Central Station - True Stories from Outback Australia

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/lessons-from-a-little-cat/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helen Kempe was born on Macumba Station in 1950, as the fourth generation of her family to be involved in the S Kidman and Co Pastoral empire. At the age of 16 Helen moved to the Northern Territory and to this day she has never left.  Everyone knows Miss Helen, and Miss Helen knows everyone. She is a true treasure of the Territory, and in this episode she shares yarns from the early days when...

What would you do if you knew your life was going to change irrevocably, and there was nothing you could do to stop it? That’s the predicament Mitch Scott found himself in when he was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome –a rare genetic disorder primarily characterized by deafness and a progressive loss of vision. In this episode, Mitch speaks about his diagnosis, and the decision to leave the life he ha...

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/cowboys-bulls-broncs-and-a-diamond-ring/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After high school, Frances Cooper ticked all the boxes society told her to: go to university, get a great job, land a promotion, and keep climbing the career ladder. On paper, Fran’s life looked like hard work and success. But… something was missing. So, in her late 20’s she took off to Africa – a decision that would lead to a series of experiences and choices in her life that would see her s...

Conversations in the agricultural and rural community pertaining to mental health generally don’t go beyond raising awareness of mental health itself and what it is. We think it’s time for the conversation to move forward from simplying saying “It’s ok not to be ok”, and to discuss what we can do to look after ourselves when we aren’t ok. We also think that it’s time to acknowledge the spectrum 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/it-takes-a-community/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know that when you work on a cattle station, you’re bound to come across creatures other than cattle. If you’re in the desert country, it might be camels and donkeys – and if you’re way up high in the top end, you’ll probably see water buffalo, and if you’re lucky… or … well… unlucky… a crocodile. Norman Fisher was born and bred in the Top End of the Northern Territory, and his family...

Living so far from town is often one of the perks that draws people to work on a cattle station. When you live out bush you can enjoy wide open spaces and often your neighbours are tens of kilometres away, if not hundreds. But what happens when you need services which are only provided in town – like, access to a hospital? In this episode Steph Coombes sat down with Jodie Grant to discuss her...

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/180km-just-to-check-the-mail/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, Tylah Bonisch knew she wanted to work with cattle and horses. She didn’t travel to the north for a gap year, but to start her career in the pastoral industry. In this episode Tylah and I speak about her time in the industry so far, and how she moved into role of Headstockwoman at Victoria River Downs Station in the northern territory. In particular, w...

Jess Di Pasquale is a born and bred Territory girl. Even though her childhood was colored with living on and visiting cattle stations, she went on the excel in the English equine discipline of Mounted Games, competing overseas 3 times while Representing Australia. In this episode, Jess shares her latests plans to compete in the 2021 Mongol Derby – a 1000km horse race, and we chat about her hi...

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/its-on/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s be honest, we love to judge. It’s second nature to take someone at face value and make assumptions about them. In  social science , this phenomenon is called schema are mental structures that an individual uses to organize knowledge and guide  cognitive  processes and behaviour. So what that means, is that we use Schema to categorize objects and events based on common elements...

Luke Hayes was born a 6th generation pastoralist on Deep Well Station in Central Australia. You’d be forgiven if you assumed that Luke was planning to continue in the same line of work as the previous 5 generations of his family – it just makes sense, right? However, that is not Luke’s story. As a consequence of drought, death and the human agency that comes with living in 21st century, Luke has v...

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/dating-in-the-bush-a-tinderella-story/     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tanya was raised on a cattle station north of Alice Springs during the 1960s and 1970s. The stories from her childhood sound like something out of book – too wild and wonderful to be true. As it turns out – they are so extraordinary Tanya has published them into a memoir called An Alice Girl . In this episode, we chat about what Tanyas childhood on a remote cattle station was like back in those da...

Today’s episode has been inspired by Lucy Daley, who featured on Episode 52. When asked what message would she put on a billboard, she answered “No matter how far you’ve come in life, someone has helped you get there.” And aint that the truth. I know that my own initiative and drive has played a huge part in getting me to where I am today, and what experiences I’ve had – but I also regularly refle...

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/the-kimberley-chicken-muster-er/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode I’m chatting with Lucy Daley, who lives on a property called Katherine Downs in the Northern Territory. Lucy has managed to fit an awful lot into her life so far, including going droving, living overseas, running a cattle station with her husband, obtaining a fixed wing licence and having 4 kids! She is incredibly humble and didn’t think her story was worth being told, but I thi...

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/lessons-learned-in-the-kimberley/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government says public education will be free... but then why are so many families paying $50,000 per year on average to put their kids through primary school? In todays episode, I’m chatting with Sarah Cook, who manages a cattle station in the Northern Territory and is the President of the NT Isolated Children's Parents' Association . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/when-a-pregnancy-is-followed-by-a-cancer-diagnosis/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode I’m sitting down with Mel Bethel. Chances are, you’ve seen Mel’s photography on Facebook and Instagram – she’s the woman you want at your campdrafts because she’s pretty handy with a camera. But what we see of Mel online is her work, photos of animals and other people – so I wanted to know who this person behind the camera actually was. So, while I was in the town where Mel...

Today’s episode was hands down one of my all-time favourites to record. In this episode, we’re going to hear from Jaimie Jenkins, who had some unbelievable experiences before she headed up north. I had absolutely no idea what direction this episode was going to go in, as you’l l hear from my genuine reactions throughout the episode, but I think you’ll agree that it’s an absolute cracker, and reall...