Host: Anna Plains Station
Managers/Owners: David, Helen and John Stoate
Region: Kimberley, Western Australia
Rainfall: 400mm pa
Nearest town for shopping, doctors etc., Broome 270km, 17km on dirt off the highway to Homestead, nearest roadhouse is Sandfire.
Number of Cattle: 18,000 head
Number of staff: 6 full time staff and 5 seasonal workers
Size of station: 381,537 ha or 943,000 acres
How often and how the mail is delivered: Twice a week via road
How often and how the stores shopping is done: Usually once a week to Broome
How far off the bitumen you are: 17 kms
My name is Helen Campion and together with my husband, David Stoate, I manage Anna Plains Station. ‘Anna’ is proudly run and owned by the Stoate family with 3 generations still calling it home today and who’s involvement dates back to 1983.
The Anna Plains family
Helen
Anna Plains Station is located on the remote Kimberley coast of northern Western Australia, approximately 250km south of Broome. It is just under one million acres of open rangeland stretching from the shores of the Eighty Mile Beach to the Great Sandy Desert.
My husband David Stoate and I took over management in 2006. Prior to this I was a city girl working at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney as an operating room nurse while David worked at Rabobank. The time had come for David’s father, John Stoate, to hand over the reins to the next generation … and so we came, along with our two wonderful children, Timothy and Joanna, having no prior experience working on a station to discover a way of living, loving and working.
We run the station in an environmentally sustainable manner to produce cattle for both domestic and international markets. Such practices include matching the cattle in a paddock to the feed available, allowing the cattle to graze and the land to recover as nature intended. This holistic approach which I was able to translate to station work from my years of nursing aims to benefit not only the land and the cattle in their quality of life whilst being reared here at Anna.
Our ‘crew’ consists of fulltime staff, seasonal workers and backpackers. The jobs, like the people vary depending on what the cattle and land command of us, but ever-present roles include a cook, boreman, mechanic, plant operator and stockmen. Every one of my staff and the roles they fill are vital to the smooth operation of the station.
Archives
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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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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A station manager’s perspective
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion, Owner, Anna Plains Station People ask me what it’s like to live on and manage a remote Kimberley cattle station… After having spent the last 12 years at Anna Plains Station, I can honestly say that this job is probably not what you think it is. In […]
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Missing Anna
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Greta Stonier, 2017 Crew Member. After finishing school, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself… I applied for a few local Sydney Universities, an apprenticeship with the AFL head office, and to a recruitments company for cattle stations on the northern end of Australia. […]
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Gap Year (poem)
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Jackson Scott, 2017 crew member. Don’t be original, it’s all they ever say, but being a ringer, its not ideal pay. Stockmen from the top end, young and hard and mean, but half of them from boarding school, nothing but a teen. Too cool for uni and filled with […]
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My “Plain Life” – a little less cheesy!
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Karlee Barber, Station Cook. My name is Karlee Barber, I am from a small town called Bemboka. On the far south coast of NSW, nestled in the Bega Valley (yes that’s right, the home of Bega Cheese). Growing up I always had an interest in farming and the country […]
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The pretend Jillaroo
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Natasha Mahar This Broome girl needed some time out and a purpose again as there was way too much binge Netflixing happening while I wondered what to do next in my life. My dear friend Helen, aka Mrs Boss made the call… “Tarshy, get your arse down here to […]
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61, turning 3
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion – Station Owner/Manager, Anna Plains Station. Mardie, 61 year old gentleman celebrating his 3rd birthday on the Plains. The humming of the Royal Flying Doctor Services (RFDS) jet engine approaching was a comforting sound after a long night of uncertainty. Touchdown on our all weather gravel […]
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Bush vs. City
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion – Station Owner/Manager, Anna Plains Station. It’s been twelve years since we left our house in Sydney to live on a cattle station in the Kimberley. The time has flown by. The little children we brought out from the city have grown up, so much so that […]
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Mooing to medicine
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Tim Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. When your parents decide to live 270km from the nearest town, growing up in regional Western Australia is as interesting as it is different from the typical child. I was very fortunate in my upbringing. Having just under one-million acres to play […]
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Up ‘n’ out
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion – Station Owner/Manager, Anna Plains Station. The sound of the alarm to get the camp moving at 5.10am sometimes comes around too quickly for a few members of the crew. Others have been smart and gone to bed early the night before. However, all are present for […]
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The industry, a decade on.
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by David Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. The ten years since we moved from the city life to outback life have been tumultuous from a personal point of view but also from an industry point of view, with more ups and downs than the Grand Old Duke of York. […]
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From grapes to beef
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Jackson Scott – Station Hand, Anna Plains Station. G’day my name is Jackson Scott, and this year I’ve been working on Anna Plains Station. I’m an 18 year old from the other side of Australia – Dubbo. I was born and raised in Dubbo growing up on a vineyard […]
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Just “Plain” cooking
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by the Cook, Anna Plains Station. `“Have you always been a cook?” That is the question that inevitably leads me to tell the story of how my husband, Scotty, and I came to be at Anna Plains Station. Quite simply the answer is no. So how did we end up […]
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A decade later and still loving the plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion – Owner, Anna Plains Station. It has been nearly 11 years since we left our city life to take up residence on a cattle station south of Broome to assist my husband’s father in running the business. We arrived on the 26th of January 2006, a significant […]
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The China opportunity
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by David Stoate – Owner/Manager, Anna Plains Station. Plenty has been heard in recent years about the opportunity that China represents for Australian business. The northern beef industry is at the centre of this opportunity. The Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia has estimated that an increase in per capita […]
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The darkest hour
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion – Owner/Manager, Anna Plains Station. The darkest hour is before the dawn or so the saying goes. I am not sure whether the saying is actually true, but it is what nearly everyone in the northern cattle industry was hoping a few years ago. It seemed like that just […]
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Fate and a pair of arm length gloves
Host: Anna Plains Station I landed up on the Plains as a matter of chance, of luck, but sometimes the events that led up to my arrival feel like fate. I’m a vet student from Edinburgh, Scotland and in June 2015 I traveled to Western Australia with the dream of working on a cattle station. […]
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“Stationitis”
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Emma – Station Hand, Anna Plains Station. After 18 months as a jillaroo on Anna Plains Station, I jumped ship and boarded a flight destined for halfway across the world. Taking my seat on the plane I descended into the depths of hell (travelling 23 hours straight) before re-emerging […]
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A visitor to the Plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by A Guest – Station Hand and Friend, Anna Plains Station. The first time I drove onto Anna Plains I had no idea how much it was going to change my lifestyle and my way of thinking. Anna Plains station is nearly a million acres of outback stretching from the […]
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A Pom on the Plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. A few years ago I packed my backpack and left home for what I thought was a gap year between high school and University. Home was in the United Kingdom and I was on a journey that would change my whole life but I […]
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From Deutschland to the Plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. My adventure began 16,000 kilometres away from Australia. Somewhere over there on the other side of the world is a small town named Veen, which I call home. It is near Düsseldorf in Germany. After I finished my studies back home in Germany, I […]
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A day in the life of a Jillaroo on Anna Plains Station
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. A typical day at Anna is a long and exhausting one. Up at 4:45am to get ready, the clothes sorting to determine what’s dirty and what’s not starts. This is followed by slapping on makeup and trying to tame my hair into something that doesn’t resemble […]
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A Kiwi to the Plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Warren – Mechanic, Anna Plains Station. If you had of asked me six months ago, where I could see myself today, the last thing I would have told you is on a cattle station in Western Australia 250km away from the closest town! Six months down the track, and here […]
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City Girl Goes Bush
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. Born into and blinded by the bright lights of Sydney, all things waxed, bleached, brand named, and manicured were highly regarded. If you didn’t spend half an hour each morning putting on your Kate Moss endorsed war paint you stood out like a bad […]
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The start of mustering
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. It is still early in the season on the Plains. In the early part of the year it is all about getting ready for mustering. The lead up to mustering is a bit like the feeling you get when playing cricket and you are […]
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Anna Plains Station – An Introduction
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Owner, Anna Plains Station. Anna Plains station is just under a million acres and is situated approximately 250 km south of Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is a family owned business focused on breeding high quality Brahman cattle for live export to Indonesia, Asia […]
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Imagine
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Manager, Anna Plains Station. Imagine crippling an industry overnight. Imagine cutting off supply of a food source to a nation that is a close neighbour and an important strategic ally. Imagine acting before you investigate thoroughly what’s going on and damaging the relationship with that neighbour! […]
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A Plains Weekend
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Manager, Anna Plains Station. The weekend can be as eventful as it can quiet. My head seems to spin less, but Saturdays can keep me on my toes. Depending on how the muster went during the week will depend on how many things I need to […]
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The boreman
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Victor Pitt – Bore Runner, Anna Plains Station. Hi my name is Victor Pitt and I am the boreman on Anna Plains Station. My role involves checking windmills, fixing leaks in pipelines, checking and refuelling diesel motors that pump water to our tanks and troughs throughout the property. Anna […]
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Lessons learnt at Anna
Host: Anna Plains Station I want you to bear with me for just a moment; imagine you’re 17, just finished high school in Perth, Western Australia, and deciding what to do with your life. Firstly; you know you don’t want to go straight to uni, you want to get some experience under your belt first. […]
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A day with Mrs Plains
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Manager, Anna Plains Station. A day with “Mrs Plains”, Helen Stoate. Anna Plains homestead. It won’t be the longest walk I take today, but the walk from the house to the camp kitchen will be my most important. The things that run through my head . […]
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The Jillaroo
Host: Anna Plains Station As a young girl I read Jillaroo by Rachel Treasure over 100 times. The thought of the bush and falling in love always appealed to me and I told my mother that one day, I would indeed live in the bush. Ten years later I am in fact living in the […]
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A Week in the life of Anna Plains Station
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Stoate – Manager, Anna Plains Station. The dry season is always the busy season in the Kimberley and this year has been no exception. Below is a weekly schedule from a few weeks ago which outlined the plan for that week. Monday, 8 July 2013 Feed Homestead and […]
