After cycling, flying and boating my way from one side of the world to the other, I've realised the experiences I treasure most are the ones that feel most authentic. One such experience that's worth seeking out is Kroombit Park, a real working cattle station 35km from Biloela in rural Queensland, Australia.

Owners, Alan and Carol have built a successful tourism business doing what they consider to be everyday things like goat mustering, horse riding and camp cooking. Carol told me, "the things we take for granted are the things other people are looking for" and it seems they're willing to travel around the world to find them.

Like the millions who tune into soap opera Home and Away each day, Kroombit Park gives visitors a taste of what life in Australia is really about. On arrival you're presented with an akubra hat and bandana to be worn at all times by your hosts - a band of city-slicker turned cowboy backpackers who prepare you for a full day of dusty activities.

We started at the crack of dawn, 5.45am with a smoky plate of beans on toast, cooked on the campfire alongside a billy of cowboy coffee. We rode horses across the property and through a creek where the water reached halfway up our legs.

I helped feed a baby joey whose mother was the victim of a hit and run. My ears rung as I shot clay pigeon after clay pigeon with a heavy shotgun. I wrestled a goat with my team 'Goatzilla'  - check out the ridiculous but entertaining video proof here and worked on my lassoing skills until I could catch a target 10 metres away.

That night we enjoyed a roast beef meal (apparently the cow's name was Charles) and a few cold beers in Al's bar, where getting smashed means throwing your empties at high speed into a specially designed bin, with the noise echoing across the 10,000 acre property. No one can crack a whip like Al, but we all tried to replicate his sound-barrier breaking demo and then held on for dear life as the mechanical bull bucked us into a crowd of jeering cowboys.

Kroombit Park forces you outside your comfort zone, inviting you to find out what life on an Australian cattle station is life, bandana, bugs and all. There were times when I felt the fear and totally out of my depth, but I somehow mustered the courage to master new skills I never expected to have the opportunity to learn. I heard story after story of people that had gone there for a few days and stayed months, even years. The beating heart of this property is strong and all-encompassing, inviting any wannabe cowboy or cowgirl to find their place within it.