As the morning blew by in Charters Towers, we found ourselves down a dirt road with all eyes pealed for a little street sign, “The Brook”.  Making our way to the homestead we were faced with two houses and not knowing which was the boss man’s.  Nerves pumping with a flow of excitement we saw the farmer emerge from the nearest house to introduce himself.  From here we went inside for a yarn and a coffee where he introduced us to the rest of his family.  With his three kids in tow we were shown around our quarters for the next month.  With basic amenities, a shed with a freezer and sink for a kitchen, it was perfect for what we needed.

Arriving on Thursday, it felt fantastic to slip into a day (and a half day saturday) working week to kick things off.  We spent the Friday with a small induction and got into some general cleaning around the house.  We were also introduced to feeding the Wieners, which are teenage cows that are being wiened off their mums.  The kids who were keen to show us everything, rushed us over to the ranger (a small 4×4 ute) and took us out to feed these small juvenile animals.  The half day Saturday lead us to cleaning out a water tank that was full of grime and sludge.  As we both got stuck into scraping out the last of the gunk, we thought we were filthy.  Unknowingly, we had far dirtier days ahead!

A relaxing rainy sunday followed before we were thrown in the deep end with cattle.  He lead us out to some yards (later known as the far yards) which were a solid 30 minute trip from the homestead in the ranger.  Asking how big his station was, he answered with “52,000 acres”.  From this now small drive to the far yards, we knew we hadn’t even touched the sides of his land and the mind was struggling to get a grasp on how large a farm we’d landed on.  Upon arrival, he took us through an induction from how to walk with cattle, a bit about the yards and the process of weighing and drafting (sorting cattle out into types).  He dropped us in a pen with a few hundred cattle and we began processing them before we knew it.  What a thrill it was to move the herd through each pen all the way to the weighing bay.  This was only the beginning.

Later this week we had two of his neighbours drop in to help for a big muster.  Leaving the homestead at 6:00am, adrenaline was pumping for what the day had in stall for us!  Finishing our processing from the previous day, we later headed over to the paddocks where the others had set off to muster the main mob.  At this stage our world was spinning, coming to the realisation of where we were and slowly closing in behind and around us was nothing short of 3000 cattle.  It was something we’d only seen on tv.  Thrown straight into the deep end again we were asked to help muster the back half of the mob in the ranger.  Having little knowledge, it wasn’t a suprise when the cattle (swear they knew we were freshies) decided to break out of the group and stapeded straight around us.  With all the comotion we heard the farmer shout over the CB “Quick!  Drive behind them before they all break out!”  Moving into action we threw the ranger into gear as fast as we could and zoomed behind the line to pull them back with the rest of the mob.

Once coming into a laneway section of the farm we slowly moved the cattle along to the direction of the yards for drafting.  At this stage the calves were becoming tired and dropped toward the back of the mob losing their mums.  With a little one deciding to give up and jump the fence, the farmer was quick to lift the barbed wire and shoot under on his 2 wheeler.  After capturing the calf, he then slung the young one over his knees to ride back to us and drop him in the ranger at our feet.  A second one gave up and Mark was instructed to run over and pick him up and carry him back to the ranger for him to enjoy the trip with his other mate!  There was even a moment where Nay was in the ranger by herself with these two trouble makers and while trying to apply the brakes, a calf had its hoof on the accelarator!  As this happened, the other one had his hoof and head tied in behind the gear stick and slammed the ranger into neutral. Once all cattle were in the yards we went through the process of drafting this enormous mob.

After a restful smoko with fruitcake and billy tea, it was into a full on afternoon of drafting.  With the main boss man and his two neighbours, the five of us worked like dogs.  We felt it such a privalige to be among three experienced stockmen, being able to watch them in action.  We began with yarding up, drafting into particular groups, and then in the final hours, Nay was gathering calves into the branding area and Mark was helping the farmer hold the calves still. That afternoon we branded over 120 calves.  As the sun set on that friday afternoon, the yards emptied and the workers were cruising back to the comforting homestead.  Beers were cracked over a debrief of the weeks events and we savoured that first crisp drop of beer as it was well earnt after a massive week past.