Our frieds Meryl and Harry sold their farm in Gooyea, where last year we went hunting, and bought Glencoe Station near Cunnamulla and kindly invited us for our annual trip to the bush where we spend some fantastic time.
Jorge, Cagi and I left to Glencoe Station on Sunday, June the 23rd and spent 5 wonderful days just potting around the farm. We hunted some wild pigs, admired lots of emus, tried to catch some fish in the Warrego river and gave a little help around the farm with the construction of a cattle yard.
Glencoe Station is situated 17 km from Cunnamulla and covers 250,000 acres ( near 1,000 sq. km) of bush resembling the savannas of south of Angola. Took us almost 10 hours to cover the 820 km to Glencoe Station with a break in St. George to taste the "world best barramundi" according to the locals in the Boomerang Cafe.
The trip took us through Toowomba into the cotton country from Dalby to Moonie and St. George. On our return, being a weekday, the traffic was relativelly heavy with trucks transporting cottom and goods.
Cunnamulla was first visited by europeans in 1846 but only around 1860 the town started being established. The main activity in the area was wool production and the town, experienced unprecedented prosperity after the war when the prices of wool soared. The present population is around 1200 people and a stopping place for the holiday caravans heading into the outback.
Glencoe Station was mainly a sheep station with significant infrastructures to support wool production: sheering shed and sheerers accommodation. Now the new owners intend to run cattle only.
We criss crossed the station looking for wild pigs, a destructive pest which the farms would love to see disapearing. However from our previous experience in Gooyea, we looked mainly for pigglets because the meat from the older animals proved to be too tough and our teeth are getting worn out.
We end up bringing home 3 pigglets and some legs of adult animals. Harry made the point to give us 3 nice lambs us and that filled our ice boxes and provided enough meat to fill up our freezers at home.
Click the legend of the photos to enlarge.
Day 1 was mainly spent travelling from Brisbane (800km). We started at 7 in the morning and arrived at Glencoe Station around 4 in the afternoon with a short stop at St George to taste the famous barramundi fish & chips at the Boomerang Cafe
Day 2 started with a bit of farm work, helping Nick and Harry building a new cattle yard. After that we started exploring the station. We finished the day sitting around a camp fire enjoying barbecued lamb chops, a cigar and a lengthy evening travelling the memory lanes.
We spend part of the morning hunting along the Warrego river. We then joinned Harry, Nick and Meryl at the cattle yard for a coup of tea and a bit more work. After that we visited Cunnamulla and had lunch there. In the afternoon Jorge and I jumped on the bikes and went for a spin around the Station. Cagi and Harry decided to try their luck fishing.
The day ended with another fabulous evening around the camp fire. Cagi and I cooked tuna pasta for dinner.
Day 4 started with a earthy breakfast cooked by Cagi. The planned work in the catle yard did not eventuated and we all went hunting. Harry took us for a long drive around the Station and we were able to see lots of Emus and obviously wild pigs. I couldn't believe how much the bush looked like the savannas in the south of Angola. Huge areas of grass with small trees dispersed here and there and relatively dense jungle in between.
In the afternoon we prepared the meat and packed the ice boxes for the trip back and closed the day with another evening around the camp fire with Jorge's famous lamb chops grilled to perfection. We had a hell of a good time and we would like to thank our friends Meryl and Harry for their hospitality. We hope we can repay it in Brisbane soon.
