Blog Archive
Kachana sterek
Host: Kachana Station Written by Fettes Falconer Note: Fettes Falconer is a Perth based retired geography teacher who visited Kachana some time ago and has been a loyal supporter ever since. As word got around that we needed another story for Central Station, people began ducking for cover. We thank Fettes for obliging in the […]
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Episode 9: Mark Bettini – managing drought and Cyclone Veronica in the same week
Mark Bettini is the co-owner and manager of Bettini Beef – a family business which manages 5 cattle stations across 1 million hectares in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In this episode Mark shares his experience of going from managing drought conditions after a poor season in 2018, to managing for flood and the […]
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Dreamtime – feeling safe when you sleep helps
Host: Kachana Station Written by Jacqueline Henggeler, Owner. When we moved to Kachana Station to set up our home in 1991, there was hardly any vegetation and we saw native animals on rare occasions only. Once we had established some vegetation and electric light, we attracted insects, especially during the wet. This brought along other animals […]
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Reinventing landscape management through regenerative pastoral practices
Host: Kachana Station Written by Chris Henggeler, Owner. Caveat: Whilst composing this message I remain painfully aware that there are many people doing it really tough all over Australia. When your livelihood is on the line, and everything you own is at stake you do not need others telling you how to prioritise. The landscape vision […]
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Episode 8: Hayley Goad – overcoming discrimination in the ag industry
Hayley Goad is the Office Administrator for Bettini Beef – a family owned business which manages 1 million hectares in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Don’t let her job title fool you though – she spends as much time out on the station as she does in the office! In this episode, we sit […]
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Things you should know before applying for a station job
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station Editor So, you’ve decided to take the leap and head “up north” for a year of cattle work, dusty days, and memories that will last a lifetime. You’re about to be one of tens of thousands of people who have walked onto a cattle station, chasing adventure and opportunity. […]
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Episode 7: The story behind our Ariana Grande parody video
In July 2019 we released a parody video on our Facebook page of the Ariana Grande song “Breathin’” called “Breedin’”. The song features pastoralists from cattle stations in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia dancing in their paddocks, cattle yards, and on trucks, while singing about early weaning, segregation, pregnancy testing and supplementation. […]
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He’ll fly a bullock up your arse
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station Mustering pilots get to see many funny things – bike riders are always good for a laugh. When they stack it they quickly look around to see if anyone saw them. Once you have determined if the rider is ok I think […]
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A meeting with a wild horse
Host: Yarrie Station Written by Martha Lindstad, Stationhand, Yarrie Station It had been one of those perfect days. We weren’t far out in September, and were getting closer to the end of mustering. As many times previously this year, a team of us were sent to our leased block, Coongan. Coongan had more rainfall than […]
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25% off our 2020 calendars!
Central Station has released 2 calendars to support the Royal Flying Doctors Service and the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association. As a thank you to our blog subscribers, we’re offering 25% off our calendars. Just use the code “thankyou25” at checkout to claim your savings! You can find the calendars in our shop by clicking here. […]
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88 days
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Camilla Drema, Domestic Looking at the city landscape before me; a beautiful skyline with some teetering skyscrapers, I realised this place had become my home away from home in just 8 short months. And you didn’t just leave home before you were ready… Enter Anna Plains Cattle Station. When […]
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Episode 6: Jane Sale – from the suburbs of Melbourne to building one of the largest pastoral companies in the Kimberley
Jane Sale is a station manager, business owner, wife, mother, and the brains behind the original concept for the Central Station website. From starting off with an undeveloped 850,000 acre block of land on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert with just 800 head of cattle, today Jane and her husband Haydn manage over […]
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The Pilbara Mexican
Host: Yarrie Station Written by David Drexel, Stationhand You know is not going to be easy to be in the Pilbara for a mexican when he finds out that they call avocados an “avo” and after 3 months thinking that they were all speaking every day after lunch time about that “Avo”, he realizes that […]
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From the Blue mountains to red ranges
Host: Yarrie Station Written by Tara Shiels, Stationhand Why did I move from the high altitudes and rolling mountains coated in rich green gums trees, icy waterfalls and the glistening sandstone cliffs of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales to red dirt plains further than the eye can see? With sandy river beds lined […]
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Cattle chemistry
Host: Yarrie Station Written by Kate Woodward, Stationhand. What’s a pharmacist doing on a cattle station in the East Pilbara? Well this year was about doing the things I’ve always wanted to do. With a family background in station management and livestock trade I was keen to experience station life for myself. After a bit of […]
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Episode 5: Boyd Holden – working overseas in the live export industry, and coming home to Australia
Boyd Holden is a livestock handling and animal welfare consultant based on the Northern Rivers of NSW. His knowledge, skills and expertise in animal handling begins at the farm gate and extends all the way along the process to the point of slaughter. Boyd’s extensive experience includes the transport of livestock, saleyards, feedlots, quarantine depots, abattoirs and live […]
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Dating in the bush – a Tinderella story
Host: Yarrie Station Written by Martha Lindstad, Stationhand, Yarrie Station “Go up north and find yourself some handsome young cowboy”, is a saying quite a few young girls hear when they decide to work on a station. Is it really that easy, finding someone and dating in the bush? When I first arrived at Yarrie […]
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Station “pets”
Host: Kalyeeda Station Written by Hannah Camp I was reminiscing with a friend recently and a topic of conversation was raised about childhood pets. When you think about pets most people think about the common types; dogs, cats or birds. Growing up on a cattle station in Northern Australia our childhood pets came in many […]
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In my blood and under my skin
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor I love this sunburnt country. Having lived all over Australia, as well as in Canada and the United States, and having had the privilege to travel to a dozen or so countries has only strengthened my love for Australia. However, while I love Australia – I do not […]
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Anna Plains & Cyclone Kelvin: 18th of February 2018
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion, Manager Lives and homes were under threat as Cyclone Kelvin was due to cross over the coast South of Broome somewhere!! As the warnings were being listened to on ABC radio and social media pages it was clear that our station which boundaries with Mandora Station to […]
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Taking the leap
Host: Umbearra Station Written by Myrella Corbet, Station Hand. It’s crazy how life can change so quickly. Sometimes so quickly that it doesn’t fully register initially. This was the case for me when my partner Ryan and I decided to make the big leap of moving from our home town of Gympie in Queensland to Umbearra […]
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Take the good with the bad
Host: Sherlock Station Written by Andrew Rose, Manager. It had been a long dry year and mustering season was wrapping up on Sherlock station. Surely it was time to have weekends off and take it a bit easy..? Not this year. With a poor season behind us, the cattle were starting to struggle and we […]
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Episode 4: Todd Walsh – Landmark Broome market update
Introducing Market Updates brought to you by the team at Landmark Broome. In this short episode, Livestock Agent Todd Walsh gives a run down on what’s been happening in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia given the current dry conditions. **** To find the “Is the animal fit to load?” guide online, visit https://www.mla.com.au/ and […]
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Generations of change
Host: Umbearra Station Written by Angus McKay, Owner. The Bluetooth speaker was pumping out the beats from one of the 6 or 7 smart phones scattered around the undercover work area. We were pregnancy testing a yard full of maiden heifers with a Repro Scan ultra sound preg testing unit. It was at that point […]
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These Are A Few of My Favourite Things (Photo Essay)
Host: Donal Sullivan I’ve put together some of my favourite photos from some of my favourite places across the NT and WA. Golden afternoons back at base. Watching Build-Up storms roll past in the evenings. Exploring the gorge with Munro. The Mary River floodplains in full swing. A secret little picnic spot. Just another beautiful […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 3
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station The next morning, I awoke to a flood! The Degrey river was about a meter below my house yard fence (not quite in the pool!) and flowing over its banks just downstream of the homestead. It was almost up to cyclone Rusty […]
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Episode 3: Connie Wood – a rodeo proposal, managing groomzilla, and motherhood on a remote cattle station
Connie Wood, Assistant Manager of Blina Station in the West Kimberley, has written some of the most popular stories on the Central Station website. In this episode, she recalls the stories of how her husband Matt proposed, and what it was like planning a wedding with a station-manager-come-groomzilla. Connie also shares an insight into the […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 2
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station Throughout the dry summer I found myself spending a lot of time on my phone checking out websites looking for rain. When one website didn’t give me a good forecast I’d move to the next one. The long-range forecast was for March […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 1
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station “I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!” – Dorothy Mackeller […]
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Episode 2: Felicity BrownFelicity Brown – from outback Jillaroo to New York Fashion Week
When Felicity “Flic” Brown decided to go traveling around Australia, she told her everyone she’d be back in two years. 25 years later she’s become one of the most recognizable faces of the Kimberley community, and not yet made it back home. Flic’s journey has taken her across a number of cattle stations in northern […]
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9 Steps to raising a Poddy Calf*
Host: Donal Sullivan *Please do not try this at home without additional research or the help of a professional poddy feeder. Raising poddy calves can be both rewarding and heartbreaking, and is not for the faint hearted. Poddy: a term to describe an orphaned calf. Equally rewarding and soul destroying, raising poddy calves is a […]
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Infertility in the bush
Host: Umbearra Station Every year we conduct two rounds of mustering. These two rounds of mustering, depending on season conditions, can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to complete. We muster our cattle via trapping and mustering with planes and helicopters. Trapping the cattle at watering points is our preferred option due to lower […]
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It comes at a cost
Host: Horses for Courses for Bush Kids Written by Tiani Cook, Suplejack Station, Northern Territory Hi there, my name is Tiani Cook and I’m the founding director of Horses for Courses for Bush Kids. I’m an enthusiastic advocate raising awareness of the many issues rural and remote families face. I’m also passionate about finding solutions […]
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The importance of mateship in remote Australia
Host: Horses for Courses for Bush Kids Written by Tiani Cook, Suplejack Station, Northern Territory As you may have figured out from my previous two blogs, Horses for Courses for Bush Kids (H4C) uses the platform of horses to raise awareness of the issues facing rural and remote children and their families, but the annual […]
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Episode 1: Tom & Annabel Curtain – finding the love your life on the side of the road
On June 15 the Central Station podcast was launched through Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Episode 1 featured Tom & Annabel Curtain from Katherine Outback Experience. The story of how Katherine Outback Experience came to be is once of devastation and resilience. Left without work after the live cattle export ban of 2011, Tom started singing four times […]
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The challenges faced by bush kids
Host: Horses for Courses for Bush Kids Written by Tiani Cook, Suplejack Station, Northern Territory At the beginning of October last year I saddled up with ‘Horses for Courses for Bush Kids’ and took it to Central Australia to continue raising awareness of the issues facing Aussie Bush Kids and their families. Riding along the […]
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Katherine Rural College cleans up!
The 2019 Katherine show was an extremely successful show. It was attended by Taminmin College, Charles Darwin University, Bunda Station and Stud, DoE Tennant Creek and Alice Springs (with Coodardie Brahmans cattle). With more than 60 head of led cattle, the competition was strong! The steward was Tiffany Baker and Mathew Noakes was the judge. All […]
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2020 Calendar pre-orders are now open!
Whether you’re on a station, in the big smoke, or even in the ‘burbs, this is the calendar for you! 13 stunning images showcasing different aspects of life on a remote cattle station – from the breathtaking views in the rugged Kimberley (even when hanging out the washing!), chasing rogue cattle that have broken from […]
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Horses for courses
Host: Horses for Courses for Bush Kids Written by Tiani Cook, Suplejack Station, Northern Territory Hi there, my name is Tiani Cook and I founded ‘Horses for Courses for Bush Kids’ back in 2017. Along with a childhood friend Natuccia Walker, we rode horses 1,000kms across the Northern Territory finishing up in Darwin over a […]
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4 cousins, 1 classroom
Written by Talya Kirkham, Governess – Moorarie Station, Meekatharra, Western Australia It was midnight in October 2015 after a 22-hour flight from Europe when I landed in Perth, jumped in my little blue Holden Cruze and drove 10 hours to Moorarie Station Meekatharra. I got to my aunties station at around 10.30am to head to […]
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Go North
Host: Donal Sullivan Name a more iconic duo. Every year I say goodbye to people who have decided to leave the Territory and move back ‘down south’. It seems that in many cases, and across many industries, the Territory is not seen as a viable place to build a life or pursue a career. Rather, […]
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Gap Year in the Pilbara
Host: De Grey Station Written by Steph Rose, 1st year Stationhand – De Grey Station Ever since I graduated from Harvey Agricultural College, I’d wanted to head north and have a go at working on a station. Little did I know that my 2019 New Years Resolution to do this, would come to life within a month. […]
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The wet season that never came
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor Drought isn’t a new concept to Australian farmers. Much of the east coast has been in drought for the last 7 years, or even longer. However, over here in northern WA we’ve been pretty bloody lucky. There’s been a few dry times, but nothing as prolonged and gut […]
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Cyclone Veronica comes to visit
Host: Mallina Station Written by Lindsay Newland I can safely say that I had a pretty extreme introduction to my first cyclone experience. From all reports Cyclone Veronica was the biggest and slowest moving cyclone that WA had seen in over a decade and from the earliest reports it was heading straight for Mallina homestead. […]
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The “Office Lady”
Host: De Grey Station Written by Hayley Goad, Office Manager – De Grey Station There are days when that term “Office Lady”, bloody annoys me. If you’ve read my previous blog, you’d know by now that I haven’t spent my career in an office. I’ve built up (hopefully) a respectable career in the agricultural industry […]
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Art vs Life
Host: Mallina Station Written by Lindsay Newland I have always loved art. Back in the years following school I went to TAFE to study art not only because I enjoyed it but also because I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. After several years of studying, working and struggling […]
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We shouldn’t be here
Host: Challa Station Written by Debbie Dowden We shouldn’t be running cattle here, it’s sheep country. Challa Station has some of the best saltbush flats in the district and was carefully selected in the 1880s by the astute George Chandler Dowden and his sons. They had driven their mob of sheep across from Burra, SA […]
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Living the dream
Host: Umbearra Station Well here we go; I have never been one to put ourselves out there but with encouragement from Steph Coombes and my husband Angus I am giving this a red-hot crack. So, hang in there and hopefully we will produce some good reading! A little about ourselves… My name is Kimberley, and […]
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Charlotte looking for Charlotte
Host: Mallina Station Written by Charlotte Wilson, Stationhand – Mallina Station It always makes me smile when think about how I ended up working here on Mallina Station. It’s all because Charlotte went looking for Charlotte. My name is Charlotte Wilson, I’m a sparky by trade and I moved up to the Pilbara in 2017 […]
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Shepherd to Ringer
Host: De Grey Station Written by David Corpe, 2nd year Stationhand – De Grey Station It’s not surprising how many Kiwis come over to north Western Australia to muster cattle for a living. The adrenalin, the long days, the heat and dust of the red dirt coursing through your veins. Its vastly different to home, rolling […]
