HAVE you heard the one about the two blokes who had their fishing trip cut short by a big old saltwater croc giving the men’s tinny a ferry ride back to the shore of the Norman River upon his back?
How about the hair-raising encounter four musterers had after a long days’ work on the plains near Julia Creek which involved being chased by a aggravated emu that left one of the men in a second-rate state?
Well if you haven’t you should seek out a copy of Croydon author Les Pickering’s book “Oh! What an Outback Show!” which contains these and many more tales that may sound tall but according to Les all really occurred.
Over the course of a year Les compiled the book of cracking short stories which chronicles true events involving swimming cattle across flooded rivers, dodging saltwater crocodiles, hunting feral pigs, droving trips over wild country, catching scrub bulls, brave and loyal dogs, country racing capers and other misadventures of young men in the untamed Gulf country.
Born in 1942 Les attended school up until Grade Eight before going to work out on his father’s cattle station Mittagong, in December 1956.
“I did about 12 years of droving which is where a lot of the stories in the book came from,” Les said.
“Some of the stories I compiled in the book involved myself; others took place right in front of my eyes and some were told to me by family and friends,” he said.
“I’ve seen and done plenty over the years; I’ve ridden my fair share of colts; I’ve been in a few bad cattle rushes and I’ve packed my share of pack horses.
“Unfortunately all the good old times, sleeping out underneath the stars, are just about a thing of the past.”
During this span of decades spent in the Gulf, Les has witnessed all the changes in the cattle industry.
“I’ve seen all the good old experienced cattle men replaced by young ringers with no knowledge.
“I’ve witnessed the death of the camp horse and pack horse after the advent of aerial mustering and quad bikes respectively.
“All of these old times in the cattle industry will never return again; but are we better off now?
Les doesn’t think so.
It was with the thought of the old days and ways being forgotten that inspired Les to put the book together.
“Hopefully as well as giving old timers a chuckle it will give the future generations a better understanding of what life was like in the cattle industry in the gulf country before technological advances changed the game forever.”
As well as an author Les is also a budding poet with 32 poems to his name (see below).
To purchase a printed copy of Oh! What an Outback Show! email: books@mulgatraining.com.au or phone (07) 4654 1616.
The flood of 1974
By Les Pickering
The year was nineteen hundred and seventy four,
We had some heavy wets but nothing like this before.
It just kept tumbling and bucketing down,
One hundred inches of rain fell on the soaked ground.
The grass went under water and will soon be sour,
The rivers are now raising fast by the hour.
They then broke their banks and became and inland sea,
It was affecting everyone now no matter where you may be.
Roads were cut, bridges damaged, and rivers reached record heights,
Your only means of transport was to take a chopper flight.
Fences took a beating being washed down as far as the eye can see,
It will take lots of money and hard yacka to put them back where they used to be.
The creeks have now all turned into rivers,
It was now no doubt giving everyone the shivers.
The stocks were now bogging and smothering in the silty ground,
Graziers had suffered a terrible loss.
No exact figure could be put on the missing stock.
Cattle were washed away and seen swimming in the Arafura Sea,
They were never coming back it was a sorry sight to see.
Birds were always wet; they got feeble and lost the will to fly,
Kangaroos were starving they got sick and started to die.
But the ducks enjoyed every minute of the day,
They hoped the water would stay and never go away.
Yes it was the big seventy four floods,
We saw where our old stock horses bogged down and died in the mud.
Croydon was isolated from the north to the west,
This went into the record books and will take years to unrest.
Normanton became a state of emergency, people were flown out.
This meant less noise, and safer for the crocs to get about.
The water rose over phone lines and many trees,
It was now one sheet of water from Croydon to the Karumba Sea.
Country people were now on rooftops in despair,
Waiting for a chopper, to rescue them by air.
Yes it was nineteen seventy four, our biggest ever wet,
Many years have past but I will always remember, you bet.
