The Outback loses a true-blue character

The outback is farewelling one of its ‘true blue’ characters with the passing of legendary camel man Mick James. Those who knew him would agree that Mick James packed a lot into those 73 years. Mick was renowned across the bush for his larger-than-life exploits – many of them centred around his beloved Canbelego Pub, east of Cobar.  Desite the pub’s remote location, Mick attracted enough attention to put it on the map. 

In its heyday, the Canbelego Bushman’s Pub attracted national and international publicity, with busloads of people coming out to look through the hotel’s extraordinary collection of memorabilia and to see Mick James’ Wild West Shows for themselves. Daughter Tracey recalled that the weekend shows would attract over a thousand people who would trek to Canbelego to see the camel, donkey and goat races – even lizard races –  and the women’s mud wrestling!

Mick’s love of family was as big as his heart, and his reputation as wide as the mining fields of Lightning Ridge where he worked before meeting the love of his life, Cheryl. He gave up mining, bought the pub and for 20 years he and his wife Cheryl transformed it into a must-see destination for travellers.  In 1989, the pub burnt down and one of the outback’s most colourful chapters ended.  But the stories remained – tales of adventure and hilarity and of a big-hearted larrikin and genuine Aussie character.  An internet search of Canbelego will unfailingly unearth photos of camels in the bar drinking beer, of musical performances and those legendary camel races. 

One of Mick’s most famous adventures was his attempt to retrace the trek of doomed explorers Burke and Wills in 1987.  His aim was to raise $200,000 for children’s cancer research, but like his predecessors, bad luck dogged the expedition.  The convoy of donkeys, camels and horses left Melbourne for the five-month, 5,000-kilometre trek to the Gulf of Carpentaria. But bureaucracy, the death of some of his animals, and the inhospitable country turned the adventure into a nightmare. Expedition members fell ill, camels died from eating poisonous bushes, sponsors fell through, but Mick was determined to overcome the hardships and stick with his fundraising expedition to the bitter end. “A bloke can’t give up on a promise like that,” he said. 

Undeterred and unbreakable, Mick James raised $85,000, and in 1990 was awarded a certificate of meritorious service by the Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Foundation.

Mick’s fame was not just his pub, his Wild West Shows, his charitable efforts, or his extraordinary feats as a bushman. He was also renowned for his unique gifts as a country music performer. His album, the Pilliga Yowie, found a devoted following, and the title song, The Tamworth Song, What Happened To Australia and other tracks still get airplay today.  Mick’s exploits were known far and wide – from leading the goat races parade at Lightning Ridge with his camels, to pick the Ridge kids up in his horse and cart to go to school, to the big Wild West Show stage at the Locomotive Hotel, Tamworth during the Country Music Festival, to camel treks out the Back O’Bourke.

Mick’s friend Jake Lindsay had this to say on hearing of the passing of Mick James:

“Hey there troopers; hang your heads in sadness. 

We’ve lost one of the last of our true blue, outback showmen – the indomitable, the irrepressible, the last spruiker before the onslaught of political correctness, the one and only camel whisperer, rum drinking, yarn spinner, father and husband, musician, entertainer, bullshitter and all-round magnificent, out-there colourful character, the late and great Mick James. 

He was well-known to the fun-loving beer drinkers at the Locomotive Hotel in Tamworth, where he became legendary by being his loud and entertaining self. It was always a case of “We don’t take prisoners” and the crowds loved it. 

Now he’s gone to join his pals in the great grazing paddocks somewhere between hell and earth. Mick, they don’t make them like you anymore mate. You will always be the funniest bloke I’ve ever met. RIP old fella”.

After the Canbelego pub was razed, Mick and Cheryl managed pubs across the west before they finally settled down in Collarenebri.
Mick James leaves behind a loving family, an enormous circle of friends and followers and a legacy as a true-blue Aussie character. 

Vale Mick James.

Source: The Western Herald