We took a side trip off the Savannah Way heading to the Einasliegh Pub down a dirt road which had just been graded. On the way we spotted the Jardine Lagoon situated on the Station property with “free camping’ Not actually free but water and showers and an open paddock for $10 pp/pn

Idillic, camping on the side of a big lagoon/ dam with fringing ghost gums, water lilies and a myriad of water birds and of course galahs galore. Brolga’s, black kites, shags, white herons, ducks and pond Lillypad jumping birds. The area had a few more bonuses. A huge basalt lined waterhole with kayaks provided, so we had an enjoyable paddle and cool off swim (apparently only fresh water crocs and Jenny said “ we just throw the kids in and they all come back, so it must be OK!”). After our little adventure at the waterhole we went to the iconic Einasliegh pub … an oh, cold beer. 4XXXX of course! Guess who is writing now?

The station cattle yard was adjacent to the camping area and was interesting to talk to bare foot farmer Chris (yes he was bare foot all the time) and Jenny about the drafting and drenching of the cattle and how the seasons worked. They expected the monsoon rains Oct/ Nov each year but last year did not come to late January- how do you manage this stuff? They don’t have a bore but pump water from the Ellendale river to keep the waterholes topped up. With such a delay in the rains last year the landholders downstream of the Ellendale dam got together and spoke nicely to the dam controller who granted them a controlled release of enough water so the river started running again and Jenni said it was just sufficient to reach them and put water back on the station. Apparently when the water levels are so low the biggest problem going down to drink and getting stuck in the puggy mud which will kill them if they don’t get help soon enough. Now back onto the Savannah Way via Forsayth heading to Croydon.

Back onto the Savannah Way via Forsayth and heading to Croydon.

Croydon had a huge gold rush in the 1890’s extracting 24 tonne of gold in the area (not carats but tonnes!) with an interesting historic village.
We stayed in the Croydon show grounds in the big paddock and it just so happened that the rodeo was on. We selected the best trees at the end of the grounds for shade and to be furthest away from the bands we knew were staring up later that night parked the van and setup. As it happened a couple of 70 series land cruisers pulled up with a couple of aboriginal men their sons and nephews. I stepped up and went and had a chat. An hour later (and two beers) and I had made a new best friend of Stanford who was a contract musterer and had an 80 acre cattle finishing farm just out of Atherton. “Holy cow” some of the bulls he rounded up were wild and 800kg plus! That’s about as big as a truck lol.

We were then part of the mob which ensured a very pleasurable couple of nights with Stanford and his mob (which grew to about 20) as they were competing in the bull riding events. I was invited behind the release gates of the bull pens as the boys were all getting ready and waiting their call up and was privy to all the tricks and bull preparation. The uncle’s provided expert advice as to techniques and positions to hold on release and in the ride. Extremely interesting as they fully hyped the riders. As it happened Leon and Aaron Bowen had very good rides (have to last 8 secs and the scores are up to 50 pts for the rider and 50 pts for the bull , total out of 100) to qualify for the novice finals and have a crack at the ‘opens’. The prize money was $1500 for novices and up to $3000 in the opens. Nothing like the two cousin rivalry. Sadly we had to depart but only after another hour of introductions and lots of laughter with the mob. Unbelievably respectful, inclusive and courteous people.

John