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Like most farmers we love visiting other farms, particularly
those that are so different to our everyday.
So whilst we were in central Queensland Shandonvale Station gave us the
opportunity to experience a taste of outback station life.
And what a unique experience
it was.
Spending the night in the beautifully restored 100 year old shearers
quarters was unforgettable.
The 15,000 acre station is remote.
At the moment
the station has 3,000 dorper sheep and use donkeys to protect them from wild
dogs.
Lambing in a drought can be tough. They were bottle rearing 28 lambs when
we were there. This little guy we picked up when out checking the water
troughs.
Camels are used as a natural way to combat Prickly Acacia, a weed that
was taking over.
Being remote the owners need to be as self-sufficient as
possible. Duck is sometimes on the menu.
A beautiful reprieve from the somewhat
harsh environment.
And time to sit back and enjoy. What’s not to love!
It sounds, and looks, wonderful. And the lamb is a total cutie.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering how far they are from shopping...just for necessary things...and how often do they get their mail. All kinds of questions.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of some Australian stations it is not real remote but is still about 150kms to town. Where it does become isolating is in the wet season (summer months). Roads are impassable after rain so people can be isolated for weeks. You need to be well stocked up with necessities.
DeleteVery interesting about camels keeping down Prickly Acacia. I am of the opinion that wild camels should be eliminated from our country, but maybe they do have a reason for being here. Just lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see the camels too but when you find out why it does make sense. The station owners are aiming for organic status so camels provide that natural way of combating a weed.
DeleteBeautiful country, and the little lamb is cute!
ReplyDeletegorgeous pics.......loving your holiday.........
ReplyDeleteBeautiful scenes.I personally don't like the idea of remoteness,but in farming that is often how it is.
ReplyDeleteI love the shot with the wine glasses. But then I like them all. I really like the style of the outback station. I halfway expect Mitchum and Deborah Kerr to pop out. (The Sundowners)
ReplyDeleteLove all these photos and that last one looks good to me for the end of the day. Cheers Diane
ReplyDeleteWonderful photographs of your stay.
ReplyDeleteSadly the outlook for rain for them is not great. If only we could have harnessed all Debbie's deluges.
That sure is remote but what a beautiful place it is. Wonderful pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a great time. Gorgeous captures. I think this is close to my neck of woods when I lived and worked out there. Our closest town was Aramac but it was nothing for us to do the 4hrs to Longreach or 3.5hrs to Charters Towers for the shopping, school, doctors or other things. It is pretty dry out there at the moment, I am guessing.
ReplyDeleteYes, not far out of Aramac at all actually! It is very dry out that way. They had really good rains in Spring and nothing since.
DeleteI am really enjoying your trip and learning more about the country. Although I've travelled the outback in WA this is new to me because my experience of the East is confined to a few hundred ks from Sydney into the Blue Mountains area. Coincidentally camels seem to feature a lot at the moment. I heard a day or so ago that the population of Australian camels had been culled enormously.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I didn't expect to see the camels in your photos! It sounds like the owners are using camels like some people use goats around here to keep down the weeds. And what a cute little lamb!
ReplyDelete