Drovers recall wilder roaming life

THE thrill of driving cattle through the outback can still be seen in the face of former drover Alfa Geiszler after spend the weekend fondly recalling her memories.Back in Longreach for her seventh Stockman’s Hall of Fame Outback and Drover’s reunion there has been more than a few tall tales to be spun around the evening campfire at the three-day event held last weekend .

Mrs Geiszler started droving when her parents, Burt and Mary Beezley, decided to make the move from Lowmead to Miriamvale.

“I started droving just after the Japs bombed Darwin.
“Mum didn’t want to stay on the coast any longer.
“The whole family could ride horses and we had our own so we got everything together and went droving. I must have been about 11 or 12.
“We went and waited for a cattle sale at the Eidsvold yard and got our first mob.
“It was a great life.“There was always someone in front of you and someone behind.
“At night you would get around the campfire and have a bit of a yarn.”

At 16 years of age Mrs Geiszler jumped out of the saddle, opting to settle downand take a nursing assistants job; but the change was not forever.

Just like her parents, she and husband Herb would bundle up their five children and hit the road.

“When the kids were going to school, if there was a mob to take away we would load up the horses with swags and food and go.
“Sometimes I would drive the Land Rover full of supplies with my youngest in the front.”

While sleeping under the stars and continually meeting a constantly changing stream of people was an idyllic way of life, Mrs Geiszler does remember a few problems.

“Whenever we set up camp we would always find an easy tree to climb to get out of the way quickly; the whole family would be up there if the cattle decided to rush.”