Visit to the cattle

Day: 198 Stage three / total expedition days 589

Sunrise:
05:24

Sunset:
18:49

As the crow flies:
24,5

Daily kilometers:
29

Total kilometers:
5964 km

Temperature - Day (maximum):
42° degrees, sun approx. 66°

Temperature - Night:
17.4° degrees

Latitude:
22°46'43,6"

Longitude:
145°26'51.6"

Bristel Bore Camp – 30.11.2002

Like every day, especially since we left the Simpson Desert behind us, we have to overcome a few fences. We usually find gates of various kinds to allow us to walk through the wire mesh. There is usually a gate next to the cattle grids across the paths and roads and sometimes I am forced to take down a fence and rebuild it. Since New Haven, we have had to open and close approximately 181 fence gates and move and rebuild 15 fences.

We are currently standing in front of a grid again. Because there doesn’t seem to be a gate here, I’m forced to loosen the fence wires to get us through.

At 12:30 we reach the Bristol Bore that I am aiming for. We settle down under the shady, tall gidyea trees and unload the camels. Before we chain Rufus to a tree and remove his muzzle, we rake the ground within the radius of the chain. Terry gave us the old rake to help give Rufus a better chance of survival. Only after we have removed the withered leaves and grass does Tanja take off his muzzle and gives him a bowl of water. He gratefully settles down on his dog blanket and slurps up the warm liquid.

Immediately after our pack animals have been unloaded, we lead them to the bore to water them. Then we let them graze and hang our foil in the branches to protect them from the sun’s rays. We are not alone for long when some cattle visit us. Obviously, our camp is their resting and shady place. They curiously come closer and closer until they are only a few meters away from us. They watch the intruders with curiosity. A cow even slowly creeps up on Rufus. We watch spellbound as she bends her head down to sniff our dog. But that’s too much for Rufus. He jumps up barking to hide from the big beast behind the tree trunk.

While we drink one cup of water after the other, our boys munch on the gidyeas. With their long necks, they can reach branches that cattle can never reach. The cows and bulls longingly observe how easy it is for our desert animals to eat in this dry land. They wait patiently and when one or the other branch falls onto the hot ground, they eat it without restraint. Hardie, who has always taken great pleasure in simply breaking off one branch after another, is suddenly observed by a huge bull weighing perhaps 1000 kilograms. Slowly and leisurely, the colossus strides towards him. Without taking the slightest notice of Hardie, he stands right next to him and begins to eat the broken branches. Hardie looks ridiculously thin next to the mighty bull. Apparently he is uncomfortable in the immediate vicinity of the massive and colossal cattle leader, because he suddenly stands stock-still. “He won’t move another millimeter,” I say with a laugh. “He would probably prefer to make himself invisible,” says Tanja, also laughing.