This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners. In this episode, we hear from John Hagan — someone who knows the Territory not just by map, but by memory. Over the course of 87 years, John has witnessed the Territory change in ways few others can truly grasp. Raised on cattle stations in the VRD during World War II, he came of age in a time when cattle were still walked thousands of kilometres to market. He...
Jun 15, 2025•2 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 246
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners The Hayes family is one of the most iconic and historic in the Northern Territory, and in this episode, we sit down with fourth-generation Territorian, Mickey Hayes. Born and raised on Undoolya Station, Mickey grew up immersed in the rhythms of station life, following in the footsteps of generations before him. But unlike his father and brothers, Mickey’s journ...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 2 min
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we speak with Gaynor Cleary. Gaynor first travelled to the Northern Territory in 1959 to visit distant relatives who owned Mt Riddock Station. Although the visit was brief, it left a lasting impression. A few years later, she returned to work on the station, where she met her future husband, Tom — a part-Aboriginal stockman. Over the next 50 ye...
Jun 08, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 6Ep. 244
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners The pioneering legacy of Charles and Cora Chalmers is well documented in the history books—but the story of the Chalmers family didn’t end there. In this episode, we hear from their grandson, Cameron Chalmers, who continues that legacy in his own remarkable way. Born and raised on the very land his grandfather once settled, Cameron enjoyed a childhood rich with...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 6Ep. 243
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we talk to Di Martin from Mt Denison Station. Di first came to the remote Aboriginal community of Yuendumu in 1984 for what she thought would be a six-month teaching job. She never imagined she’d still be in the region more than 40 years later. When she eventually left Yuendumu, it wasn’t to continue travelling—it was to move just 30 kilometres...
Jun 01, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 6Ep. 242
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we hear the story of Gil Bowman. From as soon as he could walk, Gil was, as he says, always trying to “make a few bob”. With his strong work ethic and determination, and the few bob he had made along the way, he purchased Pine Hill Station in 1968, at just 28 years old. Turning Pine Hill from a relatively undeveloped block into a functioning, p...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 46 min•Season 6Ep. 241
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we hear from Tony and Pam Davis who’s journey of land ownership has taken them from Central Australia to Queensland, South Australia, the Top End, and finally back home right to where they started. With 6 decades of experience raising cattle, managing the landscape, and making a life from it, there’s not much these two haven’t seen. Tony and Pa...
May 25, 2025•2 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 240
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we chat with Steve and Bec Cadzow from Mt Riddock Station. The Cadzow family ventured into pastoralism more than 60 years ago with the purchase of a cattle station in the Northern Territory—despite having no prior experience living or working in the region. Today, they’re widely respected for their high-quality Poll Hereford herd and forward-th...
May 21, 2025•2 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 239
This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners In this episode, we speak with Col Stanton, a highly respected figure across the outback for his intuitive understanding of diverse landscapes and his unrivaled ability to implement interventions that improve water infiltration and repair erosion damage. Col is in high demand, frequently flown to stations around the country to teach workshops and pass on his kn...
May 18, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 6Ep. 238
*This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners* In this episode, we hear from Gary Prior. Between Gary and his father Bill, the Prior family managed Hamilton Downs Station for 40 years. And as Gary says, moving to the station at the age of 6 was the best thing that ever happened to him. While he’s always called Hamilton Downs home, and working on the station was all he ever wanted to do, Gary’s path turned...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 6Ep. 237
*This episode was recorded as part of a Centralian Land Management Association project - which they have kindly shared with our listeners* In this episode, we sit down with David Bird of Indiana Station, a fourth-generation pastoralist continuing his family’s legacy on the land in Central Australia. David shares insights into how the experiences and resilience of those who came before him have shaped his outlook and approach to station life. Our conversation explores his deep understanding of th...
May 12, 2025•2 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 236
This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** n this episode we hear the incredible story of Libby Gooch. The year is 1972 and Libby is a young mother living on Manberry Station with her husband George and their 3 children. In a matter of months, she loses not one, but two of the men in her life. In an instant, her world is changed irrevocably, and ...
Apr 30, 2025•2 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 235
**This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** Jos Percy’s childhood on Yoothapina Station was cut short by drought and war. Instead of making mudcakes and mustering sheep, he changed schools 12 times in 3 years, as the threat of invasion dictated his father’s postings in the army. After the war, the Percy family found their way to Wandina Station ...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Season 6Ep. 234
**This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** In this episode, we speak to Tim and Chris D’Arcy from Lyndon Station. Tim D’Arcy’s childhood on Lyndon Station was full of adventure and freedom. Accompanied by friends and mentors from the local Aboriginal community, he developed a love of the land and a dream to own his own station one day. And, wit...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 59 min•Season 6Ep. 233
**This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** n this episode, we speak to Mick and Winsome Hearman, whose family called Middayla Station home for 120 years. For four generations, the Hearmans poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the land, building a thriving sheep station and enduring the highs and lows of life in the bush. They’ve seen it a...
Apr 30, 2025•2 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 232
**This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** In this episode, we speak to Lochy and Jane McTaggart, who called Bidgemia Station home for over four decades. They say they’ve lived a big life — and they mean it. Together they endured the challenges of life in the bush - the ones that were part and parcel of working in agriculture, like drought and...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 6Ep. 231
**This episode is part of a mini-series produced for the Gascoyne Catchment’s Group, who have kindly allowed me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it.** In this episode, we speak to Margot Steadman. Upon finishing school, Margot had the ultimate “sliding doors moment” which led to a life she could never have imagined as a child. Raised in suburban Perth, she helped a friend apply for a Governess position on Landor Station in the Gascoyne, and thought n...
Apr 30, 2025•2 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 230
On July 25, 2024, a tragic helicopter mustering accident claimed the lives of Peter Ritter and Gavin U’Ren. It was a privilege it was to not just know them and work alongside them, but call them mates. Gav, Ritter – you two were bloody good blokes, and funny buggers. The absence of you’re presence will be felt immensely, but I have no doubt you will live on through our memories, which will be traded over cold beers, and around campfires for years to come. Since getting the call about the acciden...
Aug 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 229
Welcome back to our fourth episode with Garry Riggs from Lakefield Station in the Territory. When we last left Garry, he had just wrapped up his time in the stock camp at Blina Station. But the end of one chapter marked the beginning of another. Garry found himself working in mining exploration, and trust us, the adventures only got wilder from there. In this episode, Garry takes us through another round of jaw-dropping stories from teaming up with a Dutch mercenary to the unexpected experience ...
Jul 01, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 228
Welcome back to our third episode with Garry Riggs from Lakefield Station in the Territory. In his first two episodes, Garry shared tales from his adventurous childhood, filled with close calls involving snakes, motorbikes, horses, motorcars, deadly fevers, UFOs, and even circus lions! In this episode, we pick up right where we left off—at Calwynyardah Station in the West Kimberley. True to form, Garry has no shortage of unbelievable tales from this chapter of his life. From mishaps during cattl...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 227
When Munro Hardy said he wanted to be a pilot, his year 11 careers advisor shut down the idea pretty quickly. So, Munro filed the idea in the back of his mind and started thinking about other options. Once he finished school, he set off on a gap year that would turn into the adventure of a lifetime, as he spent the next decade trying his hand at various roles in agriculture, mining and tourism. But, the dream of being a pilot was always there, lingering in back of his mind. And each time he saw ...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 226
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 since, Ashley has continued to face his share of challenges, but his commitment to the family property has never wavered. In this episode Ashley shares parts of his journey, and we explore how his ...
May 10, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 5Ep. 225
The first year out of school is equally exciting and terrifying – you’re considered an adult by society, and with that comes both freedoms and responsibilities. With her high school experience not being the best, and her first job on a station getting off to a rocky start, Pip Bain felt like she had finally found her feet only to learn that her mother had passed away by suicide. The profound loss of her mother was only amplified by the shock, as Pip learnt she had been sheltered from her mother’...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 224
The time we spend with people and places doesn’t determine the impact they can have on our lives. That is so very true for todays guest, Pip Bain. Although her family sold Mt Clere Station when she was just 8 years old, those 8 short years shaped Pips life and love of the land. The same goes for her mother, who passed when Pip was just 18 years old. In this episode, Pip recalls memories of her time at Mt Clere and how she found her way back to the land. She also speaks candidly about losing her ...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 223
Nick Ormsby has flipped the script on what it means to be a "high school dropout". Despite leaving school at just 14 and having his teachers tell him he'd never make it, Nick's proved them dead wrong. Now, before he's even hit 40, Nick's running the show with not one, not two, but three companies in horticulture, agriculture, and forestry up in the Northern Territory. But Nick's journey hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. In this episode, he's taking us back to where it all began. We're talki...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 5Ep. 222
Paddy Heatley had a fairly unconventional childhood. By the time he left home at the age of 9, he’d already dropped out of school – foregoing learning to read and write. At the age of 12, he was smuggling tobacco, alcohol and cattle from South to North Ireland. And, at the age of 16, with his mother’s signature forged, he climbed aboard a ship bound for Australia. In this episode, Paddy share’s yarns for his early days in Ireland, and his first few years in Australia. He speaks about meeting his...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 221
From the outside looking in, Tammy Kruckow was living her best life. She and her husband were managing a large cattle station for a corporate pastoral company – the perfect place to raise their three beautiful daughters. She had, as she puts it, "ticked all the boxes". But, behind closed doors, things weren’t all as they seemed. In this episode, Tammy shares her story of coming to the Territory as a shy jillaroo, to becoming a completely different person – the person she thought she had to be no...
Mar 12, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 220
In this episode, Steph travels to the centre of South Australia to Billa Kalina Station, which has been in the Greenfield family since 1938. Pastoralist Col Greenfield shares what it's like running a cattle station that is inside the Woomera Prohibited Area, and outside the dog fence. *This episode was first released in 2021 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 04, 2024•57 min•Season 5Ep. 219
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 stations, even though it was never a part of her plan... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 218
Wayne Bean spent his adult life working towards one goal - managing a cattle station. So, when he resigned from his job as the manager at Flora Valley Station after 14 years, for the first time in his life, he didn’t have a plan. This episode is the third and final part of our chat with Wayne, where he discusses how he navigated his first major career change at the age of 42. And, as many listeners have been patiently waiting for, we also discuss Wayne’s journey to becoming an accomplished horse...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 217
