Tag Archives: outback

I make no apology for the fact that both past and present tense are used in this piece; nor for the fact that both the imperial and metric measurement systems are used. I was raised on the imperial and it is these measurements which I continue to use in this piece.

Mention the Australian outback to most people, be they from other nations or Australia and often visions of vast, barren deserts, miles upon miles of virtually nothing except a bush here and maybe a tree there and plenty of red bulldust, are conjured up. 

Overall not an attractive picture, so most would think.

Old petrol bowser and pump on a station in Qld.

How wrong can some people be.

I was born in Adelaide, capital of South Australia and raised on a sheep station in the north eastern pastoral district of that state. The station is 115,000 acres, which is small compared with other stations further up and out. Our livelihood depended on Merino sheep for their wool and a few head of cattle. The land, which is very barren, is comprised of such vegetation as salt and blue bush, mulga and gum trees, among others. We average less than seven inches of rain per annum so cannot rely on cropping. Ours is amongst the first of the ‘big’ sheep stations heading north east of Adelaide.

Peterborough is the nearest town, being 32 miles away. Along with my three older brothers and our cousins, I was educated, until the ripe old age of 11, by School of the Air and correspondence school.

There were times when we actually did have enough rain to isolate us completely but with today’s technology this no longer happens. In those days (and I am only going back 30 or so years), we had our own generator providing us with 32 volt power, a telephone connected to a ‘party line’, mail once a week and groceries monthly. The wonderful Royal Flying Doctor Service provided our medical services in emergencies.

My brother and his family are living on and managing the station now. With improved roads, transport and technology my niece and nephew were able to attend the local primary school in Peterborough, rather than relying on the School of the Air. Both then followed the lead of the generations before them and attended boarding school in Adelaide.

As can be gathered from the information above, rain water is very scarce. While all (or most) stations have several large concrete tanks, dam water is used for personal bathing, washing and dish washing. The water looks dreadful, like wishy washy mud, but to many, it is a real novelty to wash and swim in. We also used to swim in the dams when they were full enough; usually they did not have enough water in them in which to swim. But there were the very rare occasions when water was plentiful, thereby allowing us to swim in the dams and even in the creek, both of which were a lot of fun. When swimming in the dams you just had to be careful not to be nipped by a yabby (similar to a crayfish or lobster and just as tasty). The other positives about swimming out there – no chlorination, no salt usually and no pullution. Just good pure water. A good deal of Australia’s outback water is supplied by huge artesian basins.

While kangaroos are a dearly loved part of the Australian fauna, they, along with rabbits and foxes, are also a terrible menace in the outback. Our station is surrounded by a supposedly dingo-proof fence. However, it seems no-one told the kangaroos about this as they cause more damage to the fence than anything else does. In fact, dingoes and wild dogs are plentiful further up north and rarely venture as far south as our station. They rip the stock to pieces – not to eat – just for the fun or it. Rabbits, kangaroos and other pests eat the spear grass and general vegetation, what there is of it, which is food for our stock.

Despite the above, as children we often rescued orphaned animals, including ‘joeys’ (baby kangaroos), emus, the odd kids (baby goats as some would know) lambs and calves. We also kept a carpet python as a ‘pet’ at one stage. All were released into the wild once old and strong enough.

Entertainment was a little different out there. Travelling over one hundred miles for any kind of social occasion was and still is very much the norm. If you were not prepared to travel – take a ‘road trip’ you didn’t really have a social life. I now live in the city and dislike driving in the suburbs intensely – too much traffic, too many pedestrians, traffic lights, freeways – no thanks. And I won’t go near the CBD. But put me on a country road and I can drive forever and love it. ‘Local’ towns held annual horse racing carnivals where the emphasis seemed more on local gossip, ‘high’ fashion and of course, drinking, than on the races themselves. Races? What races? We actually had race horses at one stage, but that was well before my time.

Up to the age of 11 my only real play-mate was my youngest brother, until we were sent away to different boarding schools. I also had a cousin – her father and my father were brothers and co-managed the stations for many years.

We all learned to ride horses and motor bikes and to drive cars (on the station only – NEVER outside the boundary) almost before we could crawl. That just seemed to be a part of life out there and I presume it still is on many remote properties.

Old chimney stack. Rest of the building long gone. These are found throughout the rural and remote areas of the nation. What a story they could probably tell…

At times we were almost completely self-sufficient; raising our own chickens; milking our own cows and also making cheese and we had our own sources of lamb and mutton. Also vegetables and fruit when we had sufficient rains for them to grow. In the very early days we also produced bread from our own ovens. In those days, we were fortunate enough to have an excellent cook, along with governesses and a ‘cow-boy’. Those days are long gone now and we no longer produce any of the above apart from the meat and fruit and veges on occasion. While parts of the sprawling homestead have been modernised for practicality, the bread ovens have been preserved, along with our old milk-separating cellar, although neither is used.

Like most stations, we have a couple of ‘outstations’. In better years one of these held a family of about fifteen children; the other has been empty as long as I can remember. Now both stand empty.

The homestead itself is typical of many country homesteads, with huge rooms, very thick stone walls, completely surrounded by wide verandahs, huge open fireplaces and very high ceilings. This building, the engine room, slaughter house, shearers’ quarters, shearing shed, stables (no longer in existence) and assorted other buildings, resemble a small village.

And then there are the snakes and other reptiles and ‘creepy-crawlies’. The worst and most venomous snake is the Common Brown but we also have had the occasional visit from the King Brown, which lives further north. Another common species is the afore-mentioned Carpet Python, which is harmless. As for spiders, the harmless Huntsman is easily the most common and they can grow to be enormous. I am afraid that I am very much an arachnophobic and have suffered from this fear since childhood. I used to try to overcome this for the sakes of my daughters – but that didn’t work – they are both worse than I am. We also have the Redback spider, which is a cousin to the Funnelweb (which we do not have) but not as venomous. But you don’t want to be bitten by the Redback either.

Budgerigars (budgies) poking their heads out of their front door to say hello – or maybe to tell us to go away.

Among my childhood and teen memories on the station is one relating to a certain uncle (not blood relative) who lives on a nearby station and who owned and flew a Tiger Moth aeroplane. This uncle used to make a habit of flying low over our station and dropping bags of sweets attached to tiny parachutes, for us children. This occurred annually, after he had visited the Royal Adelaide Show. We used to love racing each other into the huge creek bed at the front of the homestead searching for those little parcels; a bit like an Easter egg hunt. We also had an airstrip, as did and do most stations, only ours has been overgrown by salt and blue bush and I think would cause an emergency if someone tried to land a plane on it. If I remember correctly, these airstrips were mainly for the use of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) as well as the odd other plane – like our uncle’s.

Sign for outback race club meeting. Western Australia.

The afore-mentioned creek could be quite dangerous, but very exciting, in heavy rains. It didn’t even have to be raining on the station; as long as there were heavy enough rains ‘upstream’, the chances were very hight of our creek coming down a ‘banker’ (meaning a usually bone dry creek suddenly filled to over-flowing with rushing water). I have only witnessed it once but would not have missed that. Imagine standing in a completely dry creek bed and suddenly hear an almighty roar – looking in that direction and seeing a huge bank of water, sometimes many feet deep, coming straight for you, taking all in its path. These ‘bankers’ have been known to drag fences, trees, windmills, junk, animals and anything else that gets in the way, as far as the creek travels. We have found items on stations over 200 miles away – and other items have disappeared forever.

Very dry lake bed…middle of Qld.

There really is just so much more to the magnificent Australian outback than has been mentioned here. To the eye of the uninitiated, it probably still is and always will be a vast, barren, boring, unending desert with very little, if anything, to offer – especially compared with mountains (we have those in the outback too), lush green pastures, rivers and waterfalls, flowers and other flora and fauna…yes, I concede that the outback could well be considered ‘ugly’.

Just an idea of what the distances in our outback are like.

But it is not. To me, the outback is absolutely spectacular.

It really is beautiful if one bothers to take the time to really look and appreciate the beauty. You do not need a vivid imagination to really see the beauty out there. The colours of the hills and valleys at dawn and sunset and after a rain – even before a rain – are spectacular in themselves. I have seen many paintings of different settings in the outback – they cannot be imagined, they are real, just as are those of snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, rivers and forests.

Outback worms….hmmm….

The fauna of the outback is as impressive as that of the lusher areas, too. As previously mentioned kangaroos abound out there – but not koalas. These gorgeous creatures are fussy eaters in that, while Australia has numerous types of eucalyptus trees, the koala will only eat the leaf of one species and this is found in certain areas of the nation, not all over. Other fauna includes hundreds of different sorts of reptiles, along with many other creatures, some harmful, others not. Emus, eagles, eaglehawks, galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos, rosellas, cockatiels, wild canaries, budgerigars to name just a few. There are also hundreds of species of small ground-living birdlife.

The spectacular Wreath Flower – one of our beautiful wildflowers.

Like every nation Australia has a huge amount of features of interest for the tourist and locals alike, but I just feel that the outback, which really does have just so much to offer, is so often overlooked. It is not even acknowledged by many city folk – or if it is, from what I have heard, it is very negative, in our own nation which I think is so very sad.

So this is my little effort to help acknowledge and salute it, as truly deserved.

Dawson’s Burrowing Bees. These little fellows were found in the middle of an outback road in Western Australia.

Well, here we are over half way through 2021 and still no film. We are getting nearer though and the funding is starting to improve, but nothing is going to happen until next year. And having said that in the heading – telling COVID to go away – sadly, I think it is here to stay and as much as I hate to admit it, we might/do have to learn to live with it.

A few weeks ago, I met with the two (so far) production companies involved and have been told that this is going to be a big-budget film with all stages (pre-production, actual filming, post-production and distribution) expected to take months/years. I will admit that this certainly sounded more possible than the original timeframe that was described to me – just a couple of weeks for the actual filming and not a lot more for the other stages. The funding has never been in question – although the way we were going to try to raise it has been but I made an ‘executive decision’ about that some weeks ago and think the new approach will help to move everything forward. Even if it does not happen until next year but I am constantly working on it. 

‘Big Bell’. One of many ghost towns in the mining areas of Western Australia and scattered across the nation.

Some info about the ghost town of Big Bell. Might be too small to read though. If you are interested, you can google it.

Two of the parts have been cast which, to me, is a huge step forward to start with. If you are receiving this blog it does mean that you are still on our list to be considered for a part in the film (although there are a number of people whom have subscribed to this blog and are not involved in the film itself at all – thank you for subscribing), so please don’t worry that we have already cast these parts and that you weren’t contacted about them. Both these people are playing me, at different ages and while we are actually introducing a new talent, this person has some experience and does her own filming as well as having won awards for her acting. But NLB will be her first feature film. The second person is an actress who was very well known on Australian TV in the 60s and 70s and has appeared on and in different things through the years since.  This latter lady is one of Australia’s big names. We are working on several others as well. And if you are on our list, you should eventually be called for an audition.

And a couple of our famous native budgies, peeking out of their doorway to say hello…

As most know, given that our international borders are still firmly closed and that the internal borders can be snapped close almost without warning, while I come from South Australia, we realised that the only way we could make this film was/is to shoot 99.999999% here in Western Australia. Both the opening and closing scenes have to be shot in SA.

Ancient Indigenous carvings cover this rock, although not easily seen and there are spectacular wildflowers surrounding it.

Some caterpillars – not sure what this is all about, but they are on a tree in outback Western Australia.

I will admit none of this has been easy – there have been some amazing challenges, including of course, COVID itself – but I have really never given up. Not really. I have been VERY close to it but I have always had the wonderful support of both production companies as well as a few others whom will be involved in the film – you all know who you are – thank you so much. The ‘thing’ is – I am really passionate about this film and I think all the above-mentioned people are too. I am told the idea is ‘different’ and ‘unique’ and really, now and in the coming couple of years, is the perfect time to get such a film made. Completely and absolutely Australian. 

Site of the outback annual Landor Races. A similar race event will be covered in the film.

We are slowly but surely putting locations into place. The three stations that are involved are being kept up to date on progress as well as other places that will be in lieu of the places that featured so much at various times throughout my life, to date.

We still plan to have some Indigenous actors involved as well as an actual Indigenous community if we can. And the good old local races which were held in three of the ‘nearby’ (the nearest one being 22 ks away, the furthest being half way up to Broken Hill) towns, annually – one of these needs to be included as they have always formed such a big part of the social life of those in remote Australia, particularly, as well as rural Australia.

So much to do and all still so good. I just refuse to give up. I won’t give up – not bad for a 65 year young granny!

The spectacular ‘Wreath Flower’ – one of our many beautiful wildflowers.

I don’t know why, but for some strange reason, I thought 2021 would be a heck of a lot better than 2020. I thought COVID would magically vanish on New Year’s Eve and everything would be honky dory for the new year. Not so. I do think it is better but this disease has really kicked the world right out of balance and it’s going to take a L O N G  time to recover – if ever. 

As with most industries, entertainment has taken a beating. Lockdowns, closing of borders, both state and international (which I am completely in favour of actually – and NOT inviting debate on this) have all hit hard. I know a lot of production companies which were shooting films when lockdown started last year – and then just had to stop. Full stop. And only now they are gradually trying to get moving again but it is taking a long time. 

And we haven’t given up – we are still fighting through COVID like everyone else in the world is. There have been a couple of times when I have been very close to giving up. I have to thank those extras with whom I have had regular contact – some of them have repeatedly contacted me to see how things are going and I THINK I have always been positive with them. Thank you to the above people and others for this. 

Also a huge thanks to the two production companies which are collaborating with me on NLB. While I think both were wondering when and how NLB would ever be made (but, no, they were not giving up – they have NEVER given up) I felt that was more because we were trying to raise the funds and had some very good ideas about how to do this – but the timing was completely wrong. And again, I think COVID can be blamed fairly and squarely for this. I made a couple of executive decisions earlier this year and when I tabled them at my last meeting with the two production companies, the latter seemed a lot more positive about NLB than they have recently. They have just finished shooting another film, mainly in outback WA I think and are in the editing and post-production stages for that. After that, I believe they will be turning to NLB. Meanwhile, I am working on a list of potential sponsors and it is growing quickly. All of which is very positive. 

As always, I am including some photos with this post – but something different this time as they are not of the outback. They were taken on a very cold, overcast and eerie Thursday morning a few weeks ago, when my friend and I tried to have our usual paddling outing. Overcast conditions and rain, sometimes heavy, were forecast and that’s exactly what happened. And it seemed that the river had flooded in places. On the whole, the water was like glass – superb to paddle on. And usually I would have, but I did not feel like being out in the middle of the river when the heavens opened up and down came the rain – and that’s exactly what happened to my friend. So I didn’t go out – I wanted to take photos of these unusual/eerie conditions and try to capture the feeling of that morning, but my friend did go out – but luckily for her, when the heavens did open up, she found a small cave in the river bank and sheltered in there. There are now two platforms for paddlers to launch on and off but the main one of these had been raised to try to keep it out of the water and the second one was partly submerged and the water was gradually getting higher and higher. The picture to the right is of a paddler launching himself from the larger platform with his kayak sitting on the smaller platform, which was becoming submerged. 

Anyway, back to NLB. Things are starting to move a bit more positively now and at this stage, it looks like it will be made in mid-2022. It will still all be shot in WA, much of it in the outback. And we are still hoping to employ rising Caucasian and Indigenous actors from WA, as well as some bigger names from the east for the main roles. We have got some pretty ‘unique’ scenes planned too. Hopefully, a lot of fun and laughter as well as some major drama.

Typical main street in a town in outback Western Australia. Very peaceful and quiet.

Here we are in February, 2021, already. And here in Western Australia – Perth, we have recently finished a very sudden and hard five-day lockdown. It took everyone by surprise but we got through. We were plunged into the lockdown on a Sunday evening about three weeks ago, at 6 pm (we were told about it just before lunch that same day) and the next day, a massive bushfire started up in the hills north east of Perth. A lot of animals and properties were destroyed but, luckily, no humans. Very sad though. There were a couple of other bushfires in other rural areas around the state. And then we had a cyclone up north, which caused massive floods and a lot of destruction. The tail end did come as far south as Perth but it pretty well fizzled out by then and we just got a lot of very welcome drizzle.

And again, as with lockdowns the world over, everything just stopped. No gym, no tennis, no paddling. No going out at all, except for essentials and the usual things. Oh and one hour of exercise. But after five consecutive days of no new cases, the main lockdown was lifted on the following Friday night, with some restrictions remaining for a further week. For that week we had to wear a mask at all times and for anything – except swimming and showering and eating and drinking. My little mask has a funny little plastic thingy built into it which I am thinking has something to do with letting air through, so I won’t suffocate. I haven’t seen that on anyone else’s yet but I guess similar masks are out there. And we have our new app – SafeWA. We have to either use that to scan the code thingies at the entrances to all businesses – and if that doesn’t work (mine seems to go on strike occasionally) there is a sheet you have to sign instead. Either way, you have to register for contact tracing. Just in case.

Dawson’s Burrowing Bees. Found near Mt Augustus in outback Western Australia.

Sooooo – having all this happen recently did give me a chance to get a few things done for our film, ‘No Looking Back’. And I think things are gradually starting to move. It is very exciting and all going well, 2021 has the potential to be a really good year. 

Logo for ‘Media Productions – AUSTRALIA’. Owner: Steve Fitzgibbon

We had our first ‘groundwork’ meeting last month. These meetings will be monthly and the other two attendees are and will be Rod Manikam (of ‘Rodman Pictures’) and Steve Fitzgibbon (of ‘Media Productions – Australia’) – we get along very well, have lots of laughs (and snorts – ooooooh yes, they are both learning to snort – it’s just part of this film – nothing like finishing a good laugh with a snort) but are completely professional and serious when the need arises.

We are in the process of organising the second and final audition for the girl who will be playing me in my teens and perhaps early 20s. She’s doing a terrific job so far – she does need to learn to snort too. We have approached an actress from Qld who was a leading actor in the 1970s and has appeared in various things since, to play me as I am now and she will take the film out. I am working my way through the cast list at the moment, trying to find bigger names to play me and a few other more major parts as well as smaller parts. 

Logo for ‘Rodman Pictures’. Owner and Producer: Rod Manikam.

We are determined to try to give rising WA actors, many of whom are pretty well still unknown, a chance with this film. As well as our Indigenous people. We have chosen a few bigger Indigenous names too – these will be looked at further as we progress. And other Indigenous people to act as extras – and children, for School of the Air and secondary school extras and others, scattered through the film. And crew of course. The list is quite extensive.

We do have a few ‘aims’ with this film. Given the current COVID situation the world over and the fact that so many nationalities cannot fly out of their own countries at the moment, including us in Australia – well, this leaves one area for any holidays, any travel at all, for the foreseeable future. Australia! While the domestic borders are open, at the moment anywhere in Australia is reachable, as far as I know. But we really have just so much to see in our own back yard. I am not referring to the well known tourist spots around the nation. I am referring to our amazing outback and all that it has to offer. However, as we have already experienced, the borders can be slammed shut at any time, without notice – so going interstate is probably not the best idea at the moment.

Giving an idea of how big distances are in the outback of Australia. How far people travel to do anything…

So, as has been mentioned in previous blogs, ‘No Looking Back’ is planned to be filmed almost completely in outback WA. The opening and closing scenes will be shot in SA but the rest of it, including one special scene, will be in WA. We have tentatively chosen three stations to use in the film here and I am in discussions with these three at the moment. I wanted to use working stations that have also become stations stays, giving people a chance to see how pastoral stations and the people on them, work and survive. There are some that are well known in WA, have quite high profiles – we did not really want to use them. Instead we want to use some that are not so well known, but should be. 

We really want to showcase our magnificent and spectacular outback. Again, not just the known and popular tourist spots, but so many other areas and places that are not so well known. Another area we feel very strongly about and are giving a lot of consideration to is for music – our soundtrack. We plan to work with either the WA Symphony Orchestra or the Perth Symphony Orchestra (which has already shown interest and – yes – they are two completely separate entities). There is also a third contender for this. We also plan to have one very special scene in which we hope to bring in a Canadian actor with whom I am in discussions about both writing and singing a special song for this scene. 

There really is so much involved and planned for this film, so I am hoping that everything will go reasonably smoothly as we progress. It continues to be a massive learning curve, with many challenges and I continue to thrive on it.

And a fun notice to finish off with.

JIMMY JONES – WHO WAS HE?

Glad you asked. 

And I wish I could answer.

But I’ll have a go anyway.

While Jimmy (James Henry Jones) was part of my life throughout my childhood, teens and early 20s I never really knew him. I don’t think anyone did – including Jimmy himself most of the time.

But he would have been one of the biggest and most mysterious characters of all time to me. When I was younger I always just took him for granted – but now that I am older and have had a chance to reflect and reminisce on my younger life – there he is, not exactly standing proud and tall – but there, VERY much a presence.

So who was he? There are a few facts which we do know about him. He was born in New Zealand (in 1885, apparently and I do recall him proudly describing the day of his birth as being the same day that they hung Ned Kelly – but I wouldn’t swear to that) but no-one knows anything about any family or much about his early life. My late father recalled that Jimmy came to us as a ‘cowboy’ in January 1945. Apparently he was drafted into the New Zealand Expeditionary Force when the Great War broke out, but then deserted, throwing away everything but the boots which he wore for life. And I mean for life – they were the only shoes of any sort I ever saw Jim wearing.

According to my father, Jimmy moved through various employment in different states, through which he accumulated a wealth of knowledge. He was a Seventh Day Adventist or Christadelphian and claimed to be a Russian Communist – apparently, shortly after he arrived at our station, my grandmother asked if he would like anything to read. His response? ‘Do you have any Judge Rutherford tracts?’ 

I do recall clearly that Jimmy was not a talker – at all. And when he did talk, the topic could be months or years after the event had taken place. An example of this was when he was being driven home from the local town (60 k) after his annual holiday. I believe he had been enjoying a drink or two – or three – or…  The journey was the usual completely quiet event but for Jimmy suddenly announcing his opinion about a friend who had died years before. ‘Clarrie dead hey! Best place for him, the sod – no hereafter for him!’ Guess they were not best friends. On the whole, Jimmy’s entire vocabulary could be counted on one hand – two at a stretch. His main words were: ‘Woosh. Woosh’ – to this day, no-one knows what it meant but it was Jimmy’s favourite line. He did also mention the weather on the odd occasion: ‘Hot, eh?’, ‘Cold, eh?’ or whatever was relevant.

His hygiene was not the best and we always knew when he had showered or bathed, or whatever he did – about once a year. He’d come to his meal (in the main station kitchen) and simply say: ‘Water hot’. That’s all it needed. We knew. Mentioned above are his boots – I was trying to remember his general wardrobe – or lack therein. All I can remember is a very old cloth cap (similar to those that I have seen coalminers in the UK wearing in the past, in films), a deep blue or brown denim jacket and long cloth pants, kept up with a string tied around his waist. As can be imagined from this – the poor old bloke did smell – badly.

His duties on the station did diminish over the years. Milking our cows was one of them – and it was quite the vision watching him after a day in the afore-mentioned local town – particularly when he tried to walk up a rise into a westerly wind. Something like this – not quite in a straight line and often backwards – for three steps forward, he would take one back. And the cows must  have enjoyed those particular milking efforts – very light on if at all!

My father recalled one particular evening when Jimmy asked one of the other employees what time the sun went down. Upon being answered, he’d tell them there would be a corroboree about an hour later. And sure enough – around the mentioned time, spurred on by a good few alcoholic drinks, Jimmy came out of his room, dancing and singing. Quite a sight, so I have been told.

Jimmy was also an excellent writer – beautiful hand writing and excellent command of language. I believe several books were discovered under his bed after his death and these remain in safe-keeping on the station for any of his relations to claim – if they do. One of his other hobbies was absolutely unique – he made models of lyre birds and bunches of flowers and worked on perpetual motion. His tool kit consisted of pliers, tin snips and soldering iron (solder he obtained by melting it out of tins) and his material: wire and thin pieces of tin. His lyre birds and flowers were cut from tin and fashioned into the most beautiful, colourful and incredible works of art. His ‘perpetual motion’ was not so successful but did display an amazing sense of creativity and imagination – his efforts were complicated machines of arms, levers and all sorts of things – but sadly, none worked. Further evidence of his imagination was in his dart for shooting rabbits. It consisted of a short piece of number eight fencing wire, sharpened at one end and let into a tube of rolled tin. The other end of this tube had a short strand of rope inserted in it and towards the front, a form of fin. The thrower, along the lines of a ‘shanghai’ was a piece of wood held in the hand. On the top was fastened 15 cm strip of rubber (old motor tube) with a slotted piece of leather fastened to it. The fin on the dart was fitted into the slot on the leather, then drawn back as far as possible – and released. The dart would have been lethal for a long distance as the pointed wire, which such force, had good penetrating power.

Jimmy Jones (or James Henry Jones – that part we do know definitely) passed away in the mid 1970s. An amazing and unique character.

TO ANYONE WHOM MIGHT WISH TO CRITIQUE THE ABOVE FOR ANY ‘MODERN’ REASON WHATSOEVER, PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS DID ALL OCCUR IN THE 1970s AND EARLIER.

DISCLAIMER

The book that this biopic is planned to be based on is my autobiography: ‘No Looking Back’ and has been written as anonymously as possible. Some cities, states and institutions have been mentioned but on the whole, no human names have been mentioned. The school where the bullying occurred is in NO WAY AT FAULT NOR IN THE LEAST BIT RESPONSIBLE FOR MY EXPERIENCES.

Talking to other past students both at my old school and other schools, it does seem that most of them look back over their school years with tenderness and happiness and warmth. 90% have told me that they loved those days. And I now know why I was picked on and realise that if I had my time again, there is absolutely nothing I could do about it. The ‘problems’ lay with me, absolutely but they were enough to cause the bullying. And I would have been and still would be powerless to change anything.

The amazing RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) has to be able to land anywhere in emergencies…

‘No Looking Back’ does contain detail about my bullying nightmare which occurred over six years. However, it must be remembered that this happened back in the 1960s and 1970s when such acts as bullying and the like were not recognised nor acknowledged and very little, if anything, was done – and that was only when and if victims spoke up. How were and are the staff supposed to know that someone is being bullied unless they either witness something themselves – or the victim or someone else speaks up for them. I think it was accepted as just being part of life, part of growing up. These days, that has completely changed in many instances and many schools have now got their own anti-bullying programmes in place. Many also have counselors. But again, victims do need to ‘speak up’ and many still won’t, for fear of repercussions and similar. Sadly there are an increasing number of suicides occurring among victims of bullying. Most of these people, so I believe, have not spoken up.

Outside loo. Long since unused but a redback’s paradise. And possibly the odd snake.

There is actually a very fine line between teasing and bullying, although being pushed down stairs, locked in a cupboard and finding a huge spider on my bed (and I am very much arachnophobic) would be hard to be classed as teasing – I reckon they all fall into bullying. Full stop. 

So what is this film about? Me. Yes me. It is a visual autobiography – a biopic. And it is something that I never thought I would do, write an autobiography, let alone make a biopic based on it. At least not until I was in my late 70s or 80s and then probably get someone else to tape, then type it all. 

Shearing shed – or woolshed – most sheep properties have/had them.

But no … or yes, here I am, doing the lot at the moment and loving it. But before I really started writing it, I honestly did not think I had and am still living such an exciting and different and, perhaps, inspirational life that anyone else would be interested in. And that hasn’t – or hadn’t – really changed – I’ve now written and published my book – and life continues. And becoming deeply involved in pre-production for the biopic.

There is a reason I changed my mind and felt that maybe – just maybe – some of what I have done in my life could be interesting – to someone, somewhere – or even inspirational, perhaps. It was when people started asking me about my bullying nightmare – and then being asked to write about it, that my mind began ticking over and I felt that telling my story might just help someone else. Or not. I didn’t know but as I had never previously really described those six nightmare years to anyone, I also felt that writing it all down might be good therapy, for me. And now that I have done that, I think it has been good therapy – I know it certainly brought the memories rushing back and I even shed a few tears, here and there. After that I was being asked about my own primary education (via School of the Air) and then other aspects of my life also seemed to attract questions, whether I thought they were interesting/inspirational or not.

There is another reason – an extremely important reason, why I am doing this. Why I am persevering – not giving up even when I feel I want to stop the world and step off (thank goodness there are people around me who know me well enough to push me…not to step off the world but to get on with all that I am trying to do) and this reason applies to two of ‘my’ other books as well. My sheer passion for the outback and the life of the stations people and so many others who live out there. I have lived in suburbia for most of my life – but will never love it like I do the outback. And I am not talking about the rural areas so much, the farming areas, but more the really remote and isolated areas. Of Australia. 

One other aspect about this biopic is very important to me. I really wanted to use an all-Australian cast and crew – I initially wanted to use only people from SA and WA but then quite a few others applied – from other states and from overseas. I had also realised that a lot of the station hands and some of the owners as well as some working in businesses in outback towns, are from other nations – many are young backpackers. So I have quite a few of the relevant names on the list but overall I am trying to give local actors a chance. I am still working with that aspect and one further very important group of people are our Indigenous people. This last one is proving to be nearly as much a challenge as the funding, but I don’t give up easily. I am fascinated by the Australian entertainment industry and really want to help ‘add’ to it – do my bit any way I can. And if writing the above books, making a doco and the biopic are the ways that I have at the moment, so be it. And as I say, I don’t give up easily. 

I mentioned two of ‘my’ other books – the very first one, which my late father actually wrote, is about our family and ancestors and early life on our sheep station. My father had been writing this book for the last 30 or so years of his life and had literally just finished when he passed away. So it was not published before he died. Instead the manuscript and piles of documents and photographs that accompanied it, went round and round between my brothers and me for the next 17 or so years, until one day, on a birthday, I woke and realised we needed to get Dad’s book out. Someone had to do it. And that someone was me. So I did. I found a publisher who could offer exactly what I wanted and between the two consultants whom were assigned to me, and me, we worked like beavers (beavers do work, don’t they…) to get that book out – preferably before my late mother passed away. She was in her late 80s at the time and still appeared to be enjoying good health – although she was also wonderful at covering up any health issues. But her age was against her and us – but we did get that book out. It was published and released exactly a week after Mum passed away. Yes, I was devastated – but have been reassured that Mum knew something was about to happen and died a happy woman – or as happy as anyone could be when facing the end of life as we know it.

Yes it has been hellishly dry in most of the outback – however, much of this area has also recently had life-saving rains…

Dad’s book is obviously the reason for my enclosing the word ‘my’ in inverted commas – it was not my writing, therefore not my copyright but Dad’s – I simply had it published and released. Then came my biggest effort (until this biopic) – ‘Red Dust Dreams’ which describes the lives of the people on 20 of our sheep and cattle stations around the nation. To conduct the research, I did something that I have always wanted to do, ever since I was a very young girl. I traveled the outback, by myself. And I thrived on it. I visited 17 of the participating stations (in SA., NSW., Qld., the NT and WA – the ACT., Victoria and Tasmania were not included as most of the regional people in those states and territories do not live on such large landholdings – on the whole and as far as I know they are not isolated or remote enough to suit the requirements for this particular book). That was an amazing experience and so much fun. The book was published in 2012 and did become a finalist in the International Book Awards. 

After ‘Red Dust Dreams’ was published and released, the questions mentioned above began. During the research travels I also had a few people asking whether my travels and experiences were being filmed…as in documented, apart from being in the book. In other words, they were asking if a documentary was also being made. A visual interpretation of the written word, as such. It wasn’t – the thought had not occurred to me. But I did start thinking about it when I finally got home. And we have been trying to make this doco for the last few years – but the usual is blocking it – funding. Why does everything rely on money. During this time I was also being asked about my bullying nightmare and my own outback education as well as a few other aspects in my life. I sat and began writing, finally – and thus ‘No Looking Back’ was borne. Although I still did not feel it was that interesting nor inspirational – but others, it seems, feel differently.

Once the book was published and out and I thought I would be moving on, I had people asking about a visual interpretation of it. Huh? A movie – a bio-pic effectively. Oh. Er…no. That sounded exciting actually but also a heck of a lot of work – so into the ‘too hard basket’ it went – for five minutes. 

A typical outback plane. Privately owned by station people.

So – I got into it. Now, remembering that I am not a film-maker and I am in my 60s – and a female to boot – well it did seem that everything was against me even considering this. The other huge obstacle – which does hit just about everyone in this industry – you guessed it – money. Yes, money. Funding. Literally having never done anything like this before, it really was also a matter of the blind leading – something. I started researching heavily and then decided to post a piece on FB – not actually a casting call but more a call for ‘expressions of interest’ – for potential actors. I put two or three of these on relevant FB pages for WA and then tried a couple in SA. Unfortunately, as I no longer live in SA, this was not permitted but the admins were wonderful and posted the blurb that I sent over anyway. This happened around my birthday last year and I was in no way prepared for the response that I received. Not so much from SA (although I did receive a couple from there and both are now on our ‘shortlist’ which was growing daily but has now slowed down), but WA – wow. And then I posted on StarNow – not sure whether that was the best thing I could have done – or the worst. Probably the former but the timing was awful – right on Christmas at that stage. I was swamped. And I have tried to respond to each and every applicant individually – very time consuming but soooo interesting and I am learning just so much. Again all part of my mammoth learning curve. 

Distance signpost giving an idea of how vast Australia is.

I have also been able to find a couple of bigger names to be considered for the major roles as well as finalising locations (three stations are involved at the moment), which I am still doing. Next on the list is to print out all the profiles of those on the shortlist. And the script. At the moment, I think we have a director from South Australia, an assistant director from WA., two executive producers – both from WA, one cameraman who will also be making a ‘behind the scenes’ film as well as bloopers and a few other things. We are also gradually getting the music in place. And of course, the rest of the crew and cast. None of these is in concrete yet but we are getting there. 

So, as you can see, there is a mammoth amount to do but it is very slowly but surely coming together. I also do have several links and ideas for funding, all of which I am looking into and acting on as I can. But any suggestions/ideas for funding from anyone would be very welcome. Even donations are very welcome. 

I plan to keep these blog posts up and out to everyone, but mainly to the people who are shortlisted for consideration for auditioning for the biopic. This is my way of trying to keep everyone updated on our progress. Not sure how often I will publish these but I will do my absolute best to keep everyone updated.

This is my auto-biography, the story of my life and the book on which the planned film will be based. While the book was published before Christmas and is available on Amazon, for various reasons I have also decided to post the book in its entirety here, for everyone to enjoy (if they want to) free of charge.

The blurb on the back cover reads:  ‘Growing up in the outback in Australia was not the easiest life a girl could have but it wasn’t boring either. Lannah faced the challenges and enjoyed the adventures, determined to make the best of it all. Boarding school had its ups and downs with some of the bullying that is forced on many children. Lannah survived it and grew stronger in spite of it.

‘Employment, marriage and children followed.

‘Her story is uplifting, inspiring and very much an Australian look at life, love and adventure and ends with personal satisfaction, professional success and two wonderful daughters, but…then again, maybe this is just the beginning’.

From Lannah:  ‘I don’t really know who to acknowledge, or, indeed, if anyone should be acknowledged. It’s not exactly a pleasant book but I hope readers might realize that if they have been bullied, or still are, or just attended boarding school and have unpleasant memories – they are not alone’.

Lannah also hastens to add that the school in question was in no way at fault nor responsible for any of her experiences.

INTRODUCTION

This is a book which has been a long time coming. I have thought about writing it so often and have tried to start several times, but just could not get into it. However, since having ‘Red Dust Dreams – Living in the Outback’ published and released – and then having a lot of people asking me about my own education, I decided, finally, that the time is right.

Basically, ‘No Looking Back’ is about just that but the complete opposite – it is about looking back. Looking back at my secondary school days – all six years of them. And my memories of those years – which are awful. In the years since leaving school in 1972 I have often had nightmares (and, no, I certainly cannot call them dreams – not even bad dreams) about trying to leave the place. Trying to leave that school – for good. Even if, for some reason in the dream, I have only gone back for a very short time – a week, a month, whatever – I still have problems with leaving. I know I do eventually get through that time thinking that it is only temporary and I am about to leave again, this time for good.

Most people that I know have wonderful memories of their school days and are thrilled when a reunion is announced. Not me. I have attended one reunion in that city – about 20 years ago and decided – never ever again. Not saying I didn’t enjoy it – I did, to a limit. I didn’t really want to accept and attend – but did, out of curiosity. Most of the girls that I saw at the reunion were pleasant enough – all except a few were day girls (or day bugs as we used to call them – I hate to think what they called us) and they did talk to me and were nice. I even talked with a couple of the boarders who were also OK. We weren’t friends at school – but the years have passed and most of us have grown up and matured. But there was one particular boarder with whom I will never be friends – she disliked me from the outset and that has never changed. It’s no loss to me – but I was interested to see how she would react to me at the reunion. I saw her across the room and thinking that the other couple of boarders I had already spoken with were pleasant – I thought I would try to approach her and see what happened. She saw me coming and turned on the spot, even though I smiled at her and it was a real smile – well, let’s just say it’s no loss. We will never be friends.

And yes, I was bullied. Mainly verbally but, believe me, that can hurt too. Sometimes more than physical bullying.’

ABOUT THAT SCHOOL

Yes, I did have an awful time during my six years as a boarder at that school, but I do not blame the school, nor the staff, for a minute. It was a very good school – certainly one of the oldest and best in that city, but then most of the boarding schools there were (and some still are) full of history, including mine. Something of which they should be extremely proud.

Being bullied and disliked as much as I was from go to wo, wasn’t pleasant and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Particularly as a boarder. There is no escape. Most of mine was verbal but there were a couple of physical incidents that have been described a little more in their relevant chapters.

And yes, I did complain. Once. This all occurred back in the 1960s-70s, before bullying and the like were really acknowledged. But I did eventually complain to a couple of the then staff members, both responding with the suggestion that I should try harder to get along with the other girls. Ok. That wasn’t going to work and I knew it, so that didn’t help. I did also try to tell my parents – just once – and was ignored.

These days, bullying is acknowledged and taken very seriously and – usually, but not always – acted upon.

Our meals at school were lovely. We must have had kitchen staff to do the cooking but I also remember being on roster to do the dishes. And I think it was a ‘help-yourself’ at the little servery ledge between the kitchen and dining room. We used to have a good old faithful roast (lamb, pork or chicken) on Friday nights and it was a real treat, even if it happened every week. I would not have missed that for anything – even one particular Friday when my mouth was full of ulcers, I had a sore that, pimples on my tongue and cold sores all over my lips – but there was no way I was not going to eat that roast. So I put up with the pain – and it was agony. I have always liked salt and as far as I was concerned, what’s a roast without salt and gravy – especially home made gravy. Although I think the gravy we had with our roasts at school was from a packet given the number of girls they had to feed. Needless to say, that salt only aggravated the pain – but I still ate. Our sweets (puddings/desserts) were yummy too. Either that or we were all just too plain hungry not to eat. I have no idea whether we had any vegetarians or vegans amongst us, but they were not catered for if there were.

MY CHILDHOOD IN THE OUTBACK

I have very happy memories of my childhood, growing up on our family sheep station. It was different –  not that I realized it then. I think I figured that all children lived in the country and had similar childhoods – didn’t they? No. They didn’t. Even on the occasional trip to the city and seeing other children (mainly one or two cousins), it still never occurred to me that their childhood was different to mine. Or should I say, perhaps mine was the different one. As I found out a few years later when everything started to change – and I was sent down to boarding school.

I have no idea how old a person usually is when their memory starts to kick in, but the earliest of mine is one of staying with some of our neighbours on their station. It was my firth birthday – actually, I am not sure whether that’s true but for some reason every time I have thought about this, the age of five keeps popping up so I am sticking with it. Mum and Dad had gone to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games and my brother (the next one up) and I stayed with our ‘aunt and uncle’ (not blood relations) on their station, as mentioned above. I do have a photo (good old black and white) of my brother and me sitting on the lawn, surrounded by my presents. I was in my ‘mu-mu’ – I think there is a proper name for it but I’ve never known it so I stick to ‘mu-mu’.

Being raised in the outback, we did not necessarily do the same things as city children did. Most of our play time was outside, in the fresh air, running around and getting plenty of exercise which, I think, was probably pretty normal for most children, city and country. But we couldn’t visit our friends to play, unless we planned to stay with them overnight or something. They were too far away. I consider myself very fortunate in that respect as I did have my youngest brother and our cousin. She also had some friends from the city who used to come up and stay sometimes. I really was not a part of that, but when we were by ourselves, we did have some fun times.

Television was introduced in the 1950s-1960s and we had our brand new set in our lounge room. Initially we had the ABC and some years later a local network, Channel 4, began. All black and white. The day’s viewing started with the good old test pattern before going into the scheduled programmes. We got the news of course and the weather and some other programmes in those very early days.

Our telephone was on a party line too. The switchboard was only open at certain hours so you had to make or take any calls in the specified hours and being a party line there was always the chance that everyone connected (ie stations for kilometres around) could and would be listening in. Reckon it was the best grapevine in the world!

The CWA (Country Women’s Association) was very strong in those days – in fact, it has always been a feature for the women in the country, both rural and remote. I understand my paternal grandmother was one of the first presidents of our local branch, followed by Mum. I have learned more recently that the above mentioned cousin’s mother was also involved with the CWA but I think it must have been a different branch. Mum was president for what seemed like forever to me. They even had a special hall built – which remains to this day although now completely unused as far as I know. I even tried to start the CGA (Country Girls’ Association) – one other girl turned up but that was only because she had to come along with her mum to the CWA meeting. My CGA lasted one whole day. I never became friends with any of the other girls of my age in the district.

Education was provided by the School of the Air (SotA) based in Port Augusta. Their end of year get together was a lot of fun and something to really look forward to. It was the time we got to meet, face to face, the other station children connected to the SotA. In those days that was the only time we saw them and had the chance to play with them. These get togethers included a nativity play and I was cast as Mary one year. That was wonderful – my parents were very proud of me, not that I realized it at the time. I was too nervous. I was given the wrong words for the singing so I found myself miming the whole way through. And being heartily congratulated afterwards – maybe I missed my calling in life?

While my memories of SotA are not numerous, there are a couple that spring to mind. The above was one. Another one was one of my birthdays. In this particular year it fell on a weekend. At the end of the daily SotA lesson, students were allowed to share any news that they had and anything they felt was important. Well, my birthday was very important and usually such occasions were mentioned by the teacher. But this did not happen on the Friday, so I figured I needed to do something about it. So I did. The teacher responded that she had planned to mention it on Monday. Ok, I accepted that and thanked her. A few minutes later, however, I heard footsteps, fast approaching down the verandah. They were heavy, fast and were definitely on a mission. Mum! Oops! Mum listened in to the radio lessons through the set in the lounge room and would have heard me. Those footsteps meant I was in trouble. And I was. I cannot recall what exactly happened and I don’t think I want to. All I do know is that it kind of dampened my birthday somewhat and I dreaded the SotA lesson on Monday, as I knew the teacher would mention it.

To Be Continued Next Blog

(First published 30th April 2015)

‘Red Dust Dreams’ is finally looking like heading toward publication. I have slotted that for the end of 2015. All images for the participating stations have been issued, except WA – and some of those have already been edited by those station owners and returned to me. Thank you so much. Also for the suggestions/thoughts/comments which continue to come through – all very welcome. And the texts are gradually being completed and also sent out – still working on those. A couple have already been edited by their respective stations and returned.

Also slowly but surely finishing interviews with the wonderful group of retired pastoralists whom are participating – and a lot of others. The list continues – but my editors are putting the brakes on for me – badly needed. We have our stations people, our retired pastoralists, Indigenous people, backpackers, bikers, some who lives in the cities but regularly work in the outback, shearers and more.

Unfortunately it does seem that the cover design and title for the book will be decided between my family and friends – and not by the families and students of the School of the Air after all. I have tried to issue details of the competition to all bases nationwide, but to date, I have not had a lot of response. I have also now had to issue a deadline. I have not given up but am looking at Plans B and C just in case. I also remain in hope that the ICPA might be able to help with this. If necessary, I will turn to the participating stations themselves for help – and then, in a final fit of hope, turn to family and friends, as mentioned.

But now and at last – it is WA’s turn and the first of four trips here has already been undertaken. My sincere thanks to Kathy and Malcolm Boladeras of Wonganoo Station, some hours north east of Kalgoorlie, for showing me some more of this amazing country hospitality recently. This was the first time I had driven myself (hired my trusty little Hyundai in Kalgoorlie) and loved every bit of it. Saw much of the station, thanks to Kathy’s tour – even three camels in the distance and countless goannas – even a snake put in a special appearance by.slithering across the road in front of us. I see and learn something new with each and every station visit – this time it was the camels and the goannas. The Boladeras’ even have a donga which I have read about in the past, but never seen. And a great undercover outdoor entertainment areas called a Spinifex Shed (or coolhouse) which is based on the Coolgardie Safe concept of water running down over the spinifex.

Dirt road – typical beautiful red dust.

Four more stations in WA to cover and I start these with two which are between Exmouth and Geraldton. Driving myself again, in my own little Yaris. Then I am back in town for a week before catching a coach up to Broome and out to a station stay property in the Kimberley. Very excited as my daughter will be joining me on this one and I will be spending a few days with her in Broome before heading south again. After that, back again for about a month before my very final trip – a coach tour to Mt Augustus. Two new stations coming in my email from WA.

And that’s it. Finished. The research trips are anyway. I do have a mammoth amount of writing to do in between and after all these trips still – and continue to love every bit of it.

Dinosaur footprint. Broome. WA

(First published 31st May 2014)

Hello again. I have just returned from another amazing trip – to Adelaide, up to Broken Hill, back to Adelaide, up to the Alice and then up to Darwin. Still the best way to see the best part of the nation in my opinion – the outback by coach. The wonderful Greyhound drivers again transported me safely up the Stuart Highway, delivering me into the Alice for a day, enroute to Darwin. My thanks to them all – in Qld as well – and to Dee Gurd, the supervisor in Adelaide who bent over backwards to help me.

This trip actually gave me the opportunity to tick off a couple of the items from my bucket list. First, flying in a smallish aircraft – I grabbed this chance from Adelaide to Broken Hill and it didn’t disappointed. Unexpectedly I also found myself with the opportunity to fly in a helicopter – at last! Better than I’d ever imagined and I cannot wait to go again.

Up in Broken Hill, due a misunderstanding at my accommodation, I actually spent the first night with the wonderful Mary and Peter Beven. Not quite sure what I would have done without them, to be honest. The AgFair was on the same weekend and all accommodation had been booked out for a long time in advance. Never mind. It all worked out. I managed to work on the book while there, as well as spending some hours on the Saturday at the AgFair. I also attended the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) ball – what a lovely night. And a look around the historic Silverton, the Hill itself – and I even managed to meet the hugely talented outback artist and one of the Brushmen of the Bush – Jack Absalom – a true gentleman even if I had no idea who he was at first. And finally the Beven family station, Sturt’s Meadows. There were many other highlights too – all will be mentioned and expanded upon in the book.

RFDS Annual Ball at Broken Hill. NSW.

Back down the Barrier highway, through more very familiar countryside as we passed through Mannahill, Yunta and Oodlawirra to my next stop at Terowie, where I was staying with Jacki and Peter Mattey on Franklyn Station, which happens to be one of Pitcairn’s neighbours. A wonderful day on Franklyn included a tour of their numerous properties around Terowie – although I used to live in the area, I had never before seen any of this countryside – another first for me. This tour included something rather – unusual – no other way to explain it. I had never seen anything like it before and am quite sure I’ll not see anything like it again. On Thursday, we drove down to Adelaide, again passing through very familiar countryside. I left the Matteys on the Saturday and spent a further couple of days in Adelaide before heading up north into the NT.

Unusual sight on station out of Broken Hill, NSW.

My fleeting visit to the Alice was terrific and I have two more locals coming onboard from there. On the Friday evening, I caught the next and final coach up to Darwin. This trip passes through many stations which I loved and am trying to find a map to show them all. One of these stations is Erldunda (south of Alice Springs so we visited it on the trip up from Adelaide) which is now a superb roadhouse and tourist centre while all remaining part of the working station that is Erldunda and which used to belong to very good friends of my family.

And onto Darwin. Still my favourite city – so like a big country town. I had a lovely view from my hotel room and again managed to get a lot of ‘work’ done while also having a few lovely walks around the CBD. This is where I was also able to tick a third item off my bucket list. Seeing crocodiles in the wild. And I wouldn’t have missed it.

Time to come home. I flew back to Perth on the Tuesday. Now to continue with the actual writing of the book. And catching up with all the retired pastoralists again – starting to finalize everything.

Crocodile. Common in the northern areas of Australia.

As with each trip, I have had some amazing and many very eye opening experiences, some of which will be mentioned in the book, others will remain silent forevermore.

In August, I hope to cover the WA stations, the final state. Unfortunately, for various reasons, I have not been able to physically visit every participating station, but all will be included, provided they still wish to. 

As for that ‘something different’ and unusual, alluded to on Franklyn Station – well, you’ll just have to wait to read it in the book.

Termite Hill, Exmouth. Common throughout northern Australia.