By Mike Safley
This is an old fashioned “on the road” story. Bruce Barr and I spent five days traveling the backroads and highways surrounding the city of Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne can easily lay claim to being the alpaca capital of Australia. There are a great many alpaca studs, or ranches as we call them, within one or two hours drive of Melbourne.
I arrived at the Melbourne airport two days late, thanks to my airplane'sproverbial “mechanical difficulties”. Cherie Bridges had agreed tomeet me upon my arrival but had given up a day or so earlier when I failed toshow up.
There I was, standing on the sidewalk with a confused look on my face, when upwalked Ken Shurek. I had met Ken a year earlier in Estes Park, Colorado. Heobserved that I seemed a long way from home and wondered if he might give mesome direction. I explained I was looking for Bruce Barr, and as luck wouldhave it Ken was headed over to see Bruce at the Dalgehty auction complex, justa few miles away.
It didn't take me long to accept Bruce's offer to join him in an Australianalpaca tour. Before we were finished, we had put over a thousand miles onBruce's camper van. We had added Mike Wilkens of Wilkens Livestock to theentourage and had toured many alpaca studs, the Melbourne Cup Horse Race (whichis a national holiday in Australia) and the Dalgehty Auction extravaganza.
If I were asked to describe Bruce Barr to someone who didn't know him, I wouldpaint a picture of the inveterate adventurer. Bruce has been to the nationalfinals in five sports including hang gliding and wind surfing. He has a hugelaugh and an easy manner. I don't think Bruce has ever met a stranger.
Bruce seemed to know everyone in the Australian alpaca industry. He maintains alarge herd of alpacas and llamas in Australia with his partner Bill Barnette.With Bruce as our guide we were enthusiastically welcomed as old friends at allthe ranches we visited.
To say that Australia is beautiful doesn't begin to describe her vastlandscape. The rolling countryside is painted with giant brush strokes of vividcolor. November is springtime in Australia and the country side is rich withemerald green fields and wildly colored flowers. Red parrots and pink cockatoosflutter from bush to bush and the koala bears sit in their trees and smile.
We arrived at Beneleigh Alpaca Stud, home of Carolyn and Allen Jinks, amidsttheir preparation for the big alpaca auction. Beneleigh is a 300 acre propertywhich runs down to the ocean's edge. Their home which sits on a bay outside ofGeelong, and enjoys views of alpacas, the ocean and a rugged sea coast in thedistance.
One hundred and fifty alpacas roam the farm's lush pasture. The Jinks have beenselling, raising, breeding and showing alpacas with great enthusiasm since1989. Carolyn is developing the market for alpaca fibre with local spinners andweavers who have traditionally used sheep's wool and mohair in theirhandicrafts. Allen, who grew up farming the land next to their current farm,has taken alpacas to heart and is pushing hard to breed for only the finest offleece.
One can’t visit Beneleigh without getting to know “Miracle Millie”.She is probably the worlds friendliest alpaca. Born with a broken hip, she wasnursed to health by the loving care of Carolyn. Millie demands a part in allthe ranch activities and is generally one of the best alpaca saleswomen I haveever met.
Being on the road with Bruce Barr means never being bored. Breakfast could meananything from spaghetti and toast, a local favorite, to a sausage roll at thepassing milk bar. “Take away food” was the order of the day.Between stops at local ranches, we talked constantly of, you guessed it,alpacas, with an occasional aside by Mike Wilkens about cutting horses, whichwe learned are his passion.
The Lyon Bank farm is home to Cherie Bridges and her Coliban alpaca studoperation. The ranch includes 450 acres, 24 pastures, 190 alpacas, 80 llamasand 2 koala bears. Bruce Barr and Bill Barnette agist their Australian alpacaand llama herd with Cherie, who cares for their animals as well as hers.
Cherie is a vivacious redhead, with a whole string of alpaca“firsts” to her credit. She introduced alpacas to Australia whenshe purchased 15 animals from Agricola of New Zealand and obtained onconsignment, 20 additional animals from Alpacas and Llamas International. Sheimmediately began selling the alpacas at the traditional Australian animalfairs and farm days.
Not one to sit still for long, Cherie organized the first Australian AlpacaConference and Retreat. Next came the Australia Alpacas Magazine.Currently she serves as editor for the magazine and is active selling andpromoting alpacas on a daily basis.
On to the next ranch! Bruce was great at driving on the wrong side of the roadbut I'm still not sure how we made it through the “round a bout”intersections. One word of caution about Australian traffic: look both waysbefore crossing the street. The reverse traffic flow can be deadly to theAmerican pedestrian, who fails to realize things are “backwards”down under.
We arrived midmorning at the Manifold Estate, home to Roger and SuzanneHaldane. The Haldane's ranch is a classic by any standard. Once spread over ahundred square miles, the ranch was developed by an Englishman who came toAustralia in search of land.
The farm was initially developed as a dairy operation with over 9,000 milk cowsand its own creamery. The homestead is set on Lake Purrumbete which is full ofsalmon and trout. Roger showed us an underground fort, which was the family'ssanctuary during the occasional raid by aborigines.
The home was built in the late 1800's and enlarged in 1902. Constructed ofstone and full of art nouveau carved wood work, I was surprised to learn thatthe house was supported by timbers from my home state of Oregon. The house has16 fireplaces for heat and enough bedrooms to accommodate an army.
Roger Haldane's whole family is involved with their alpacas. Suzanne explainedthat she and Roger see the alpaca herd they are creating as a legacy for theirchildren. Roger doesn't expect to see the full potential of the alpaca realizedin his lifetime. His son Ewen and daughters Thea and Amy all take an activerole in the breeding and care of their 300-plus alpacas.
I found Roger Haldane's knowledge of alpacas to be broad and deep. He worksclosely with the Textile Fibre and Research Institute in Melbourne to betterunderstand alpaca fibre qualities. Roger and the institute are studying theeffect of ultraviolet light on the quality of the fibre being produced. Rogerpoints out that ultraviolet light damages fibre and makes it harder to process.Sweaters and yarn made from sundamaged fibre will pil up and shed. Mohair, forinstance, is shorn every 6 months and avoids most damage from harsh sunlight.He feels that Australia, with its lower elevation and cloudy skies, may providea superior environment for growing fibre than the alpaca's native Peruvianhomeland with its high elevation and harsh sunlight.
Roger also feels that Australia's fibre handling expertise is superior to thatof South America. He points out that in Peru, ranchers fail to skirt or sortthe fleeces at the point of shearing. In Peru all grades of fleece arecommingled. The finer grades of fleece become contaminated with coarser fibrefrom inferior fleece. Extra care during the initial clip could ultimatelyproduce a superior textile product and require far less hand labor.
The Haldane's alpaca herd benefits from Roger's long history of raising otherlivestock species such as sheep. For instance, he uses vitamin therapy toprevent the rickets. He believes that vitamin D, A and B-12 are essential tobaby alpacas, particularly in the winter months when they need to metabolizecalcium and phosphorus into bone. Vitamin D is a vitamin derived from the sun.Low sunlight in the winter months, particularly when combined with darkanimals, can create a likely environment for the rickets condition. The ricketsdon't occur in Peru where babies are born exclusively in the spring underconditions of bright sunlight.
Anyone fortunate enough to visit the Haldane ranch will leave well fed thanksto Suzanne and well informed after talking with Roger. The alpaca’s futureoutside of Peru will prosper with families such as the Haldanes involved in theindustry.
No story about Australia would be complete without comment on the charming andfriendly people you meet there. Go to a restaurant, shop or motel and peopleare genuinely nice.
The shop girl will ask you “is that the lot?” before ringing up youpurchase. The innkeeper will offer you a “pot of milk” for yourmorning coffee, which by the way is always drunk “white” inAustralia. When you say thank you for the fine service you've received thereply will be “no worries mate”.
The suburbs and small towns of Australia made me feel as if I was back to thegood old days of American life. I didn’t see any graffiti, slums, unsafestreets, or homeless people. The houses were all neat and homey, each had alovely fenced front yard.
Bruce, Mike and I were treated to the Melbourne Cup Horse Race two days afterthe Dalgehty Alpaca Auction. Carolyn Young, who heads up a local stock importexport firm specializing in alpacas, found us “member-only tickets”to this spectacular event. From high above the race track we observed a mostfashionable crowd of ladies all decked out in spectacular spring outfits. Thecup race attracted $90 million of wagers. That represents $30 of wager for eachof Melbourne's 3 million population, all on one horse race.
Next we were off to the worlds largest alpaca herd outside of South America.What is the Royal Canadian Alpaca Ranch doing with 750 alpacas on 480 acres inWinchelsea, Australia? They're selling alpacas at a record setting pace, that'swhat. Ken Shurek and Florette Schnelle are a marketing force with their feet ontwo continents, Canada and Australia.
All the alpacas they’ve sold in the last two years, some 150 pair, live inAustralia and are owned by Canadians. That's right, they do not sell alpacas toAustralians even though Australian demand for alpaca is intense. Why? TheCanadian clients of Ken and Florette have bought all the alpacas the couplecare to sell.
At Royal Canadian Alpacas Ranch each pair is sold for $30,000. The owner thenenters into a contract for the care and boarding of the animal. Many of theCanadian buyers have not yet seen their investment. This marketing approach hassuccessfully positioned alpaca ownership as an investment, which competes withcertificates of deposits and stock as a financial investment vehicle.
Ken and Florette's animal husbandry skills are a match for their marketingskills. The entire operation is run in a first class manner from breeding andbirthing to nutrition and care.
Peter Williams, an English man with vast experience in farm management,together with his wife Pauline, head up the team. They have installed severalinnovative management techniques, in the ranch's breeding operation, which isentirely computerized. Female alpacas are weighed and body-scored prior tobreeding, they are then assigned a pasture with feeding regulated to theiroverall condition. With 500 females to keep pregnant Peter is constantlyprocessing and recording breeding activity. The 31 Royal Canadian herd siresare also a busy bunch.
At the ranch each alpaca pair can have a different owner and records must bekept accordingly. It's fair to say that Peter and Pauline don't take a lot oflong vacations.
I would recommend an Australia alpaca trip to any alpaca enthusiast. If you canwrangle Bruce Barr as a tour guide and Mike Wilkens as company I'll guaranteeyou'll have the time of your life. I did.
Reproduced from www.alpacas.com with permission of Northwest Alpacas. Copyright © Northwest Alpacas.
Back