Cattle stations?

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Maybe Bobj can answer this but if you are on a cattle station, say 8 hours away from a shop, how do you go on, obviously you can't live of beef or lamb. Do they grow their own or do they go off once a month and come back with a truck load of food, cleaning equipment etc

[Mongrel]

Go to the shops in the chopper lol

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Go to the shops in the chopper lol

Actually I suppose they could.

[calNgary]

Ive read a few books on the outback and life on a station, as in all honesty thats were id love to be living if i didnt have kids. From whats written in those, they do a massive shop every month or so and store the food at home. This coupled with any home grown produce seems adequate to them.

 

Cal x

[Petals]

A lot of Americans live in the Kimberly and farm up there or muster cattle. They have large bags of beans they are very into dried beans. Chili and beans etc.

 

Its sort of like when we were at sea for three weeks or so at a time, we had stores delivered and big freezers etc.

 

I am with Cal outback stations magic.

[newjez]

I had a friend who lived in Lancelin, (which isn't exactly the outback) and they had a mobile shop every morning that brought papers and milk etc. It wasn't cheap, but it was a longish drive to the proper shop. I imagine they do similar in the outback - but you would pay through the nose.

[wakeboard1980]

My cousin had been the cook on many stations they have been on over the years. You are right, they would go to town every few weeks for the main 'supplies'. We have been there when she has done this. Buying 20-30 bottles of milk, same in bread and then about 10-15 of everything else. She would have a massive purpose built pantry, cool room and quite a few chest freezers.

 

If they had anything they really needed or forgot then occasionally they would ask the postman to bring it out. Also if any of the guys or girls had to go to town for day a doctors appointment, or the like, they would be sent with a list of things to get. The times I have visited I've always taken them things that I've picked up in town on my way.

 

one of the stations they were on previously had a plane permanently stationed there. The piolot had to take on of the lads for a doctors appointment one Friday so they got him to bring pizzas back when they returned.

[wakeboard1980]

My cousins have also had a couple of milkers before that got milked after breakfast each day and that would keep the milk up.

[Bobj]

Been on a few million acre properties in the Kimberlies and they usually have a stores office/room where the ringers, jackaroos etc can purchase the necessary items, tobacco, toiletry etc. Once stayed on Tom Quilty's property, Springvale, out from Hall's Creek and the station truck would go into Kununurra once a fortnight and Hall's Creek alternate fortnights.

 

Thomas John Quilty (1 April 1887 - 1979) was an Australian station owner, pastoralist, philanthropist, and bush poet. ^[1][2] To this day he still holds the record for the largest freehold land acreage in Australia's history; over 3 million acres (12,000 km²) for a single property. In total, he controlled over 4.5 million acres (18,211 km²) of land.^[3]

 

We (Main Roads Dept) were sealing a 60 km section of the Great Northern Hwy and used his homestead as our base.

 

That was in the 1960s. Nowadays, I would venture to say the stations fly in the stores.

 

Also stayed on Wallal Downs property, possibly the most isolated station in the 1960s; roughly half way between Port Hedland and Broome, WA. They used MMA (MacRobertson, Miller Airlines) or, as we called it, Mickey Mouse Airlines. The 'daily milk-run' would see stores brought in on the scheduled flights on DC 3 'planes. They also had a stores truck that would go to Broome for the big items...150kg flour etc.

Wrote about it in Reminiscing...#40

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/out-about-oz/60134-bobj-reminiscing-4.html

 

Cheers, Bobj.