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Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 4, 1990

Bullock Teams

Bullock Teams

It may be of note to remember that bullock waggons were used a great deal to provide transport in the more remote, roadless parts of our country, and one area where these teams really came into their own was in the McKcnzie country of Canterbury.

Two books which give some scraps of information about this phase of development there were written by Evelyn Hoskyn – Life on a Five Pound Note (1964) and Turn Back the Clock (1968).

Possibly bullock teams were not so usual by then but, when she was writing, some of the old tracks at river crossings were still visible. She looked up various old bullockies and said "The bullocks and their ways fascinated me and I loved to watch them pulling their heavy loads – no hurry, no bustle, a way all their own".

Illustrations used show teams of seven pairs and eight pairs of bullocks. One shows forty-two bullocks – three waggons and teams – moving seventy-eight bales of wool from Benmore station about 1890. She also mentions a team of fourteen pairs of bullocks, pulling a wool waggon, being loaded on to a river ferry. The bullocks were always hitched together in pairs.

The working bullocks required shoes on their feet and Mrs Hoskyn stated: "There was a blacksmith permanently employed at Pukaki, who would shoe bullocks as well as horses. The bullock would be thrown, its legs tied together, and the shoes fitted and tacked on. Sometimes they were made from cut-down horseshoes. One bullock in particular, which was more of a pet, would roll over and enjoy being shod".