©Copyright Peter MacDonald Photography. All Rights Reserved

The Birdsville Track gives a sense of never-ending space as it passes Dulkaninna Station homestead.

The Photograph was taken while shooting an article on the Bell family for the “Best of Outback Stations” publication back in April.

The Bell’s can trace their heritage back to the first European establishment of pastoral properties on the Birdsville Track in the 1890s.

Best of Outback Stations, featuring an in-depth look at life on 11 pastoral properties  is now out at newsagents around the country.

Regarding the query on the technical details of the photo in the earlier post entitled Outback Station, the answer is in the comments section of that post.

Arguably the major landmark in Marree, South Australia – the trruck driven by the late Tom Kruze, the famous Birdsville Track mailman.
©Copyright 2014 Peter MacDonald Photography. All Rights Reserved

I have been through Maree many times on my way to somewhere.

It was the same a couple of weeks ago when I passed through Marree to do a feature for the upcoming R M Wiliams “Best of Outback Stations” magazine.

Maree is the beginning ( or the end ) of  the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Tracks – both legendary Outback stock routes and it was up the Birdsville Track this time.

Maree isn’t quite the bustling town it was when it was a cattle railhead …. or more recently when thousands of tourists flocked north to see flooded Lake Eyre.

©Copyright 2014 Peter MacDonald Photography. All Rights Reserved.

It must have been quite a sight  seeing Tom Kruze pull out of town at the start of his many epic journey’s up the Birdsville track.

A movie of his fortnightly journey called “Back of Beyond” was filmed back in the early 1950s. It is still for sale and an excerpt from the movie can be seen by clicking on the highlighted title.

©Copyright 2014 Peter MacDonald Photography. All Rights Reserved.

In the back streets of Marree, the skeletons of less famous vehicles can be found. These too most likely had plenty of tales  to tell.

The sign on the door of this old wreck gives a clue to its working history. Allandale Station is up the Oodnadatta Track at the top of Lake Eyre . It would have spend its life carting supplies along the rocky track.

©Copyright 2014 Peter MacDonald Photography. All Rights Reserved.

What was even more intriguing was its current location – right next to the bones of an old petrol bowser.

It is as though the old Chevrolet rolled into the garage and the two died together

I am sure there was more to this story but time wasn’t on my side this time.

Campdrafting, Clayton Station, Birdsville Track.

Bronco Branding. The action is fast and furious once a young beast has been roped.

This plan is to bring it to a thick steel frame, universal around cattle stations in Australia, at the same time putting a noose around one of its front and back legs.

The plan doesn’t always work and that’s when things get a bit chaotic.

The ground team has to use the leg ropes to bring the animal to the ground where it is given an ear tag and branded.

Of course the young heifer or steer isn’t too cooperative about all this.

That’s the rough and tumble part of the competition but the roping requires a bit of finesse and a lot of accuracy. The success of this initial part of bronco branding can often determine the winners and losers.

And if you thought this was just a a bit of fun for the boys…think again, there were plenty of girls in the thick of the action too.

In fact the winning team down from Queensland were a mixed doubles

Non-stop action all day for 10 bucks. You just can’t beat that

The Australian bronco branding championships held at Marree over the holiday weekend were an absolute hoot.

You have no idea how strong these competitors have to be and the team work that’s needed to compete, until you see them in action.

There’s plenty more pictures of the action, the atmosphere and the people coming up

Shane Oldfield, Clayton Station, Birdsville Track cutting out young heifers and steers for ear tagging and branding.

There’s still time to break out the swag and head for Marree this Sunday where blokes like Shane  will be in action all day at the bronco branding competitions.

Bronco branding is the traditional method of branding cattle in the Outback and has been practiced on most of the large stations throughout Australia.

Once the mob has been mustered a stockmen  rides in and ropes a cleanskin calf from his horse. The catcher then hauls the calf to a bronco ramp where it is held, earmarked and branded.

The whole process can take less than a minute.

The modern process uses a calf cradle and this reduces both the time and labour costs for outback stations.

The use of open or yard broncoing, as seen here, has become virtually obsolete, and, along with that, the skills of the Australian stockman.

To keep those skills alive there are now bronco branding competitions all over the Outback.

The next one is in Marree on June 12. If you don’t mind a bit of dust it’s worth joining in to see our station people doing their thing.

Well known cattleman and horseman Gordon Litchfield of Wilpoorina Station, south of Marree in Outback South Australia working cattle on Clayton Station along the Birdsville Track.

Pictures from a recent cattle drive on Clayton station, just over 50 kilometres north of Marree on the Birdsville Track.

Clayton Station is in northern South Australia and is bouncing back from a decade of drought which saw the property destocked for a time.

Destocking means hard times and no income for people on the land.

However good rains have seen a spectacular regrowth of vegetation on all the properties along the track and plenty of feed for healthy cattle.

Clayton Station, Birdsville Track, Outback Australia

The now-famous Birdsville Track was originally used as a route to bring cattle  from Queensland’s Channel Country to the sale yards in Adelaide and later Maree.

That started back in the 1860s but today, people, mostly from the cities, tag along on these sorts of drives, getting a first hand experience of life on an outback station complete with strong horses, strong men and women, acres of dust and plenty of fresh air.

Droving cattle on Clayton Station, the Birdsville Track in Outback South Australia.

And not too far from where the Lake Eyre shots, posted yesterday, were taken.

It doesn’t happen often these days – droving cattle in the traditional way with horses.

Motorbikes replaced horses on catlle and sheep stations around Australia because of costs and efficiency.

Nevertheless on the Birdsville Track recently, at Clayton Station, the cattle drive was on once again, with some fine horsemen and women droving the herd.

The famous and one time feared Birdsville Track finally cut after twenty long and dry years.

The waters of the Cooper Creek on its long journey from Queensland to Lake Eyre now flow across it..

The old punt that was last in service two decades ago has been re-commissioned for the occasion.

It’s about 160 kilometres up the track from the Maree.

Expect a wait which will depend on how many vehicles are in line to cross. The punt takes only one vehicle at a time.

Taking a ride on the punt could though be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The Birdsville Hotel, an icon of ‘the Bush” and a must-see for Outback travellers.

When this image was taken there weren’t too many tourists in Birdsville, floodwaters having cut off all the roads into town.

As a photograph it was a bit of a struggle too – overcast skies, no people and drab colours.

It was hardly the usual scene with a dozen or so dusty four-wheel-drives parked out the front and the bar was empty too.

I hope this tells the story though.

Canon 5d Mk 1, Lens – Canon EF28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM. f20, 1/60 sec ISO 400 40 mm hand held.