The following is a story by a former stockman who has slept in a traditional Australian swag at the Million Star Hotel for many years.
“Since 2002, a great Australian outback fishing competition has been held at the Oma waterhole on the Barcoo River at the town of Isisford just South of Longreach in Western Queensland.
Having lived down river in the Yaraka district not far from Isisford in my youth, for some years in the 1960’s, my old friend from those days, Ronnie Walton, invited me to enter with him in the 2008 Isisford Fishing Competition.
Ronnie and I had worked on sheep and cattle grazing properties back in the sixties and being friends ever since, liked to catch up every year, and in 2008, were looking forward to visiting the outback once again. Back in the sixties we lived out of our swags for most of the year doing stock work.
Back then, stock work was predominantly on horseback with short wheel based Land Rovers used to carry tinned food, cooking utensils and swags etc, from camp to camp. Mustering, drafting and branding would see us away from the Station Homestead for months on end and camping out in the open in swags those nights reminds me of the sky filled with a kaleidoscope of stars to wonder about before falling asleep.
It was with great excitement therefore that, with the prospect of a trip to compete in the Isisford 2008 Fishing Comp, I could look forward to camping beside the Barcoo River as I had on many occasions before. I had a small problem however. Ronnie had worked in the outback most of his life and had a traditional stockman’s swag he carried in his falcon Ute.
As we would be camping out under the stars (Ronnie and I would not dream of having a tent) to recapture some of the memories of our youth, I needed a swag, but at age 62, I decided I couldn’t justify the expense of swags available to the modern day stockman.
I was pleased when I learned I could borrow a swag for the trip.
The conventional Stockman’s swag travels in the back of a Ute or 4×4 and sometimes on the back of a horse, however, the Street Swag folds up into a bag that can be used to carry more than just bedding as previously mentioned.
I was quite intrigued, needless to say as I rolled out my swag at a number of water holes on the Thompson and Barcoo Rivers during the trip in 2008. The one waterhole we did not camp at was the Oma waterhole at Isisford. Would you believe, the 2008 Isisford Fishing Competition was cancelled due to rain? This I learnt as I stepped off the plane in Longreach in July 2008.
Ronnie greeted me with the words that the comp had been cancelled. Even the best 4×4’s do not get far in the muddy black soil after rain. Not to worry though, unlike the current 2010/11 record rains in all of Queensland, back in 2008, rain in one district usually meant dry in others.
So after my first night sleeping on the veranda of Ronnie’s sister-in-law’s home in Longreach, we headed for Winton the next day, Saturday for the Outback, Queensland / NSW Rugby League Annual Finals.
We had a great day out with Ronnie’s nephew playing in the under 10’s finals. Boys and girls play Rugby League in all outback junior teams and selected adult teams. The grand final was all blokes though and I honestly forget who won that year.
Back to Longreach to overnight and then off down the Thompson River Road to Stonehenge where we met many old acquaintances there and on further to Jundah before going back up the Barcoo River to Yaraka and on to Blackall.
We visited some of the properties Ronnie and I had worked on in our youth. We were disappointed to find only caretakers on Retreat and Budgerygar Stations on the Barcoo but made ourselves known and were permitted to look over our old quarters and other homestead buildings.
The memories flooded back and we camped at familiar waterholes along the Barcoo. While the fishing was pretty lean pickings, we didn’t mind at all. Just being there and enjoying the quiet, the solitude in the pristine surroundings was rejuvenating.
by David