Try Uber Camel on Hump Day

Want to cross the Simpson Desert, blaze a new trail from Adelaide to Darwin across the Red Centre, or just want to get away from the rellies, including Uncle Arthur and Aunt Martha, after that disastrous Christmas Day lunch? Then why not throw your rucksack, nutritions and camping gear (including the kitchen sink) across the back of an Aussie camel? But don't forget to take along your local friendly Aussie Afghan camel driver, or you might just get lost between hump filling stations. And, most importantly, choose your camel wisely, otherwise you might get an ugly one.

So What's with the Aussie Camels?

But everyone know that camels are not native to Australia. So "what's all this nonsense about camels in Oz?", you may well ask, unless you're a direct descendent of the famous explorers, Bourke and Wills, or of the many 'Ghans' who settled here. 

The first camel reportedly arrived here in 1840 and was followed by 24 others in 1860 for the ill-fated Bourke and Wills expedition. Then, over the next 50 years or so, it has been estimated that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 more were imported. For the next 50 years or so, they were bred here in camel studs, as beasts of burden, to help open up the sparse interior and facilitate the construction of telegraph lines and, eventually, the main north-south railway line between Adelaide and Darwin.

Believe it or not, camels behave differently to the single horsepower then preferred transportation device of the time (don't over think this one - the answer is HORSE). Hence camel drivers , or cameleers, were also brought in, to optimise camel performance and because, back in the day, these foreign camels didn't understand Aussie Strine. Most of these fluent 'camel-speak' cameleers came from Afghanistan, and today, the famous train (now diesel), which journeys through the Aussie Outback from south to north and back, is still called the 'Ghan' after these stalwart herders who played such a crucial part in the opening up of our interior and helped bring supplies to the many remote settlements and cattle stations.

But Why Camels?

Back in the early days of exploration it was found that horses had serious limitations regarding their fuel consumption rate, their payload, and their capability to traverse poor ground.  By comparison, however, the camel has the following impressive attributes:

• they can go for long periods of time without water (provided that they are filled up properly at the start of the journey - see billabong re-fuelling below);
• they can feed on a high proportion of the plants typically found in the outback (they are hence less frisky than horses as they don't need to 'get their oats' on a regular basis?);
• they can walk easily across loose sand where other animals, or even today's sophisticated vehicles, find it difficult (they do, however, find it difficult to pass through the eye of a needle?);  
• they don't need to be shod (and hence make their own luck without horseshoes?); 
• mature bull camels can carry up to 600kg, or about 1300 pounds (they will operate in either metric or imperial units interchangeably); and last but not least 
• camels blend into the desert background as indicated below.

A cameleer was showing a prospective investor from the big smoke how the Ghans typically prep for a journey into the outback. He had this big bull camel parked alongside the 'unleaded' bilabong, rear legs splayed apart and neck drooped in anticipation of commencing filling. Quick as a rat up a drainpipe, the cameleer produced two large bricks and banged them together with the camel's testicles in between. There was a large and audible gasp from the camel as he sucked in water to maximum capacity.
 
"Doesn't that hurt?" asked the surprised visitor. 
"Not if you keep your thumbs out of the way" replied the wily cameleer. 

So What of Today's Camels?

• for their meat, which apparently tastes very similar to beef; and/or
• for their milk, which allegedly has certain health benefits, including a possible solution for those allergic to cow's milk protein.

Only the future will tell if these awesome beasts will again find a longterm and mutually beneficial place in man's future existence in the Land of Oz.

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Limitations:  I claim no responsibility for the photos and images portrayed in the post, nor for the information presented, most of which was borrowed from various unreferenced sources on line, and some of which was subsequently outrageously embellished by me. Furthermore, I apologise in advance to any camels who may have taken a fence.

When not researching the weird or the wonderful, the comical or the cultured, the sinful or the serious, I chase my creative side, the results of which can be seen as selected photographs of my travels on my website at:

http://ken-boddie.squarespace.com

The author of the above, Ken Boddie, besides being a sometime poet and occasional writer, is an enthusiastic photographer, rarely leisure-travelling without his Canon, and loves to interact with other like-minded people with diverse interests.

Ken's three day work week (part time commitment) as a consulting engineer allows him to follow his photography interests, and to plan trips to an ever increasing list of countries and places of scenic beauty and cultural diversity.