Celebrating Rural Women

G’Day Mob,

Last month I was honoured to speak to a group of ladies in Injune on International Women’s Day. They wanted to know a little of how I came to be in front of them so they heard stories from the deserts of Western Australia to the Tasman Sea off Eden in southern New South Wales.; and heard of our gypsy lifestyle that has seen me work as a geologist, a deckhand, a bookkeeper, a grazier, an opal miner and a writer/photographer. It’s been a  bit of a ride.

But I want to talk about the women who inspire me. I culled a long list down to six, which was no easy task, and all of these women are from the bush. Let’s meet them:

Two female geologists (Steph and Mandy) living the dream in the Western Australian deserts in the mid 1990s

Playing with (Painted) Cows

G’Day Mob,

Every now and again it’s good to step outside your comfort zone and see how the other half live; so recently I headed to the bright city lights of Sydney. There are lots of people there. And noise. And the dam is a bit bigger than ours …

But some things don’t change. I still got to play with cows.

Rain and Other Gifts

G’Day Mob,

There’s nothing quite like the prediction of rain after an extended dry spell to get farmers hopping. Fencing, put off for weeks, is hurriedly done – because it’s going to rain. Firewood boxes are topped up and washing done – because it’s going to rain. Water tanks are emptied and cleaned and the residents are relocated -

because it’s going to rain. And then, when the jobs are done and the skies are still blue, a restless anticipation sets in.

My Life as a Pit Pony

G’Day Mob,

One of the things I love about this writing caper is the interesting people you meet and places you find, which in turn tends to shunt your life in the most amazing directions.

Three years ago I was asked to write a story on the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge for R.M Williams Outback. Last month I found myself 18m underground shovelling dirt into a wheel barrow. Seems B and I have become opal miners and I have the role of pit pony.

How the hell did that happen?

The Coming of the Camels

G’Day Mob,

Nigel, Sheeba, Frank, Ralph and Bubba arrived on our cattle property this year. Only they are not cows. They are camels.

It was Friday the 13^th, it was a full moon and, to prove we’re not always certifiably sane, my better half decided it was a smart idea to add camels to the farm stock.

Why, you ask? 

On Location with Mandy

G’Day Mob,

Over here on the blog I’ll be posting (hopefully) regular rambles based on where I am and what I am writing about.

Which means you could get anything.

For example: In the last couple of months I have tracked dinosaurs at Winton, flown drones at Barcaldine, talked with camels here on the farm, profiled some amazing young agricultural women and been a pit pony at Lightning Ridge.

See what I mean? You really could get anything.

To kick things off why don’t you