If you've been inspired by Hugh Jackman's rough-hewn stockman, and fancy trying out the outback lifestyle yourself, simply donning an Akubra, a Drizabone and your oldest pair of Wrangler jeans won't quite cut it. Working on an outback farm or station is the real deal — there are no computers, iPhones or Internet here. Well, okay, I'm sure there are some hidden away in the homestead office, the Great Outback is, of course, not Mars but working on the land is a lot harder than Nicole and Hugh make it look.
However, if you're willing to roll up your sleeves and put your back into it, you'll be rewarded with an authentic real-life outback experience. You'll also meet the kind of true-blue local characters that make this country great. So if you're up for the challenge, here are some great ways you can work up a sweat on your next holiday.
Learn the ropes
Where: Leconfield, NSW
In country New South Wales you can brush up on your whip-cracking and cattle-mustering skills at a five-day course at the Leconfield Jackaroo and Jillaroo School. Since 1997, owner Tim Skerrett has been running the famous school on his huge cattle and sheep station near Tamworth. Eager wannabe Jack and Jillaroos come here from all over the country for the chance to learn the tricks of the trade at one of Australia's best bush schools.
You'll stay in bunkhouse accommodation, eat with the station staff and learn about horse grooming, saddling and shoeing before you even mount a horse. Then you'll learn how to muster sheep and cattle, rope and lasso animals, build a fence, control working dogs, and even shear a sheep. And if you prove yourself worthy they'll even help you find a job at one of many stations in outback New South Wales!
Find out more information from www.leconfield.com.
Become an old farm hand
Where: Myella Farmstay, Queensland
If you thought Queensland was all beautiful beaches, colourful reefs and lush tropical rainforests, think again. Less than two hours south-west of Rockhampton, and a world away from the coast, it is beef not reef that is on offer at Myella Farmstay. Owned by Peter and Olive Eather, who have been farming all their lives, the 1050-hectare cattle farm has been welcoming visitors keen to experience life on a working farm since 1993.
In a picturesque country setting, you can get involved with all aspects of running the property, including all farm activities from rounding up the cattle to milking the cows. But it's not all hard-yakka. You'll get a comfy bunk for the night, huge lashings of food and plenty of good old-fashioned country hospital and meet some great people to boot.
Find out more information from www.myella.com.
Join a cattle muster
Where: Bullo River Station, Northern Territory
Bullo River Station, in the far north-west corner of the Northern Territory, is the perfect place to muster your inner stockwoman (no offence guys). Like the fictitious Faraway Downs in the movie, Australia, Bullo River is a vast and remote cattle station with a proud history of leading ladies. Made famous by Outback legend Sara Henderson, who documented her family's struggles to manage the huge 1600-square-kilometre cattle station, it is now run by Sarah's eldest daughter Marlee Ranacher, along with her husband Franz.
As well as partaking in the cattle mustering, you can help out in the stockyards, feed the farm animals, go horseback-riding or explore the outback in a 4WD. Birdwatching, fishing and bushwalking are also fun to do here, and afterwards you can cool off in the pool. Naturally, budding stockmen are welcome too!
Find out more information from www.bulloriver.com/location.html.
Experience life on the land
Where: Angorichina Station, South Australia
The drought is biting hard in the sun-seared red ranges of South Australia's outback. But from the desiccated, parched land, Angorichina Homestead rises like a mirage. Located 10 minutes drive east of Blinman in the Flinders Ranges, this 650-square-kilometre sheep station, which has been in the Fargher family for four generations, is the ultimate luxury outback experience for anyone with designs on taste-testing Lady Sarah Ashley's pastoralist lifestyle.
Dating from the 1860s, the homestead is an ode to restrained luxury with its thick stone walls enclosing beautiful antique furnishings, while the shearing sheds and other buildings are a living museum to South Australia's pastoral heritage. There is, of course, work to be done, but if you don't want to get your hands dirty take a helicopter flight across the property or simply enjoy a front row seat at all the activities.
Find out more information from www.angorichinastation.com.
Click go the shears
Where: Fonthill, Tasmania
Tassie may be more green hills and verdant valleys than red dust and dirt but you can still revel in the outback pioneering spirit with a working farm holiday on the Apple Isle. At Fonthill Farm, in Tasmania's Southern Midlands, you can grab the clippers and learn to sheer a sheep. Located just an hour from Hobart, the 2630-hectare property is a very active sheep farm, so you can help out with the day-to-day running of the farm, from shearing the sheep and helping with lambing to collecting the eggs and feeding the farm animals.
The farm also encompasses 300 hectares of reserved bushland, so in between the chores you can do a little bushwalking and discover the native wildlife. You may not see a Tasmanian tiger, but you'll certainly see quolls, kangaroos and even a Tasmanian devil or two.
Find out more information from www.fonthilltourism.com.au.
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