Peter Hodge (front) part of an Australian record for most camels pulling a wool wagon. Photos: Kim Woods.
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It’s not every day that you set an Australian record for harnessing the most camels pulling a wool wagon.
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Cosgrove’s Peter Hodge has done just that.
Mr Hodge formed part of a team of cameleers that harnessed 32 camels pulling a wool wagon at the Good Old Days festival in Barellan, NSW over the weekend.
He set the record alongside cameleers from NSW and Queensland.
Two of the camels were owned and trained by Katamatite’s Bernie and Heather Rice.
Along for the ride were a group of seven other camel enthusiasts from North America.
Thirty-two camels were part of an Australian record set over the weekend.
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At first glance, camels would seem like an unusual interest for a man from Cosgrove.
Mr Hodge first developed his love of camels while living in Alice Springs and got his first camel in 1993.
He said camels often had a cheeky personality and were not as badly behaved as many people expect.
“I just like the challenge of working with camels,” he said.
“They’re just sort of misunderstood.”
Away from the competitive arena, Mr Hodge’s primary occupation is offering camel rides.
However, he’s also taken camels to weddings and recently, his first funeral.
The record is somewhat unique globally.
Typically, people associate camels with being ridden or attached in single file nose-to-tail, as is commonly seen in the Middle East.
The camels were driven by both voice and reins.
They were harnessed three abreast with two in the shafts; otherwise the team would have been too long for voice commands to be heard.
Three metres of reins was used for each camel for a total of 100 metres.
The huge collection of harnesses were mostly in place before the record attempt.
The record attempt was 12 months in the making, with training the camels to pull the wagon an extensive process.
This involved gradually adding more camels to the wagon.
“It’s a lot of work, it’s not just a five-minute job,” Mr Hodge said.
Mr Hodge said one of the challenges of training the camels was variable weather conditions.
He said dealing with wind and rain while training was often more difficult than working with the camels themselves.
For Mr Hodge the event wasn’t just about the camels, but those he worked with along the way.
“It was good working with the camels, but it was even better working with a team,” he said.
The record replaces the previous record that was set at the same festival in 2024.
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