Outback Women Profile featuring Dean

Durrie Station is located 100km east of Birdsville. Nadine (Dean) Lorenz lives there with her husband Darren and their three children, Matthew (13), Eboni (9) and Jesse (8). Matthew is currently away at boarding school in Warwick. Eboni and Jesse complete their schooling at Durrie through Mt Isa School of Distance Education.

Deon's Lookout, Betoota (Kate McDonald)

 

Dean loves being a mother and a wife for her family. However, living on a station requires Dean to undertake many other roles as well. She is a cook, a counsellor, a nurse a cleaner a bookkeeper and an active member of her community. Dean is a passionate member of the local rodeo club and the social club. Last year Dean under took a massive fundraising effort and took part in Shave for a Cure raising much needed funds for Leukemia Research.

 

Dean and Darren's Wedding (Outback Pics Longreach)

 

Dean has lived in the Channel Country since 1998. Her first impression upon arriving was “why would anyone live out here?”

Despite her hesitant first impression, Dean has grown to completely love the area, can answer her own question and completely understands why people fall in love with living in the outback and never want to leave! Dean’s thinks that the people in the outback are just wonderful and so supportive and make living there worthwhile. She feels it is a great place to raise you kids and living remotely you really learn how strong you are as a person. Not everyone likes the lifestyle, but everyone should come at least once and check it out.

Dean has many favourite memories of living in the outback but the most special was when she got married to her husband Darren on the 19^th of May 2012 in Birdsville. Not only was it a special event for Dean and Darren but a community event! All of their family travelled out to Birdsville to share their special day with them, and from the photos the whole town and surrounding areas of Birdsville was there too! It was even featured in the OUTBACK magazine.

 

Road to Birdsville (Kate McDonald)

 

Family is a big part of Dean’s life and has shaped who she is today. Her role models are her mother and father and she would be lost without them as well as her brothers and her sister.

Dean wishes that her Poppy was alive so her could come out and experience what life is like at Durrie. Although he passed away when Dean was young, he is a very special man in her life. Dean would love to have him sit at the dinner table so she could share with him what she’s done in her life, the good and the bad, and show him what she’s achieved so far. She would love him to be able to meet his 3 great-grandchildren as well. Dean thinks this would be the best dinner that she could ever and would ever want.

Outback Women Profile featuring Emily

Emily McCullagh decided to take a gap year and go and work in the outback. One year has turned into two years and Emily hasn’t looked back.

 

Mt Leonard Station (Emily McCullagh)

 

Emily lives and works on Mt Leonard Station, a cattle station 170km east of Birdsville. She is the governess on the station which means she is in the schoolroom from Monday to Friday. This year Emily only has one child in the schoolroom – Jacob who is in grade 4. Last year she had two children, Jacob who was in grade 3 and Leah who was in grade 7. This year Leah moved to boarding school and the schoolroom has certainly changed with only the one child now. As the governess Emily’s main job is to teach the kids through Mt Isa School of the Air. They often try to finish our work early so they are able to go fishing, play sport or do art. However, their favourite thing to do is get outside and help the men with cattle work. As if this doesn’t keep Emily busy enough, she has recently joined the Channel Country Ladies Day Committee.

Cattle work (Emily McCullagh)

 

Leah, Emily and Jacob (Lorraine Kath)

 

This is Emily’s second year living in the outback. She graduated from high school in 2012 and moved out at the start of 2013 for a gap year. Emily has returned to continue her adventure. She couldn’t stand leaving this part of the world and the lifestyle just yet!

View from Mt Leonard Hill (Lorraine Kath)

Emily loves living in the outback because of all the things you can do and see out here that you don’t get the chance to in the city. The amazing landscapes and big skies are indescribable. She had grown up in the city and the country’s laid back lifestyle is something that really stands out along with the huge open spaces. There are so many people out here and one of Emily’s favourite things to do is just sit and have a yarn with someone and hear their story. By taking the time to listen to people you learn so much and everywhere you go there is someone else’s story to be heard. Since moving out here Emily has learnt to ride horses, motorbikes, help with cattle work, and so much more – all which she absolutely loves. She loves the small community feel where everyone knows everyone (mind you sometimes this isn’t always good! It’s amazing how fast the bush telegraph works!) and how they all come together when there is an event. It is amazing how much station kids know and how much you learn from them. Emily has have often thought that she would have loved to grow up on a station – She am so glad she am experiencing it now though!   

Learning a new skill (Emily McCullagh)

Betoota Gymkhana was Emily’s first outback event and it was ‘their’ event because it is in Mt Leonard’s “backyard”. This is one of her favourite memories because it was the first time she saw the community come together and enjoy a weekend of fun which was amazing and she loved being a part of that. She had such a good time and it made her fall in love with all the events out here – now Emily hates missing out on them when they are on! Emily loves attending the different events (especially rodeos!) out here when there’s music and everyone is having a night at the bar at the event grounds. Ladies Day last year was amazing also! It was great to see all the women of the country come together for a weekend of fun. Learning to ride a horse was also awesome. There are just too many favourite memories!

Emily has never really considered herself to have a role model but if she had to say someone she looks up to it would be her older sister Georgia. Georgia is such an outgoing and strong person. She has never cared what people think of her and has always followed her heart and done her own thing. When Emily was trying to decide if she should take the leap and come out to the outback not knowing anything, with no experience and so young, Georgia was the one who she talked to and she reassured her that it would be a great experience and worth it. She was certainly right! She has always been there to talk things through and if she wasn’t there Emily’s not sure if she would have had the guts to do many of the things I have. Emily is so thankful to have her; she is her rock.    

Emily and Georgia at Jundah jump up (Emily McCullagh)

 

If given the opportunity to share her outback experience over dinner with anyone, Emily would invite her Ninnie and Pa (her grandparents). Unfortunately Emily has very little memories left of her Ninnie and Pa. Her Pa died when she was 6 and soon after that Ninnie was diagnosed with dementia and since then her condition has deteriorated quite severely. Emily would have so loved to show them where she living and what she is doing and introduce them to this incredible part of the world.

 

Big sky country (Emily McCullagh)

 

Old signs (Lorraine Kath)

 

Outback Women Profiles featuring Kate

So it wouldn't be fair to pick the brains of local outback women about their lives, their hopes and their dreams without having a go at it myself. This is the profile that was published today on the ausagventures blog. A fantastic website to visit http://ausagventures.com/

G'day from a Govie- http://ausagventures.com/gday-from-a-govie/

 

 

Enjoy :)

Outback Women Profiles featuring Danielle and Emma

There seems to be a common theme with these outback, they wouldn't swap their lives for anything in the world. They love the wide open spaces, the people and the relaxed lifestyle that the outback has to offer. Danielle and Emma are the two women featured in this blog. Both have been in the outback for a long time, both are very hard working and both family orientated. Enjoy their stories.

Cooper Creek, Windorah- Kate McDonald

Danielle Weston lives in Windorah with her husband Peter. On the 1^st of December 2013 they took over as owner/managers of the Windorah Service Station. Previous to this they had been managers at Tanbar Station for 7 years. Danielle is entering her 20^th year of living in the outback and wouldn’t have life any other way. She is a cook, accounts keeper, secretary, shop assistant, parts organiser, a wife, a mother and a doting grandmother to her one year old grandson Kane, who also lives in Windorah.

Windorah Servo- Roxy Richardson

 

Danielle and Peter provide fuel, food and mechanical services to the many locals and tourists that pass through their servo. After Easter is when it starts to get really busy and this usually goes through until late October. All shapes and sizes of cars, caravans, trailers, trucks and bike pass through the servo in the annual pilgrimage to the outback by the young and old alike. It seems you can get to the outback in any vehicle these days.

Danielle works tirelessly for the Windorah Rodeo club and is in her 7^th year of service to this club. The rodeo club hosts a Gymkhana in early July and then a Campdraft and Rodeo in early August. These events are well patronised by locals from near and far and Danielle and the committee do and excellent job in organizing and running these events.

Danelle speaks about her time in the outback in a positive way; 90% of the people are genuine nice people and the lifestyle is pretty amazing.

Her role models in her life are her mother and father. Sadly, he mother has passed away but what she instilled in Danielle from a young age has stayed with Danielle her whole life. Danielle’s other role model, and her reason for moving to the outback, is her husband Peter.

Danielle's husband Pete giving a helping hand- Hannah Buckley

 

The Windorah Service Station is the last stop for fuel on the way to Birdsville. So if you’ve got a flat tyre or if your car and stomach are running on empty, pop into Windorah Service Station and I’m sure you’ll be ready to continue on your adventure in no time!

The Channel Country from the air- Kate McDonald

 

Emma Liston lives on Rhondavale, near Charleville. Rhondavale is a 12,000 acre hobby farm which is run by her parents.

Emma works at the In Home Care coordinator for Frontier Services. This means she helps coordinate with the educators and families and travels around Queensland to various towns and properties making sure everyone is working together and harmoniously. Emma has also worked as a governess on a cattle property during 2011-2012.

In her community, Emma belongs to various organisations. She is the secretary and treasurer for the Charleville South West Show Society, chairperson for the Local youth committee of the show, president of the hospital auxiliary club, committee member for the local ambulance and a rural fire brigade member.  And if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, in her ‘spare time’ she is involved ins everyday farm life feeding, weekends lick runs, fencing and all the exciting stuff, watering animals and yard and general house duties. She has also just started studying to fill in her time! One very busy lady!!

Emma has lived in the outback almost all her life, apart from spending 6 months in Brisbane whilst obtaining her child care qualifications.

There is nothing about life in the outback that Emma would change. She loves that just to grab two things from down town might take you an hour because everybody you walk past pulls you up for a yarn. Everybody knows everybody and are there for them if they ever need a hand.  She loves that country people love what they do and are passionate about where they live that they really get behind the community and are always striving to improve the district for the generations to come. Emma believes that the possibilities are endless; you can be as busy or as quiet as you like. People in the outback work hard and party harder. You have plenty of room to move and tons of fun to create entertainment opportunities. There are so many hobbies and opportunities to be involved in so many things. And lastly, Emma loves the amazing photographic opportunities; night skies like you never see in built up areas, colours in the sunset that change each time the sun rises.

Outback Sunset- Emma Liston

There are lots of fantastic memories Emma recalls about living in the outback. One is when they close the street off on a Saturday so all the children in the street can join in a game of cricket. Or when your family travels with other family members, neighbours or just friends around the district with horses and motorbikes to participate in a gymkhanas  and the kicking up dust later on in the night to the local band. Or the simplicity of sitting around during the afternoon with a cold beverage watching the sun go done laughing and chatting about the latest attics that happened that day whilst mustering.

The most influential role model for Emma would be her mother. She is a very passionate about the land, outback living, community and family. She loves everything she does and she gives her whole self in everything she does. She always has time for others and is always helping someone. She believes strongly in values and working hard to achieve whatever your heart desires.


If there was a dinner party at Rhondavale, Emma would invite the following people to share her outback life with and give them an insight into what happens out in the wilds of the west.  Henry Lawson would be invited so Emma could swap stories with him. Ellen DeGeneres would bring the comedienne factor and also because Emma thinks she would understand the way of live. Shemar Moore would provide some eye candy for the evening and also his active fundraising for MS would bring a humanitarian aspect to the evening. Princess Dianna would bring lots of knowledge and Kate McDonald (author of the blog ‘Something New’) would of course be invited to share in the evening’s festivities and fill the 6^th place around the dining room table.

Outback Women Profiles featuring Lorraine Kath

The road to Betoota- Kate McDonald

 

Betoota, population: 0.

Betoota is Lorraine Kath’s closest town. All that remains in Betoota is a boarded up pub and a race track which is still used a couple of times a year.

Lorraine lives at Mt Leonard Station which is located in the Channel Country, 220 kilometres west of Windorah. She lives here with her husband and 3 children. At Mt Leonard Lorraine is the station cook, domestic help, gardener, and of course, wife to Chook and mother to Cassandra, Leah and Jacob. Lorraine has also been the home tutor at Mt Leonard when her children were a bit younger.

Cassandra, Leah and Jacob- Lorraine Kath

Lorraine and Chook- Emily McCullagh

 

In her community, Lorraine is the secretary of the Betoota Race Club and secretary/treasurer of the Betoota Gymkhana Club. She is also a board member of Vast Arts.

Lorraine has lived in the outback for 19 years and can’t think of a better place to live. She loves the people, the events and the landscapes. She feels that her family live in an amazing part of Australia. Lorraine couldn’t think of a better place to raise a family than in the outback. The wide open spaces and the freedom to roam is a wonderful experience for her children.

The hardest part of living in the outback is sending your children off to boarding school. This year, Lorraine and Chook have sent their 2 daughters to boarding school in Townsville. The opportunities for them at school are endless and they will continue to grow from the experience.  Each time they drop them off, their heart breaks but deep down they know it is the best place for them.

Cassandra, Leah and Jacob- Lorraine Kath

 

Lorraine is a keen photographer and has published books and calendars with her works. She is a regular at all rodeos, campdrafts and gymkhanas capturing all the action and the thrills and spills. Her landscape photography is impressive as well. Lorraine loves photographing the country she lives in. The changing scenery and colours never cease to amaze her.

Lake Nappanerica- Lorraine Kath

 

Lorraine’s role model is her grandmother Nellie. From a young age Lorraine spent a lot of time with Nanna; she lived in her back pocket. She loved spending time with her grandmother on weekends or helping her cook Lorraine’s favourite dessert. Whether it was holiday visits to Yeppoon or fortnightly grocery trips to the Sunshine Coast, Lorraine was with her grandparents. Nanna is loving person who always has a smile on her face! If Lorraine can live a wonderful life and still be happy at 91 like my grandmother then she knows she will be content.

If Lorraine has the chance to invite a special guest to dinner at Mt Leonard it would be her grandmother Nellie and her grandfather Bill. Unfortunately, Bill passed away when Lorraine was a child and her grandmother, due to her age, is unable to visit. However she desperately wishes she could make the trip. Lorraine would love to share with her grandparents the outback, the place she calls home and where she is raising her 3 children.

 

To view Lorraine’s work got to: http://www.photographybylorrainekath.com.au/

Outback Women Profiles featuring Gay and Megan

Gay and Megan are mother and daughter. but this is not the only commonality that they share. They both love living in the outback, they have both raised children in the outback, they have both contributed to the community in which they live near and they both work hard with their husbands on their properties.

I hope you enjoy their stories.

Windorah Solar Farm- Kate McDonald

Gay Tully lives with her husband Brian on Tenham Station which is 220 kilometres west of Quilpie, 68 kilometres east of Windorah and covers a total area of 250 sq miles or 160,000 acres. She works in a partnership with her husband and they run sheep and cattle. They have three adult children who were all raised and schooled for their primary years on Tenham Station. Gay cooks, cleans, loves her garden and looks after the homestead. She also musters on a motorbike, goes out fencing, drives the dozer pushing scrub, feeds stock Molofos during the drought and puts out lick blocks etc.

She loves looking after her 3 beautiful granddaughters who live 70kms away when she can to help out her daughter who is also on a station working with her husband and is very busy as well.

Gay Tully, granddaughter Alice and husband Brian- Megan Miller

In a volunteer role, there are not many committees in the local area that Gay hasn’t served on. She is involved with the Windorah Developmental board, Windorah arts and crafts, Windorah ambulance, Channel Country I C P A. which are all voluntary organisations

Gay has lived in at Tenham for over 32 years and just loves the lifestyle., She loves the animals, the countryside, and a full creek to look at, which sits just outside her homestead, when this dreadful drought breaks. Gay has fond memories of the night she received life membership for the Channel Country Isolated Children's Parents Association which she felt was such an honour to receive. But seeing her long list of voluntary roles, I imagine it was a well deserved recognition. She has wonderful memories of the hundreds of cards, flowers and support she received from the west when she had cancer and was given a 40 percent chance survival of 5 years. Their friendship was invaluable.. Gay would be happy to have Tony Abbott for dinner to show him the outback as we see it. Gay does not feel like she’s missing out. She has a great social life, and it is a great place to live.

Gay has recently started an initiative called the Green Thumb Express. Due to the drought and a drop in the creek, which is Tenham Stations water supply, Gay has unfortunately had to let her garden die off. This is a common case for many gardens in the South-West and further afield. Gay felt that so many people express their desire to help out the drought stricken areas so she has come up with the idea that people can either pot a plant or give cash donations. They are also trying to incorporate as many nurseries who are interested to be drop off areas for plants. So that when the drought is over, people who have registered can receive green, healthy, vibrant plants to fill up their gardens. This will hopefully improve morale and put a smile on a gardener’s face so they have a green paradise to come home to after a hard day’s work out in the paddocks.

A fantastic scheme developing momentum!

Follow this link to pledge your help: https://www.facebook.com/greenthumbexpress

The Miller Family- Megan Miller

Megan Miller lives with her husband Andrew and three young daughters on a property called Coniston in Western Qld near Windorah. Coniston is 28 328ha and they lease this land and from it run their own sheep and cattle business. They run about 1000 head of drought master X cattle and 900 merino sheep. Their three daughters, Bridie (8), Alice(4) and Grace (2), love living on the land and being outside playing with their animals or helping their parents with the farm work. Bridie is in year 4 and attends the Longreach School of Distance Education. Megan teaches Bridie at home through the school of the air. Bridie gets to talk to her teacher and classmates 4 days a week on the phone and computer.

Coniston is situated in an isolated part of Queensland. They are 2 and a half hours from the nearest child care centre and over 700 kilometres from the nearest Woolworths. Their mail comes twice a week on a truck. Each week Megan orders her groceries from a Food Works that is two and a half hours away and they come out on the mail truck once a week. 

As well as teaching and looking after her girls Megan likes to help out on the property as much she can. Often she’ll take the kids and they will all do the mustering, shearing, fencing and general cattle work. At the moment a lot of their time is taken up supplement feeding the stock due to the drought. They do not have any employees so they all have to help out.

Grace helping Andrew feed supplement- Megan Miller

 Bride and Alice getting ready to help Andrew- Megan Miller

Currently Megan and Andrew are taking part in the MLA Challenge. They are 1 of 6 producers from around Australia involved in a competition to improve their businesses. On a community level, Megan is president of the Windorah Development Board which is a local community group designed to promote and improve the nearest town of Windorah.

 Megan knows the area around Windorah well, having grown up on a sheep and cattle property about 70 kilometres away from Coniston. She met Andrew when he started working for the next door neighbours. Some say 'the boundary fence was down and Andrew slipped through'. Megan competed her primary schooling through Charleville School of Distance Education and then went away to boarding school in Brisbane for years 8-12. Her parents are still on their property.

Having almost her whole life living in the outback, Megan wouldn’t swap it for city living. She loves the wide open spaces most of all. As well as the beautiful countryside and the lifestyle of living and working on the land. She adores being able to have as many pet animals as her heart desires and they currently have over 100 pets from kelpie working dogs to chooks to poddy calves and a donkey. Megan loves watching the area bloom and change with the good seasons. She loves watching her children ride motorbikes, go swimming in creeks and having lots of room to play outside. Megan loves being able to work alongside her husband and make decisions together about improving their business and implementing those changes together.

Grace, Bridie and Alice with their poddy lambs- Megan Miller

Megan and her young family are very passionate about their life in the outback and have made this video about their lives and how much fun they have!

Follow this link to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bbT8E4C2EE

Megan’s has so many favourite memories of living in the outback. However, she had a fantastic day at the very first Channel Country Ladies day held at Durham Downs Station in 2012. It helped to raise money for breast cancer and was a great chance for outback ladies to be pampered and have a weekend away.

Family is very important in Megan’s life. Her role model would probably be her Dad. He has such an enormous amount of time and love to give to his family and he is always there to support both Andrew and Megan when they need it. He is a hard worker, patient and has good morals and values.

If Megan was to hold a dinner party for the local women in Windorah she would invite Oprah Winfrey to be the guest of honour. Megan thinks Oprah is inspirational and that she could learn a lot from having dinner with her. How amazing would it be to have such an influential person like Oprah on your side when it comes to the tough times that the Australian Agricultural Industry is currently experiencing? Coniston has been drought declared for over 7 months now, and this, coupled with record temperatures, the live export debacle and low cattle market prices have contributed to making it very difficult for graziers on the land to survive.

Thank you Gay and Megan for sharing your outback lives with us.

Outback Women Profiles featuring Kelly and Sis

The first two women featured in the series of Outback Women Profiles are Kelly Theobald and Jacinta ‘Sis’ Fatnowna. These women moved to the outback from Melbourne and Mackay respectively and haven’t looked back. They both speak highly of their outback lifestyle and urge others to get out and experience it for themselves.

Birdsville Sunset 2012- Kate McDonald

 

Kelly Theobald is a vibrant individual and one of the smiling faces that greet you when you enter the Birdsville Information Centre. A resident in Birdsville, when she’s not working at the centre she is a journalist, photographer, a published author, a volunteer for local council, QRRRWN (Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network) and Channel Country Ladies Day and an avid outback traveller. Her boyfriend owns a fabrication business in town and she can be found there as well helping out when she can. Kelly has lived in Birdsville for three years and fell in love with the place as soon as she arrived from Melbourne.

She loves living in the outback for SO many reasons…... Kelly loves the landscape and wildlife, the big skies, the Simpson Desert sand dunes, the friendly community, the relaxed lifestyle, the interesting people who pass through Birdsville on holiday or who work here for a while and loves the weather. She loves that summer lasts for ages and that winter is really short. Every day is different and Kelly has so many fond memories from my time in Birdsville. Some memories are of long afternoons spent with the community at Pelican Point, having a BBQ and watching the sun set over the billabong; some are going with her boyfriend to rescue or fix a stranded vehicle in the Simpson desert; some are sitting around a campfire at the Birdsville Bakery with a bunch of friends and enjoying a lovely meal; and another memory is driving her 1963 Volkswagen Beetle across the Simpson Desert!

Kelly and her boyfriend restored a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, ‘Onslo’, and drove it across the Simpson Desert, starting in Birdsville and ending up in Mt Dare, 3 days later. Onslo is now a published children’s book and is very popular with many copies enjoyed by local children and some copies have been sent overseas. Kelly has also appeared on the front cover of the Australian Weekend paper with the real Onslo and has been published in the OUTBACK magazine.

In her life as a journalist and writer, Kelly’s role models tend to be people who have excelled in these fields. She count fellow children’s author Mem Fox as a strong role model, even though she’s not outback based. She also admires Mark Muller, the editor of OUTBACK Magazine, because he ensures that the best of the outback is shared with a wide audience and Annabelle Brayley, who is a nurse and author and who has been so very lovely when Kelly emailed her out of the blue for advice on publishing! Georgie Somerset, the President of the QRRRWN is another role model because Kelly admires her enthusiasm and dedication to outback women.

Kelly would love to invite someone well known and influential to a dinner party in Birdsville so that they can experience all the pros and cons of outback life. Hopefully, they will see what we go through and help us to crusade to fix the cons and promote the pros so that more people are encouraged to venture to this wonderful part of the world.

Kelly, Kate and Onslo- Kate McDonald

 

 

 

Birdsville Pub 2013- Kate McDonald

Governess, Jacinta Fatnowna, better known as Sis, lives on Glenglye Station, 140kms out of Birdsville. Her day to day role is teaching 2 girls in grades 3 and 6, through Mt Isa School of Distance Education. When not in the school room, Sis helps out on the station anywhere she can; whether it is in the kitchen cooking for the crew, with the stock camp or outside trying to keep her garden and plants alive. Sis is a hard worker and is an asset to have around.

Sis has resided in the outback for almost 5 years. During her time in the outback she has worked as a Teacher Aide at Birdsville State School, washing dishes in the kitchen of the Birdsville Pub and as a governess on another Channel Country cattle station.  When asked what she loved living in the outback her response was ‘Where to start?’ Sis loves the people, the laid back lifestyle, the sunsets, the pubs, the big beautiful night sky and of course my family. There are no traffic lights or line ups at the bar. Sis loves fishing, hanging with mates at any of the local watering holes (pubs) and one of her highlights has to be the Birdsville Races. Especially in 2010, when her mate from Mackay came and experienced a smidge of the outback lifestyle, even though that was the year that the Birdsville Races were flooded! Someone that Sis looks up to in her life in her Mumma, Tanya. Sis values family and their role in her life. She wishes that she could invite her Nan who is still alive and her Pop who has passed away over for dinner and share with them her outback experiences and lifestyle.

 

Sis fishing- Jacinta Fatnowna

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this instalment in the series. Coming soon will be profiles on a mother and daughter from Windorah.