Australian Cattle

Australian cattle herd is anticipated to enter a period of expansion in 2011 and beyond, with the drought’s long-grip upon eastern Australia throughout the past decade finally broken. 2010 was the wettest year on record in Queensland and third wettest nationally, signalling a surety of feed and water supplies throughout the coming year. The exception is southern WA, which suffered the driest year on record in 2010.

These pictures were taken from a helicopter, of road trains loading cattle at Helen Springs Station, north of Tennant Creek NT.

· There are 17 trucks with 3 trailers and 2 decks per trailer;

· Therefore there are 102 decks of cattle and there would be approximately 28 cattle per deck;

· This totals 2,856 head of cattle

· The cattle will weigh approximately 500kg

· The sale price for cattle at Longreach is approx. 165c/kg

· Each animal will therefore be sold at $825.

· Total revenue from this analysis is $2,356,200

· Another interesting fact:

o Each trailer has 24 tyres plus a dolly with 8 tyres

o Each vehicle therefore has 62 tyres (not including spares)

o For the 72 trucks there are 4,464 tyres on the road.

Australian cattle given the steady national cow herd, combined with the better seasonal conditions, the Australian cattle herd is expected to increase by 2.6% in the year to 30 June 2011, to 27.4 million head.

Global demand for beef is forecast to increase in 2011, as the growing global economy rekindles demand for proteins, particularly beef, after some tumultuous years in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

The past year proved to be a mixed one for Australia’s live cattle industry, with the restrictions and uncertainty surrounding the Indonesian market offset by surprising growth into the Middle East(including Turkey).

Australian cattle looks good elsewhere for 2011, Australian live cattle exports are forecast to increase 1% year-on-year, to 880,000 head. Given the dominant share that Indonesia has for Australian cattle shipments, the reduced volumes forecast into the market for 2011 will limit overall growth.

However, much of the decline in exports to Indonesia in 2011 should be offset by a further rise in exports to the Middle East, including Israel, Libya, Egypt and Turkey.

This EKKA Grand Champion Bull sold for $10,000

Given the decline in global beef supplies in recent years, and the improvement in demand throughout

2010, global beef prices are expected to increase significantly in 2011. This is already in evidence, with US choice fed cattle prices commencing 2011 25% higher than a year earlier.

Australian Food

Aboriginal cooking has always played a role in Australian food culture. Many native methods of cooking which we call bush tucker, include  local meats and flavours such as kangaroo, barramundi and wattle seed, are now accepted and thrive in gourmet cooking in Australia.

Over the past 40 years there has been a major shift in Australian cuisine. The food, like our society itself, has taken on a much more multi-cultural influence, especially with the arrival of immigrants from the Mediterranean and more recently South East Asia.



Australian food was heavily influenced by the first English settlers, who favored such foods as roasted cuts of meat, grilled steak and chops with vegetables. Despite the different influences in the past 200 or so years, much of this traditional British food has remained in Australian cuisine, particularly in Australian pub food such as the meat pie and fish and chips.

Fresh produce is readily available in Australia and is used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables. With most of the Australian population residing in coastal areas, fish and seafood is popular.

People barbeque all over the world and it truly is universal, but Australians have a very special relationship with the barbecue. For us the Barbie is a part of our up bringing, and it's also our birth right. We are born with tongs in hand. We barbeque better than anyone else (sometimes depending on how many beers are consumed), and we enjoy the barbie more than anyone else on the planet (even if our sausages have been totally cremated). Australians more than most have embraced the BBQ and taken it to gastronomic levels of gourmet cooking that other races can only marvel at (and are sometimes asked are you really going to eat that?). 

Australian food features Australian seafood such as: Prawns, Southern bluefin tuna, King George whiting, Moreton Bay bugs, Mud Crabs, Jew Fish, Dhufish (Western Australia) and Yabbies. Australia is one of the largest producers of abalone and rock lobster.Australia's 11 million square kilometre fishing zone is the third largest in the world and allows for bountiful access to seafood which significantly influences Australian cuisine.

An iconic Australian food is Vegemite. Other unique or iconic national foods include the Meat pie a must at all sporting events, Macadamia nuts; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Cherry Ripe; Jaffas, chocolate with an orange-flavoured confectionery shell; the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll similar to a spring roll; and the Dim sim, a Chinese-inspired dumpling. Other popular Australian foods include Tim Tams, a chocolate biscuit; Musk sticks; Fairy bread; Lamingtons; the Vanilla slice; and the commercial breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.

Kangaroo population stands around 45 million

Is that food in that bag?

Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia. Current populations stand around 45 million.

Kangaroos are capable of conserving enough water and selecting enough fresh vegetation to survive in an arid environment. The kangaroo’s kidneys efficiently concentrate urine, particularly during summer.

The kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus: the red kangaroo, antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, and western grey kangaroo. 

Fights between red kangaroo males tend to involve more wrestling. Fights establish dominance relationships among males, and determine who gets access to the females.

Kangaroos are the only large animals to use hopping as a means of locomotion. The comfortable hopping speed for a red kangaroo is about 20–25 km/h (12–16 mph), but speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph) can be attained over short distances, while it can sustain a speed of 40 km/h (25 mph) for nearly 2 km (1.2 mi). 

The kangaroos fast and energy-efficient method of travel has evolved because of the need to regularly cover large distances in search of food and water, rather than the need to escape predators. At slow speeds, it employs pentapedal locomotion, using its tail to form a tripod with its two forelimbs while bringing its hind feet forward. Kangaroos are adept swimmer, and often flee into waterways if threatened by a predator. If pursued into the water, a kangaroo may use its fore paws to hold the predator underwater so as to drown it.

Young red necked wallaby.

Macropods are marsupials belonging to the family Macropodidae, the kangaroo family, which includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several others. Macropods are native to the Australian continent.

Kangaroo meat is consumed in Australia and available in some Australian supermarkets. It is also exported to over 55 countries. Kangaroo leather is recognised as the strongest lightweight leather throughout the world and extensively used in first class sporting shoes and gloves.

Australian Crocodile hunters

According to the NT government in 2018 there were between 100,000 and 200,000 saltwater crocodiles in the wild.

Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan)

"Crocodile" Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City It was Inspired by the true life exploits of Rodney Ansell.

Ansell was on a fishing trip near the Victoria River mouth with only his two cattle dogs when his boat was capsized and sunk, by a  crocodile. He managed to board his boat's tender, a small dinghy with only a single oar, and retrieve his dogs and a small amount of equipment (including his rifle, knives and bedding) but had no fresh water. Ansell travelled up the Fitzmaurice River on tidal flows over the next 72 hours, becoming severely dehydrated before finding fresh water above the saltwater tidal range. He survived alone for two months by hunting and shooting wild cattle for food, and planned to walk overland to a pastoral station homestead when the wet season began. Ansell was eventually rescued by a small cattle droving party.

Steve Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006) and Aussie Zoo mates.

Steve began handling crocodiles at the age of nine after his father had educated him on reptiles from an early age. Also at age nine he wrestled his first crocodile, again under his father's supervision. He worked as a volunteer for Queensland's East Coast Crocodile Management program and captured over 100 crocodiles, some of which were relocated, while others were housed at the family park.

Malcom Douglas

Malcolm Douglas (14 March 1941 – 23 September 2010) was an Australian wildlife documentary, film maker, and crocodile hunter. Douglas started in the 1960s as a professional crocodile hunter, but later dedicated himself to their preservation.

Rob Bredl ("barefoot bushman")

 Rob was catching crocodiles with his father and brothers even as a child (in the Northern Territory). He attracts crocodiles by hitting the water's surface repeatedly with a stick.

Rob Bredl got his nickname "barefoot bushman" because he has the habit of getting around barefoot, both at home and in the bush, even if he is out catching crocodiles

Willy Maykitt no he didnt deceased RIP

Carmor Plains and Australia Wide Safaris are one of the few safari operators offering Crocodile harvesting.

Carmor Plains Wildlife Safaris

Australian Ghosts

Although Australia is a fairly new settlement, we still have our fair share of ghost stories and haunted places.

Beliefs in spirits and ghosts among Aboriginal Australians was common to all tribes throughout the continent, although there were a number of variations in the actual names that were used to describe them.

They understand the separate concepts of body and spirit, but in such a way that they are seen as being united with other people and every other living creature, in a unique oneness.

The Alkimos  is a shipwreck of a former U.S. Navy ship from World War II that occurred off the coast of Western Australia in 1964.

Stories of paranormal events linked with the Alkimos include:

During the hasty construction of the ship welders were allegedly sealed between hulls, with their ghosts haunting the vessel ever since.

Apparitions of a small dog in the engine room during the ship's service.

A murder-suicide is alleged to have occurred on the ship.

Horses riding along the beach are said to refuse to pass the wreck.

An apparition of a human figure (christened "Harry") has been sighted on the ship by various people including local cray fishermen. Subsequent searchings of the wreck have never been able to locate anyone. Harry is said to appear in rubber boots and oilskins.

A number of allegedly paranormal phenomena were reported by salvage workers occupying the wreck. Footsteps were heard on ladders when all salvage crews were accounted for, and ghostly footsteps would follow workers around the vessel at night. Cooking smells and noises would emanate from the galley, but upon investigation would cease, only to begin again when the galley door was closed. Tools were reported to be moved by unseen hands, mysteriously vanishing then reappearing later.

At one point a married couple took over as caretakers of the ship. The wife (who was pregnant) suffered a serious fall and had to be rushed to hospital where she gave birth to a premature stillborn baby.

Herbert Voight, a locally well known long distance swimmer vanished while attempting to swim between Cottesloe Beach and Rottnest Island in 1969. Some years later his skull was found near the wreck.

The ship was bought and sold at least 8 times whilst stranded. It is claimed that each person or persons who purchased the ship suffered inexplicable bad luck (such as bankruptcy and life threatening illness) which mysteriously vanished once the vessel was re-sold.

Beechworth Lunatic Asylum in Beechworth, Victoria is reportedly haunted by several ghosts of departed patients. The asylum was open from 1867-1995.

Close to 9000 patients died on site making this one of Australia's most haunted locations.Ghost tours run nightly.

Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales was the site of seven deaths in the 1800s. Various ghost groups have reported sightings there.

Monte Cristo is claimed to be Australia's most haunted house, with reports of ghostly figures, strange lights, invisible forcefields, phantom sounds and animal mutilations. These are attributed to several tragic incidents in the property's past including the murder of a caretaker in 1961 and the imprisonment of a mentally impaired man for many years in the dairy. During the Crawleys' occupation a young child is said to have been fatally dropped down the stairs, a maid to have fallen from the balcony, and a stable boy to have been burnt to death.

Kapunda Cemetery  Kapunda is an old mining location, the cemetery has a young girl roaming the grounds, she was sent there to the nuns when she was pregnant & unmarried. The local priest gave her an abortion & still till this day she roams the cemetery looking for her lost baby.

Princess Theatre in Melbourne has reported several ghosts since the building opened in 1886. The theatre's best known 'inhabitant' is Frederick Baker, stage name 'Federici', a talented bass-baritone singer who died in March 1888 whilst singing Mephistopheles in Faust - and who was seen by the rest of the cast taking his bows with them shortly thereafter. For years the theatre kept a seat vacant in the dress circle for Federici (only ceasing the practice on economic grounds), and his appearance in the dress circle during rehearsals for a new show is considered a good omen.

Richmond Bridge Australia's oldest bridge, in Richmond, Tasmania, is said to be haunted by the ghost of George Grover, a flagellator supposedly thrown off the bridge by the convicts he tortured during its construction. Grover was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1825 for stealing and by 1829 records show him as the Flagellator at Richmond. His death in early March 1832 resulted in an inquest concluding that he had laid down whilst drunk and "fallen or was pushed" from the parapet of the bridge, 27 feet in height." Grover's ghost is said to appear on the bridge at certain times" The ghost of a large black and white dog, sometimes called 'Grover's Dog', is also seen on the bridge. One lady reports it appearing at her side on several occasions as she walked the bridge at night. It would walk alongside her from one end to the other, and then disappear as quickly as it had come.

Aboriginal culture and Dreamtime

Aboriginal Australians have not just one culture, but about 400 different cultures across Australia, each with its own language, laws, traditions, and stories. Some of the languages are as different from each other as English is from Chinese, whilst others can be closely related, like Spanish and Portugese.

Some Aboriginal cultures are rich in stories and ceremonies tied to the night sky, while in others the sky doesn't seem to play such an important role at all.

In some Aboriginal cultures the Moon is male and the Sun is female, and there are many different versions of stories, in different languages, in which the Moon-man falls ill (the waning Moon), lies dead for three nights (New Moon), and then resurrects on the third day (the waxing Moon).

NATURE

Aboriginals see themselves as part of nature. We see all things natural as part of us. All the things on Earth we see as part human. This is told through the ideas of dreaming. By dreaming we mean the belief that long ago, these creatures started human society. These creatures, these great creatures are just as much alive today as they were in the beginning. They are everlasting and will never die. They are always part of the land and nature as we are. Our connection to all things natural is spiritual.' Silas Roberts, first Chairman of the Northern Lands Council.

MUSIC

Aborigines have developed unique instruments and folk styles. The didgeridoo is commonly considered the national instrument of Australian Aborigines, and it is claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument.

Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain the rhythm for the song. More recently, Aboriginal musicians have branched into rock and roll, hip hop and reggae.

Artist Minnie Pwerle

ART
Australia has a long tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old. Modern Aboriginal artists continue the tradition using modern materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognizable form of Australian art.

SPORT

The Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria once participated in the traditional game of Marn Grook, a type of football played with possum hide. The game inspired Tom Wills, inventor of the code of Australian rules football, which is now a popular Australian winter sport.

Similarities between Marn Grook and Australian football include the unique skill of jumping to catch the ball or high "marking", which results in a free kick. The word "mark" may have originated in "mumarki", which is "an Aboriginal word meaning catch" in a dialect of a Marn Grook playing tribe.

Aussie Rules has seen many indigenous players at elite football, and have produced some of the most exciting and skillful to play the modern game. Approximately one in ten AFL players are of indigenous origin.

In the National Rugby League 11% of the players were of Indigenous heritage.  Australia's national Rugby League team saw a record number of five Aboriginal players (38%) in their ranks of 13.

Aboriginal people themselves account for only about 2.3% of Australia's population, yet they account for more than five times that percentage of elite footballers.

The Dreamtime (or Dreaming) is a term used to describe the period before living memory when Spirits emerged from beneath the earth and from the sky to create the land forms and all living things. The dreamtime stories set down the laws for social and moral order and establish the cultural patterns and customs.

The Dreaming, as well as answering questions about origins, provides a harmonious framework for human experience in the universe and the place of all living things within it. It describes the harmony between humans and all other natural things.

For instance, an indigenous Australian might say that he or she has Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their "country".

Australian Dragons

Australian dragons look like, and are just as tough as their namesake, as they live their lives, trying to adapt to the planets human population explosion.

Australia has at least 70 known dragon lizard species, which cover most of  our continent. They laze beside ornamental ponds in the big cities, cling to the trunk of rainforest trees, rest among rocks on stony plains and sit on termite mounds in the hot dry centre of Australia, as well as surviving the snowy alps of Tasmania and the mainland.

Australian dragon the Thorny devil

They are easy to tell from other Australian lizards because they have rough scales, sometimes with spines, strong legs, five toes on each foot, large slightly rounded heads, with distinct necks, a fleshy tongue that is not forked, and they are active during the day.

They forage for food like small lizards, mice, insects, flowers, fruit and other plants in the daytime.

 The amazing Frilled Lizard

The closest relatives of dragon lizards are the chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). Together the chameleons and dragons form a group known as Acrodont lizards, which refers to their unique teeth. Most lizards have teeth set individually in sockets in the jawbone (pleurodont teeth). In the dragons and chameleons, however, the teeth are fused directly to the jawbone without any sockets (acrodont teeth). Other similarities between chameleons and dragon lizards include intricate ornamentation, horns and elaborate crests.

Using DNA sequencing, Museum Victoria researchers have also found a number of new species of Australian dragons and these are now in the process of being described by the researchers.

(source: Victorian Museum)

Water Dragon

The Australian water dragon is so common in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha in Queensland that a monument has been built to them there.

Dubbo Zoo

Dubbo Zoo was opened in 1977, since then the Zoo has developed a reputation as a world-renowned centre for its care of wildlife, breeding programs (especially of endangered species), conservation programs, education facilities and exhibits. It is now widely recognised as Australia’s greatest open plain zoo. The Zoo is an open-range design, with walls and fences replaced by concealed moats which divide the animals from the visitors. This creates the impression of actually being with the animals in the wild.dlife parks

ralian zoos

Dubbo Zoo has also become recognised as a major tourist attraction both within New South Wales and in Australia. In 1994 Dubbo Zoo was awarded as the Best Major Tourist Attraction, the highest honour in Australian Tourism.

Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo provides much more than animal displays, it is a place to come and relax and enjoy the atmosphere. It is also an education centre, a research centre and a wildlife conservation and preservation centre for species from throughout the world. It is really much more than a zoo.

Wildlife Reproductive Centre

The Wildlife Reproductive Centre at Taronga Western Plains Zoo was the first of its kind in Australia when it was built in 1994. The WRC works with other staff within the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, other wildlife organisations or academic collaborators to gain information needed for the management of captive or free-ranging populations and to answer fundamental questions about reproductive biology and population dynamics and viability.

The WRC also incorporates the Animal Gene Storage Resource Centre of Australia (AGSRCA) which was established as a joint venture between the Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development in 1995, and includes “frozen zoos” of genetic material at both sites. This program aims to develop new techniques to collect, preserve and store genetic material from endangered and other important species including the Black Rhinoceros, Greater Bilby, Common Wombat, Tasmanian Devil and African Wild Dog.

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Antivenom Australian Reptile Park

One of the important functions of the Australian Reptile Park, along with education and tourism, is the collection of venom from deadly species of snakes and spiders. The venom is used by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories - better known as CSL Limited, to manufacture the only Australian antivenoms that save human snakebite spiderbite victims.

The Reptile Park is the sole supplier of the venoms required by CSL Limited in the production of antivenoms for terrestrial snakes (not sea snakes) and funnel-web spiders. To keep up the supply of venoms, highly trained staff of the Australian Reptile Park regularly 'milk' more than 300 snakes and 500 spiders that are included in the program.

A simplified explanation of how the snake antivenoms are produced, is that extremely small amounts of say, tiger snake venom are injected into huge Percheron horses on a regular basis over a long period of time. The amounts are so small that the horses are not affected except that produces antibodies to counteract the foreign substance in its system. After some 10-12 months of this immunological 'conditioning', a small proportion of each horse's blood is removed and the plasma is extracted. This plasma contains the antibodies which, when injected into a snake bite victim, will neutralize snake venom.

In the case of funnel-web spider antivenom, rabbits are used instead of horses. These animals suffer no ill-effects and are used repeatedly to help save human lives in this fashion. Some of the horses have been carrying out this essential service to Australians for many years. The funnel-web spider program at the Park depends largely upon the provision of male specimens from the area within 150 km of Sydney.

The Australian Reptile Park is the hands-on zoo and boasts loads of animal interaction and exciting wildlife shows. Have a close encounter with some of the park’s scaly and furry animals during Snappy Hour 11am-2pm daily, including a walk with Hugo the giant Galapagos tortoise. Elvis, NSW's biggest crocodile, is fed at 1:30pm on weekends and school holidays.  See their spectacular alligator feeding from the banks of  their  massive ’gator lagoon.  See native and exotic reptiles and spiders in their unique exhibits The Lost World of Reptiles and Spider World, featuring Tarantula-ville.

Bradley Cooper the Devil in Australia

Bradley Cooper has officially signed on to play Lucifer in director Alex Proyas‘s Paradise Lost. The Associated Press confirmed Bradley Cooper‘s casting, after officials in Australia began touting the project, which they believe will bring with it, more than 1300 jobs and $88 million dollars when production begins in early 2012.

Paradise Lost is based on the legendary verse poem by John Milton and tells the story of Adam and Eve and their temptation by the devil and the war for Heaven. Though Lucifer is supposedly the villain of Paradise Lost many scholars have taken Milton’s portrayal of Satan as that of an anti-hero through which Milton criticized Christian mythology without angering the church leaders of 1667.

Sorry Brad i thought it was only going to be a fart!

Bradley Cooper will begin work on Paradise Lost in Australia early next year after finishing production on The Place Beyond the Pines which is currently beginning production in upstate New York.

Min Min Lights and Ghost Lights

Min Min lights or debil debil, can be found in aboriginal myth pre-dating western settlement of the region and have since become part of wider Australian folklore. According to eye witnesses, the lights sometimes follow or approached people, and have disappeared when people have fired upon them,only to reappear later on.

Hundreds of people over the years have told of seeing the Min Min Light in the Boulia district. The light got its name from the old Min Min "pub" and mail-change, which used to stand on the boundary of two big stations -Warenda and Lucknow. Only a stack of bottles, a dust heap, and the remnants of a cemetery, reminds us of what was. The locality is approximately 100 kilometres east of Boulia, just off the Boulia-Winton road.

Two men were driving near the Queensland Northern Territory border, out of Tennants Creek, in November 1979. They stopped for a break and also to wait for another truck following them.

The two men saw strange lights, which they took to be "bloody Min Min Lights." The other truck pulled in behind the first. Two aborigines with them became scared of the lights, calling them "debil, debil." They retreated to behind the trucks. The lights appeared to be about 3 feet in diameter and looked like a swirling ball shaped manifestation. The lights would change, ostensibly with the angle of observation, from a very pale grey, misty grey, to a hazy blue. When they moved the lights changed from a blue to a hazy blue, to a light green colour.

As the men closed in on the lights a peculiar smell, likened to ozone, was noticed. Horses that they were carrying on a float, became very agitated, and there was extensive static on the radio, like a very high-speed engine and buzzing noise. These aspects suggest a possible static electricity explanation, albeit a rather amazing form of it. One of the men took photos of the lights at a distance of only 30 feet. This extraordinary phenomenon remained in view for 4 to 6 minutes. As the group closed in on them, the lights went off across a paddock and down towards a gully, disappearing into a washout or "donga".

Accounts of the light appearances vary, though they are most commonly described as being fuzzy, disc-shaped lights that appear to hover just above the horizon.
They are often described as being white, though some accounts describe them as changing colour from white to red to green and back again. Some accounts describe them as being dim, others describe them as being bright enough to illuminate the ground under them and to cause nearby objects to throw clearly defined shadows.

In early1920 a Min Min light entered a Hotel in Outback Queensland it flew around the room for a few seconds and then left through the front door

Some witnesses describe the light as appearing to approach them several times before retreating. Others report that the lights were able to keep pace with them when they were in a moving motor vehicle.

Scientest believe Min Min Lights, could be Fata Morgana mirages, these mirages tremendously distort the object or objects which they are based on, such that the object often appears to be very unusual, and may even be transformed in such a way that it is completely unrecognizable. A Fata Morgana can be seen on land or at sea, in polar regions or in deserts. This kind of mirage can involve almost any kind of distant object, including such things as boats, islands, and coastline, as shown in the photographs which accompany this article.
Some say it is a unknown natural phenomenon involving low-level air oscillations; or ionisation in geophysically-generated electrical fields (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) or "earth lights"

WARNING if you ever get caught by the Min Min lights, you will disappear completely".



NEVER follow the Min Min Lights of the Outback.