My second WWOOF placement was on a cattle range in Ravenshoe, a small town in the Tablelands region west of Cairns. (The town is pronounced
ravens-hoe; you read
raven-shoe didn't you?) This was my first experience with cattle and on day one I was thrown into the fire like I knew what I was doing. And it was great! My first day was by far the busiest and longest, but easily the most rewarding of the 2+ weeks I spent there.
I had messaged the hosts a few days before I arrived to confirm bus times, and they ended their reply with, "We're scheduled to move some cattle Saturday, so timing is perfect."
Uh huh, sounds great, totally know what you mean. My host Phil picked me up from the bus stop Friday evening and we got right to work early Saturday. Phil drove us out to their biggest property, roughly 7,000 acres in the small town of Mt. Garnet. As we drove out to the property I was told we have to ween some of the bigger calves off their mothers in order for them to become self-sufficient and so the mothers can put some weight back on. Great, easy... we'll just grab the little tikes and put them in a playpen or something. When we finally drive up to the holding paddock in the middle of the property, there are 300+ cows roaming around and looking a little irritated. I'm at a complete loss at how I'm supposed to help.
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Single file line, please! |
When there are big jobs like this, Phil will contract other farmers to come and help out for a few days. Luckily a local bloke, Ian, was already there with two horses and four dogs in tow. One of the first things he said to me was, "You fine taking a horse?"
Good lord, these people are trusting with their animals and equipment!