At the Good Old Days Festival in Barellan, southern New South Wales, an Australian record was set with 32 camels pulling a loaded wagon, breaking the previous record of 22 camels. The feat was achieved by cameleers from NSW, Queensland, and Victoria who trained the animals for years to work together. International interest included a visit from US camel ranchers impressed by the skill and relationship-building involved in training feral camels compared to farm-bred ones.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
At the Good Old Days Festival in Barellan, southern New South Wales, a record was set on Saturday with 32 camels pulling an antique wagon loaded with wool bales. This surpassed the previous Australian record of 22 camels, also set at the same event in 2024. The massive team, assembled by four different owners from NSW, Queensland, and Victoria, was led by camel Thirsty under the guidance of cameleer Rodney Sansom. The challenge lay in coordinating the animals and drivers to work harmoniously. Each camel had a specific role—leaders or wheelers—and some were younger camels trained specifically for this task. The event celebrated the historical significance of camels, which played crucial roles like transporting military supplies in the United States Camel Corps during the 1850s.
Written for “Camel Racing Record Broken” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
An Australian record for the most camels hauling a wagon has been set in southern New South Wales.
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record → haul → Wales
The massive team of 32 camels was put together by four different owners.
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team → put → owners
Cameleer Rodney Sansom said he was pleased to be a part of Australian camel history.
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he → say → history
Thirty-two camels in harness pulling a loaded wagon at a heritage festival in southern New South Wales have set an Australian record.
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camels → pull → record
The record-breaking feat at the Good Old Days Festival in Barellan on Saturday was set by a group of cameleers from NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
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feat → break → NSW
The team broke the previous record of 22 camels set at the same event in 2024.
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team → break → 2024
The camels were harnessed to an antique wagon loaded with wool bales, which they pulled for multiple laps around the arena as the crowd cheered.
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crowd → harness → arena
Cameleer Rodney Sansom, whose camel Thirsty led the team, said one of the biggest challenges was bringing together the animals from four different owners.
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one → lead → owners
"They've got to get used to all the other camels and they've got to get used to all the drivers," he said.
"
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he → get → drivers
We've spent years training camels.
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We → spend → camels
There's the leaders and the wheelers and we've got young camels in here that we've being getting ready for just this job."
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we → be → job
Mr Sansom said key to training the camels was learning to communicate with each other.
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key → say → other
"You've got to teach him English … be kind to the camel, show him what you want to do and he will love doing it for you," he said.
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he → get → you
US camel ranchers impressed
The record attempt attracted international attention with a delegation from the North American Camel Ranch Owners Association attending the festival.
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delegation → impress → festival
The association's education officer Doug Baum said their visit was about sharing international "camel culture".
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visit → say → culture
"The Australian cameleers of modern times … have a love and a respect for this country's history and you are seeing it kept alive at the festival," he said.
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he → have → festival
Another member of the delegation, Valeri Crenshaw, was impressed by the skill and training of the Australian cameleers.
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member → impress → cameleers
"These guys are starting with feral camels that have been out running in the bush and we start with camels that were born and bred on farms," she said.
"There's a different level in how you have to build patience and build the relationship with the animal."
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you → start → animal
Ms Crenshaw said she enjoyed spending time with the camel teams, camping on the stock routes in the Riverina and learning to drive the wagon.
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she → say → wagon
"Australia does a very good job of embracing its history and bringing to life how camels started in this country and what they were used for," she said.
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she → do → what
Ms Crenshaw grew up riding horses on a cattle ranch in Kansas but camels stole her heart.
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camels → grow → heart
"When I got introduced to camels, it knocked me off my feet with joy," she said.
"
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she → introduce → joy
They're so smart and they're so intuitive … they want to interact and they want to please you."
Camel history on show
Mr Baum said camels were a novelty in his home state of Texas, but he enjoyed sharing their role in history, such as how the United States Camel Corps transported military supplies in the 1850s.
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Corps → want → 1850s
"The camel is a curiosity … like a keyhole into greater discovery," he said.
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he → say → discovery
"If I show up on a school campus or at a national park or library with my camels, people are at least intrigued and maybe they'll even learn some history."
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they → show → history
Mr Sansom said he was pleased to have been part of the team to make its own Australian camel history.
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he → say → history
"I've always said I wish I was around 100 years ago [when camels were used to haul freight], but I'm here now," he said.
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he → say → freight
We're making memories as we go."
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we → make → memories
A second Australian record fell at the festival with a team of 56 bullocks.
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record → fall → bullocks
In 2025, a heavy horse record was set at the festival by 62 Clydesdale, Australian draught, Suffolk Punch and Shire horses pulling an antique wagon.
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record → set → wagon
The Aporia