Yet another early morning bus jourmey to wake up for.. this time to a place called Kroombit, via Rockhampton. It was 3 hours from 1770/Agnes Water to Rockhampton where we had to change buses to take us a further 2 hours to Kroombit.. a mass area of farm land and we'd be heading to one of the ranches.

We arrived to the ranch at around 1pm where we were greeted by the owners with a steak lunch cooked on a stove made from stone. After lunch we were briefed on the activies we'd be taking part in.. mustering goats on horse back, clay pigeon shooting and then lassoing goats.

We got into character by wearing checkered shirts with jeans and we each hired out a cowboy hat and bandana to complete the stereotypical uniform usually donned by ranch workers. Very amusing!

We were then brought over to the stables to learn the basics and collect the horses we'd be riding. I was given a horse named Mirage.. and we bonded instantly! Haha

Once we were all seated the guide lead us out one behind the other into the fields where the goats were grazing. Mirage was very obedient and I found her easy to control.

We were then given the task of herding the goats from all around the field into a small pen in the opposite corner using the commands we had been taught earlier. It was relatively easy and we penned in the goats without a problem. We then headed back to the stables to dismount the horses and tie them up.

It was clay pigeon shooting next so we made our way over to the small range they had set up. I'd never done any shooting before so I was a little nervous. We were given 5 clay pigeons to shoot at and I managed to hit 3 out of 5 so I was chuffed. I was shaking from the adrenalin of shooting the rifle when I had finished.

It was time to lasso the goats in the pen after that. We were in teams of three.. one had to lasso, one had to jump on the goat when it was caught and the other had to stamp it. I had a go at lassoing and I caught one of the goats within 30 seconds.. not bad since it was the first time I had done it.

The farmer then brought out a cattle prod and got us all to hold hands in a circle. Two people had to touch the ends of the prod which then passed a shock through everyone.. was a weird and funny feeling. He then decided to crank it up a notch with us this time holding someones hand and another persons ear. You could drop out if you weren't up for it but us boys stayed in.. very funny!! He cranked it up one last time and if you were still game you had to stand in a line and choose a place on your body where you were prepared to take the shock. A few went for the obvious on the hands and legs but I thought I'd be different and try it on the bum.. jeeeez! It set me off running around the pen but was very funny at the same time.

We were then taken back to the ranch on the back of the yute where we had a few beers and ate some goat that had been slow cooked throughout the day.. was delicious and just melted in the mouth.

It was then time for tea and it was absolutely awesome.. easily one of the best meals I've eaten in Oz. We had lamb and vegetable soup with homemade bread to start followed by roast beef, potatoes, vegetables and gravy. Sooooo good!

We sat around the camp fire playing drinking games after we'd eaten and then we had the chance to crack a whip which was really addictive.. I was pretty good at it too!

The owners then set up the metal bucking bull machine which I've never had a go at before.. but guess what? I hung on for the longest out of everyone and I won the prize of a free party bus tour in Cairns. Not bad at all ;)

We carried on drinking into the early hours of the morning with a few of the workers then headed back to our cabins to get some shut eye. Had an absolute brilliant day!!

On the road again in the morning.. it's a marathon 10 hour bus journey up to Airlie Beach where we will be getting on a boat to sail around the Whitsunday Islands :)

xx