So often, stories about outback Australia revolve around people working on the land. But, not everyone who lives in the outback wears a big hat and cowboy boots. Renee McBryde lives in Alice Springs, Australia’s red centre. It’s a world away from the housing commission in Sydney where she spent her childhood. Renee’s story is […]
Everything in Willie Cook’s life was going to plan – he’d met the love of his life, he split his time between flying helicopters and working on his family’s station in the high country of New Zealand, and together with his partner and parents, he’d branched out into his own lease country. And then it […]
Willie Cook is known as the bull-catching, helicopter-flying Kiwi from the ABC tv series “Outback Ringer”. I caught up with Willie at his home in the Adelaide River region of the Northern Territory to hear the incredible story of how he and his young family came to be in Australia. However, that story is coming […]
Nikita Morris doesn’t like being called an influencer. But there are tens of thousands of people who avidly follow her every move on social media – captivated by her candid stories about station life and her stunning good looks. But she’s so much more than a pretty face. In this episode, Nikita opens up about […]
Welcome back to another “Station Stickybeak” episode. This series was created to share an insight into why pastoralists do what they do, given their circumstances – whether it be location, country type, rainfall zone, infrastructure, ownership model, market, or any of the many other factors influencing management decisions. In each Station Stickybeak episode I’ll chat […]
What could a hitchhiker and a flying doctor have in common? Well, as it turns out, a lot – because in this case, they are one and the same people. Our guest today is Dr Gregory Winterflood – an esteemed doctor who began his medical career in Alice Springs. Even though he was born and […]
As a child, Jimmy McGlynn’s mother said he had “a lot of character”, but his aunt said he needed a flogging. He wasn’t a naughty kid though, just full of energy that couldn’t be contained within a classroom. So, even though he excelled at school, at the end of year 10 he headed up north […]
Welcome back to another “Station Stickybeak” episode. This series was created to share an insight into why pastoralists do what they do, given their circumstances – whether it be location, country type, rainfall zone, infrastructure, ownership model, market, or any of the many other factors influencing management decisions. In each Station Stickybeak episode I’ll chat […]
“When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian”, said almost every kid, ever. Campbell ‘Cozy’ Costello didn’t think he had what it took to get into veterinary medicine, but life has a funny way of working out. In just over a decade, Cozy has built a career which sees him treating animals across […]
Warning: This episode discusses suicide and may be triggering for some people, so it may be best to listen in the company of support. Veterinarian’s are one of the most loved professionals in Australia – they’re the superhumans who keep our best mates and fur babies healthy, and step up to save them if the unbearable […]
Dr Campbell Costello, aka ‘Cozy’, is a jet-setting veterinarian who has practiced not only throughout Australia, but all over the world. In this episode, Cozy reflects on the time he spent 9 months in Kazakhstan, managing a cattle ranch that was being built from scratch. From language barriers and cultural differences, to finding workers drunk […]
We all have that one friend who is a total larrikin – and for the people of Central Australia, that friend is Ben Hayes. Ben is the fifth generation of the Hayes family on ‘Undoolya Station’, the oldest pastoral lease in the Northern Territory. And while being a steward of the land and active member of […]
Traveling vast distances to access services is second nature for Raine Holcombe – it’s part and parcel with living in the Northern Territory. Raised on a crocodile farm in the Victoria River district, Raine developed a love for life on the land which eventually saw her running a contracting business with that took her and […]
Undoolya Station was the first cattle station in the Northern Territory, and in 2022 it celebrates its 150th birthday. In this episode we sit down with Ben Hayes, who’s family have been at the helm for most of that time. Ben shares insights into life at Undoolya throughout the decades, which the family have learnt […]
Tanya Heaslip’s childhood on an outback cattle station in Central Australia was full of adventures and extremes, so it’s no surprise that her first job as a lawyer was the same. The job? Junior Instructing Solicitor for the Crown on the Lindy Chamberlain Inquiry – the inquiry which ultimately saw all convictions against Lindy Chamberlain quashed. […]
One moment can change your entire life. Ashley Dowden learnt that lesson at age 11, when he survived an accident that claimed his mothers life and left his father with one arm. Ashley’s childhood was cut short as he stepped up to support his father in running the family sheep station. In the 4 decades […]
Graduating high-school is possibly the greatest pressure faced by young Australians. It’s an un-challenged belief that without achieving this milestone you’ll be stuck in a dead-end job with no career prospects. But, did you know that the education system hasn’t undergone significant changes since before the industrial revolution? We know that everyone learns differently, and […]
Of all the jobs Libby Finlayson imagined herself doing, “Divorce coach” was not on the list. Growing up on a sheep station in the isolated Goldfields region of Western Australia, Libby developed an affinity for horses, livestock, and all things to do with the bush. It’s no surprise that she ended up running a farming […]
Welcome back to another “Station Stickybeak” episode. This series was created to share an insight into why pastoralists do what they do, given their circumstances – whether it be location, country type, rainfall zone, infrastructure, ownership model, market, or any of the many other factors influencing management decisions. In each Station Stickybeak episode I’ll chat […]
In episode 138 we heard the story of the catastrophic flood that saw Bidgemia Station engulfed by floodwater for the first time in it’s history. In this episode we are again joined by Hamish & Jodie McTaggart as they share insights into the 1.4 million acre pastoral property which has been in the family for […]
