Donna Jones
Ross is not the architect – he’s the facilitator – when it comes to top camps.
“We all think of s**t when we’re drunk and I can’t stop thinking about it and I have to build it after they talk about it,” a humble dream-weaving Ross said.
As a trade-qualified cabinet maker, he does admit he has a certain aptitude for building.
And as the winner of last year’s Muster Mates Campsite competition, the facts would seem to bear that out.
These days, he’s a disability support worker so he only really gets to use his trade skills as his “hobby” for building the Muster campsite.
He and his friends have only recently discovered Muster – his partner Deb (AKA The Boss) said – because they started coming in 2018 and were sad to miss two Musters during the Covid lockdowns.
But now, the group is back and highly contented in their bush home away from home.
“We come together at Muster and talk about it, and ask, what do we want next year,” said The Boss.
Complete with its own stage, merchandise, fire pits, tables, bucking broncs, sticky golf, darts, and, of course, bar, the Cow Bar proved a very popular stop for visitors last year, with one of Ross’s mates estimating they had nearly 150 people in their campsite at one stage.
They even had artists Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley dropping by to sing a few songs.
This year it took around three days to set up, with many hands helping out from Newcastle, Gatton, Bundaberg, and Ross’s neck of the woods, Hervey Bay.
And while the set-up is impressive, Ross doesn’t mind if they don’t win this year.
“We need to share it around,” Ross said.
It seems Ross is only limited by his imagination and The Boss’s common sense.
“They did want to do axe-throwing this year and I said ‘absolutely not’,” said The Boss.
