DRIED OUTT DOWN UNDER

Stonehenge in Australia is a sad monument to years of drought.

Stonehenge is dry and has been for too long — seven years too long. You can taste the dust well before you cross the cattle grids that cut the only road into town.

More t han 1,700 kilometres northwest of Sydney, Australia’s Stonehenge could not be more different from its famous namesake, the prehistoric monument in England.

Stonehenge in England averages 10 days a month of rainfall and a maximum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. The town in Australia averages 325 sunny days a year and a summer temperature of about 45C, and forget regular rain.

How the town got its name is a mystery. “In the mid-1800s, dingo trappers built a stone fortress that they used as a shelter, but no one is really sure,” said resident Judy Baldry as she drove along a dusty road on the outskirts of town.

Another possibility is the stony landscape, with rocks ranging in size from marbles to boulders scattered across the plain as far as the eye can see.

The stones lure tourists to an area known as “The Address Book”, where people spell out their names or messages using stones, such as “Jim loves Kerry” and “Dan 4 Jan”.

Stonehenge’s remaining 23 residents are struggling to survive one of the longest droughts in memory.

“Certainly, this is the worst drought I’ve seen in the last 28 years because of its longevity. It’s just gone on for so long,” said cattle and sheep farmer Tony Jackson.

Jackson’s Hill View Park Station property of more than 150,000 acres is excellent wool country due to the stones. Less dirt means better quality wool.

He manages 800 cattle and about 6,000 sheep, but he fears he will have no feed or water if there is no rain by Christmas. He and his neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on feed.

Debt levels for broad-acre farms are estimated to have increased by 7% in the 2016 fiscal year to average A$560,500 per farm, according to the government’s agricultural bureau.

In other parts of Australia the drought has broken and farmers are looking at a bright future. Cash incomes on cattle farms are at a 20-year high, averaging A$204,000 per farm, thanks to rising beef prices.

But the drought has a stranglehold on Stonehenge. For the first time in more than 34 years the main water supply, the meandering Thomson River, has stopped flowing. Farmer Dick Smith says it has been seven years since the last decent rain filled the river.

“This is drought country. No one forced me to live here. We have to expect a drought, but this one’s gone on too long,” he said while sitting on the veranda of his home on the Depot Glen property.

Smith usually manages about 1,500 cattle but has destocked to survive and now has just 47 cows and calves. Because of droughts in past decades, he said he had “completely destocked” three times and may be forced to do so again.

When the rains do come, the farmers of Stonehenge will struggle to pay for new stock at a time when cattle prices are at record levels.

The drought has taken its toll on the emotional and mental health of families, according to a study by Australian National University.

Sue Smith knows the burden. She runs Depot Glen alone for many months while her husband, Dick, is away driving a grader or fixing fences thousands of kilometres away in the Northern Territory.

“You really have to love your husband to live out here,” said Sue, a champion equestrian when she was young.

“We’re not isolated up here, we have bitumen roads, telephones and internet, but I do miss white sheets,” she said, referring to the bore water that stains her sheets.

Stonehenge has suffered a huge loss of people because of the drought. The town many years ago boasted three hotels, and up until just a decade ago, a population of 106.

Frank Irwin, who used to work on a farm, now runs the Stonehenge Hotel, a tin building with a bar crowned with empty beer bottles and rodeo memorabilia.

Stonehenge, like its English namesake, will survive, he said. “We just batten down the hatches until it does rain.”

This is drought country. No one forced me to live here. We have to expect a drought, but this one’s gone on too long” DICK SMITH Stonehenge farmer

Farmer Tony Jackson inspects stagnant water in a reservoir on his property near Deadman’s Creek on the outskirts of the outback town of Stonehenge in Queensland, Australia.

A stockman rides his horse and leads another down a dusty road toward the cattle yards in the outback town of Windorah, located south of Stonehenge in Queensland.

At ‘The Address Book’ near Stonehenge, visitors spell out messages with stones.

LEFT Farmer Dick Smith and his wife Sue take a break from chores at their home near Stonehenge.

ABOVE Local residents Judy and Jeff Baldry prepare to eat breakfast at their property in Stonehenge.