Another trip - this time into the south eastern Gulf country - 5 hours west of Cairns is the little town of Georgetown, in the middle of northern cattle country. I based myself in the Georgetown pub for a week. The properties here are smaller and the country much harder - the big companies are not interested in this area, the soil is lighter and there is a lot of rock in places. Trees, anthills, long dry grass,rocks and red sand. The countryside is much more heavily forested with a highly diverse forest, natural pastures are less nutritious and the performance of the cattle herds is not as good as in the more western parts of the gulf. Improved genetics, supplementation and the live export market have changed the economics of cattle production in the north and family businesses can survive. Hard country however breeds hard people but people are still very friendly and welcoming to a stranger arriving to ask questions. Family size properties here are still huge and run between 5,000 and 10,000 head over a wide expanse of land. The water is wonderful with spring fed creeks and rivers flowing through hard rocky country. It is always a surprise in Australia when you are travelling through hard, dry country to suddenly come across a crystal clear creek running through the rock or the sand.
