Ross Waterhole Normanton Queensland

I was cooking for the Muster at Double Lagoon forty kms north of Normanton and for 3 months had done the cooking and not gone out of the property. The Boss, who was one of the brothers who owned the grazing property  came for the day and some guys phoned and were given permission to go pig hunting on the property. They had to be shown where to camp, and boss said he would drive them to Ross Waterhole which is where they were allowed to shoot and camp.

It was afternoon and my time off, and I carefully asked if I could come for a drive. To my delight he said yes, and I went along in his 4WD leading the  pig hunters vehicles. This was his hat. I was amazed at how well used it looked…a real outback station hat, an original Akubra made of rabbit fur.

 

Cattle having a drink at a waterhole. There are 2 main lagoons here at Double Lagoon. The cattle are shiralei and drought master and they are breeding them for this area.

When we got to the waterhole, there was a huge consultation with the map showing areas they could shoot in and areas they had to keep out of because of the cattle. I stayed in the vehicle

They were camping right on the banks of the Waterhole. It was quiet and reflected the trees. there were birds in the water and also crocodiles.

Cattle came to drink here when they were in this area.

One of the huge pig dogs. he was quite scary and was as fierce as he looked. He was tied with a huge iron chain and he sat there in the shade of the truck looking more docile than he was.

This part of the dam had only mud. It was also the area where the crocodiles came…if there were crocodiles.

I walked down to the edge and looked at the muddy water. There was a lot of water here at this time of the year.

Ants build huge anthills here. When it floods the land is well under water and when the rains are coming the anthills get taller depending on the expected height of the flood waters. I thought maybe the Weather Bureau could get some ants to forecast the weather instead of the current weather forecasters as George said the ants are usually correct in their predictions. I tried to get a small anthill to take home for my garden, but even the small ones are rock solid. they are hard like bricks and they also go down deep as well as go up high. They are an amazing construction.

 

The track we drove along was dirt road. It was very beautiful.

There are some small wallabies here but they were not easy to photograph as they simply ran off as soon as we approached.