Alstonville grandparents Gwen and Ron Hellyar travelled more than 1500km to help out a family in Outback Queensland. They travelled to a sheep and cattle station, northwest of Longreach, to provide an extra set of hands for a remote family. It was their second experience as Outback Links volunteers. “We look on it as going on an adventure rather than going to do work,” Mrs Hellyar said. “You give a helping hand when they need…

The retired teacher from Bellevue Heights in Adelaide travelled six hours to lend a hand to a family on a sheep and cattle station in the Flinders Rangers. “I had a wow of a time,” said Mrs Simpson. The 65-year-old was there to provide an extra pair of hands at a station north of Wilpena Pound.  After years of drought, the station was opened to visitors as a tourism venture. Meanwhile, good rainfall has meant…

Three Devonport retirees have travelled across Australia to lend a hand. In a three-berth caravan, Paul and Robyn Carey and Mrs Carey’s sister Desley Blanch ventured across the mainland and north to Outback Queensland to offer their help to families in the bush. “A lot of people cannot get their head around why we do it for nothing,” said Mr Carey. “The warm welcome and the friendship formed from each visit is enough to make…

Joan Allen is a grandmother with a kind heart and a keen sense of adventure. The 64-year-old drove 1600km to Outback Queensland to lend a hand on an isolated cattle station this month. “A lot of people do not understand why I do it…I just say I’m a free spirit,” said Mrs Allen, who lives in Boronia. She spent one week at “Rollo” station, more than 600km inland from Brisbane to provide an extra set…

Central Queensland physiotherapist Isabelle Wilson knows what it means to be a long way from everywhere. The 24-year-old spent more than a month in Outback Queensland lending a hand to three remote families. She spent 10 days on one cattle station where the nearest shop was 150km down a dusty road. “I loved the whole lot of it. Everything,” said Ms Wilson. “I got to see a lot of the country. I love the people…

Californian speech pathologist Stephanie Perrett discovered the raw charm of the Outback, including a hungry pack of kite hawks, while lending a hand as a volunteer with Frontier Services program Outback Links. It was a lifelong dream to take our kids to another country to experience life somewhere else, and we had always loved Australia. With my husband Tom, son Eli, 15, and daughter Melissa, 13, we packed up our Californian life and moved to…

It was a family holiday that Matt and Sarah Smith will not forget. The couple and their four children drove 1000km to an isolated cattle station to lend a hand to a stranger in flood-affected Queensland over their summer break. The Quakers Hill Uniting Church family are volunteers with the Frontier Services program Outback Links that supports families living in remote Australia. “Some people thought we were mad. Why would anyone think that taking their…