Romanabt

Our home - QUEENSTOWN, Tasmania, Australia

Queenstown is the major town in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia's southern island state. It has a population of 2,600 people and was founded in 1896. The main industry in the town is Copper mining at Copper Mines of Tasmania's famous Mt. Lyell Copper Mine, today, Australia's oldest continuously operating mine. Tourism is also a very important and growing indusry in the region.

Queenstown is famous for it's spectacular "bare hills" surrounding the town, a legacy of past operations of the mine's smelters. But with the smelters shut down since 1969, the hills are recovering, and the landscape changing. Queenstown is situated in a valley with an awsome approach road from the east, is close to nearby lakes with excellent fishing, spectacular mountains, wild rivers, and extensive areas of cool temperate rainforests containing Tasmania's unique flora and fauna. These areas are today drawing increasing numbers of visitors to the area, to a part of the world that is still relatively isolated and untouched.

The West Coast of Tasmania is famous for it's climate. The "Roaring Forties" pound the West Coast continuously with gale force winds, and endless processions of cold fronts generated in the great expanses of the Southern Ocean west to South America, and south to Antartica cross the coast and collide with the West Coast ranges. Queenstown has an average annual rainfall of 2,500 mm, and temperatures ranging from minus 5 to 35 degrees centigrade - we even get snow!

Our kennel prefix - ROMANABT

Herr Roman Abt (1850 to 1933) was the Swiss Railway engineer who invented the "System ABT" rack railway system that was used on Queenstown's Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company's railway that connected Queenstown to the port of Strahan on Tasmania's West Coast. Rack railways are used to allow trains to climb hills that would normally be to steep for normal adhesion locomotives. Rack railways were commonly used in Switzerland and Austria, but there were only two in Australia in the days of steam trains, the Queenstown to Strahan line of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company (closed in 1963), and the Queensland Railways line to Mount Morgan (closed in 1951). The Mt Lyell ABT is currently being rebuilt as a major tourist attraction and as Tasmania's Centenary of Federation project. Now named the ABT Wilderness Railway, part of the line is already operating, and the complete line from Quenstown to Strahan will again be operating by the end of 2001, recreating a unique piece of Tasmanian History.

Interested in trains, or want to know more about the ABT Railway, Rob is a railway and model railway enthusiast and has his own train site at (UNDER CONSTRUCTION).

BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS

Bernese Mountain Dogs are working dogs with a history of farm work in their Swiss homeland, where they guard livestock, drive cattle, and pull carts of milk and wares. Their Swiss name, Berner Sennenhund, refers to the canton of Bern, where they were developed, and to the Swiss stockman, the Senn or Senner, who drives the cattle to the Alps for summer mountain grazing. The Sennenhund accompanies the senner on his alpine journeys. Today, "Berners" are valued as loyal companions, therapy dogs, watch dogs on farms and in the cities, and as rescue dogs. Bernese are shown in conformation shows in the utility group in Australia, and are also involved in obedience and agility, carting, and tracking. The Bernese is of striking colour - jet black with reddish brown on his legs, cheeks, "kiss brows", and either side of his white chest markings. A white blaze adorns the muzzle and forehead, and it is desirable that the dogs have white feet, tail tip, and that the chest markings form a Swiss cross. Bernese are strong boned and must appear capable of active work. They are renowned for their constant smiles and wagging tales as well as their beauty. The ideal height for a Bernese Mountain Dog is 58 - 70 cms, and they weigh between 40 and 50 kgs. Bitches are smaller and slighter than dogs, and they drop their coats twice a year - dogs once a year.

OUR KENNEL

We are a small kennel that is proud of our breeding record, our dogs renowned for their soundness and temperaments. We breed about 3 -4 litters a year. We are very selective about our breeding program and will not compromise our standards. We have sold dogs in all states of Australia, and to New Zealand and South America. We breed as a hobby, striving for continuous improvement, and for the love of our breed which we hope is doing our bit to improve the breed in Australia. All our breeding stock are hip and elbow X-rayed. All results are fed into an international database on the breed for reference about the status of our breed. If we use outside stud dogs, they must meet our criteria, which include heritage, type and temperament, and a number of health factors. If you want sound dogs, these factors are crucial to the health of your dog, and for improvement of the breed. The Swiss Kennel Club and other European breed registries have very strict controls based on these factors to allow dogs to be certified as suitable for breeding. All dogs we use for breeding must meet those same health criteria.

If you are interested in owning a Romanabt Berner, we have puppies available from time to time. We will only sell to you if you meet our criteria for a Berner owner. If you want to know more, please contact us at the above phone number or email address.