Culture shocks: being a cowgirl in Australia

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or most people, thinking of Australia instinctively leads to images of sandy beaches, kangaroos and the famous Sydney Opera House.

These were the exact images I had running through my head when I booked my trip to Australia. Never did I even remotely consider cowboys, goats and barn dancing! Well, I definitely had a shock waiting for me as my tour bus pulled up at Kroombit Cattle Station. We were deep in the outback, with no signs of civilisation for miles around. Everyone wore cowboy hats and bandannas, and lived in wooden cabins. The kitchen, if you can call it that, was an open fire with benches to prepare the food. Making toast consisted of placing home-made bread on a rack over the fire and hoping for the best.

Each night, we were dished up ‘mystery meat’ to enjoy. If you didn’t fancy being that adventurous, you didn’t eat. I was lucky enough to be presented with the goat, rather than the crocodile! During the daytime, I was horse riding, rounding up the cattle, lassoing goats, and clay pigeon shooting. The horse riding was nothing like the holiday activities you would do when camping in England, this was riding across the dry, deserted outback to check the cattle. Lassoing goats was quite an experience, picking out a goat from the crowd and attempting to get a rope around it, whilst antlers were heading towards you from all directions.

We were deep in the outback, with no signs of civilisation for miles around…

The evening activities were just as exciting as the daytime, consisting of whips and dancing. I had the chance to try out whipping, and it was painful. It’s surprisingly difficult to make that impressive whipping sound, without causing a personal injury. The barn dancing was literally like what you see in the movies, everyone was dressed up in cowboy clothes and danced in sync, which is impressive for me.

Three days I spent living the life of a cowgirl, and it’s hard to say I have ever experienced something so bizarre. As naïve as I may seem, I didn’t realise that people actually lived as cowboys in the Australian outback! From the words they spoke, to the food they ate, it was like living in a different world, far from Australia.