My world walk blog Australia 59  

The Rodeo family and the Great Shearers strike of 1891

Rodeo family.

You probably heard Bob in my recent  video saying that I should be able to get some water at a farm 22 kilometres down the road from Jerico?
I had a three day walk to Barcaldine in front of me.

Bob and Gay, his wife had kindly let me camp in their garden. They had departed early for their weekly grocery shopping expedition in Emerald, over two hundred kilometres away. After I packed up my gear I was looking for a place to charge up my phone and found it in the form of a wall socket at the back of a community hall in Jerico's memorial park. While waiting for it to charge I had my breakfast seated on a park bench. I got talking to one of the towns maintenance men, a friendly man called Shane. I also asked him about the farm where I could get the water and as luck would have it, he is friends with Dean, the owner. So, Shane whipped out his mobile and called Dean. "Sure! That's the crazy Irishman I saw on the road a few days ago. Tell him to stop by the farm and we will give him a cabin, a shower and water for the road!"

That meant I could walk with four litres of water instead of the twelve I planned to push because I could fill up at the farm.

Soon I was wheeling Karma down the Capicorn, A4 Highway. It was a late start, after 11 am, but it would still feel like an easy days walking. It was also hot and the flies were terrible. Once again I wore my fly face net. You know you are comfortable wearing one when you spit out and forget about the mask I always feel so stupid when I do that, or when I try to put food in my mouth, not to mention brushing my teeth!

I walked past several kilometres of termite mounts in varying sizes and shapes. Someone told me that they are in fact white ants and also shared their nest with regular ants. Termites can eat down wodden houses, railway tracks and even telegraph poles as fast as they can build them. Now these structures are made from concrete.
Ants anticipate the rains and build their nests high, sometimes as high as ten feet tall in the Northern Territory, I'm told. Some of these moulds were dressed up with clothes or baseball caps by fun-loving people. As always, I also walked past dozens of dead kangaroos and sometimes even held my nostrils for the putrifying stench was unbearable. They were pretty small, I wondered if they were kangaroos or wallabies and other people suggested as in more of a joke they at are bit of both, wallaroo's.

After 12 km I stopped for lunch under a shady tree. I dined and relaxed for almost an hour on noodles, sardines, tea and biscuits.

That left just two hours to walk to Ightham farm.

Upon arriving I waited for Adam Mirfin, the farm manager to arrive. It's a 29,000 acre farm with a couple of thousand cows. Dean the owner has about five farms, and that's what they do here. An owner may have several farms and a manager for each of them. While I waited I sat on my stool and got up when a curious horse came over to check me out. Unfortunately, I spooked him when I stood up to shoot a video!

Just then Adam arrived with Amanda, his American wife from California and their two young children. They are both rodeo riders. He a bull rider who likes to rope horses and she prefers riding wild horses.They met when Adam went to work on a Californian farm to be closer to the rodeo scene. Amandas father Jack Rasco is a three-times world rodeo champion. After Adam and Amanda married they eventually moved to Queensland and Amanda wasted no time in becoming the Australian rodeo champion.

That night I was invited to dinner by my latest friends and I was spoilt with a delicious Thai curry.

Next day Adam mentioned that he was going to rugby training the following evening in Barcaldine. He is a forward for the local club. Quick as a flash I asked him to deliver me my water on the road when he passed me that day and some more to be placed twenty kms ahead.

It's pretty tough walking in the 31C, circa 90 F, for my American friends, with the flies now. Every time I stop for a snack they devour me. That night I walked late, until about ten and left an easy day to Barcaldine, a further twenty clicks from my campspot behind a couple of trees at the side of the road.

The day before I met a man called Graham, a serious triathlete who lives in a town called Longreach, a further four days reach for me. He has been of great help as one of Karmas wheels and also  her spare are badly buckled and he managed to find a place, his local BP service station that can straighten them out. From Barcaldine that's a further, 108 kilometres, three days at my current pace but I have decided to slow it down to four because I don't want to wait around for a day as John the owner of the service station doesn't work Sundays. There is a small town called Ilfraocombe which is on the way, 27 kms from Longreach. To keep the weight off Karma I ain't push much water as Im told there are two rest areas with water both 30 and 65 kms from Barcaldime. This water is labeled as not suitable for drinking but I have been assured its okay when boiled, as I have been doing from to time at these areas.

It's going to get pretty desolate in parts from here on, especially after Mt Isa towards Darwin. Australian internet service is apaling, Im just lucky to capture whatever signal I do.

The Great Shearers strike of 1891

Barcaldine and in particular under the so-called 'tree of knowledge' is the birthplace of Australian trade unions. In 1891 over 1,000 workers marched through the town and as many as 8,000 shearers downed tools in an effort to procure better working conditions and wages. Strikes and plans of action were organised at the tree. The workers revolt was eventually crushed by government forces by capturing the thirteen main leaders and sentencing them to three years of hard labour in prision. Their efforts were not in vain as this all culminated with the eventual formation of trade unions and eventually  the Labour party in Australia, the worlds oldest such party.

Today, an exact replica stand in the spot of the old tree of knowledge.