Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom In today’s lesson, we’re going to be learning about Personal Locator Beacons. It’s something we all hope we’ll never have to use, but unfortunately I do know a few people who have had to use theirs. But, what actually is the difference between a Personal Locator Beacon, and an […]
Written by Kate Fairfax – Margaret River Station, WA On a scale of one to ten, how dangerous is a chicken? I mean, compared to the feral bulls, snakes, crocodiles, wild cattle and dingoes that live in the Kimberley, I wouldn’t have thought chickens could be any worse than a 3… and it’d have to […]
Written by Hayley Price – Rookwood Station In March 2019 I was 30 weeks pregnant, sitting in my GPs office patiently waiting for my doctor to make phone calls. Recent tests indicated that our little girl’s stomach was measuring below the second percentile, as well as my blood tests indicating that I needed to see […]
Written by Sophie Heffernan, Guest contributor. So you’re probably reading this expecting to hear another romanticised story about a young girls adventure ‘up north’ and in some ways you’re probably right… But please, just hear me out. The lessons and values I acquired living in the Kimberley, working on a remote cattle station, accompanied me […]
Host: Kadaitcha Pastoral Company Written by Sam Chisholm – Owner, Kadaitcha Pastoral Company. As a helicopter mustering pilot working on cattle stations in Northern Australia you are constantly operating in a dangerous unpredictable environment with hot days, rough terrain, long hours, tough cattle, and wild weather. Aviation is inherently high risk and pilots are at the forefront […]
Host: Abingdon Downs Station Written by Renee Kohler – Station Hand, Abingdon Downs Station. Renee wrote another blog about her recent surgery on her leg. There are significant medical disadvantages of living remotely but our bush doctors and nurses are always wonderful and supportive. Editors note: This blog contains graphic images of a leg wound, which […]
Host: Southampton Written by Kylie Savidge – Owner, Southampton Station. Let me say that I never wish to go through this experience again and nor, do I think, my family want that to happen again either. It was my turn to get an emergency flight out on the CareFlight air ambulance. Very similar to the […]
Host: Fortescue Helicopters Written by Weldon Percy – Owner and Chief Pilot, Fortescue Helicopters. On the 29th of July 2015 the pastoral and helicopter industry alike lost an iconic figure. Mr Ross McDowell from Rossy Rotor Aviation, a fellow mustering pilot and company in the Pilbara, was reported missing and later found to have passed […]
Host: Southhampton Written by Kylie Savidge – Owner, Southampton Station. We are very lucky in our country to have the Royal Flying Doctor Service and luckier still to be able to call on them in times of need. One such time occurred in September 2014 when we were mustering in drought cows and calves, these […]
Host: Kalyeeda Station Written by Barb Camp – Owner, Kalyeeda Station. It is 6.04am and I am woken to the sound of my mobile buzzing into life next to my ear; “Hello, Barbara. We’ve been tasked. Would you like to come flying?” Well, ask a girl a silly question! Of course I do! In every […]
Host: Soudan Station Written by Sarah Ferriday – Overseer, Soudan Station. Hi, my name is Sarah Ferriday, my husband Shane and I are the Overseers on Soudan Station, a 1.3 million acre outstation of Alexandria, with North Australian Pastoral Company (NAP Co). We started at Soudan 12 months ago; and what an amazing experience it’s […]
Host: Miss Chardy Written by Danielle Doyle – Manager, Mittiebah Station. Well we have had another run in with the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) today. This time it was my oldest boy – Tom. Yesterday the boys headed home with Mrs Savvy B for a bit of a sleep over. Things were so peaceful […]
Host: Mt Bundy Station Written by Sue Witham – Owner, Mt Bundy Station. Almost four years have gone by since we tragically lost our son Ben. I often think when people say that they have “lost” someone, I think “what – down the back of the couch or in the supermarket?”- but no, we lost him […]
Host: Hodgson River Station Written by Jo Bloomfield – Owner, Hodgson River Station. This week I was trying to look at different aspects of ‘change’ in the northern beef industry. Today I’m using some old photos from my husband’s family to consider some points of how things have changed from the early 1900’s and through that century […]
Host: Blina Station Written by Connie Gray – Manager, Blina. Over the 2014 wet season, my trusty old ride-on lawn mower spontaneously combusted . . . literally spontaneously combusted. She was a Greenfield and she looked about 100 years old . . . I swear this thing was the first ever ride on mower invented […]
Host: Warrawagine Cattle Co. Written by Jacinta Mills – Owner, Warrawagine Cattle Company. It’s the wet season, the days are hot and thunderstorms are rolling in nearly every afternoon with the smell of rain on the wind. The mustering season is over, most of the crew have gone home for a well deserved break with Christmas […]
Host: Mel McDonald – Rangeland NRM Written by Mel McDonald – Kimberley Project Manager, Rangelands NRM. After two years with Rangelands NRM in a job where you create your own work, I had created myself a mountain! Not only had to finalise a series of projects before the end of June (because it was the end […]
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – Station Manager, Dampier Downs. Many previous hosts on this site have spoken about low stress stock handling. At Dampier Downs, this is pretty much the closest thing we have to religion. Mike even went as far as to travel to America to learn from the […]
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Haydn Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Co. My name is Haydn Sale. My wife Jane and I live and work at Yougawalla Station. Jane and some of the other women from local pastoral stations came up with the great idea for this blog, to give people an insight into […]
