It is a fallacy the Australian Outback is a vast, flat featureless plain.

Granted, at times the gems may seem far apart but in reality it is an ever-changing landscape of colour…almost chameleon like.

Take for instance the Margaret Range, about 70 kilometres south of Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track not long after a brief shower of rain and a cloudy sky.

When big herds of cattle are brought in from far afield on outback stations, the crows nest is an important part of how they are sorted and processed either for market or recording.

It has often amazed me how few people actually work on a cattle station these days. I am on Anna Creek station where just eight people control thousands of head of Santa Gertrudis and Brahman cattle spread over a vast area in conditions that many would describe as inhospitable for much of the year.

Anna Creek is part of the famous Kidman empire and cattle are trucked here from the company’s properties in northern Australia. They spend about a year at Anna Creek before heading south again.

Sophie Evans from South Australia’s Clare Valley is a ringer on Anna Creek. Her grandfather was a manager here years ago and now here love of horses has brought her here to work.

It can take days to bring cattle to the yards, and camping out is a regular occurrence.

Once the cattle have reached the yards, this is where the crows nest is invaluable. Essentially the cattle are brought in stages to a run where each animal enters a circular pen.

Head stockman Gordon Warren assesses each of the animals. That’s Gordon behind all the rails while aboriginal ringer Gary Gibbs scrambles to safety.

Depending on size, age, and sex Gordon decides the fate of each animal and signals to Sophie, who is operating the crows nest, which gate to open that lets the animal into another pen.

These cattle are immensely strong and some far from docile, so the ability to manually sort them via the crows nest reduces the number of people involved.

Head stockman Gordon Warren and his dog Lolly leading the herd with a motorbike rider following along behind. A mix of the old and the new on the S. Kidman and Co. Anna Creek station in far north, South Australia.

Lolly is an experienced cattle dog and it is fascinating to watch her at work. She almost instinctively knows where to be when things start to go awry.

Once the herd is back in formation and heading in the right direction, Lolly is back out in front. After all with all that experience why be eating a lot of dust.

The Margaret Range….Anna Creek Station…Outback South Australia.

The Kidman station’s Cessna 172 heads for mustering work on the world’s largest cattle station.

Aircraft are a must for modern day cattle production on Australian cattle stations that are often bigger than some nation states around the world.

Looking at tombstones in the bush is an interesting pastime……there’s always a story behind every one.

A case in point is the grave of Benjamin Daggett, accidentally shot in the kitchen of the Anna Creek station homestead in outback South Australia back in April 1883.

“Erected by his friends and fellow workmen” says the inscription.

No mention of cheating in a game of cards that’s rumoured to have led to the shooting.

The details lost in the the sands of time.

——————OOOOOO—————-

Thanks to all those people who sent me emails with best wishes for the opening of my Lake Eyre exhibition. It was a successful evening with lots of positive feed back from those who attended.

Everyone enjoyed themselves…..a relaxed group, a great meal and entertainment provided by local musiician and songwriter John O’Dea which went into the early hours next morning.

I’ll spare you the pictures.

Here’s another image that captures the rich colours of the Anna Creek Painted Hills out near Coober Pedy in the far north of South Australia.

The Painted Hills began to form around 80 million years ago when this land had emerged from a receding sea.

Different minerals, some less soluble than others were more resistant to soil erosion, thus the mesas and other spectacular formations.

Those same minerals provide the beautiful colour we see today.

The photograph of the Painted Hills on Anna Creek station in the previous post needs to be put into perspective.

It was quite selective, featuring just one formation but the Painted Hills area is quite extensive.

Because of the rapidly fading light there was only time for two passes, but this image gives a better idea of the crumbling ruins of a landscape millions of years old.

All my aerial photographic work over the Painted Hills, Anna Creek Station and Lake Eyre have been done through WrightsAir who are based at William Creek but have planes at Marree and Coober Pedy as well

This is one of the many spectacular formations in the Painted Hills on Anna Creek Station….that Kidman property that covers a vast part of South Australia’s north.

This area is extremely fragile and for that reason the location is closely guarded.

Obviously an aerial view is the best way to see these remarkable formations in the desert which have been shaped by erosion over millions of years.

Even though it was partially overcast this late afternoon, there was enough sunlight to show off the range of rich colours which cover a spectrum starting with red going through orange, ochre, yellow and white.

Another gem of Australia’s Outback.