The Feral Camels Hunting Trip

Opal Mining Dumps Mintabie

Feral camels do a lot of damage to fencing, native trees and occasionally to humans in the Outback. Banjo's cattle property is one victim of their abuse.

Banjo is blind, one of the “Gentlemen of the Bush”and doesn't mind drinking Red Cans now and then. His cattle station is just south of the Mintabie opal field. Banjo has worked tirelessly for aboriginal rights for over 40 years. He has amazing recall from his earliest childhood memories to the names and voices of someone he has just met.

He also has an irrepressible sense of humour.

One day he was in the pub lamenting the damage feral camels were doing to his fences and the Quandong (Wild Peach) trees on his station.

A group of adventurous miners overheard the conversation and offered to organise a hunting party to eradicate a few of the pests.

Eventually they found a spare weekend that suited them all. They loaded two Toyotas up with guns, ammunition, butchers tools and beer.

Strange as it seems, Banjo was the navigator. He could rely on his brilliant memory and sense of the country, to give directions to where the animals were last seen. The group of miners-turned-hunters managed to find and to shoot a couple the feral pests. They then set about butchering the meat for a barbeque, drinking a bit as they did so.

On the way back the beer supply was getting low and eventually they ran out of Melbourne Bitter in its trade mark red cans, Banjo’s favourite.

Lorry, a dedicated Victoria Bitter (green can) drinker, was in charge of the esky. He broke the news.

“Banjo,” he said “there are none of your red cans left. You'll have to start drinking our green cans”

“Don’t worry, Lorry.” Banjo replied, “I don't notice the difference."

"I’m colour blind!”.

From feral camels to more Outback Yarns