….and we’re going to muster lots of cattle.

That is my standard line to keep Hamish and Adelaide on task when out mustering at the moment.

Today we went through some long, wavy grass…swish, swash, swish, swash

Next we went through some mud;  thick, oozy mud…..squelch, squelch

And then we rode through some water…..splish, splash.

All the time our horses went clip, clop or sometimes a little faster, clippety clop.

Mustering is a family affair here and with Tess (our chief musterer) in America, it has meant all hands are on deck. Andrew and Lachlan are now the old hands while Hamish and Adelaide are just handling the big rides. Sometimes you have to do a lot of talking and pointing out the interesting things around us to keep them on task…

Promises of visiting the native bee hive, a bribe of a splash in one of the creeks, chat about the picnic spot we’ll find for smoko or games such as how many butterflies have you counted keep them going.

When you’re still little, the best bits of mustering always seem to be when the horse is tied to a tree and the biscuits are served. 

The hot sweaty grimace quickly turns into a smile when water is served along with a hot cross bun.

Today the mustering team split into two groups. Rob, Eliza and the 3 littlest horseman followed one mob around the fence while Andrew and I scouted out in the other direction.

With no sign of any bears (aka cows), we decided to do a little exploring. Andrew took no encouraging to dismount and clamber over some rocks with me to find the source of a bubbling, gushing water sound.

There is nothing like crystal clear, spring fed water running out of the mountain range.

It really is good enough to drink!

While we could have easily spent entire afternoon exploring, it would have been remiss of us to leave Rob and his helpers alone with the cattle. This spot is a little further afield than some of our usual creek haunts however Andrew has firmly embedded the GPS coordinates of this waterhole in his mind.

I fore see another day of bear hunting happening again very soon….

whether the cattle need mustering or not!

There are 5 comments on this article:

• On 23/03/2013 sharon said:

  so when will you be taking books for rain/water deprived western families to come on a bear hunt – I promise the noise alone will flush ’em out 🙂

  Or better still, just lead us to that babbling brook and leave us there (armed with a tin of aerogard I have no doubt!)

• On 23/03/2013 sharon said:

  arrgh, “bookings”. I need to go to bed!

• On 23/03/2013 Fiona said:

  I think perhaps when you’re little AND when you’re old the best bits of mustering are the bikkies and tea!
  Beautiful shots as always Ainsley.
  (Matthew received a couple of no-talking phone calls from Rob yesterday, Matthew assuming the phone in the pocket getting a few bumps … or perhaps Eliza was interested in getting an update on the market).

• On 23/04/2013 Victor Gress said:

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• On 26/04/2013 Audrey Bush said:

  This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.