Central Station - True Stories from Outback Australia

Dating a co-worker can be tough. But, what about when you’re dating the boss? And the boss is a station manager, and you’re a jillaroo in the stock camp. Ok, before your imagination starts running wild – this is not a tale of some forbidden love affair! When Connie Wood started dating her future husband Matt, he was managing Blina Station and she was graduating university before going to work on a...

It's that time of year again - to catch up on what our podcast host, Steph Coombes, has been up to since leaving her job and hitting the road full-time, visiting cattle stations for the last 18 months! Unlike her last episode (#54) which she recorded solo, in this episode Steph is joined by Pip Bain from Episode 35, as Pip "attempts" to interview Steph. Turns out that Steph belongs on one side of...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/my-poddy-calf-is-an-asshole/   This episode is brought to you by GME. Since 1959 GME has been an Australian owned family company and remains the only Australian manufacturer of UHF CB radios, with their products...

When I lived in the United States, I learnt the saying 'ride for the brand'.  It means to be loyal to the ranch and rancher that you work for. It means taking great deal of pride, and giving your all for the brand. Cowboys would ride the extra mile and fight, if necessary, for the brand. I suppose you could say that the ranch hands on the tv series Yellowstone are a prime example of riding for the...

Lamboo Station is unlike any of the other cattle station’s we’ve spoken about on this podcast. Located just south of Halls Creek in the Kimberley region, Lamboo is owned by the Ngunjiwirri Aboriginal Corporation (NAC) on behalf of the Jaru people. The property was purchased in 1994 by the (then) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) through the WA Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT) an...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/lost/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave Morrell is a Kimberley icon. Now, he won’t like me saying that, but it’s true.  Dave grew up on cattle stations between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek in the 1960’s, and returned to the Kimberley to set up the first vet practice in Broome. From operating on animals on his kitchen table under the light of a torch, to treating exotic animals from across the globe - there there isn’t much...

A young man heads north straight out of school and works in the stockcamp. Over the years he progresses to head stockman, and then manager. This story is fairly common and the norm in the cattle industry.  However, that is not the story of Haydn Sale. In this episode Haydn shares his journey from growing up in Melbourne to running one of the largest aggregates of cattle stations in Western Au...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/rain-man/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John & Annette Henwood owned the iconic Kimberley cattle station Fossil Downs for over 50 years. In this episode, John shares some family history, memories of his childhood growing up on Noonkanbah Station and meeting his wife. John also speaks about how an experience in the early 1980’s led him to change his management style, and become the first pastoralist to develop a rotational grazing sy...

Ben Smith and Archie Pollard work on Murray Downs Station, just south of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. I recently took the 120km detour off the main highway to pop in for a cup of tea, and within minutes of my arrival Ben made a massive faux pas. So, of course I used it to guilt him into recording a podcast episode because there isn’t much I wont do to bring you a new episode each week....

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/commuting/     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Kirby started catching wild bulls in the East Kimberley in 1969 and by the time he stopped in 1983 he had caught approximately 10,000. However, when he caught his first bull, John had never worked with cattle before. As in, ever. This is the story of a young lad from the city who headed north seeking opportunity and adventure, and boy, did he find it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Jessie Evans grew up on a cattle station on the Gibb River Road – infamous for being the most rough and rugged stretch of country in the Kimberley region. The days were long, hot, and gruelling at times – but like many bush kids, Jessie loved the adventure and challenges that station life offered. Little did she know, the fortitude and resilience she developed during her younger years would be tes...

Danyelle Haigh spends 10 months of the year living out of sea container on the back of a roadtrain with her husband and children. Together they travel to remote parts of the Northern Territory to drill water bores. In addition to administering the business, and assisiting with drilling, Danyelle also became qualified to drive the company’s road trains.   While Danyelle is the first to sa...

If you travel a couple of hours north-east of Alice Springs, along the Plenty Highway, you’ll pass one of the most spectacular parcels of land – Mt Riddock Station. With high quality Hereford cattle and an abundance of pasture, you would never think that when the Cadzow family purchased it over 30 years ago, the land was in poor condition, and home to a motley crew of cattle and feral animals. In...

When faced with the choice of pursuing a career in Professional Women’s Cricket or teaching, Kylie Jones’ passion for education won. Not one to do things in the traditional order, Kylie waited until after university and the start of her teaching career to take a gap year, taking on the role of a Governess on Helens Springs Station in the Northern Territory. Little did she know, that as it does for...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/baby-can-you-handle-the-heat/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Christian’s childhood couldn’t have been further from that of his cousin, Sams. While Sam was growing up on a cattle station in Central Australia, mustering cattle, James lived 2000km away on the beaches of Sydney, preparing to compete in the Sydney to Hobart sailing race. However, as fate would have it, a spur of the moment trip to visit the rellies in the bush would seal James’s fate and h...

In the far north of South Australia you’ll find a number of cattle stations belonging to the William’s family, where the second, third and fourth generation work side-by-side. Cam Williams is a 3rd generation pastoralist and manager of Peake Station. With his wife Kirsty, who featured on our podcast back in Episode 87, and their four kids – Cam is living his dream and there isn’t anywhere else he...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  This episode features an excerpt from the book Beyond Alice, read by the author Tanya Heaslip. Tanya has published  Alice to Prague   (2019),  An Alice Girl   (2020), and  Beyond Alice  (2021) is her third memoir.  Tanya's memoir is a humor...

The cycle of life and death amongst flora and fauna is par for the course for life in the outback. But what happens when we are faced with our own mortality, and that of the ones we love? Today’s story is just that, and so much more. It’s a story of trauma, courage, resilience, and vulnerability. It’s the story of Jane and Haydn Sale, who’s lives were changed irrevocably one July morning in 2010,...

The Fitzroy Crossing Bull Sale is truly a one-of-a-kind event. While Bulls Sales are a dime a dozen in the Eastern States, the Fitzroy Crossing Sale is the only bull sale in Northern Western Australia. This is because the majority of cattle in the pastoral regions of Western Australia are commercial cattle, bred to go direct to market. There are very few cattle studs in the pastoral region, so whe...

Central Station [SHORT STORY] episodes bring the stories from our website to life through the authors themselves.  Find the story from this episode here: https://www.centralstation.net.au/new-tricks/   Central Station is supported by  ThinkWater Broome , your local water experts for irrigation projects big and small. Their fully stocked retail store sells the latest irrigation products, including...

Raised on an isolated cattle station north of Alice Springs during the 1960s and 70s, Tanya learnt about the outside world through the Correspondence School and School of the Air. Tanya has published  Alice to Prague   (2019),  An Alice Girl   (2020), and  Beyond Alice  (2021) is her third memoir.  In this episode, we discuss the Book Beyond Alice, which takes pl...