Boulia Camel Races

We’re in Boulia, a remote outback Queensland town near the Simpson Desert where the local population hovers around 230 for most of the year, and the streets are so quiet you can hear yourself breathe.

For three hectic days every July however, Boulia comes alive, drawing thousands of tourists and punters from around the country to its annual Boulia Camel Races -dubbed the Melbourne Cup of camel racing. Motels overflow, caravans line every vantage point of the race course, local pubs (perhaps rather disturbingly) serve up camel burgers and sausages and trainers like my saviour 37-year-old Dannileah Stewart, pick up the pace to get their camels into tip-top condition before the first of the heats.

“It’s hard to believe I was a horse person once,” says Stewart as she stops to take a breather between preparing her ‘boys’ for training and heading back to her evening job. “I used to think camels were likerandom pieces God had just thrown together, but now I really can’t imagine life any other way.”

Stewart may not be able to imagine a different life, but she will allow that this is far from the life she was born into —a start which takes place in Mareeba where Stewart was born into a Kuku Yalanji family. Moving through Cairns and Cloncurry before setting in Boulia with her partner of 17 years, fellow trainer, Ronnie Callope.

Stewart spent much of her adult life riding horses —even jockeying— before fellow camel trainers in town convinced her to try her hand as a camel jockey back in 2009. “I loved it so much, I decided to become a camel trainer in 2016 and that was a pretty good year for us.”

A good year is an understatement; that year, their camel Markey broke two records (as well as Callope’s ribs at the starting gate) and won the 400m Cup. Awards for the golden duo of Australian camel racing have been flying thick and fast ever since.

For now though, there’s Stewart, and in a town like Boulia where the days are long and there aren’t enough people around to get things done, there’s a whole lot of her.

From 8.30am to 4.30am every day, Stewart works as a records officer at Boulia Shire Council, racing to her boys straight after, putting them through their paces before ducking back out for her evening job as a contract cleaner —a role that doesn’t end until 8.30pm.

“Somewhere between the cleaning jobs, I manage to get back and give them their feed and some hugs so I make it all fit somehow,” Stewart laughs as Callope calls out from behind her that she’s ‘far too soft’ on their furry brood.

As for downtime, Stewart reckons she has everything she needs right here. “Coming here and being in their company is how I relax and find peace and I suspect they feel the same way about me,” she says as Callope smiles and shakes his head.

As the sun sets and an evening chill sets in the air, talk turns to Charlie —hand-reared by the couple after he lost his mother to drought at two weeks of age. He’s still too young to race this year and even so, Stewart’s not so sure he’ll ever have the right disposition to win the awards his adopted brothers have.

“All camels have distinct personalities and Charlie has always been a big sook,” she says, describing how Charlie got addicted to Coke after his first accidental sip and threw ‘whopping toddler tantrums’ as the couple weaned him off.

“He still loves coffee and sweet treats though so if we stay patient and calm, we might be able to get him over the line next year,” she says. “But we’ll probably need to use those lollies as motivation.”

And with that, Charlie marches over and continues to lick my face, indicating he’s more than ready to join the others at the starting line. But will the public ever be ready for a cheeky boy like Charlie? Only a seat at Boulia Camel Races 2019 will tell.

Stewart, Callope and their gorgeous camels will attend the Boulia Camel Races, 20 - 22 July, 2018.

Dilvin Yasa is a freelance journalist, mother of two and author.

All photography by Wade Lewis