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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

Same occasion...see comments here re date, etc www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2900849261/

Timber became one of the biggest industries, which was mostly pine timber and was drawn to the rafting reserve by bullock team. In the early days the wheels of the wagons were not made by a wheelwright but were blocks sawn from logs which were known as block wheels. All the pine logs were rolled in the river and rafted to their destination, this was at times rather an unpleasant job as owing to the two shallow places mentioned earlier the men had to turn out, in the winter, at night to catch the spring tide, which only occurred at night time at new moon. Much of the pine timber went to a small saw mill at a place known as Tygum on the Logan River opposite to the Waterford Railway Station which was owned by the late Lahey Bros. where they made their first start in the timber business and later built a saw mill at Canungra. It was in the year of 1886 when the first Canungra Saw Mill was opened by the Lahey Bros. Another Saw Mill owned by the late Jesse Daniels at Cedar Creek commenced working at the same time and the year of 1896 was removed to Canungra. History of the Logan & Albert Areas by Roger Hart 1959

A good bullock was a valuable resource. Two good leading bullocks were essential, as well as two bullocks at the rear known as the polers. Mustering and yoking 24 bullocks could take up to two hours. Each bullock had a name and recognized it when spoken to. Bullock teams hauled logs to a waterway, or in the steep country to chutes, where the logs could be launched. Source: www.miragenews.com/backward-glance-timber-getters-and-saw...