The Camel Farm at Yulara

When you visit Uluru there are all sorts of tours you can do, one of them is by camel.  It was way too expensive for us to be able to do as a family, but we dropped into the camel farm to have a look at the camels the morning we left for Alice Springs.  I’ve heard there are feral camels in some places of Australia, we may have seen some on our way to Longreach as there was a huge group of them near the highway.  We were thankful for the fence that kept them off the road!  Pity it doesn’t do the same for the roos.  Um, no, this one is not a real camel.  It’s just outside the door to the shop. Also inside is a small museum about camels and their history in Australia.   Nope, those camel humps are not full of water as old cartoons would have you believe.  It’s all fat!  All their fat is stored in the hump rather than all over the their bodies.  Can you imagine if we had humps?  Oh wait…beer bellies.  I guess we do.  😉 Camels chew their cud, which is endlessly fascinating to kids.  Some kids, anyway.  Okay, just my kids.  Well, some of my kids.  You mean they throw up in their mouths????? This is the one that fascinated me.  Their eyes are arrhythmic so they can see both night and day.  Also, their eyelids are translucent enough that they can close their eyes during a sandstorm and still see enough to be able to move through the storm!! One more…their nostrils can almost completely close so that they don’t breathe in sand during a sandstorm.  Their noses also moisten the air as they breathe in.  Useful in a desert, no? These camels were waiting for the arrival of a tour group which was starting as we were leaving.  I do not envy those tourist being out there in midday. The farm features a fully working saddlery, but we weren’t lucky enough to see anyone at work that day.  We did wander around and look at the names of the camels.  I’ve never thought about it before, but it makes sense that each camel would need a saddle made just for them. Um, pardon, but I think you might have something on your nose.  Or just under it, anyway. Here, darling, this is my better side. Hello.  Are you going to feed me? Ah, kids.  They will feed me.  Wait, that tastes just like the stuff I was already eating.  Did you just pull that out of the trough and think you can fool me? No, no wait.  This is my better side. Okay, now you’re just showing off. Most of the camels ignored us but there were a few that were happy to have a pat on the nose. No, I’m not laughing at you.  Just showing you my teeth.  Really. We had a wander through the back and saw the water buffalo. There was also a lonely looking emu.  ‘Meemu’ as TurboBug (2) calls them. But really, camels.  They’re gorgeous. See that grin?  Yep, I’m gorgeous. One last feed!  For TurboBug it’s less feeding and more come as close as you dare and then just throw it at the camel. You can opt for a quick camel ride around the yard and it doesn’t cost all that much, but it would be a very short ride.  Since we’d gotten up close to the other camels we felt like we’d done enough, especially since we are planning to ride the camels at Cable Beach.  Because that’s what you do when you visit Cable Beach!  We are looking forward to it.