Country Calender

When the TV crew rang Dick to ask if they could come on the cattle muster and film it for Country Calender, they asked if they needed to pay for accommodation and food. Dick answered, "No. You bring the beer and we'll bring the tucker!"

And that's what they did!

It was a great muster, enlivened by heaps of raucous hilarity in the huts at night.

It's a real shame they had to edit 8 1/2 hours of video down to 22 minutes for the program.

On the next episode, screening June 20 at 7pm on TV ONE:

While most eight-year-olds pester their parents for a new toy, a trip to the movies or a digital device, Mount White Station's Mark Smith had a different birthday present in mind.

Mark was desperate to take his pony on the Canterbury high country station's annual cattle muster - and when he got his wish, a Country Calendar crew went with him.

According to his dad, station manager Richard Smith, the youngster had been pleading for over a year to join him and the other stockmen on the four-day muster.

Read more and check out the links at the bottom of the page.

See it here.

Spot the WebWrat.

Cains Camp

Cains Camp, situated on the east side of the Esk River. The only hut on the Station that you can't drive to .... a lovely spot.

About a year ago, Richard, the manager of the Station and I walked up to Cains Camp and spent a day cutting and clearing scrub for an airstrip. Cutting the scrub was only part of the job as the ground was very rough with humps and holes and it needed to be leveled before we could land the Station Auster on it without ripping it's little wheels off. After a year, we hadn't got around to it, though Richard had had an old wheel barrow and shovel dropped off there by a visiting helicopter in preparation for the big job.

Early this year my mate, Muz, from the Coast rang and suggested we go to the Station for a hunt this 'roar'. I said, "That's a bloody good idea, we could go to Cains Camp and you can go hunting and I'll fix the strip."

For five days we had a great time. Muz went for hunts in the mornings and evenings and helped me during the day.

On the morning we were to leave, we woke up to six inches of snow on the ground.

Poulter River

A post inspired by Oswald Bastable's photo of Lake Minchin.

A couple of months ago, Henry and I got sent up the Poulter to spend a night in the Turnbull Biv and then muster cows out the next day.

Looking up the Poulter. Lake Minchin is in the distant valley at left. Turnbull Biv is on top of the terrace on the right.

Interesting Shot

An interesting shot from the fall muster '08. I thought we were going to get a wet arse, but it didn't come to anything.

Shearing Muster 2007