Summary: This week we're trackside at the famous Brunette Downs races in the Northern Territory; there's lots of primping and preening going on at a cattle handler's course in Melbourne; and we're off to a farm where consumers are being introduced to their future dinner on a "meet the beef you eat" tour. We also join some quarantine border officials keeping unwanted fruit, vegetables and honey out of Western Australia; meet two inventive farmers who've made their own version of a medieval throwing machine; and head bush with some very excited bird watchers in the Northern Territory.<p><br><strong>1. Brunette downs hosts a four-day bash - Liz Trevaskis (Darwin NT)</strong><br>Thousands travel by road and light plane to make the annual pilgrimage to the Brunette Downs race meeting in the remote Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory. Now in its 102nd year, Brunette Downs is more than just a race meeting. Over four days the pastoral station hosts a gymkhana, a campdraft and even a rodeo to keep the crowds entertained. Reporter Liz Trevaskis drives 12 hours from Darwin to join the revellers, checking out the fashions on the field competition, the local ladies at a special sit-down luncheon, and finishing off the day at the opening of a special photographic and art display.<br><br><br><br><strong>2. Learning how to be best in show - Warwick Long (Shepparton VIC)</strong><br>Hair dryers, clippers and shampoo have been getting a good workout at the Melbourne showgrounds. A record 114 participants, aged between 8 and 66, have been taking part in the annual cattle handler's course learning how to best present their prized cattle to the judges. Now in its 25th year, the course is run by Stud Beef Victoria, with volunteers on hand to pass on their grooming and handling tips during the week long course.<br><br><br><br><strong>3. Meet the beef you eat - Laurissa Smith (Wagga Wagga NSW)</strong><br>It's not often that consumers have the chance to meet the beast before it's turned into beef steak. But Ian and Mandy McCorkindale, from Batlow in south-west New South Wales want their customers to see how their rare Scottish highland cattle are raised before being sold as meat at the Canberra farmers' market. When reporter Laurissa Smith visits Margaret McElhinney from Canberra is being shown around the property. She's a regular customer and believes the meat is the best she's ever tasted.<br><br><br><br><strong>4. The skill of drystone walling - Mel Sim, producer (Canberra ACT)</strong><br>It's a job that requires a strong back, a good eye and plenty of patience. The art of drystone walling is alive and well in the Monaro region in southern New South Wales where stonemason Ken Baxter and his offsider Tom Ryry are building a stone wall around a house on a property on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains. ABC producer Melanie Sim joins them to see how the wall comes together, rock by rock like a giant jigsaw puzzle.<br><br><br><br><strong>5. Border protection, Eucla style - Tara Delandgrafft (Esperance WA)</strong><br>It's a big shed on the Eyre Highway, just inside the West Australia border on the Nullarbor Plain. It's the Border Village quarantine station and the front line defence against unwanted pests, plants and diseases entering the state along its southern rim. Between 200-300 vehicles are checked and searched each day with fruit, vegetables and honey being the main items confiscated and destroyed. Reporter Tara Delandgrafft speaks with senior quarantine officer Danielle Weatherspoon about their work. The nearby town of Eucla is also the base for West Australia's starling eradication campaign. For the past 30 years trappers have been spreading out across the country using "lure" birds to catch starlings flying over from the east. Tara speaks with veteran trapper Steven "Coops" Cooper about the success of the eradication campaign which has seen the birds pushed back 700km.<br><br><br><br><strong>6. Firing off the melons - Lucy Barbour (Horsham VIC) </strong><br>In medieval times trebuchets were favoured weapons of war. Now two farmers from western Victoria have made their very own "throwing machine" to get rid of unwanted weed melons on their properties. The crazy scheme began two years ago when David Jochhinke and Bruce Crafter were looking to pass the time during a wet harvest. They came across an internet video of a trebuchet flinging a grand piano and thought it looked like fun! Reporter Lucy Barbour joins the pair for a melon flinging session on a farm near Murra Wurra.<br><br><br><br><strong>7. A desert princess emerges - Caddie Brain (Alice Springs NT)</strong><br>They've only been seen a handful of times over the past 100 years. But one of Australia's rarest birds, the princess parrot, has been sighted on the Newhaven Reserve, about 500km north-west of Alice Springs. Bird enthusiasts from across the country are jumping in their cars and heading north in the hope of seeing this arid zone bird. Reporter Caddie Brain joins a convoy heading out in the early morning light.<br>
