ARAMAC has had a long history of droughts and booms and has been described as “an oasis in the dry of the central west”. Yet despite its remoteness and the pendulum effect of good seasons and bad, the small community of Aramac has achieved great success with its multi-award winning event, the Harry Redford Cattle Drive.
Henry “Harry” Redford started a daring cattle duffing feat on a property called Bowen Downs. Learn the whole fascinating story as you browse through the Harry Redford Interpretive Centre. The centre is situated in the Rural Transaction Centre building in Gordon Street and has a range of souvenirs. You can also buy souvenirs at the gift shop in the Aramac Post Office. Or for an authentic droving adventure of a lifetime, join the Harry Redford Cattle Drive. From May 16 to June 6, the cattle drive will follow historic trails, giving people the chance to retrace the steps of drovers the same way they did it – on horseback. It’s a totally genuine event, with cattle, horses, campoven meals and sleeping under the stars. The cattle are driven along a stock route into Aramac, linking up with the Campoven Cookout Competition on May 22, Aramac Races and the Aramac Station Buck Out on May 23.
The drive continues to Bowen Downs and then onto Muttaburra across the Mitchell grass downs and finishes at the Landsborough Flock Ewe Show on June 6.
You can book for the entire trip or just a few days. The cattle drive caters for all levels of horsemanship, so even beginners can come along. For more information, contact the council’s Aramac office on (07) 4651 3311.
There’s good incentive for staying at Aramac at any time of year. For campers, caravanners and self-contained travellers, if you pay for the first two nights at the caravan park or rest area, you get the third and fourth nights for free. Alternatively, you can stay at either the Aramac Hotel or Traveller’s Rest Motel.
For a look at the countryside, travel the desert loop and see some of the region’s historic locations, starting on the Jericho Road with Gray Rock, a large sandstone rock that doubles as an unique visitor’s book dating back to the days of Cobb and Co passengers. The tradition has continued to the present day. Continue the short distance to Horsetailers Gorge, where Cobb and Co horses were once held.
Visit Gracevale Caves with its exciting 10,000 year old indigenous rock art gallery. The caves are on private property and you need to contact Artesian Country Tours on (07) 4651 2211 to organise a visit.
Visit Lake Dunn - one of the shire’s best kept secrets. Stay a night or two at the cabins as you enjoy the fishing, water sports, bird watching, tennis and just soaking in tranquil surroundings before travelling back into Aramac on the Eastmere Road.
Join regular events like social bowls at the Aramac Bowls Club on Saturday nights or social tennis at the Desert Recreation Club at Lake Dunn (usually every second Saturday night in winter).
Watch the action at the Ballyneety Rodeo, held during the first week of the September school holidays unless restricted by weather conditions. There are also two race days each year, usually in May and August.
While in Aramac, visit the Tramway Museum and revel in the history of a small community’s self sufficiency when the government made the decision not to include Aramac on the rail map.
