It seems like quintessential desert country with its endless red plains and scarcely a blade of grass. Yet it is also cattle country, as this cattle yard on the Birdsville Track at the edge of Sturt's Stony Desert testifies. At the time, late October 2015, much of central Australia was in severe drought and stations had de-stocked, so we saw hardly any cattle on our journey from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Marree. It was a reminder of the precariousness of existence here, together with the sublime beauty of the desert and the wide open spaces.