Australian travel writer, Craig Tansley looks at why Australia is so uniquely Australia…
1. You Can Muster Cattle With Real-Life Cowboys
Just about every country town in Australia offers some kind of horse ride… but there’s only one place that allows riders to experience a real-life cattle muster across the Aussie outback.
Now in its 14th year and run entirely by volunteers, the Harry Redford Cattle Drive boasts no luxuries. There’s no showers, motel rooms or electricity… instead, you’ll be sleeping in swags on the red dirt of western Queensland and eating meals with local cowboys.
Located just outside Aramac in western Queensland (near Longreach), the cattle drive was devised by locals to generate income to keep the town afloat. While it’s a clever tourism idea, feeding livestock is still its number one priority. You’ll be challenged to travel at least 10 kilometres a day – over 19 days the drive covers 200 kilometres, however visitors can choose how far they want to ride.
The great thing is you don’t have to be an experienced rider – you’ll be part of a group effort transporting more than 600 head of cattle to new feeding ground.
The Harry Redford Drive runs from 7-28 May 2016.
2. Australia Is Home To The Ute Capital Of The World
It is official, Australia is home to the Ute Capital Of The World, and we proudly claim that no other country on Earth knows how to put on a ute muster quite like Australia. The prestigious Ute Capital title goes to the tiny Riverina town of Deniliquin on the NSW/ Victoria border.
Every October, Riverina’s population of 8,000 swells to more than 25,000 when the world’s biggest ute muster brings enthusiasts from all over Australia, and beyond. What started as a tiny part of the annual Pastoral & Agricultural Show has grown into a monster event. In its first year, the Deni Ute Muster made the Guinness Book Of Records for the largest participation of legally registered utes on Earth – at 2,839. And every year since then the record has been beaten – in 2013, more than 9,730 utes were mustered.
It’s now two-day festival that includes live music, a ute driving competition and the world-famous Australian Circle Work Championships. And another one for the world record book broken at the muster – the highest number of people in blue singlets, an impressive 3,924 all together at the same time.
Deniliquin’s the place to be, but there’s other ute musters around Australia, with Caboolture’s Beaut Ute competition (which includes the category, Best Feral Ute) the most notable.
Catch the Deni Ute Muster in October 2016.
3. And Where Else On Earth But Australia Would Hold A Beer Can Regatta?
It’s the most unusual boat race on the Planet, by a country mile –just building the boats takes a year of hard training… in drinking that is! Naturally the regatta is located in Darwin. In 1974 two local businessmen came up with a unique way to clean up the city – use empty cans of beer to build boats to race in a regatta – and it has been running ever since.
Over 20,000 people watched the first Beer Can Regatta – half the population of Darwin at the time. These days the regatta has its very own festival held along Darwin’s Mindil Beach every July, with the drawcard being the chance to see teams of boaties take to vessels crafted entirely from cans.
Most boats are made up of around 2,500 cans – though one boat, the mighty Extravacanz, once held 30,000 cans, and 87 people. Entrants aren’t allowed to test their boat’s seaworthiness before the event and must follow the 10 Can-Mandments, most crucial of which is: “thou shalt not drown”. There’s also a race where contestants run their boats on the beach using their feet.
Catch the action of next year’s Beer Can Regatta on 17 July, 2016.
4. Australia Has The Only Toilet Race On Earth!
It’s an Aussie institution – the outdoor toilet (or dunny as its better known). Most country houses in Australia used to have an outdoor dunny – so you’d have to battle the elements to get out and do your business, rain, hail, snow or shine. But no-one thought to race an outdoor dunny until a pub on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast came up with the idea.
Now every Australia Day (January 26) eight teams race an outdoor dunny (the whole room is put onto wheels and contestants must pull it alone – often with one member sitting on the toilet as they race) at Aussie World (at the pub formerly known as the Ettamogah Pub). Thousands turn up for this most iconic of events – with the winner earning themselves the toilet seat trophy as the Dunny Racing Champions Of The World. It’s not for the faint of heart, dunnies can get away from competitors, and there’s been the odd occasion where someone was thrown from their throne onto the bitumen outside.
The next dunny race will be held at 10am sharp.
5. There Really Is A Walkabout Creek Hotel, But It’s In The Wrong State
It’s the most famous Australian pub of all time. The world knows all about the Walkabout Creek Hotel thanks to the exploits of Australia’s most famous movie character, Crocodile Dundee. After Dundee takes American reporter Sue Charlton out to where he was attacked by a salt-water crocodile in the Northern Territory, they return to the nearby Walkabout Creek Hotel to celebrate in true Northern Territory style.
Guess what? There really is a Walkabout Creek Hotel, but it’s not in the Territory, it’s in Queensland – 120 kilometres south-west of Gladstone to be precise. Built in the tiny township of McKinlay – home to just 417 locals – it was called the Federal McKinlay Hotel till Paul Hogan came to town looking for the ultimate Aussie outback watering hole.
You can stay in one of 18 rooms in the pub and it’s as rustic as you might imagine, but these days you might have to book. Despite its isolation, it’s become a tourist drawcard and in 2014 it sold for over a million dollars (compared to $290,000 before the movie came out).
Looking for more inspiration on where to travel in your own backyard? Visit the momondo blog to discover Australia’s top 10 most romantic resorts or read our 10 reasons you must visit Kangaroo Island.
