Texas Longhorn Tours, A Safari Feeling

Kingsley, from Nigeria, is one of the 2025 Study Townsville Student Ambassadors and is studying a Master of Social Work at @James Cook University in Townsville. Kingsley shares his experience participating in a Study Townsville Student Ambassador activity, a day trip to Charters Towers in North Queensland.

About an hour and a half or so from Townsville, near Charters Towers, lies Leahton Park and the unique experience of @Texas Longhorn Tours. This family-owned property offers an immersive and memorable cattle-ranch style tour in North Queensland. It may interest you to know that people travel all over the world and within Australia to come tour and feel this amazing experience and sights.
I and the rest of the Study Townsville Student Ambassadors visited and got to see enormous full-blood Texas Longhorn cattle, some with horns exceeding 100 inches tip-to-tip. One famous steer named “JR” held a Guinness World Record with a horn span of 3.15 m (10 feet 4 inches) at his passing, we were told. The tour felt almost cinematic, almost like the Africa Safari feeling: you ride in a horse-drawn wagon or in a Polaris Ranger across the property, in my case, it was the Polaris Ranger, you stop for Aussie billy tea or a “smoko” under the trees, and you learn about the history of the Longhorn breed, their American origins, and how they came to Australia, their names, breeds, and even ancestry. I got the lifetime opportunity to meet the current Guinness world record holder for the longest horn-Madonna. Her horn length spans over 3.3m tip-tip.

What I enjoyed most:
•The up-close cattle viewing: seeing those horns, the big statures, the landscape around them created a strong sense of place and heritage – was giving African Safari vibe as said earlier.
•The story behind the place: the owners Mick & Lynda Bethel have built this tourism offering from their passion for cattle and the property.
•The blend of nature, farming and tourism: it is not simply a zoo-style show, but a working property and you get to appreciate the scale of things in regional Queensland.
•That contrast to reef/island scenes: this is more inland, more rugged, more agricultural-outback oriented, so as a student ambassador I could point to this experience when showing that North Queensland offers variety in student life beyond the coast.

Tips for a good experience:
•Wear comfortable clothing and sturdy shoes: although the tour is guided, you will be outside and moving around.
•Bring a hat and water- the inland Queensland sun can be extreme.
•Be ready for the slower pace: part of the charm is the relaxed, rural rhythm.
•Ask questions: the owners and guides enjoy sharing stories about Texas Longhorns, the property, the history, and cracks very humorous jokes along the way. These make the experience richer.

For my role as a student ambassador with Study Townsville, this visit speaks volumes: prospective students see that in regional Queensland you might snorkel one day and ride through cattle country the next. The opportunity to explore such different landscapes as part of your student life adds depth to what “studying in Townsville” might mean.

Photo credit: Kingsley Onunka

October 2025