Camel Racing, Australlia

Several towns in Australia have Camel Racing and have done for years. This link is to just one place that has the Racing. 

The first camel to arrive in Australia was brought here by a Mr. Horrock in 1840 from the Canary Islands. The next major group of 24 camels came out in 1860 for the ill-fated Bourke and Wills expedition. The first time explorer Giles used camels, he travelled 220 miles in 8 days without giving water to the camels.

However, in 1838 research tells that Joseph Bruce and John Gleeson brought out 18 of the first 'Afghans', who arrived in (the colony) South Australia.  More camels arrived from British India as well.

Camels were used to carry all kind of goods and men in the outback of Australia.

Before the building of railways and the widespread adoption of motor vehicles, camels were the primary means of transporting goods in the Outback, where the climate was too harsh for horses and other beasts of burden - so says my research.

There are currently over one million feral camels in the rangeland ecosystem of Australia.  Feral camels are causing significant damage to the natural environment as well as to social, cultural and economic values across their extensive range.

The places that I know of that have Camel Racing are marked in blue.  We have been to these areas but not to the towns.

The Outback

 We have visited and stayed in the outback town of Bourke a few times way back.  Bourke is on a bend at the Darling River and it about 800 kms (500 miles) northwest of Sydney the capital of New South Wales (NSW).

The first British explorer to explore the river was Charles Sturt in 1828 who bane it after Sir Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales.  Having struck the region during an intense drought and a low river, Sturt dismissed the area as largely uninhabitable and short of any features necessary for establishing reliable industry on the land.

Further exploration of the area did not occur until 1835 when the colonial surveyor Sir Thomas Mitchell conducted an expedition.  Following tensions with the local people (the Aborigines) Mitchell built a small stockade to protect his men, and name it Fort Bourke after then Governor Sir Richard Boure.  British pastoral settlement failed to occur for many years in the vicinity due to the large distances from the colonized areas and the strong resistance from the local Aboriginal population.

Eventually the first British pastoralist to appropriate land around Fort Bourke was Edward J Spence in late 1858, but it was Vincent James Dowling with his head stockman, John E Kelly, who successfully established the Fort Bourke Cattle station and homestead in 1859.  Dowling clashed with the resident Aboriginal population, receiving a spear through his hat and his horse being wounded by a boomerang. However, he was able to come to terms with the Indigenous people, who became a cheap source of labour or his run.  {Wikipedia}  More to read

An area further north 10km actually was chosen for the town of Bourke in 1862 as Fort Bourke was prone to flooding.

The caravan park off the Kidman Highway north of Bourke, NSW

The Police Station in Bourke.

The Post Office

Cameras at the intersection in Bourke, they are there for the Police to see what is happening in the street, mostly for the Indigenous people.

A Camel Caravan on the way to Bourke in 1900.