 Any bites? |
The Outback is a state of mind, not simply a line on the map, and western Queensland proves the point.
 Queensland's Outback is a land of sprawling cattle stations and small towns where some of Australia’s most enduring institutions were born, of characters larger than life; of pea-green rivers populated with yellowbelly and other elusive creatures; of homesteads both hospitable and historic.
Tonight, Windorah’s Western Star Hotel is hosting two rowdy contingents of jackaroos, partying on their day off. Last weekend’s annual yabby (crustacean) race was still a runaway success. Up the road stands a tiny, weatherbeaten bungalow where an elderly man keeps watch from a rickety verandah. ‘Tarpot’ is a retired station hand, a former cattle ringer who still enjoys a rum. Mark the publican notes matter-of-factly, “we take a feed over to him at night”.
We’re out on Cooper Creek, fishing for yellowbelly. The fish will start biting when the river drops after a flood, says Brian, who musters cattle by helicopter when he’s not fishing. His mate Geoff is a kangaroo shooter, which explains the racks and fittings mounted all over his truck. In these towns whose population never reaches three digits, surnames become irrelevant; nicknames good enough.
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