ADVENTURE
Sights from the saddle
By Kandy Curran
Against
a fiery setting sun the majestic Cockburn Range glows red, just like our
evening campfire that is sending up a plume of smoke in the distance.
As our horses head down the ridge towards camp, the rich smells of horse sweat and Kimberley grass at dusk briefly dominate the anticipation of tucker ahead.
And Banjo Paterson's classic line, recited earlier in the day by 70
year-old former drover Billy Lewis, returns: For the drover's life has pleasures
that the townsfolk never know.
We aren't actually droving on this Kimberley Pursuits horse trek, but participants
are experiencing a fair dinkum taste of the stockman's way of life: station-cured
corned beef with slabs of camp-oven damper washed down by billy tea; relaxed
evenings around the campfire as the billy bubbles away; listening to Billy
Lewis recite bush poetry; and into swags at an indecently early hour to sleep
and dream under a star-filled sky.
Our hosts - experienced Kimberley stockmen Roderick Woodland, Billy Lewis
and Hutch - are born and bred horsemen. Likewise, the horses aren't pony
clubbers or trail riders, but working stock horses bred and trained for rough
conditions on El Questro Station where they are used by Roderick Woodland
and his contract mustering team.
He guarantees that experiencing this special part of the East Kimberley
on horseback is sure to "put the smile back on your face". 
Full story: Issue 17, June/July 2001
