The Drover Award Winning, Best Seller

Follow what will probably be Australia’s last ever, long distance cattle drive through a magnificent photo journey.

In June 2013, 18,000 head of cattle were walked from Central Queensland to central NSW, some 2,000 kilometres, over traditional stock routes across the harsh Australian outback.

The Drover exquisitely captures the drovers, the cattle, the moments, the magic and the dust.

18,000

head of cattle

9 mobs

of 2000 head of cattle

2000 km

of Australian Outback

The Drover

Follow what will probably be Australia’s last ever, long distance cattle drive through a magnificent photo journey.

In June 2013, 18,000 head of cattle were walked from Central Queensland to central NSW, some 2,000 kilometres, over traditional stock routes across the harsh Australian outback.

The Drover exquisitely captures the drovers, the cattle, the moments, the magic and the dust.

Testimonials

Caroline Chad

Oh wow the book is amazing Al, you must be so proud. Mine turned up yesterday and I couldn’t put it down. The photos are gorgeous and it is really interesting to read about the drove. It must have been an awesome experience to be there.

– Caroline Chad

Karen

Hi Al,

I cannot say enough about how I enjoyed your presentation. It was light entertainment, a lot of comedy along the way, a few times I thought “Why? Why continue/”  but you got your message across as to how you saw a dream and went for, and succeed so well in the end.

The photos in your book is inspirational and I looking forward to “The Driver”.

– Karen

Agricultural Minister- Barnaby Joyce

While you don’t have to swat the flies, or wash the dust of the TSR from your mouth after reading this fantastic book, it’s the next best thing and that’s part of the appeal of the publication.  This fantastic imagery is timeless and I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in this country’s heritage.  Even if the reader is unaware of what a droving trip is all about, they’ll be captured by the timeless beauty of such a book.

Read the full testimonial

Agricultural Minister- Barnaby Joyce

Karen Wall

It is a wonderful book with fantastic photos and some very interesting characters. Boys are pretty impressed, Al. Now that have actually had time to sit and go through page by page you have done an amazing job. Well done, some great characters.

Karen Wall

Clair Crossley‎

I have just purchased this book. Spectacular photography!! I don’t think there was one photo I didn’t like! Very good value for money! I was surprised at how big the book is!!

Clair Crossley‎

Sam and Kirsty White

During the lead up to our on property Angus bull sale, and on sale day, Alice Mabin was taking photos of our cattle and property. She has captured the essence of what we do and why we do it and has enabled us to share this through our marketing including, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, website, newsletters and the bull sale catalogue.

Alice is a delight to work with. Her background in animal husbandry, her personal skills and marketing knowledge have been of great benefit to us. Not only can she photograph a bull, she can muster it as well.

Sam and Kirsty White, Bald Blair Angus

Penny Abrehart

Just received my copy, its huge. The pictures are brilliant. It will take pride of place on my kitchen table. Thanks heaps.

Penny Abrehart

Mark Wilson

I bought the book at McInnes Clothing in Narrabri….Just like to say I love it and you are very talented!

Mark Wilson

Suzanne Leabeater

I got a copy for my husband, he absolutely loves it. Great pics!!!

Suzanne Leabeater

Maree

The book arrived today. We watched the story on 60 Minutes a few months ago and our family loved the story and you captured it beautifully. We have race horses so we have a real love of the country… I really love the ruggedness of the people and the animals. I have just started photography and your work is amazing.. I hope to one day to get to a level near yours in the future. My family are really enjoying your book this afternoon. I wish you all the success for the future. Take care. (PS Thank you for signing the book too).

Maree

Hayley Porter

I can’t boast enough how much we love our book and I showed the in-laws and my father in-law loved it! Even picked out a picture he would love to get for his wall!!

Hayley Porter

Maree Brown

Bought your book yesterday- absolutely fantastic!!! Amazing photos and would have been an amazing trip!!!

Maree Brown

Joy Burns

Awesome looking book and photography. Top job Al. I recommend EVERYONE buy a copy. Amazing.

Joy Burns

Condobolin News Agency

What a beautiful book! we are a newsagent in rural NSW and the book has just walked out of the door and we have been taking orders for the second printing. “The Drover” has been purchased by a wide range of customers- county and city alike but it is especially popular with the old drovers as it brings back some many great memories.

I have to say I was skeptical when Al rocked up at our front door at 7.20 am one morning selling her book. I am glad that I didn’t go with my original order as we would have been sold out by the next day. The photographs are truly amazing and the character is so evident in the people and animals that were along for the ride. It makes you feel like you where there. Well done to Al for giving us a timeless piece of history in book form.

Condobolin News Agency

Stephen Parker

Just a quick note to compliment you on “The Drover”. A magnificent and unique publication.

We have The Drover on display at the main entry to our store with one book open out on display and we change the page on display every few days and notice the detail and quality of the photos stop people to look at the book ask the price and what it is about. Some purchase, some take it on board for as future purchase.

We have sold out our initial order and are selling through our second order and have found you to be a very professional person to deal with.

Good luck in the future, There may never be another cattle drive of this size but there will be another project for you.

Stephen Parker

Adrian, Lismore, Victoria, Australia

I have a number of similar books about working dogs farm buildings and other country themed picture books and I regard your book as the best I have ever had.

Adrian, Lismore, Victoria, Australia

Tracey Goble

Alice Mabin’s book “The Drover” which describes in photographs the tough assignment that Bill Little undertook to bring the Brinkworth cattle south, is a marvelous collection.

We have sold many copies to people needing to describe wordlessly the life of a drover.

Alice’s book is a great present. It shows some of the tough conditions that outback Australians endure in this increasingly technologically assisted life. This is a true insight into some of the highs and lows of looking after stock in extreme drought conditions.

We salute Alice for taking on this challenging task. Bill Little was assisted along the way with a team of other drovers as mobs of cattle were split upon entering new south wales. Many characters of the bush and some enthusiastic amateurs as well as horses and dogs contribute to this wonderful book. Well-done Alice.

Tracey Goble – Wise Words Bookshop, Moree  NSW

Peter Halicki, Collins Booksellers Wagga Wagga

I so much believe in your positive philosophy and agree with everything you say. You are so right.

We shall get behind the book and give it the exposure it deserves, particularly for Father’s Day. We already have them in three locations around the store.

If my staff can do a half decent display, we’ll send you a photo.

You know, after 33 years in the book trade and having worked for Dymocks, Angus & Robertson, Leading Edge Books and owning this Collins store for 21 years, I have a general rule that I never buy anything FIRM SALE because I just don’t need too. However, I’m so glad I made an exception in the  case of your books. They have proven to be a great success with sales of The Drover now standing at 48 copies and The Driver at 32 copies. This is quite considerable!  I think you are GOLD and your books are GEMS.

Congratulations on the success of your books.

 

Jenny Boyd, newsXpress Highlands Marketplace Mittagong & newsXpress Bowral

Just wanted to say a big thank you for our in store book signing last Saturday, we had a fantastic morning with sales and my customers loved meeting and chatting with you.

How nice to see a local guy bring his much loved copy of The Driver in to be signed by you and then purchase both your new books!

As we had great sales with both The Drover and The Driver books I figured The Grower books would have to be a hit, and with Fathers Day and Christmas coming these will sell well for the next few months.

The timing was perfect with drought relief fundraising currently in overdrive.

It was interesting that the sales were to guys purchasing for themselves, apart from magazines and lotto, guys don’t spend much in my store.

$99 sale in a newsagency is amazing, but when a customer purchases 2 or 3 of your books together you know price isn’t the only factor, they love the product so they buy it!

Jenny Boyd, newsXpress Highlands Marketplace Mittagong & newsXpress Bowral

Vanessa Moore
Master Business Coach


I was very excited to hear that Al had released another series of books. The Driver and The Drover were wonderful.

The Grower arrived and I placed it on a table waiting for time to have a good read. I stopped at it yesterday and thought “I’ll just have a peek” 65 pages and 20 odd minutes later I realised I was going to be late for a meeting. The pictures and the stories are fantastic. So much information about an industry most of us would take for granted – we just go to the shop and buy it. I’ve never really thought about how our food is grown and farmed.

Thanks Al, this truly is a gift and an eye opener about an industry that is so important to our Country.

Jacqueline Curley

These books are helping to keep the profile of Agriculture alive. Currently we have just about everything working against us so it is entirely up to us to put ourselves back in the public eye. Al Mabin has spent a year of her life producing The Grower which is a huge step in this direction. Use this resource, make sure it is your local schools, libraries and homes. Encourage business to use it for Christmas corporate gifts, stock up with them for event trophies. Her book about freight and transportation throughout Australia is also very educational and well researched. No other country in the world has produced an agricultural photography and info book as extensive as The Grower series. We have one put in our laps and it seems it is not going to be utilised unless we all make a decision to buy them now. The cost of one of these books is equivalent to one dinner and a bottle of wine, or one shirt, or a pair of cheap shoes. The benefits of spreading this information through the public domain will last for many many years. I leave these thoughts with you all.

The Winding Road The Winding Road

The Winding Road

Secrets of an Outback Entrepreneur

The Driver

Australia and New Zealand on the back of a truck

The Grower

The Heartbeat of Australia

The Grower

The Roots of Australia

Store cattle from Nelanjie! By half-a-hundred towns, 
By Northern ranges rough and red, by rolling open downs, 
By stock-routes brown and burnt and bare, by flood-wrapped river-bends, 
They’ve hunted them from gate to gate – the drover has no friends;

This is part of the second verse from Will Ogilvie’s classic Australian droving bush-ballad, From the Gulf, first published in The Bulletin, 14 December 1895, and it sums up the life in the long paddock for drovers.

Drovers were once an integral part of the Australian livestock production industry – without the drover, the beef and sheep producers west of the Great Dividing range had no way of getting their cattle to markets or to inside country where they could be finished.

Alice Mabin’s stunning collection of images published under the title The Drover captures life on the travelling stock route and it also records for all to see, the 2,000 kilometre journey of about 18,000 cattle from the Northern Territory’s Barkly Tablelands to Hay in the south-western Riverina.

The cattle were bought by Tom Brinkworth, a farmer from South Australia, who must have some eye to history and another famous South Australian, Sir Sidney Kidman, in the midst of the severe drought in 2013.  The actual transaction of $8 million for the cattle is recorded as the single largest transaction of cattle sold in history to a single buyer – another benchmark in this massive logistical undertaking.

Putting the Brinkworth mobs of cattle on the road caught the imagination of the media all over the country and the world.  Alice’s photographs are so evocative of not only a bygone era, but of an important part of our heritage, as well as the country’s future as a provider of clean, green agricultural produce like our beef.

While you don’t have to swat the flies, or wash the dust of the TSR from your mouth after reading this fantastic book, it’s the next best thing and that’s part of the appeal of the publication.  This fantastic imagery is timeless and I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in this country’s heritage.  Even if the reader is unaware of what a droving trip is all about, they’ll be captured by the timeless beauty of such a book.

Agricultural Minister- Barnaby Joyce