Country Calendar - Billy Riddell, Drover

What a great character. Very enjoyable watch

I'm pretty certain I met this man at least once. I believe my parents put him and his cobber up at the Opotiki Hotel, which they ran, in 1971-72. His mob were secured in the stockyards which are now a pony club, dogs chained to the fence and he was treated to dinner, hot bath and bed. My old man grew up handling stock in Southland in the 30s and so had a soft spot for drovers. Loved the footage of crossing the Motu, Maraenui and Hawai.
There's a famous surf break at Wainui Beach in Gisborne, called Stock Route. Access path used to be the way up from the beach for East Coast stock heading for Kaiti Freezing Works. I've not only surfed there many times, I got to see the sheep come up the beach there too. But CA surfer Miki Dora, he was a black sheep!