Chiltern VIC

The cowboy comes charging out of the gate holding on to the unhappy bull, and my first sight of this sends my adrenalin pumping. What power and brute energy! The cowboys are worse off for this ride. They line up and try their luck to stay on, but no one scores a point at this event in Chiltern.

Next the cowboys try to ride an untamed horse. They buck and jump, twisting this way and that, trying to shake off the cowboy. It’s no wonder a local medical clinic is one of the sponsors. Some are slow to stand up or they crawl out of the arena.

The women show off some very good skills on quarter horses, lassoing calves, and running a short obstacle course. They look awesome at speed, as their hats fly off.

I have never seen so many cowboy hats in one place at one time. This is a whole lifestyle that people choose to live every day. The rodeo event had been on the previous day in another town nearby. We’ve seen enough and leave early not wanting to get caught up in the crush of cars trying to leave the rough paddock at the racecourse.

Despite the fact that I went along to learn how to use my DSLR camera prior to taking this trip, I found that my skills and knowledge fall short when trying to capture great images at an event like this rodeo. Complicating factors are the fast action, heads and bodies of spectators getting in the way, the fading light at dusk, other obstacles such as large amplifier speaker boxes, and the necessary fence. My automatic focus kept catching the things closer than my subject. Everything happened so fast and I was just one of a few thousand spectators keen to see the action. My iPhone managed to capture a few good videos that I posted online. So, I was juggling cameras in search of that elusive shot, that I didn’t get this time.

Back at the caravan park we are camped next to a lovely town lake where ducks live. It looks calm, but we can hear the constant drone of traffic from the Hume Freeway nearby, and the train line is in between and trains thunder past regularly. It is the long weekend, and we have an unpowered site as the caravan park is full. Many Melburnians are escaping the city after a year of lockdown.

The Tuan Track is nearby and winds through the forest. This bushland is quite boring and dry. The walk is exercise for us and we enjoy the solitude. Like wobble-headed dashboard dogs we look up and down, watching for koalas in the trees and snakes on the ground, but see none of either.

Chiltern town is pretty with heritage buildings lining a quaint main street. We enjoy an excellent chicken parmigiana at the Telegraph Hotel. The local market is in the park on Sunday, but it is small and uninteresting.

On Monday, the caravan park empties. We move on to our next spot the following day.