Daral Dahl and Sarah Dahl describe themselves as the only old-school cleanskin musterers on rough cattle stations in the Top End and Kimberley.
Story + Photos Fiona Lake
Half an hour winding through looming jagged hills in the East Kimberley, lit only by starlight; past sleeping roadside caravanners and an eerie closed mine complex still lit up like a space station; then off the main drag for more than half an hour of jolting over and around rocks and holes. Finally, a group of shapes can be discerned in the gloom, working their way methodically across an unfamiliar landscape; hobbles chinking and the bells on the leaders and quietest horses betraying their precise location.
“I’d rather camp out here,” says mustering contractor Daral Dahl, ferreting a bridle from the trayback as the sky begins to lighten. “No time wasted travelling to and from each day and we get to bed earlier. All we need is a Toyota, body truck, fuel, generator, freezer, tuckerbox, swags – bare essentials. In 3–4 days we’re where we need to go and it’s not like the old days – there’s choppers here, if we need anything else.”
Anyone who knows Daral knows that camping out isn’t for nightly singalongs around a fire. Sleeping where the yarded cattle are and walking a full horseplant with them is the way to get the job done more efficiently and effectively, with the frequent bullcatcher and motorbike repairs hopefully completed well before the usual evening genny-off time.
This story excerpt is from issue #166
Outback Magazine: Apr/May 2026
