High Country Get Together by Andrea Ferris

High Country Get Together Words: Andrea Ferris

Clockwise from left: Jumping hay bales in the Cattlemen’s Cup race. Photo: Dale R. Wickberg.  It was a privilege to meet John and Di Wright from Simpson, Victoria. Seventy-eight year old John and his granddaughter rode their horses for four days to attend the Get Together. Photo: Andrea Ferris.  Up and over! This red heeler gets some encouragement from its owner in the dog high jump competition. Photo: Andrea Ferris.  The ladies’ Bushman’s Challenge race. Sit on a saddle in a wheelbarrow holding a bucket of water and have a friend wheel you over a plank on a log – hilarious. Photo: Andrea Ferris.

The mountain cattlemen of the Victorian high country gather every year to celebrate their heritage – and have a very good time.

’m not ashamed to admit that I like to fit in to a crowd. Sure, I’m a follower when it comes to fashion – not a trend-setter. So it was with a certain level of smugness and surety that I packed for a weekend at the Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together at Hinnomunjie in north-east Victoria in early January. Being a horsewoman since before I reached a double-numbered birthday, my Wrangler jeans are well broke and sport a belt and buckle showing a well-weathered patina; my Ariat boots are creased and scuffed just so; and my Akubra hat’s suitably grubby with a sat-on, kicked around, rained-on shape. Yep, no doubt I was going to fit in with these born-and-bred country folk oozing journalistic credibility, but would the dog be my undoing? The annual Get Together is a dog-friendly event, providing you keep your pooch on a lead and clean up after it. In its thirty-fourth year, this weekend of high country horsey hi-jinx is the primary fund-raising platform for the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria. In a nutshell, the Association needs a healthy ‘fighting fund’ if you like, to maintain its protracted campaign to continue a tradition of cattle grazing in the Victorian high country, which is national park. 28 |

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This is no ordinary bland farmer versus government debate. It’s deeply entrenched in romance, drama, culture and tradition; and that’s what’s being fought for. Cattle first grazed this country on the snowline of the Australian Alps in 1834. A B (Banjo) Paterson, himself nicknamed after a favourite horse, wrote an ode to the mountain cattlemen that was published in 1890, The Man from Snowy River, and, one hundred years later, thanks to the iconic 1982 Australian flick of the same name starring Sigrid Thornton and Tom Burlinson, a further generation of Australians became enamoured with the notion of fearless blokes, resilient women, and tough brumbies. The Greens side of politics may be lobbying to preserve the environment, but punching just as hard in the opposite corner is a none-toosmall group intent of preserving a notion of heritage and a belief that well-managed grazing is necessary for sustainable land management. However, political argy-bargy aside, any excuse for a party is a good excuse and these mountain folk sure know how to have a good time! Each year the Get Together is held at a different location within the Victorian high country district; sometimes private property and

sometimes public reserve. This year the venue was the most-difficult-to-pronounce Hinnomunjie Recreation Reserve. That’s Hin-o-mun-gee for out-of-town folk such as myself and the other half (TOH) and it’s about ten minutes’ drive from Omeo in north-east Victoria. Gates to the somewhat ‘tree challenged’ racecourse reserve opened strictly at 9.00 am on the Friday and apparently vehicles lined up for kilometres down the road itching to get in and score the prime camping spots. Around 3000 people camp at the event in all manner of set-ups from a bit of old truck canvas thrown over a tree limb (literally) to the fancy fifthwheeler outfit. The campsites are separated into two sections: ‘family’ and ‘general’, which loosely translated means ‘get plastered and stay up all night listening to loud music’ section. We conservatively chose the family section and there were slim pickings for sites even at 2.00 pm when we arrived after slowly savouring the summer vistas of Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain en route. Our site of choice was to nestle snugly in between event first timers Dave and Lyn’s flash off-road caravan and ardent long-time Get Together followers from Melbourne, friends Frank (tent) and Julie (hired camper trailer) on the far

back fence with no campers behind us. It was about a five to eight-minute walk to the events, stage and food vans depending on whether one chose to visit the loo trucks on the way. The Get Together is all about horses and horsemanship. TOH, being more into horsepower of a different kind, commenced the weekend with a kind of resigned deference to my passion. However, by Sunday afternoon he had a whole new respect for the skills of genuine horsemen and women and was infected with a desire to saddle up and see the country pioneer style. During the three days (the fun began on Friday evening with a wild brumby catch) riders put their horses through a series of events to qualify for a run in the Cattlemen’s Cup – the pinnacle challenge to prove a bushman’s mettle. They rope wild brumby ponies; ride an obstacle course complete with whip cracking, hay bale jumping, tarp dragging and horse float loading; cut cattle out from a herd; and eventually ride hell for leather around the track having to stop and open a gate and leap hay bales on the run home – heroic stuff on some tough, well-mannered horses. There’s also packsaddle races where competitors saddle a horse, ride it a hundred metres to a pack horse (being held by a helper), pack the packsaddles correctly and load them

onto the pack horse, and then ride a ways up the track and back without breaking any eggs, which have been loaded in padded cartons in between each pack. Melbourne banker Kristy McGrath was the credible runner-up in the ladies event – considering she packed her first packsaddle less than twenty-four hours before the race and has only been riding for two years! Along with husband Joe, Kristy went on a droving trip with the well-known Forge family from Oxley, Victoria and was hooked. The McGraths now have two horses and, with a bit of mentoring and encouragement from Graham Forge, made the trip from Leongatha to get amongst the competition and ‘have a go’. When the horses are having a well-deserved rest, Get Together goers are treated to whip cracking, bush poetry, wood chopping, and dog high jump competitions, plus some hilarious novelty events like hay bale stacking, tug-o-war, the Bushman’s Challenge, and the Mulga Bill Bike Race. There’s also a MCAV merchandise pavilion with all manner of logo-emblazoned shirts, hats, jackets, stubbie coolers, stickers and other paraphernalia, and a number of stall holders and sponsors selling camping gear and horse-related products.

As the sun set on Saturday evening and the temperature plummeted from thirty-five degrees to freezing (that’s what it felt like for a Queenslander!) the truck-mounted stage lit up and Wrangler-clad boys and girls danced to country rock bands Red Dirt Cartel and The Wolfe Brothers into the wee small hours. Back in the family camping section there were plenty of partying families, but with the aid of some decent ear plugs we slept soundly. All the fresh country air and watching other people exercise works up a decent appetite. Tired of our own cooking, we were intrigued enough with a vintage caravan sporting Hardcore Carnivore signage to order a gourmet pulled pork roll, which I can only describe as heaven in a Turkish roll. Country folk don’t do vegetarian or salad sandwiches – calorie-laden spuds, woodfired pizza, hamburgers, chips, steak sangas, and those curly deep fried potato thingys are standard fare – washed down with beer or bourbon from the popular Cattlemen’s Bar. The Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together is hot and dusty. Kids run wild in a safe environment and are catered for with a supervised kid’s activity area, but mostly they played in the hay, chased each other around the paddock and danced to their own rhythm. Older kids in the ubiquitous Go Ca mping Austr a li a

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Fact File

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Getting there Hinnomunjie is 15 km north-east of Omeo in Victoria on the Benambra-Corryong Road. There is nothing at Hinnomunjie apart from the racecourse reserve, however Benambra, a few kilometres further on has a general store and fuel. The 2015 Annual Get Together will be held on private property on the shady banks of the Mitta Mitta River in north-east Victoria from the 9 – 11 January 2015.

Where to camp Camping is available at the Get Together venue and is suitable for whatever your set-up large or small. In 2014 a weekend ticket was $100 per person. Camping is divided into ‘family’ and ‘general’ areas. Port-a-loos and truck-mounted amenities are plentiful. Attendees are given wristbands on entry. Security is also provided. Dogs are welcome on a lead. When to go The Get Together is held every year in January. The weather can be very hot in the day and quite cool at night. R

Winner of the 2014 Cattlemen’s Cup Chris Connley in action. Photo: Julie Marland. da un an

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