, Australia is the sixth largest country
in the world. It’s about the same size as the 48 mainland states
of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest
population density in the world – only two people per sq km.1

• The world’s largest cattle station, Anna Creek Station, is 24,000 sq km
(6 million acres), larger than its nearest rival in the Northern Territory,
Alexandria Station. The largest American cattle station “ranch” is just
over 3,000 sq km.

• Coober Pedy in South Australia is known as the opal capital of the
world. Its population is made up of more than 40 nationalities and,
with year-round extremes in temperature, more than 50 per cent of
the population live in below-ground ‘dugouts’.

• Kalgoorlie in Western Australia has the world’s largest political
electorate covering a mammoth 2.2 million sq kms.

• The world’s longest continuous fence, the ‘dingo fence’, runs through
central Queensland for 5,531kms. It is 1.8 metres high and designed
to keep sheep safe from Australia’s native dog, the dingo.
Uniquely Australian.

• Learn to be a jackeroo or a jillaroo. Get a taste of outback life and
learn all the tricks of being a jackeroo or jillaroo on a big cattle or
sheep station in country NSW. Participants in these regular ‘schools’
will learn how to ride a horse, round up sheep and cattle, shear a
sheep and crack a whip… plus lots more.

• Go bush in style. Explore the sweeping Outback from your luxurious
suite on this 4000-hectare working property, complete with river
gums, ‘billabongs’ and true Australian cattlemen. See where Aussie
beef comes from at Burrawang West Station, a one hour flight with
Rex Regional Air to Parkes or five hours drive from Sydney or by train
or private jet. Burrawang is one of the best beef farms in the country
and most of its beef is exported to Japan. If you are lucky, you may
even see the Indian Pacifi c Train come passing through the station.
The accommodation is deluxe and you can go hot air ballooning, have
a massage or see an Aboriginal performance.

• Take a working holiday. At Rocky Creek Farmstay in central
Queensland, you can have a working holiday rounding up cattle and
fi xing fences. In a picturesque country setting, this farmstay lets
you get involved with the running of the property including all farm
activities. Learn horsemanship, mustering and other farm jobs.

• Stay in Outback luxury on a huge cattle property. With 600,000
hectares of Outback as your backyard, Wrotham Park is an
exclusive retreat for only 20 guests. Savour views from your luxury
accommodation as you plan the day – horse riding, canoeing, sunset
drinks or a spot of fishing anyone? Located 300km or a 40 minute
flight west of Cairns, ‘The Homestead’ and ten guest ‘Quarters’, are
OUTBACK STATION LIFE
Experience life on a working sheep or cattle station…

A UNIQUELY AUSTRALIAN INVITATION set on a spectacular site high above the banks of the Mitchell River.

Wrotham Park provides an unparalleled outback experience that
brings together wilderness, wildlife and a hint of luxury, combining
the rich heritage of Australia’s rural history and classic outback
station life with a premium resort experience.

• Experience life on the land at a working cattle station in central
Queensland. Get your hands dirty at Glassford Creek farm-stay, your
chance to try your hand at horse riding, milking the cows, feeding the
horses and exploring the farm by 4WD. Or, learn to lasso, ride horses
and fi x fences at Myella Farmstay in Central Queensland.

• Catch the night stars and spas at Nardoo Station near Cunnamulla in
outback Queensland. Soak up the warm artesian spa waters under
the stars, after sitting around a campfire sharing dinner and a yarn.
Memories of Outback adventures like sheep mustering and shearing
on this 11,000 acre sheep and cattle station will last a lifetime.

• Participate in a cattle auction. Join the rows of Akubra-wearing
cattle buyers as the auctioneer calls ring loud in one of the nation’s
biggest cattle auctions just outside Mt Isa, the ‘beef capital’ of
Australia, at Gracemere Saleyards. There’s excitement in the air as
premium cattle are paraded and massive road trains unload.

• Join in day-to-day life on an outback sheep station at the vast
Wattle Downs sheep station in Outback Queensland. Learn to ride a
horse, watch the stock work or shearing and go on a historic bullock
wagon ride.

• Stay in five-star luxury at El Questro, one of the world’s unique
holiday destinations. A working cattle station with a 5,000 head
herd of crossbred Brahman and Shorthorn cattle, El Questro is a
truly Australian holiday experience. A million acres, El Questro is
located on the eastern perimeter of the Kimberley Region, one of the
last true frontiers. Hike through gorges, swim beneath waterfalls,
see Aboriginal rock art, go fi shing and experience life on a working
station. Accommodation ranges from camping to the award winning
five-star luxury of the homestead. Luxurious lodgings and fi ne
food provide a perfect base from which to experience the untamed
wonders of the region.

• You’ve read the book , now see it in real life. Original owner Sara
Henderson wrote a book about the trials and tribulations of life for a
woman on a working cattle station in the Australian outback. Relive
those tales at Bullo River Station in the Northern Territory. Half a
million acres of grassy plains with 8000 Brahman cross cattle, at
Bullo you’ll see wild buffalo, wallabies, giant lizards and crocodiles
in the muddy brown river. Haul wild barra (mundi) straight from the
river, marvel at the termite mounds, boab trees and aboriginal rock
art, and eat hormone-free beef raised on pasture grasses.

• Be a Pastoralist. For another outback “luxury” experience you can’t
go past Angorichina Station in South Australia’s Flinder Ranges.
Experience outback Australia in all its rugged glory on this 650 sq
km sheep station run by self-described ‘yuppie’ pastoralists Ian and
Di Fargher. Angorichina has been in their family for four generations
since the first pastoralists staked their claims. Learn how each
sheep requires 15 acres to survive. The shearing sheds and other
outbuildings are a living museum dating from the mid 19thcentury
while the homestead is an essay in restrained luxury. Take a
helicopter flight across the property, meet a champion rodeo driver
and take a front row seat on all the activities.

• Take part in the day-to-day running of a 405,000 hectare working
sheep and cattle station at Wirraminna Station, fi ve hours north of
Adelaide on the Stuart Highway , near the majestic Lake Hart Salt
Lake. Michael and Julie Wilkinson invite you to come and share an
authentic outback experience with all the comforts of home.

• Stay in a stone heritage cottage at Arkaba Sheep Station, near
Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. The cottage is an ideal base
for touring; see the 1850’s woolshed – it comes alive during shearing,
drive the Moralana scenic route to Parachilna, or walk along the
Heysen Trail from Black Gap to Bridle Gap.

• Relax at an island homestead. Enjoy the cottage charm of rural life
at Stranraer Homestead on Kangaroo Island. Stay in a charming
Federation cottage built of limestone blocks on this sprawling 1290
acre sheep property.

• Take the kids along. Working stations and farmstays aren’t just
retreats for city slickers, they’re a great family holiday experience
as well and popular with families who want to introduce their kids,
to coutry life.

Watch them warm to country life as they learn that
milk doesn’t come from the fridge. See them get their hands dirty
mustering sheep, horse riding, feeding animals, collecting eggs
and milking cows in between whip cracking, hay rides, motorbike
riding, and learning how to lasso - there’s no time for computers and
ipods.

At night they can even camp out under the stars in a swag.
Family run outback properties such as Mt Mulligan Station, in North
Queensland, make the perfect family holiday.

For further information please contact:

Tourism Australia
International Media Relations
GPO Box 2721
Sydney NSW 1006
Phone: +61 2 9360 1111
Email: internationalmedia@tourism.australia.com
www. australia. com

For InTouchRadio.net (Glastonbury UK/GLOBAL)