a weekend in walcha

Not long ago in a caravan park, Craig and I sat down for a beer with a former bull rider.  We asked about his broken bones and broken ego, of course; more interesting though were the stories of the small towns he visited as he went around the Australian and New Zealand circuit.

With Craig working in Beijing for three weeks, I decided to keep life interesting and hunted for a rodeo to attend. After a bit of a search, I came across the Walcha Golden Gate Rodeo and Campdraft. The events are held on simultaneous weekends in Jaunary in the town of Walcha about 420 km due north of Sydney. I knew what a rodeo was, but the weekend long campdraft piqued my curiousity. 

I'm always up for experiencing something new, so I packed my boots and my tent to find out what this uniquely Australian sport was all about.

There are three ways you can approach Walcha from Sydney. The highway routes takes you on a wide fast roads via the outskirts of Tamworth or Port Macquarie. If you don't mind a few bumps and buckles though, you can swing north off the highway via Gloucester, the Barrington Tops and Thunderbolt's Way.  The road starts out quite rough, but turns into picturesque drive that may well be the best I've ever done in Australia. From a keen traveler, that speaks volumes.

With gas and stops, the drive took about six hours.  By mid afternoon, I was all set to pitch my tent at Walcha Caravan Park. For those visiting, I found this to be a terrific park. It was small, but well maintained and terrific value for the money.  Rather than dolling out money on jumping castles or oversized playgrounds, the park has invested money into the amenities block and overall feel of the park. The showers had glass doors. The taps were all fitted with heat coated LEDs. It was safe and comfortable. For a solo traveller like me, the park was the perfect place to stay.  

Although I'm often on the road, I hadn't pitched a tent solo in nearly three decades since earning my merit badge in girl scouts. So I was thrilled when the tent was actually setup. So thrilled I broke my a long dry spell on Instagram to announce the news and share my accomplishment.

Then I headed off to the showground to find out what campdrafting was all about....

I'm not sure I can adequately do justice to the sport of mobs and beasts. Riders and horses partner together to work cattle in a way more akin to the skills they use daily on the station. 

In the first stage of the event, the rider selects his beast (cow).  He then must cut out (separate) the beast from mob (herd). There's no fancy ropes or prods involved in this. Just one rider and a well trained horse.

By nature, cows are herding animals and have a tendency to dart back towards their friends.  So the next step is for the rider to demonstrate some fancy horse work that keeps the beast away from his friends. If the cow darts back twice, the rider is disqualified and a judge on the outside of the pen cracks a whip. The announcer comes across the PA with a supportive yet sad sounding "ahhhh... bad luck."

If the rider successfully keeps his beast away from the mob, he then calls for the gate to be opened where the beast is directed around a three peg obstacle course.  If the beast strays from the proper path, the whip sounds again signaling the end of the ride.  If time runs out, you hear the whip.  If a rider completes the course with his beast, the whip signals the end of the ride. With over 400 riders on multiple horses, the whips get one heck of a workout over the course of the weekend.

Riders get scored on the cutout, as well as the course and the way they work their horse. In the open division, big Angus cattle make up the mob for both male and female competitors while junior riders start off without a mob on smaller dairy cows. From what I saw, it's a highly skill sport. Given that I could barely get my mob of cows to move from the highway using a Ford Ranger, I was truly impressed by how well they moved their beasts along. 

Campdrafts are held right around Australia; though economics and drought have meant several drafts were cancelled this year. From what I gathered, competitors travel from hundreds of kilometers away. They aren't lured by prize money or winnings, but by the love the sport and a chance to meet up with friends.

Along with the campdraft competitions that ran throughout the weekend, Walcha held a Ringers Challenge on Friday night. As with campdrafting, I wasn't sure what I was in for; but I plucked up a XXXX Gold beer from the bar and headed to the grandstand.

The Ringers Challenge was a three part competition. The first event proved to be my favorite of the weekend. While the cowboy sat on his horse with commands and encouragement; his dog ran down the ring, fetched a mob of cows and drove them around the ring. After leading them around some barrels to the far end of the course by both barking and laying down, the pup then led the herd back to the gate all in three minutes time.  Stray beasts were put in line quickly.

After the cattle dog competition, there was a round of cutting out cattle and a steer riding competition.

With several rounds of campdrafting and the ringers challenge, there were bound to be a number of winners. I count myself among them for having enjoyed this uniquely Australian experience.

happy travels, amy badskirt.