Mark & Jen's 'Around the World' Travel & Photography Blog

Have you ever read The Thornbirds or perhaps seen the movie? Imagine a 152,000 acre sheep station in the middle of the Australian Outback. Built in the 1930’s (the original homestead having burnt down), corrugated tin roofs cover plywood-thin walls. 3,000 sheep (and what seems like a similar number of kangaroos) call this place home, down from 5,000 seven years ago before a massive drought hit Western Australia. To get hot water, one must light a fire under a drum barrel (aka “the donkey”) to heat the water, and then pray that the warm water lasts until the shampoo is out of your hair. Solar panels charge batteries during the day so you have some power come dark. Definitely quaint.

Sheep Shearer’s Shed at Wogarno Sheep Station

Last night, we borrowed the station’s old Land Rover and bumped our way to the local “hill” to watch the sunset. Gray and red kangaroos darted this way and that. Jen tried out her stealth-like stalking skills, intent on videoing a ‘roo. She wasn’t helped by the sheep dog, Andy, who left a stick in front of us every 10 feet, hoping with all excitement that we would throw it for him. I guess he had the night off? We watched the sun sink lower and lower, lighting the red land on fire, until it finally dipped behind the expansive and endless plains. We may need to stick to taking still photos, but here are a few ‘roos in action:

Click “play” to watch the ‘roo bounce away!

After a frosty run this morning (it IS winter here), we relaxed and then headed out on walk to Lizard Rock, ending our day munching on some Emu steak off the barbie. The owner of the station, an older Aussie couple staying the night, and ourselves chatted well into the evening. We learned about the devastation seven years of drought has wreaked upon the communities. Farmers and station owners can barely scrape a living. Red dust blows everywhere. Wildflowers no longer emerge. Sheep numbers have been cut by half. Crops cannot even be sown. And so to make some sort of living, many sheep station owners have opened their rooms for guests to stay, learn about the station, experience its beauty, and perhaps bring some sort of understanding to the rest of the world about the dramatic effects climate change is having in this part of the world.

The Outback at Wogarno Sheep Station