OUTBACK STATIONS
High, wide and handsome
Story Margrit Beemster
Photos Michael Griffin
The
sun has yet to break the day, but already Cobungra Station's stockmen are
in the saddle. Rising and falling in the distance are the sounds of cows
calling to their calves, cracking stockwhips and voices urging the stock
along.
An early morning mist that persists for most of the morning, muffles the
sounds.
We are at the entrance to Sharpes, a holding paddock where the last of Cobungra's
cattle to be moved to higher leasehold country for the summer have spent
the night. In the low country the temperatures have been in the high 30s
with unusual, energy-sapping humidity.
But here in the High Plains, at the home of Victoria's largest and highest cattle station, the morning air is cool, hinting at the occasional shower that later will wet the stockmen's backs as they move the cattle to Dinner Plain.
The
trek is easy, only 20km or so - a gradual climb and the cattle hardly seem
fussed by the riders and their dogs driving them along the great Alpine
Way.
The stockmen's main concern is the increased number of cars and trucks travelling
the road since it was sealed in 1998. "Some people don't understand
how to drive through cattle," says Derek Faithfull, 23, who, with brother
Tim, 24, and Terry Watt, work full-time for Cobungra Station that extends
from near Omeo for 25km up to Dinner Plain.
"They stop and start tooting their horns. Or they get out and take
pictures. The mob then splits and goes this way and that!" 
Full story: Issue 18, August/ September 2001
