{"id":3796,"date":"2013-02-03T18:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-03T07:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesentimentalbloke.com\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2013-02-02T14:25:51","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T03:55:51","slug":"depot-spring-the-drive-from-jacks-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petermacdonaldphoto.com.au\/2013\/02\/depot-spring-the-drive-from-jacks-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Depot Spring – The Drive from Jacks Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n With 7000 sheep to round up and get to the holding paddock at the shearing shed, each day’s work is carefully planned.<\/p>\n It’s a sequence that depends on the weather and experience. This day there was a thunderstorm and heavy clouds in the area but not much chance of rain.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Despite the terrain and the heat the well being of the sheep is a priority. Those too young or too old to make the journey end up riding in the back of a ute.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Jack’s Camp is on the picturesque eastern side of the property and the five hundred or so sheep in the holding yards will be moved a few kilometres to another paddock closer to the shearing shed. And from there to another, until they reach their destination about 35 kilometres away.<\/p>\n I knew the sheep would be heading down this creek with the early morning light flooding through the river gums. I thought it might make a good photograph. I wasn’t disappointed. The scene could have been right out of a Tom Roberts painting.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Because of the cloud, the temperature was a little down, but even so it was still around 40 degrees and the sheep tended to move at their own pace with a little encouragement from the stockmen for the stragglers lagging behind.<\/p>\n This day it is a family affair. Cousins Lindsay Mengersen from Wooltana Station, Troy Fels from Motpena and son-in-law Luke Ridsdale from Leigh Creek are on the drive with Geoff. The four are mostly spread out over a wide area communicating by UHF radios. <\/p>\n