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A few months ago, keen followers of Handheld Travel would have noticed I covered a camel race in the town of Maitland, NSW. What I expected would be a fun day and something to talk about has turned into a slight obsession. I had no idea the sheer number of camels that lived in Australia. I had no idea the history of camels and their impact on the development of Australia. I had no idea of the history of Afghan Cameleers and their unique history within Australian borders.

After spending a day with cameleers and handlers in Maitland, I began gobbling up information about camels and particularly camel racing.

The big aim of this research was to set myself up to create a radio documentary about the 2021 Boulia Camel Cup, a famed race in Outback Queensland. Of course, COVID has put everything on hold. While there are still plans to have the Cup next year, it is still too early to say how that will look. All I can say is that I still have plans to be there in 2021.

As part of my research, I came across the story of Dannileah Stewart and Ronnie Callope. Despite working full time, Dannileah has been able to successfully train racing camels along with winning the 2019 Boulia Cup, the Melbourne Cup of camel racing.

Dannileah's story is one of the most fascinating stories in camel racing and her love for her animals and camel racing shines through this interview.

I genuinely hope this is the first step in big adventure.

Further reading about Dannileah and Ronnie:

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/feature/boulia-camel-races-remote-queenslands-melbourne-cup-camel-racing-1

https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/3954676/every-day-is-hump-day-for-dannileah/

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/3957480/every-day-is-hump-day-for-dannileah/

For further information about the history of camels, then check out Christine Steven's Tin Mosques and Ghan Towns : A History of Afghan Camel Drivers.

For those short on time, Ms. Stevens also wrote a wonderful piece in Australian Geographic.

Special thanks to Monique Krause for helping me arrange this interview.

Music by Blue Dot sessions.

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