Sunday 7th November and we were on our way for the final leg of this journey. Tanamera Cattle Station was about 40km west of Longreach, so armed with Wally’s directions and Sheila at the wheel we headed off aiming to arrive at about 11.15hrs. The leg through Longreach was without any problems, about 8km on the other side of Longreach we reached the Silsoe Road turn off, we had about 38km to drive along this road before coming to the Tanamera turn off.
The Silsoe road was not too bad, alternating between tarmac and dirt road, and the turn off for each station was well signed. The caravan was getting its first taste of off road as we kicked up a big dust cloud behind us. We thought this would happen and had prepared the van and car before leaving the caravan park, covering the car’s back window in a padded screen to stop it getting smashed by stones and covering over the vents into the van to keep out as much of the dust as possible. The car and van handled beautifully.
Finally the turn off for Tanamera arrived; this proved to be a single lane dirt track. We had been getting the idea as we drove down the Silsoe road that we would not be having a tarmac road to the station, but hey we had come this far with no problems. We turned onto the track which was quite well defined, but we were not sure how far up this track was the Home Stead. The track was very dusty and very bumpy which was giving me a next step up on taking the van off road, but I was still confident, I had seen the video of what the Gall boys do with the caravan, this would be no problem. And so it was until we hit a wide dry creek crossing the track which was full of sand, and I mean full of sand! Still full of confidence we selected our gears of choice and went for it, for about 10 meters and then bogged, we still had another 20 meters to go before we were out of it. Anyway, backwards, forwards, no we were not going anywhere. At this point we were wondering if we had somehow gotten off the main track. We thought of Wally waiting for us up at the station, so we got out the mobile and no reception! Bugger! When Wally arrived behind us (as he was running late), he found us digging out the sand around the tyres and lowering their pressures. He apologised for not telling us about the sand, however this did provide us with the opportunity to try out the rescue straps from our kit. Soon we were out of the sand and following our rescuer up the track, successfully negotiating another sandy patch without the need to be rescued (always learning), when we eventually arrived at the main house (home stead).
There are three properties on the station, the Main House, the Shearer's Dwelling , and the Worker’s Cottage. Wally gave us a tour of the Worker’s Cottage which was very rustic, but it had what we needed which was power and water. Sandy and I got set up and then headed over to the house as requested. We had a chat with Wally over a beer and were invited to dinner that night at the Main House with Wally. That night we were told what it was he wanted us to do, it included the bore run, check fences, cleaning troughs, gardening, looking after the fruit trees, veggie patch and animals (chooks, cows and dogs).
Monday morning Sandy and I were up at 05.45, and over at the Main House to meet Wally at 07.00. Wally explained about the animals, the chooks, the Potty calf, and to meet the dogs – Ted, Polly and Dog. We then all climbed into the front of Wally’s Ute (cosy) and went off on the Bore Run, well if I thought the initial drive into the property was bumpy and tasking my 4wding then I was in for a special treat and a big eye opener! The property covered 60,000 acres, with 1300 hundred head of cattle, huge mobs of feral goats and kangaroos, and some sheep. There are 14 bores and dams to check each day, each with their own troughs which need to be cleaned, there are kilometres of fencing which also needs to be checked, all over, at times, very challenging terrain. Wally gave us a satellite map to follow where we were going, which in itself is not as easy as it seems, with everything looking the same and no sign posts. I mean how do you tell one piece of tree/scrub/ grass from another, and all the fences look the same. The tracks we followed sometimes were well defined and at others barely discernable. We were driving over rocks, sand, through creek beds and washouts. The full bore run takes Wally 2 ½ hours, he did acknowledge though it would probably take us longer. Back at the main house Wally explained about the water tanks, pumps, the garden, watering etc. At this point it was lunch time and Sandy and I went back to the workers cottage for lunch, our eyes wide open and our jaws hanging, shock was setting in as we looked at each other and laughed nervously. Lunch was for two hours and then we were back to work until 18.00. That afternoon we did the garden. We stumbled back to our abode, cobbled together some tea, and not much later fell exhausted into bed.
There are three properties on the station, the Main House, the Shearer's Dwelling , and the Worker’s Cottage. Wally gave us a tour of the Worker’s Cottage which was very rustic, but it had what we needed which was power and water. Sandy and I got set up and then headed over to the house as requested. We had a chat with Wally over a beer and were invited to dinner that night at the Main House with Wally. That night we were told what it was he wanted us to do, it included the bore run, check fences, cleaning troughs, gardening, looking after the fruit trees, veggie patch and animals (chooks, cows and dogs).
Monday morning Sandy and I were up at 05.45, and over at the Main House to meet Wally at 07.00. Wally explained about the animals, the chooks, the Potty calf, and to meet the dogs – Ted, Polly and Dog. We then all climbed into the front of Wally’s Ute (cosy) and went off on the Bore Run, well if I thought the initial drive into the property was bumpy and tasking my 4wding then I was in for a special treat and a big eye opener! The property covered 60,000 acres, with 1300 hundred head of cattle, huge mobs of feral goats and kangaroos, and some sheep. There are 14 bores and dams to check each day, each with their own troughs which need to be cleaned, there are kilometres of fencing which also needs to be checked, all over, at times, very challenging terrain. Wally gave us a satellite map to follow where we were going, which in itself is not as easy as it seems, with everything looking the same and no sign posts. I mean how do you tell one piece of tree/scrub/ grass from another, and all the fences look the same. The tracks we followed sometimes were well defined and at others barely discernable. We were driving over rocks, sand, through creek beds and washouts. The full bore run takes Wally 2 ½ hours, he did acknowledge though it would probably take us longer. Back at the main house Wally explained about the water tanks, pumps, the garden, watering etc. At this point it was lunch time and Sandy and I went back to the workers cottage for lunch, our eyes wide open and our jaws hanging, shock was setting in as we looked at each other and laughed nervously. Lunch was for two hours and then we were back to work until 18.00. That afternoon we did the garden. We stumbled back to our abode, cobbled together some tea, and not much later fell exhausted into bed.
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