Host: Country Downs Station
Owners: Kurt & Nikki Elezovich
Region: Kimberley WA
Average rainfall: ~940mm pa
Nearest town for shopping, doctors etc: Broome
Nearest roadhouse: Roebuck Roadhouse
Number of staff: 0
How often and how the mail is delivered: Mail is picked up from Broome PO during town runs.
How often and how the stores shopping is done: Approx once a fortnight. Either by Woolies shopping online OR cruising the aisles!
How far off the bitumen you are: ~70km
My name is Nikki Elezovich and together with my husband, Kurt, we are the owner operators of our Kimberley cattle property, Country Downs Station. Country Downs is situated ~ 100km north of Broome on the (predominantly dirt) Cape Leveque Rd on the Dampier Peninsula in North-Western Australia. Our property is a family run station in which Kurt and I, with our two young boys (a 4yr old and a 1yr old), run the entire operation on our own. We produce mainly Brahman cross cattle for the live export markets, but do produce some cattle for the domestic market when and where possible. We also run some Boer goats, however, they are more pets than anything else!
My husband, Kurt, grew up on a station just south of Broome where he developed his innate love and passion for the land and the animals that exist in harmony with it. Whilst both of us have spent many years working and soaking up various experiences in other industries such as the Aquaculture, Pearling and the Mining Industries, Kurt finally managed to start living his dream in early 2003, when he purchased Country Downs Station.
I was born and raised in Broome, where I developed an appreciation and a love for the outback and all things intriguing and wonderful that goes with growing up in the country. As a child, my family spent many a weekend in the boat fishing or in the car (or even boat!) camping, but always heading out for fun and adventure. As I became a young adult and moved away from the country, into the city for a tertiary education in Marine Biology, I finally realised how much the country, and everything it has to offer, meant to me. So I focused on one day returning to the spacious, natural, quiet places that pulled at my heart and that day eventually happened when I followed love out to Country Downs in 2007!
Since then we have been steadily developing the property toward our end goal, which is to have the ability to do the work we love and to live the life we love, sustainably. The last 5 years have been a whirlwind of activity and emotion for us with our wedding, the birth of our two young boys, developing the property, dealing with the devastating effects to our family unit from the live export suspension in 2011 and dealing with the uncertainty of our future in the wake of the flow-on effects from that suspension. Despite some hard times, we are eagerly and optimistically looking forward to our intrepid and passionate journey towards developing an economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural business that we will be able to leave to our kids and generations to follow.
Archives
A big wet!
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech, Station owner/manager The end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 hosted the biggest wet season that most of the Kimberley has seen in many years. By the end of March 2018, two cyclones and an intense tropical low system passed over the West Kimberley area and dumped […]
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Another Story by Will
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Will Elezovich Like last year, William, our eldest son, was happy to write another blog telling everyone about some of things that he did over the last year. So, I will pass you over to Will for you to see and read about what we have done through the eyes […]
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From a Hobby Farm in QLD to a Station in WA
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Cortney Sonter, Governess. As in previous years, I have always asked if anyone who has worked or is working for us if they would like to write a blog. I believe that whilst its great for Kurt and I to wax lyrical about what we do and why, it is […]
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Repairing the Land – A True Work of Passion
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech, Station owner/manager As I mentioned yesterday, there were many parts of Emu Creek that have been degraded over time and even though some forms of rehabilitation have been undertaken about 15-20 years ago, the hangover from the sheep days is still obvious and in need of rectifying. In […]
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The big move
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech, Station owner/manager Yesterday I told you all that we made a temporary move to the Pilbara for 2017, but what I didn’t mention was where exactly that was. At the end of February 2017, we uprooted the family, packed up half a house, half a workshop, 3 dogs, […]
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A reflection of 2017
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech, Station owner/manager As I said in our Day 1 blog last year, the years are just passing us by way too fast! I am astounded that another year has passed us by and trying to remember what we have done over the last year finds me going back […]
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Being a kid on a cattle station
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech In the past, we have had visitors, workers and friends write a blog to give another point of view about our life and what we do. This year, William, our eldest son, was interested in knowing what ‘Central Station’ was and what it had to do with our […]
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The Ugly Side of Pastoralism
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech There are many aspects of our business that we have discussed over the years, however, one of the many that we haven’t as yet, is dingoes and the role they play in our industry and more importantly in our philosophy. Many agricultural properties all over Australia have had […]
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Genetic Improvement
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech The importance of genetic improvement is by no means a new area for many cattle breeders, or for any other livestock either, however, what is not well known by many is that the term “genetic improvement” can mean many things to people depending on their background. For example, […]
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A full social calendar
Host: Country Downs Station Written by Nikki Elizovech As I mentioned yesterday, 2016 was a pretty busy year for us with continuing development and maintenance on the station, but also the realisation that it was only a matter of time before we were going to have to go to that next level of having a couple […]
