WESTERN AUSTRALIA - YOU'RE NEXT

Believe it or not - the book on stations, or the stations book, or Red Dust Dreams - is finally looking like heading toward publication.  I have slotted that in for the end of 2015!  All images for the participating stations to date have been issued, except WA - and some have already been edited by those station owners and returned to me.  Thank you so much.  Also for the suggestions/thoughts/comments which continue to come through - all very welcome.  And the texts are gradually being completed and also sent out - still working on those.  A couple have already been edited by their respective stations and returned.  Cheryl has also begun the major editing.  

Also slowly but surely finalising interviews with the wonderful group of retired pastoralists whom are participating - and a lot of others.  The list continues - but my editors are putting the brakes on for me - badly needed.  We have our stations people, retired pastoralists, Indigenous people, backpackers, bikies, some who live in the cities but regularly work in the outback, shearers, truckies - and more.

Unfortunately at this stage, it does seem that the cover design and title for the book will be decided between my family and friends - and not by the families and students of the School of the Air after all.  I have tried to issue details of the competition to all bases nationwide, but to date, I have not had a lot of response.  I have also now had to issue a deadline.  I have not given up but am looking at Plans B and C just in case.  I also remain in hope that the ICPA might be able to help with this.  If necessary, I will turn to the participating stations themselves for help with this - and then, in a final fit of hope, turn to family and friends, as mentioned.  

But now and at last - it's WA's turn and the first of four trips here has already been undertaken.  My sincere thanks to Kathy and Malcolm Boladeras of Wonganoo Station, some hours north east of Kalgoorlie, for showing me some more of this amazing country hospitality recently.  This was the first time I had driven myself (hired my trusty little Hyundai in Kalgoorlie) and loved every bit of it.  Saw much of the station, thanks to Kathy's tour - even three camels in the distance and countless goannas - and a snake put in a special appearance by slithering across the road in front of us.  I see and learn something new with each and every station visit - this time it was the camels and goannas.  The Boladeras' even have a donga which I have read about in the past, but never seen.  And a great undercover entertainment area called a Spinifex Shed (or coolhouse) which is based on the Coolgarie Safe concept of water running down over the spinifex.

Four more stations here to cover and I start these with two which are between Exmouth and Geraldton.  Driving myself again, in my own little Yaris.  Then I am back in town for a week before catching a coach up to Broome and out to a station stay property in the Kimberley.  Very excited as my daughter will be joining me on this one and I will be spending a few days with her in Broome before heading south again.  After that, back again for about a month before my very final trip - a coach tour to Mt Augustus.  Two new stations coming in by email from WA, joining several others also coming on board by email, in other states.

And that's it.  Finito.  I do have a mammoth amount of writing to do in between all these trips still - but continue to love every bit of it. 

Shoe from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Hello all.  Just thought you might like to see a pretty famous shoe - belonging to 'Priscilla - Queen of the Desert', no less.  I suppose the other one does too - actually, I don't think there is another one.  For those who have seen the film, it's the one that sat on top of the bus.  On this occasion, however, it was sitting on the stage at the Broken Hill Agfair in May this year.  Just thought you might all be interested.  

Ok - now we are on countdown - or should I say, we are trying to be on countdown to the WA research trip.  Most of you should know by now that we are also trying to cover this final trip with a documentary - called 'Red Dust Dreams', surprisingly enough.  And the film crew?  'Red Dust Dreamers'.

Making a documentary to cover the research for the book is something that never occurred to me.  Until I did the research on the NT recently and several people there told me that what I am doing - both the book itself and the research trips and all involved therein - is fascinating.  Well - I already knew that - but it was lovely to hear others say it to me.  Those same people then asked why it isn't all being covered with a documentary.  I agreed - sort of - but also thought it's a bit late for that.  Most of the nation has already been covered.

Once back home I began thinking - the seed had been planted and was growing.  Yes, it was too late for the rest of the nation - but then, given the amount it is costing anyway - it just would not have been a viable proposition.  But we still had the WA stations to cover - so why not!  Having absolutely no idea where or how to start I began contacting film and documentary makers, mainly interstate for some reason.  Some just ignored me but those who were good enough to respond, lost interest very quickly when I explained that it concerns the outback.  Then I turned to home - and the first that came to mind and should have been the first and only one from the beginning - was/is MOVING IMAGES AND TV PRODUCTIONS the business belonging to TV cameraman, Steve Fitzgibbon and his wife, Sue.  Steve had worked with one of my daughters, Fiona, when she was doing an internship as a journalist at Perth's WTV and he was also good enough to come and film me doing a spiel at one stage.  So - I contacted him and he is now onboard, followed by our second cameraman, Christian Niddrie (of REVELATION PICTURES, Fiona and Warren Masilamony, our editor.  We are now looking at employing a PR professional to join our crew.

Please bear in mind that while the documentary will only cover the WA stations, as most of you know, the rest of the nation has already been covered and there are a lot more participating stations involved.  With the permission of said stations I will be including as much info and as many images as possible about each and every one, including some 'touristy' info.  My thanks to those stations that have already responded so positively to this.

The purpose for 'Red Dust Dreams' the documentary, is two-fold - actually it's more than that - it's quite a few-fold.  The original intention of the book and hence the doco was and still is to help raise the image of the people of outback Australia, to try to help educate those in urban Australia and the rest of the world about how the people out there live, some simply surviving on a daily basis.  We are focussing more on the domestic side of life, rather than the business side - except for those stations that have moved over to tourism.  Life is hard out there - make no mistake - but most of those in urban Australia just do not understand.  We are hoping both the book and the doco will help with that understanding.  The doco will provide a more visual experience to accompany the written journey through the outback and into the lives of some of these remote families and communities.  It will also provide a more behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the book, including how the author integrates into that lifestyle and how research is conducted to gather the mass of information required.  

We also want to capture and share the beauty of the outback, the spectacular scenery that is unique to our outback - which can only be caught on film.  We are also planning to interview, photograph and film some of the locals in the towns we will be travelling through (Kalgoorlie, Leinster and first station, Mt Magnet, Mullewa and second station, Geraldton, Northampton and third station, perhaps Kalbarri, fourth and fifth stations, Denham, Carnarvon, Coral Bay, Exmouth and sixth station, Dampier, Karratha, Pt Hedland, Broome, Derby and seventh station, Newman, Meekatharra and hopefully Mt Augustus) - yup - just a few places and we might not be able to visit all of them but the main ones should be included.  Much of this is also being done in the name of helping to increase WA's tourism, along with generally just trying to help spread light on this amazing and largely unknown remote culture. 

Aspects included will be entertainment, transport, employment, education (showing the rest of the world how the children of the outback learn), infrastructure, transport, communication, shopping, mail, tourism, affects of social media, health - and so much more.

And what are we doing?  Along with two of my 'crew' I plan to hire a 4WD and drive out to Kalgoorlie, then follow the route outlined above to each of the seven participating stations and a few other tourist spots.  I will be filmed meeting, interviewing and photographing the stations owers/managers and their families, staff members and some key local townspeople as mentioned.

'Red Dust Dreamers' consists of moi, author and Behind-the-Scenes Production Co-Ordinator; Steve Fitzgibbon - Producer/Production Manager, Sound, Camera Operator; Christian Niddrie - Film Director, Production Assistant, Lighting, 2nd Camera Operator; Warren - Film Editor, Media Packages and Broadcast Sales and Fiona - Script Writer and Voice Over.  We are also looking into employing a professional PR person at the moment too.  Yes, they are all professionals and I could try to do the lot by myself - but that just wouldn't work and I don't want anything but the best for our outback.  Steve and Christian will be joining me on the roadtrip.

However, money keeps coming into it - rearing its ugly head. Very little happens in the world without it and Red Dust Dreams, the documentary, is no different.  Trying to raise the amount required to fund such a roadtrip is proving to be just a bit of a challenge.  I had originally planned to cover the WA stations with one of my usual research trips in August (as in NOW) but, then I put it back to October, but despite all our efforts at trying to raise said funds, unless we receive a huge injection of funds in the next six weeks or so, I am now pretty well confirming that it will occur in May next year.  The book will be published next year too.  To help raise these vital funds, we would be extremely grateful if you would visit our crowfunding campaign site and donate a teensy bit of money - or even a lot.

For more info on our trip and to see me (this crazy woman) live on camera (getting a taste for the trip itself) please do click on our crowdfunding campaign and help us by sharing and spreading the word about our trip and to try to raise those funds.  We are also trying to contact as many relevant businesses and companies as possible around the nation to gain interest in sponsorship.

For tips on travelling in the outback generally - and particularly if you are a crazy middle aged female who has, up to now, insisted on travelling throughout the outback by herself, please visit our special FaceBook page.

Thank you.  See you all next post.

Not the most normal sight in the outback

Hello again.  I have just returned from another amazing trip - to Adelaide, up to Broken Hill, back to Adelaide, up to the Alice and then up to Darwin.  Still the best way to see the best part of the nation in my opinion - the outback by coach.  The amazing Greyhound drivers once again transported me safely up the Stuart Highway, delivering me into the Alice for a day, enroute to Darwin.  My thanks to them all - in Qld as well - and to Dee Gurd, the supervisor in Adelaide who bent over backwards to help me.

This trip actually gave me the opportunity to tick off a couple of the items from my bucket-list.  First, flying in a smallish aircraft - I grabbed this chance from Adelaide up to Broken Hill.  And it didn't disappoint - it was fabulous.  Unexpectedly I also found myself being able to fly on/in a helicopter - at last!!  Better than I'd ever imagined and cannot wait to go again.

Up in the Hill, due to a misunderstanding at my accommodation, I actually spent the first night with the wonderful Mary and Peter Beven.  Not quite sure what I would have done without them to be honest - the Agfair was on the same weekend and all accommodation had been booked out a long time in advance.  Never mind.  It all finally worked out.  I managed to work on the book while there, as well as spending some hours on the Saturday at the Agfair. I also attended the 

annual RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) ball - what a fantastic night!  Also included was a look around the amazing Silverton, the Hill itself - and I even managed to meet the hugely talented outback artist and one of the 'Brushmen of the Bush' Jack Absalom - a lovely gentleman even if I had no idea who he was at first.  And finally the Beven family station, Sturt's Meadows.  There were many other highlights too - all will be mentioned and expanded on in the book.

Back down the Barrier Highway, through more very familiar countryside as we passed through Mannahill, Yunta, Oodlawirra, to my next stop at Terowie, where I was staying with the fantastic Jacki and Peter Mattey on Franklyn Station, which is next door to Pitcairn.  A wonderful day there included a tour of their numerous properties around Terowie - although I used to live in the area I had never before seen any of this countryside - another first for me.  This tour included something rather - unusual...no other way to explain it.  I had never seen anything like it before and am quite sure I'll not see anything like it again.  On Thursday we drove down to Adelaide, again passing through very familiar countryside.  I left the Matteys on the Saturday and spent a further couple of days in Adelaide before catching that wonderful Greyhound for the trip up north.

My fleeting visit to the Alice was terrific and I have two more locals coming onboard from there, all of which is wonderful.  On the Friday evening, I caught the next and final coach up to Darwin. This entire trip passes through many stations which I found absolutely fascinating and am trying to find a map showing them all.  One of these stations is Erldunda, which is now a superb roadhouse and tourist centre while all remaining part of the working station that is Erldunda and which used to belong to very good friends of my family's.  

And into Darwin.  Still my favourite capital city - so like a big country town.  I had a lovely view from my hotel room and again managed to get a lot of work done while also having a few lovely walks around the CBD - and - here is where I was able to tick that third item off my bucket list.  Seeing crocodiles in the wild.  And I would not have missed it.  Nor the entire day out. 

Time to come home - I flew back to Perth on the Tuesday.  Now to continue with the actual writing of the book.  And catching up with all the wonderful retired pastoralists again - starting to finalise it all. 

As with each trip, I have had some amazing and many very - eye-opening - experiences, some of which will be mentioned in the book - others will remain forevermore silent.  

In August, I plan to cover the WA stations, the final state.  Unfortunately, for various reasons, I have not been able to physically visit every participating station, but all of them will still be included, provided they wish to.   They will be done by email.  The comp details for the cover design and title for the book have now been issued to all, or most, School of the Air - or Distance Education, bases nationwide so that is underway.  And I have finally begun sending out those promised copies of Dad's book, 'The Sawers From Pitcairn'.

As for that 'something different' and unusual eluded to on Franklyn station - well, you'll just have to wait to read all about it in the book.

    

Courtesy of WikiCommons:
KooronaCroc

Typical rain gauge - rarely anything in them.

Hi all - apologies for the silence but while I have been very busy since I returned to Perth after the Qld part of the research trips in September, I haven't been on any further trips - apart from a really lovely day up to visit some of our retired pastoralists out of New Norcia. 

The rain gauge shown here is typical of those on most stations - and usually completely empty apart from old cobwebs etc. - and dust.  Always and forever dust.

After returning to Perth from my last amazing trip criss-crossing Qld, I have been busy working on the book - it is winding down - or up - now and while 2013 did not end on the most positive note, nor has 2014 begun very positively - except for the announcement from our eldest daughter and her now-fiance of their engagement and the graduation, with honours, of our second daughter - both superb news - we are getting there.  Onward and upward.  All good.

I am starting to finalise the interviews and photographs for the retired pastoralists and for a number of other people who are coming onboard.  I am still getting 'newies' joining in on a regular basis - now have some CWA members and shearers along with a piano tuner (I hope - still to be confirmed) who used to travel to the stations between Darwin and Alice Springs.  Also a few backpackers.   I am still following up leads for a number of others too.

And I am just preparing to head off on the next part of the research trips - heading to Adelaide again - flying up to Broken Hill to visit another couple of retired pastoralists who have been wonderful enough to organise this particular visit - and their family station which, for various reasons, I was unable to include on my first trip through NSW and SA - back down to visit another station which is actually a neighbour of my own childhood home, 'Pitcairn', then back to Adelaide for a couple of days before catching another wonderful Greyhound coach up to Alice Springs, visiting another station there before heading right up to spend a couple of days in Darwin - and then finally flying direct back to Perth.

I believe my visit to Broken Hill actually coincides with a couple of major annual events - the Agfair which runs for a couple of days - hoping to meet lots'n'lots of people and get lots'n'lots of photos.  The second event is the annual ball for the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Services).  Both of which should be fantastic.  Also a political dinner - all of which I am looking immensely forward to.

Back to Perth and I will be plunging heavily into the writing and organising of our book.  This will also be the time I will finally try to contact a the people whose details have been very generously provided to me by a lot of the station people I have already met.

The actual research trips should be completed sometime in August of this year when I plan to drive up the WA coast, visiting all participating stations en route.  I know there are still a few stations in both NSW and Qld that, for various reasons, I was unable to visit - hopefully I will still be able to cover these by email.  A couple of them have already emailed a lot of images, which is terrific - and I do have quite a lot of information from most of them already.  I will be contacting all stations which have missed the actual visits.

Also now starting to get the competition details for the cover design and title for the book out to all the SotA bases nationwide.  Really looking forward to seeing the entries for both parts of the competition.

Still loving this all so much and meeting the most amazing people.  

Next posting should come from somewhere in SA, NSW or the NT.  Stay tuned......

Distance Education or School of the Air - class in action!!

The Rest of Qld

We are now into November and seem to be in an awful hurry to reach Christmas.  I'M not in a hurry but the rest of the world seems to be!  And I appear to have been somewhat remiss in that I have neglected to finish the rest of the Qld part of the blog.  It continued to be absolutely fantastic.  

Before I plunge into this blog (which is well overdue anyway - a bit longer shouldn't hurt) I do need to thank the people on those stations in the NT and WA who responded to my email of a few weeks ago, apologising for the length of time it is taking me to cover the research for our book.  Most of these people have been lovely enough to respond telling me that they understand and are still interested in participating - so they are still very definitely 'in' for next year.  There are still two stations in SA and one in NSW to cover yet.  During my research trips I have also been given heaps of info and contact details for various people - as yet I have not contacted many but will be doing so.  This includes those amazing retired pastoralists who are, or were, joining in.  I had hoped to do most of this contacting when I returned from Qld but a few - unexpected - things have happened which have caused more than a few hiccups.  

But this book is far too important to me - and I believe to all those that I have already met throughout our mighty outback - I also thank those of you who have contacted me to offer the most amazing encouragement and support.  All phone calls etc are on my list and those people will be contacted early in the new year, including all the retirees.

So onward and upward.

After leaving Tori and Alex I caught the overnight coach through to Brisbane.  Stayed there for one night before heading all the way up to the coast to Cairns.  What a trip!  Have to take my hat off to Greyhound - they do the best job.  That trip turned into a bit of an adventure - all good but all will be revealed in the book.  I had three nights in Cairns which I did enjoy, have to admit - but was more than ready to head bush again once that time came.  Usually I make the most of these 'town stops' to play catchup - get a blog out if I can, upload and register all photos, make phone calls, whatever.  But none of this happened this time.  The net wasn't working in my room and my mobile decided to go on strike.  Camera wasn't very happy either.

An early start on Friday 20th September saw me heading inland again.  Cairns would be one of the most stunning places to enter and leave, both by air and road.  Winding up to the Atherton Tablelands provides spectacular views back across Cairns, hills and the water - out to the Great Barrier Reef and some of the islands therein.  Can't fault it.  And cannot equal it either.  Arrived in Georgetown a couple of hours later - actually have two stations there - and another one enroute to Georgetown - but for many reasons, two are now possibly being covered by email (they will not be missed out, just have to figure out the best way to bring them in).  Tragically there was a fatal light plane crash which occurred while I was travelling further south - I did at the time, vaguely wonder whether any of 'my stations' would be affected.  But then I figured - this is part of the mighty outback of Australia I am writing about.  So - YES - of COURSE some of 'my stations' were affected - direct for a few - as in the deceased were actually relations or extremely close friends for some.  Remembering that most of these remote areas in our great nation are very close-knit, yes this certainly did affect people, far and wide.

And because of this some of my plans had last minute changes - but this is all part of the learning process and adventure, as far as I am concerned - just a very sad reason.  I finished up spending a couple of nights in a lovely little motel in Georgetown itself but Saturday night was spent on the HUGE Abingdon Downs Station, some hours north of Georgetown. As previously mentioned, it is the 'engine room' of the Keough Cattle Company and as it turned out, I wouldn't have missed Abingdon if I was paid to.  It is 1.1 million acres small - naturally cattle country, even has crocodiles (STILL didn't see one though), cane toads (almost stepped on one) and just so much more.  Absolutely wonderful.  Even a gorgeous little foal was born - just for me! - or so I like to think!!  My hosts, Anita and Campbell had asked all their staff and several other property owners from around the area, to a lovely BBQ in the evening.  While tinged with sadness - overall a good time was had by all - well by me anyway.

Dam - or - Turkey's Nest

But - oh-so-dry.  Travelling west from Cairns, the countryside does vary hugely but the one common fact - it is DRY.  I found it to be absolutely fascinating - AND beautiful.  While many of the city folk that I talked to during this trip said they had also been out to different places in the outback of Qld, they all had the same opinion.  That it's very boring with nothing to offer.  

But what so many do not seem realise, or care about, is that there are people out there - people who literally are struggling to survive.  On chatting with many of the actual station people I found that those who have lived out there for most of their lives - do not see a future.  How incredibly tragic.  And when they explain this feeling - I can understand.  The reasons for this feeling - not going into here - but some do make my blood boil.

There was one more station on this trip that I did visit, briefly.  I did not stay overnight but did visit the house and took many photos (by the way my camera is playing up so while I do have heaps of photos, they are all coming up as pretty flowers - which is lovely, but not what I want - this will be corrected the next posting - I hope).  But again lovely people, another very different homestead and surrounds - they all vary so much, so hugely and this fascinates me in itself.

 
This last property, Old Glenore Station, belongs to Marg and John Beard.  Again a lot of photos were taken, including their lagoon - another which is inhabited by those elusive crocs.  All I wanted was one pic - one pic - and nothing more - but - oooooh no - they stayed well and truly out of sight.  Still, it is their habitat and not mine so I didn't intrude any further - didn't get any pics of any - but I didn't get eaten either and am still alive to tell the tale!!  After asking John a few questions Marg took me back to my motel.  Next day I headed further west out to Karumba.

Karumba was my last outback stay for this trip.  Karumba Point to be exact - and what a finale.  What a gem of a place.  It truly is where the outback meets the sea - right on the Gulf of Carpentaria.  It ranks at the top of my list of favourite places in Australia now.  But it was also my last hope at seeing a croc in the wild - and that vanished at dawn on my third morning there, when I left and returned to Cairns.  Ah well.  

There were a few aspects about Qld particularly that left me rather stunned - in the best way.  Or maybe I just hadn't noticed this previously - but as I travelled deeper into the outback, I noticed that every station, irrespective of how remote it was/is, was well signposted on the main roads.  I would have said that meant it's not easy to become lost - but I know that it is.  All these signposts are very neat and tidy - or those that I saw were.  Very easy to read.  Once you leave the main road and head off into the blue horizon might have been a different matter - but certainly those signposts told their own stories.  

And there was/is one other thing that 'hit' from the very first station in Qld.  Not going to tell you about it now - but it is/was something that I found that many of 'my' stations appeared to have in common.  Apart from the continual struggle to survive and all associated therein, that is.  Not sure that I actually liked the idea or not.  This aspect actually scared me - terrified me in fact - but also caused the deepest fascination and desire to know more.  And no, it is not spiders. 

All will be revealed in our book.

The further west and away from civilisation that I headed the more the terrain amazed me.  I do love water, I do love lush green grass and general growth, hills and mountains - but the further I ventured into our mighty outback - the more I know that this is the land I love.  They desperately need water, yes - but it is and always will be the most magnificent place on earth to me.