Camels?!

Nov. 10 – Cattle Station #1

We stopped at a cattle station (same as a ranch only MUCH bigger) for a mid-morning break on the way to Ayers Rock. The bus driver told us to look for the new breed of animal – a cross between a camel and a sheep – called a shamel. Turns out that it is a made up animal. Once we found that out, I told the bus driver that we had just the animal for him when he visits the western U.S and should look for a jack-alope. This cattle station has camels and gives rides so here is a picture of Mary Ann and I riding the camels. Camels were imported to Australia to work in the desert. They did a great job, but once they were no longer needed, the Arab handles were told to take them out and shoot them. They released them into the desert instead and now there is a very large wild camel population.