Noonbah Station Visit

 Monday 12th July

We re-joined the Matilda Way this morning. Once again, we found the road heading west involved long straight stretches and landscape bereft of livestock. This area has suffered drought for up to 9 years and the farmers have all had to destock as the feed ran out or prices got too high to purchase it. Now, after rain the grass is returning but the prices for cattle and sheep are so high, the farmers can’t afford to restock. We drove nearly 270 kms and saw a flock of about 10 sheep, one goat with two kids and some emus. Terribly sad.

On the way we passed through Ilfracombe, famous for its Machinery Mile. We had initially planned to return to here after our station stay, so we didn’t stop to have a look. The township was founded as a transport hub for the historic Wellshot Station, one of our greatest sheep and wool producers. Apparently, the pub is exactly as it was 120 yrs ago, but we have changed our plans and will be staying in Longreach, so that is a bit of a gem we have missed. 

After collecting a few supplies in Longreach we turned south heading for a station called Noonbah. The road soon reverted to single lane despite plenty of caravans and road trains travelling on it. We moved from E to F on the music hit list, beginning with Jack Johnston’s F-Stop. Finally, we turned onto the dirt to head west through Lochern National Park and further on to Noonbah Station. Thankfully only the very last stretch was corrugated. We have learnt from past experience that towing a van over corrugations can have devastating effects on its contents and Eric has been somewhat concerned about this leg of the journey. 

The gate to the homestead is chained and we are requested to toot the horn rather than venture further as we might let the joeys out. The home is also a wildlife care centre and at present they are looking after 5 youngsters. Shortly Karen came out to greet us. A typical station housewife, she can juggle all the tasks at hand; from years of schooling her children on Longreach School of the Air to now hosting tourists and turning out tea and scones for morning tea. While President of their Sch of the Air Tourist Committee, she attended the ICPA dinner in Katherine and visited our school to glean ideas for their tourist room.

This station has been in the hands of the same family for 3 generations, over 100 years. Both Grandpa and Grandma entered a lottery that the govt of the day held in an effort to open up more of the country for agriculture. Grandma won Noonbah. Under the conditions of the lottery, winners had to establish a habitable building, begin fencing and carry stock. Unfortunately, Grandpa died from an accident involving a horse and she moved out on her own with the children. She hired help and began developments. Eventually she hired someone to do the accounts and in time they married. She and the next generations have continued to develop the station and took ownership of two neighbouring stations; Valetta and Waterloo. Between them, the fence lines form 2 sides of the National Park and carry passage of water in the Vergemont Creek channels and Thomson River.  It is now a 52,000 hectare grazing property, half of which goes underwater in a big flood event, in the iconic channel country. Third generation Angus Emmott is a passionate environmentalist and naturalist. A member of the board of Farmers For Climate Change, he and Karen now welcome visitors onto the station to learn about the local ecology. He has a list of over 200 bird species and tomorrow we have booked a tour with him.  

We set up camp on the bank of the Vergemont and enjoyed a beautiful evening around a campfire with clear skies illuminated by just a crescent moon and thousands of stars. 

Tuesday 13th July

Its so quiet and peaceful out here I was a little worried we might sleep-in, but I shouldn’t have worried as the birds began calling early. We drove back to the homestead and then Angus took us out in his car to demonstrate how he cares for the land, manages the problems in sustainable fashion and of course to look for all 200+ species of birds! (We notched up over 40).  We lodged many new sightings for this trip and at least two we have never seen before; the grey falcon and splendid fairy-wren (race identified here has been named after our host). A pair of grey falcons are looking very interested in nesting in an existing nest that is located in a tree on the only jump-up for the whole property. Otherwise, this land is flat channel country, the waters slowly moving south west into the Lake Eyre system. 

Angus also explained how he no longer has any feral cats or foxes and manages the number of roos by not shooting or poisoning the dingoes, but instead allowing them as the apex hunter to keep the natural order in balance. Mind you his neighbours are not happy with him. His response: ‘To make an omlette you have to crack a few eggs’. He recently featured on a 7.30 report that you might have seen. His interest in all the local vegetation and wildlife is astonishing and he has contributed hundreds of specimens and data to broaden the knowledge banks of both universities and museums, from unidentified cicadas to varieties of acacia. We were amused by the fact that the only internal fencing he now erects is to protect a new wetland he is developing, rather than control the numbers of stock in any particular area. It was moving to spend the time in the company of such an inspiring and passionate man.

We broke the trip with a visit to the homestead back veranda where we enjoyed homemade scones and tea or coffee with a documentary film maker and a young employee who was helping feed the joeys at the time. The house is the one that Grandma built, though it now has solar power. They still run cattle on the property but buy, fatten and sell according to the markets now. They no longer breed since the last devastating drought. The home that Angus and Karen built for themselves when his mother and father still lived on the property has been turned into tourist accommodation and so has the schoolhouse.

Wednesday 14th July

After breakfast Heather and I left the boys to finish the packing up and we returned to the house dam to look for more birds. Heather’s target is the white-winged fairy-wren. We saw a few different species but not that particular one. The dominant species we saw was zebra finches in their thousands flushing between the prickly acacia and down to the water’s edge to drink. 

Back at camp the boys had the kettle on and we were soon on the road. In contrast to Emmott’s place there are signs warning of 1080 poisoning and miles and miles of dingo fencing. We noticed dead ones hanging from a tree. Traditionally this is supposed to be a warning to dingoes, but there is no evidence it works. What we also noted was that the fencing channels the wallabies and kangaroos along the road corridor and the edges are littered with carcasses.  It has been a really interesting and thought provoking couple of days.