‘Just magic’: Life is but a dream rowing in the outback
With a lack of water and boats, Australia’s outback communities have never been at the centre of the elite sport of rowing. Until now.
Britain’s Henley regatta on the River Thames has nearly two centuries of storied tradition, pomp and ceremony, and the King’s seal of approval.
That may be all well and good but the Australian Outback Rowing Regatta on the mighty Thomson River boasts red dust adventures, kangaroos and even the odd dancing brolga.
The regatta is part of a growing movement bringing the elite sport to the bush, with a team of farmers from northwestern NSW preparing for the October event in Longreach and Barcaldine, Queensland.
Rather than dodging ferries and yachts on a city harbour, the Moree Boat Club trains once a week at a dam filled with recycled water from the town’s famed artesian hot baths.
“We train at sunset and it’s just stunning,” local citrus farmer and filmmaker Sascha Estens said.
“You’ll be sitting in the boat, the sky will change to pink and purple and you’ll see the occasional kangaroo hopping along the side of the bank.
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“It’s just magic … it’s almost like meditation.”
The all-farmer team will join clubs from outback Queensland communities including Chinchilla, Cunnamulla and St George, with a convoy travelling through Rockhampton and Emerald.
Toby Ford, a Brisbane doctor who grew up and trained in the bush, founded Outback Rowing Australia in 2021 after a holiday to his old stomping ground.
A keen rower from his boarding school days, Dr Ford immediately recognised waterways in Barcaldine and Longreach as ideal settings for a regatta.
“We thought, ‘We’ll bring the city slickers out and we’ll bring the country people in’,” he said.
“We’ll show how we live in the bush.”
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Outback Rowing also runs a “boat bank” supported by various businesses and local councils, which supplies and transports the water craft to interested communities.
Dr Ford said rowing could help boost rural Australians’ physical and mental health.
Participants improve their fitness, learn mindfulness, experience competition, get an endorphin boost, overcome hardship and are relatively anonymous on the water in their neon zooties, he said.
“You can join other people in a spirit of belonging and participation.
“Nothing makes a boat go faster than the shared belief you can make it go faster.
“That is an elusive feeling.”
Estens and her friend Kirsty Tomlinson co-founded the Moree Boat Club backed by the boat bank.
Rowing has helped team members bond through tough times, made new residents feel welcome and given farmers a much-needed break from work.
“It’s a really good sense of community,” Estens said.
“You get off the water and you feel so good.
“To move a boat you need eight people – you feel you’ve been a part of something.”
-with AAP
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