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 […]
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 […]
In last week’s episode Debbie Dowden shared the story of how she found herself living a life she’d never planned on, but at the same time it seemed like everything in her life had been leading her there. That life was centred around her new husband’s family sheep station in Outback WA. A vast property […]
When the term ‘Serendipity’ was coined way back in 1754, it was described as “the accident of finding something good without looking”. Debbie Dowden’s life has been shaped by a series serendipitous moments. The fixed-wing pilot was working as a flight theory instructor when her future husband enrolled in her class. In what can only […]
They say that “Australia rode to prosperity on the sheep’s back”. And for more than a century the Gascoyne region of Western Australia was sheep country, running millions of animals and generating the kind of wealth that literally built Australia. But with the introduction of synthetic fibres the industry gradually lost its shine, and when […]
It’s a warm summer’s day – you’re standing at a sheep market in a Middle Eastern country as tens of thousands of people descend upon the city in preparation for the upcoming celebration of EID. The atmosphere is palpable – excitement, joy, and stress – picture your local shopping centre on Christmas eve. Your job? […]
Grief takes many forms — and Lara Jensen’s has crystallised into anger. Just over 20 years ago, her brother Christian’s Toyota was hit by a train at a passive crossing, killing him and his two young passengers. This wasn’t a case of drink driving, speeding or being distracted. The findings from coronial inquest showed countless […]
A young Peter Ritter stood in the paddock of his family farm in Moree, and watched as a gigantic Hercules aircraft roared overhead. It was locked in war training exercises — oblivious to the kid standing underneath in awe – a kid whose obsession with aircraft had begun. It took a stint in a Territory […]
30 years after first working on a sheep station, Spencer Robinson finally purchased one of his own. So, in 1976 the family sold their small farm in Victoria and travelled across the country to Mooloo Downs in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. And, the Robinsons are still in the region almost 50 years later. […]
We’ve all heard the stories of city girls who end up in the bush – what about a boy from the ‘burbs? Glenn ‘Stixy’ O’Byrne hails from the surfy coastal town of Bussleton in Western Australia. Despite not having grown up with or even being particularly interested in cattle he managed to find himself working on […]
Felicity Brown is a milliner whose work has been featured at New York Fashion Week not once, but three times. Twenty years before the bright lights of the big apple called her name, Flic was working in a stock camp in the Northern Territory. In this episode Flic reflects on her time working on cattle […]
In December 2010, Jodie and Hamish McTaggart were looking forward to the chance to sit back and relax for a few days. The family property, Bidgemia Station, was in the worst drought on record, and the newlyweds had been working flat out all year to look after their cattle. So, when news of rain in […]
Carbon Farming is a topic that been dominating the Australian media over the past several years. I don’t know about you, but even with an agricultural science degree – I still struggle to understand how it works, and how there’s a market for it. If you’re in the same boat, then you’re in luck – because after […]
This episode discusses mental health and suicide – listener discretion is advised. When Damon Kaylock didn’t have success in landing a job as a jackeroo, he didn’t give up – he just came up with plan B. The plan? To work as a station cook, get on to a station, and work his way into […]
