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Sadly, the electrifying sport of whipboxing is hard to find on the New Zealand rodeo circuit, buried by OSH fears and an understandable shortage of volunteers willing to brave the lash. But volunteers can still be found in Queensland, where Gayle Nemeth, the Aussie whip maker, has given it a fair old crack.
She makes whips out of red bullhide and kangaroo leather. Her tip: always keep your whip well greased and don't crack it on concrete. "Whips are not toys" she cautions. "When a whip cracks the tip is travelling at over 1400 feet per second."
Whipboxing requires two people foolish enough to get in the ring, decked out in Driza-Bone coats and fencing-type masks. The setting is a eucalypt forest at the Country Music Muster near Gympie. Cowboys, fuelled by days of chugging on chilled beer and Bundies, are eager to enter the small dusty ring. The rules are simple: one hand must stay in the coat pocket or your opponent gets a free hit.
And no flinching when the whip hits the mask. Competitors wear a leather glove on the whip hand but a flick across bare skin leaves a painful calling card. First to get in three cracks between the eyes wins the fight.
The Muster is one of Australia's big outdoor music events. Thousands head to Amamoor Creek State Forest Park two hours north of Brisbane for six days of country music.
The show, now in its 25th year, pulls big names. Jimmy Barnes - "Baaarnesy" - tore up the main-stage on opening night. There was an Akubra hat-tip to muster history when Fabian, Marius and Bernard Webb - the Webb Brothers who had a 1981 hit with Who put the Roo in the Stew - played their old hits. And the ghost of Slim Dusty was evoked by Annie Kirkpatrick who reminded everyone she was the showman's daughter.
Bush poets run out lines at the Bull Shute pub and over breakfast of beans and eggs at Banjo's, a $275 a night tent village. This is Jack Drake, a gold gum leaf award winner (the Oscar of the Outback) from his Cattle's Dog Revenge:
While the city bloke was trying to find answers out of books,
The Rottweiler, teeth gnashing, headed straight for Andy's chooks.
Yes, young Andy's special bantams who'd won prizes at the show,
Looked just like they were going to be the next thing here to go.
The muster is in August. Nights are cool and during the day the mercury can hit 30C plus. But the shows are in big marquees out of the heat.
Survival skills: pace yourself, go easy on the Bundy and XXXX beer and see as many acts as possible. The talent on show runs from bizarro Oz to the truly sublime. You might just catch the next Baaarnsey. By
