Rick Powell has made the drive from Belyando Crossing to Camooweal for the last 20 years and he says he’ll keep coming until he’s no longer able to.

“I just love it,” he said from the Camooweal Drovers Festival on Friday afternoon.

“Last year I run into a bloke called Dave Westaway. I hadn’t seen Dave since I was 20 years old. “I said, “is that you Dave?” And he said, “I know that voice”.

“We just continued talking like it was 55 years ago.”

While droving has disappeared from the Australian bush lifestyle, Rick said the festival must live on.

“As long as I’m alive there will be a festival,” he said.

The 76-year-old who worked mostly in the Northern Territory said the Drovers Festival was about much more than a reunion.

“Droving was a part of this country’s history. See those school kids? They’ll never know about droving if we don’t tell ’em,” he said.

While the 2022 festival brought plenty of laughs, it was also a chance to mourn lost mates from the year.

One drover had his ashes scattered in a nearby river on Friday morning.

“There aren’t many of us left but we’ve still got plenty of spirit left in us,” Rick said as he pointed to the entrance of the grounds.

“See that wooden fence over there? I built that with timber from my property.

“We want to leave a legacy for the next generation.”

See all the pictures in the issue.

This article appeared in North West Weekly, 1 September 2022.