Central Station - True Stories from Outback Australia

1) We've started publishing new stories for 2020. Find them at www.centralstation.net.au/blog   Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to our website to get an email every time we post a new article! 2) Do you have a story to tell? Or, do you know someone else who does? Slide into our DM's or email us at  admin@centralstation.net.au  to find out more about featuring on our website and/or podcast!...

After a number of years working on stations, Mariah Maughan knew that she wanted to be involved with the northern beef industry, in particular the Kimberley, but it was time to leave behind her days of being a Jillaroo and find a new role. In this episode we chat to Mariah about her journey into the industry, and how she persevered to find her place. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Right now, almost everything in our lives revolves around the idea of flattening the COVID-19 curve. But, there is a second curve we need to work towards flattening, one that no one is talking about; the impacts of the pandemic on our emotional and mental wellbeing. In this episode we speak to Angela Wall, a Clinical Nurse Consultant of Mental Health, who has over 11 years’ experience as a nurse i...

I’m sure by now that you are well and truly sick of hearing about the coronavirus… or COVID-19. Whether or not the virus itself is as deadly and threatening as it is reported to be, we cannot deny the impact it is having on our economy and community. First of all, it feels like a pretty dang good time to be living in some of the most remote parts of the world. I think we can appreciate t...

This episode is based on one of the most popular stories on the Central Station website, called “ Tips for station newbies ”. From advice when applying for a job, to what to pack and how to behave once you’ve got the job – we cover a lot in this episode! We even cover … sex! So, if you have little ones around, it might be best to plug in some headphones. Whether you’re heading out to a statio...

Have you always wanted to experience the North Australian beef cattle industry but you’re not sure where to start? Well... there's a course for that!  Training through the Katherine Rural Campus will allow you to develop the basic skills that you need to seek employment on a cattle station and allow you to experience the northern beef cattle industry in a safe and supported environment. ...

We’re really excited to bring you something a bit different today – it’s not a story directly related to cattle stations, but there are some connections and we felt it was a story worth telling. In September 2019, 3-time Professional Bull Riding (PBR) world champion Adriano Moraes travelled from his home country of Brazil, all the way to Broome in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. He...

As the daughter of a Coastal Sciences Professor who grew up on the northern beaches of Sydney, working with cattle producers in outback Western Australia is the last place anyone expected Pip Grossmith to end up – including herself. With a “have a go” attitude and unparalleled authenticity in everything she does, it hasn’t taken long for Pip to become a well-known character in the Pilbara. In this...

What happens when a city girl meets a bloke from the Northern Territory and follows him out to one of the most isolated areas in Australia with their newborn child? The past decade has been nothing short of adventure, fun and a whole lot of learning for Dusty and Jodie Grant and their family. In this episode we chat about their experiences working on remote cattle station, some of the characters t...

[This episode was released before the launch of our second podcast series "Cattle Station Classroom"] Many breeder paddocks in northern Australia are too big and under-watered to achieve optimum productivity. In the Barkly Tableland region, for example, average paddock area is 218 km² (21,800 hectares) and some are more than 1000 km². These large, poorly watered paddocks impact on reproductio...

The Everett family are like many others in the Northern Territory - they live and breathe horses, cattle, and station life. However, their lives changed irrevocably in January 2018 when Dolly Everett took her own life after being the target of relentless bullying at boarding school. She was just 14. In this episode we sit down with Kate Everett to talk about life before losing Dolly, and the...

You may remember Tom and Annabel Curtain from Episode ... Tom is a long-time horse trainer, Golden Guitar winning musician, and founder of Katherine Outback Experience. Annabel's dad picked Tom up while he was hitchhiking one day, and these days she calls the Northern Territory home, where she runs Katherine Outback Experience alongside her now-husband Tom. In this episode we catch up with Tom and...

Dr Jillian Kelly is the District Vet in Coonamble, New South Wales. You know the show CSI - Crime Scene Investigation? Well, Jill is basically a detective for diseases in farm animals. She discovered the first case of  Ichthyosis fetails,  or "Fish Scale Disease", in Australia! Jill is also the founder of the "Drought Smoko", and has hosted over 70 "smokos" to bring together farmers stru...

In the poem "My Country", Dorothy McKellar wrote "I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of drought and flooding rains". Those words came to life for Mark Bettini in 2019 when his family's cattle stations, spanning 1 million acres in the Pilbara, went from extreme drought to deadly floods in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Veronica. In this episode Mark share...

In this episode, we sit down to discuss Hayley's former life as one of the only female livestock agents in WA, and how she came to make a 1700km move from the south west up to the Pilbara. Hayley shares some invaluable advice about overcoming discrimination and set backs, and what she's learnt along her journey so far.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In July 2019 we released a parody video on our Facebook page of the Ariana Grande song "Breathin'" called "Breedin'". The song features pastoralists from cattle stations in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia dancing in their paddocks, cattle yards, and on trucks, while singing about "early weaning", "segregation", "pregnancy testing" and "supplementation". So, what does this al...

Jane Sale is a station manager, business owner, wife, mother, and the brains behind the original concept for the Central Station website. From starting off with an undeveloped 850,000 acre block of land on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert with just 800 head of cattle, today Jane and her husband Haydn manage over 60,000 head of cattle on 8 cattle stations in the East Kimberley region.  In th...

Boyd Holden teaches people around the world how to understand and work with livestock. He's work has taken him to South East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Russia and even the open seas. In this episode Boyd shares stories from his adventures abroad and teaches us a thing or two about how to get on the good side of a cow!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing Market Updates brought to you by the team at Landmark Broome.  In this short episode, Livestock Agent Todd Walsh gives a run down on what's been happening in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia given the current dry conditions. To find the "Is the animal fit to load?" guide online, visit  https://www.mla.com.au/  and search "Fit to load 2019".   S...

Connie Wood, Assistant Manager of Blina Station in the West Kimberley, recalls the stories of how her husband Matt proposed, and what it was like planning a wedding with a station-manager-come-groomzilla. Connie also shares an insight into the highs and lows of being a first time mum on a remote cattle station.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Felicity "Flic" Brown decided to go traveling around Australia, she told her everyone she'd be back in two years. 25 years later she's become one of the most recognizable faces of the Kimberley community and not yet made it back home. Flic's journey has taken her across a number of cattle stations in northern Australia and all the way to New York Fashion Week. In this episode, she shares how...

Tom Curtain was living his dream training horses for outback cattle stations, until the suspension of the livestock export trade in 2011 saw his work literally dry up overnight. With bills to pay and the local cattle industry facing financial ruin, Tom knew going back out bush wasn't an option. So, to make ends meet he dusted off his guitar and started singing at a local caravan park. In this epis...