Whitt reflects on six month stay in Australia

In mid-March, Hub Whitt returned to Wyoming after a stay "down under" in Australia that began in October.

Whitt explained back in 1981 he was living in Ten Sleep, when he met a Scotsman from Wyoming at a local bar. That man, Don Macdonald, was providing his hand in some sheep shearing in Wyoming.

Whitt noted at that time there was a lot more sheep in Wyoming, and there were shearing crews of about five to 10 people who would go around and offer their services. The crews would come with their sheep sheds, then pull the animals from the chute and bring them in, where six or seven shearers would do their work. Shearing crews are still seen today.

"The Australians and New Zealanders could shear about two sheep to every one the Americans did," Whitt said. "It was nothing for them to do 200 sheep a day, where an American could do 90 or 100." He noted people in Australia and New Zealand, which Whitt referred to by their slang names "Aussies" and "Kiwis," can shear year-round, rather than only once a year like here, which means they're much more experienced.

As the two got to know each other better, Whitt offered Macdonald the extra bedroom at the place he was staying; Macdonald had been sleeping in the back seat of his car in an effort to save money.

Over 30 years later, just this past August, Macdonald called up Whitt. "He said, 'This is Don Macdonald from Australia. I just bought another ranch if you want to come over and help me move,'" Whitt recalled, though he admitted it did take him some time to remember the man he'd met all those years back.

"I'd known the guy for two weeks, 30-some years ago."

Whitt said Macdonald hadn't even signed the paperwork for the ranch when he called, so Whitt didn't fly down until mid-October. He was able to go online and get a tourist visa, good for a year, but it only allowed him to stay in Australia for 90 days at a time.

This meant he had to leave, then return to Australia. Whitt had heard a story of a "Pommy" - a slang term for an Englishman - who had come to New Zealand, returned to England for a day, then tried to come back to New Zealand but was told he hadn't been out of the country long enough. Whitt called the consulate office and explained his own situation, and was told he could fly over to New Zealand and stay for a day, and he would satisfy the Australian requirements for being out of the country.

"But by that time, I'd already made the plans to stay [in New Zealand] for a week," he said.

Another document Whitt obtained was an international driver's license, though he found out later he didn't need it, as his Wyoming license was in good standing so it was also valid in Australia. He said learning to drive on the other side of the road was an experience in itself.

When Whitt arrived at the Sydney airport, Macdonald and his wife were there to meet him, though it took some time to clear customs. As Australia is an island, Whitt was asked if he had been around livestock or had any foreign seeds on his clothing. Whitt said he worked on a ranch, and they asked him to take off his shoes for inspection.

In the past, rabbits had been introduced to the country and the animals became a major pest, detrimental to both flora and fauna, so customs is extremely careful with regard to what could be brought in by travelers. "They're sticklers about it," Whitt said. "If you've got mud on your boots, you better go wipe it off before you go through customs." It was still a four-hour drive from the airport, over the mountains, to Macdonald's main ranch on the western slopes.

Whitt noted most of the mountains are very rounded, rather than the sharp jagged peaks seen around here, so there's more opportunity for farming, and many dry land farm because they get enough rainfall, 18-20 inches per year. He said there were a lot of farms with grains, as well as orchards and vineyards. The majority of the farming took place about 3,000 feet above sea level, whereas livestock were established wherever water was available.

Macdonald's home place, west of Sydney, was on about 4,000 to 5,000 acres, and he had about 40,000 acres each on his other two ranches, one further west and one to the north. It was difficult to drive anywhere, with a speed limit of 100 kilometers - about 62 miles - per hour, and the roads were terrible. Whitt was also still in the process of learning which side of the road to drive on as well. He noted driving on the road was just fine, but he had trouble managing roundabouts, having never been on one even in the U.S. Also, whenever, he made a turn he wanted to always get back into the right-hand lane because it was so hardwired into him.

"It took me about a month to figure that out," he said. On an interesting note, when he came back he again had to learn how to drive because he was used to driving in the left-hand lane.

On another point of driving in Australia, Whitt said the kangaroos were terrible. One might see one or two during the day, but for night driving it was best to have a bar on the front of the vehicle because there were so many running around. Shooters were hired to keep the kangaroo population down, as they would eat up the grass, as well as crops. Feral cats, goats and pigs were also problematic.

Macdonald ran about 20,000 head of sheep, Whitt said, so they were always doing sheep work. Whitt, having grown up on ranch that ran cattle and sheep, wasn't unfamiliar with the work. On the ranch just purchased, Macdonald was putting in some pipeline and new fence. Though he had a crew for that labor, Whitt would help them out when he wasn't doing anything else.

"It's like any other ranch. There's always something to do."

Macdonald did run some cattle, so Whitt helped there as well. Where they were at, the country was mainly flat and everyone typically used four-wheelers and motorbikes to get around, and Whitt learned how to run a sheep down on a four-wheeler. "You just basically run them down and run over them until they lay there, then you get them and tie them up." While here people use sheep hooks, Whitt said they didn't have them on the ranch, and overall the animals are a lot wilder because they're not handled as much.

Since this was ranch work, Whitt said they were doing seven days a week, though the weather was certainly different. When we were having the winter cold spell, he saw four days that were over 40 degrees Celsius, over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Those days, he might get in a couple hours before it got too hot, but spent most of the time inside resting, hoping to get some work in during the evening.

"The big thing there," he said, "was keeping water in front of your livestock."

The people he met on his trip love America, Whitt said. Some don't wear anything but American clothes, and they all want American goods. Whitt said many people don't think of the bombing of Darwin in Feb. 1942, and the United States' involvement in preventing what could've been a Japanese invasion of Australia.

"Everybody thought the world of America.," Whitt said. "They were very happy America stood up to Russia and everyone else, and took that leadership position."

The people's lifestyle is similar to what America's was in the 40s and 50s, with a focus more on work than on things like video games, television, texting or any kind of popular technology. Whitt noted they do have access those things, they just don't focus on them.

They're also very open, he said, as people might drop in on their neighbors with no announcement, and they seem to have much more desire to get back to the land. Even those who lived in larger cities were always looking for a reason to get out of town and stay some place for a while.

There mainly to help on the ranch, Whitt still had some time to go sightseeing though he didn't get to see everything he wanted. "I'm planning on going back, because there's lots of things I'd like to see." He won't have to worry about having a place to stay, because in addition to Macdonald's ranch several people he met offered their homes to him when he returns. He said he might be able to go to Australia for a year and not have to pay for anything.

Visiting Australia is something Whitt's been wanting to do for some time, and he said he could've flown down, driven around, came back and be able to say "Look, I've been to Australia." With this trip, he was able to really explore the country and get more involved with the people. He recommends anyone travelling to Australia get off the beaten path, go the back roads, get out onto the land and really meet the people.

"If they can meet some one," Whitt said, "that's the best way."

The country has a big music festival near the end of January, and Whitt hopes to travel back after Christmas. He'd really like to spend another two or three months there, but would be happy to have even another month down under.