Motherland Australia

This week, we head to one of the most unique and untouched places on the planet. Meet rural mum of three Jo Youl, who lives on the wild and rugged Flinders Island, located in the Bass Strait, part of Tasmania. Originally from Victoria, Jo spent a lot of her childhood holidays on the island, but she never imagined she'd be raising her own kids there one day. But that's what happens when l...

This week, I catch up with rural mum Liz Mecham from Victoria. Liz has suffered one of the most horrific losses imaginable. Her husband Pete died suddenly last year, leaving her and their four beautiful children behind. Liz is not what I expected... in the most amazing way. She's unashamedly open and raw about her very personal journey with grief. She says she doesn't always meet people&...

This week, I catch up with Olivia Thorn from Western Australia. She's a former city girl who now lives on her husband's family farm... and recently welcomed her third child. Liv's on a break from her career as a rural reporter for the ABC, and we tackle a number of motherhood topics related to her journey including the isolation that can come with raising kids in the country, why it...

This week I catch up with rural mum Amanda Cochran from Victoria. Amanda runs a successful business called the Grampians Goods Co, and is busy raising three kids on the land. But, she's a mum of four. Amanda's beautiful daughter Gemma passed away almost 10 years ago from SIDS at 8 weeks old. It's not something she's shared so openly and publicly before, so I thank her for shari...

This week I catch up with rural mum Krista Watkins from Queensland. Krista is a mum to two gorgeous girls, and is the Managing Director of super-food company Natural Evolution. Krista's journey through motherhood has seen her knock down almost every rural mum stereotype you could think of. She went back to work almost full time when her first daughter was four months old, and since then she&a...

This week I catch up with rural mum Rosie Weatherly from Victoria. Rosie is a busy mum to three, a midwife and a calm birth educator. Her passion to help other rural mums through birth only increased after she suffered incredible heartache with her first pregnancy Everything was going smoothly until her 20 week scan when everything changed. Her pregnancy had to be terminated, and three weeks later...

This week, I chat with Raine Holcombe, a contract musterer from the Northern Territory. I first learned of her incredible journey when she appeared on an episode of Landline exploring infertility in the bush. What she's endured in her quest to become a mum is unbelievable. Almost four heartbreaking years of trying, countless failed embryo transfers and test after test. I've had several m...

This week, I catch up with mum of three, 'Miss Chardy' blogger and podcaster Danielle Doyle! Dan lives on a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory that spans 1.7 million acres, five hours from Mt Isa. With two of her three boys in boarding school, I was really keen to chat with a mum who's 'been there, survived that' with motherhood on the land. She's a breat...

This week, I catch up with Rhiannon Finger from the Central Highlands in Queensland. Her journey into motherhood on the land was nothing short of traumatic. Rhiannon's now 12 year old son Oscar is a medical miracle, born at just 24 weeks, weighing 770 grams. Oscar spent 99 days in hospital, a very long way from the family farm. As a new mum, Rhiannon was only able to be with her baby by watch...

This week is an upbeat Mother's Day episode with the beautiful Monique Currant from Central Queensland. Monique is a mum to three gorgeous girls.... Three babies in 3.5 years! While we spoke about her relatively smooth journey becoming a mum, I was intrigued by her focus and commitment to practising self love and gratitude. It's so easy to lose ourselves amongst the chaos, but Monique ha...

This week I chat with rural mum of three Renee Mulcahy who lives a double life! The family splits their time between Warwick in Queensland and their farm in Urbenville, New South Wales. Renee is also a professional photographer. Her work has been so critical that her income actually saved her and her husband's farm last year when the drought got so bad they would have otherwise been forced to...

This week, I catch up with rural mum Colleen Angus from Queensland. Colleen's journey has been full of love and unimaginable loss. Life on the land began as the perfect love story with her husband Luke, but their world soon crumbled. Luke suffered a seizure on the farm one day, completely out of the blue. It turned out to be a brain tumour which would eventually take his life. Colleen and her...

This week, I catch up with rural mum and children's author, Anna Nunn from South Australia. While Anna has enjoyed her journey through motherhood on the land, she felt something important was missing. She yearned for a project to call her own, something to give her a sense of independence and purpose beyond motherhood and station life. Then along came 'Where is Cowboy Roy's Hat?&apo...

This week, I catch up with rural mum, farmer and former journalist Natasha Lobban from Victoria. Natasha's journey into motherhood was far from what she expected it to be. Her daughter Harriet (now 3) was born with multiple heart defects at 31 weeks. Instead of living a beautifully simple life on the land, the past three years has seen months of torturous hospital visits, surgeries and health...

In this week's bonus episode, I catch up with clinical psychologist, farmer and rural mum Stephanie Schmidt. We are facing unprecedented times at the moment due to the corona virus pandemic. And unfortunately, mental health is already declining for some families across the country. To assist mums that may be struggling, Steph has shared her own journey managing post natal depression, and disc...

This week, I catch up with Hannah McNulty from rural Queensland! The mum of two and her daughter both have genetic hearing loss and require the use of hearing aids. But, as you'll learn, Hannah does not muck around and has not let her disability, nor her daughter's hold them back one bit. She's a fire cracker and I loved our chat. Particularly her honest account of what it's be...

This week, I catch up with cattlewoman and businesswoman Maryellen Boyd-Blackett who lives in rural Queensland. She's certainly got her hands full with three girls under five, all while working and managing her own caravan park in town! Maryellen's husband is an on call chopper pilot, so she's used to flying solo with parenting when she has to. But it's her go get em' atti...

This week I catch up with the incredible woman behind the Buy from the Bush campaign, Grace Brennan. Grace lives in rural New South Wales, she's a mum to three gorgeous kids, with a fourth due very soon! She's a powerful voice for rural Australia, and after watching her present this year's Australia Day address, I desperately wanted the chance to chat with her. For this former Sydne...

This week, cattlewoman and photographer Emma Leonard shares her latest motherhood adventure! Just two months ago, the rural mum packed up her life in Victoria and moved all the way to the Northern Territory with her husband and two young kids to work on a cattle station. It was always on their bucket list and they were sick of just talking about. So when Emma's husband was diagnosed with canc...

This week, I chat with rural mum Lilly Brown from Tasmania. Lilly happens to be one of my neighbours, so this episode was very special as I had the chance to sit down with her in person. Lilly gave birth to her stillborn baby girl Poppy at 17 weeks, and talks openly about that loss and the impact it's had on her journey through motherhood. We talked about so many other things that will inspir...

This week, two time ARIA nominated and two time Golden Guitar winner Fanny Lumsden shares her incredible journey into motherhood. The country singer/songwriter was born and raised on the land, and when life threw her a little surprise, (her beautiful son Walter) she threw herself into motherhood head on. When she's not living on her NSW property, she's touring and performing in towns acr...

This week, I catch up with the beautiful Emma Steendam from Victoria. Emma is a photographer and blogger who is busy raising three little girls on the land. While she's had her fair share of hurdles like any mum, she's actually experienced a rare form of mum-guilt... for finding motherhood EASY the first time around! She's also very passionate thoughts on why stay at home mums shoul...

When Queensland mum Jayne Cuddihy arrived in Kenya, she had a 14 month old toddler in tow, and was just six weeks away from giving birth to her second child. A journalist herself, Jayne swapped it all to hold the parenting fort while her husband worked as an international TV correspondent, based in Nairobi. What they've been through and what Jayne has managed as a mother, is nothing short of...

This week, I chat with rural mum Sarah Harris who lives on a sheep station in outback New South Wales. Sarah is a mum to six beautiful girls, but amongst all the chaos, she has a natural calmness about her. She has the ability to go with the flow, embrace motherhood and seek support when she needs it. This is her story. https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

This week, I catch up with Northern Territory mum and new grandma, Tiani Cook. What's it like raising kids on the land in one of the most remote places in Australia? Well, the mum of four knows all about that after living on Suplejack Downs, an incredibly isolated cattle station, nine hours from the closest town. Her nearest neighbour was 200 kilometres away. Motherhood and mustering was Tian...