bullocks

A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. The American term is bullwhacker. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers. Prior to the gold rushes in Australia, in the mid-19th century, bullock drays carried essential food and station supplies to isolated country areas. On return trips, they transported wheat, wool, sugar cane, and timber by drays drawn by teams of draught animals (either bullocks or horses) to shipping ports before the advent of rail. They travelled constantly across the landscape, servicing the pastoral stations and settlements far from regional transport hubs and urban centers. Some of the larger stations maintained their own teams for local use when harvesting and transporting wool. Both bullock and horse wagons carried heavy loads of wool and wheat which was the main produce transported over long distances, plus chaff and hay. A bullock wagon could only travel approximately three miles an hour (depending on the load and terrain) therefore it was slower than a horse team. Bullock drivers were typically skilled tough men who often faced extreme difficulties during their job. Bullockies were also colorful characters, often noted for their strong language. Some did not swear though, relying solely on gesture, talking, and whip movements as persuasion for the team’s job at hand. A typical bullocky wore a cabbage tree hat, a twill shirt of that period, moleskin trousers, and blucher boots, and carried a long bullock whip which in many instances he had made. During the early years, the bullock tracks were very rough with narrow, steep "pinches", plus dangerous river and creek crossings. Many roads still follow the tracks made by bullock teams as they negotiated their way up or down hills via a winding course to make haulage easier. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullocky

It's so nice to see some of our history - and now so accessible!

The timber getters were usually on contract and cutters sometimes worked in pairs but some worked alone. The bush men wielded axes and other tools of their trade like the cross cut saw, barking bar, maul and wedges and brush hook. The brush hook was an important tool that was used to clear a track so the bullocks had an open pathway as they could be injured by being staked on a sharp-cut sapling. A good bullock was a valuable resource and two good leading bullocks were essential for the smooth operation of the team. Almost as important were the two bullocks at the rear known as the “polers”. Mustering and yoking up to 24 bullocks could take up to two hours. Each bullock had a name and recognised it when spoken to. Once the power of bullock teams became available, logs were hauled along tracks for great distances to a waterway or, at times, to “chutes” down which allowed the logs to be launched over the escarpment to slide to the bottom where they were hauled by bullock teams or rafted to a mill or transport hub. Source: www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/News-Centre/Backward...