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Bob & Betty Anne Jeffery Story

Halfway through our twelve months around Australia trip with our caravan, we responded to a request from Outback Links to help on a sheep station south of Tambo. Jenny (who is one half of the workforce on the Tambo property) had fallen from a ladder injuring her shoulder, making it difficult for her to carry out her daily tasks of checking water holes, cleaning troughs, mustering, feeding orphaned lambs and her domestic chores.

While our background is farming for the past thirty years, ours was based on dairy and beef cattle and agricultural contracting and it was with some trepidation that we approached the sin saying Stirling Downs on the property boundary.

We have experienced dry years on our property BUT NEVER DROUGHT so the huge dust cloud following us and the absolute starkness of the landscape with a few gum trees along the creek line hanging listlessly in the heat and the areas of bare dry cracked earth was what greeted us.

When we met Jim and Jenny they were both like the countryside – tired and run down. We were welcomed with typical country hospitality and “let’s have a cuppa” over which we discussed their needs and our capabilities. We soon realised that we could offer more than they were asking as their initial request was for help for Jenny.
A few days after our arrival, shearing of 5000 sheep was to commence. Bob, being a bit of a motorbike enthusiast welcomed the opportunity to help Jim with mustering most of the 20,000 acres. Mustering started at 5.30am each morning, followed by drafting of the sheep in the yards and returning the shorn sheep to their paddocks late in the afternoon.

A daily task was to check the water troughs for algae (and clean, if necessary) and water holes which were nearly dry, for bogged sheep. Also, while travelling around the property we were looking for signs of feral cats, pigs and dingoes, which cause considerable damage during lambing season, which was in progress.

At the end of each day, we enjoyed a shared evening meal – usually a barbeque out in the garden. During the heat of the day (12.00 – 15.00 hours) we all retreated to our air conditioned “caves” for respite. We were very lucky to be given the use of a fully equipped ringer’s cottage some 200 metres from the homestead. In the cool of the afternoon Jim and Bob accomplished a myriad of smaller maintenance jobs, including repairs to the sheep yards, replacing tap washers, welding repairs to equipment – all jobs that needed doing but are put off because they are not essential for the running of the property.

One vital job was the laying of one kilometre of poly pipe to bring water to a trough beside a dry dam site. (This property was well serviced by pipelines and troughs to diminish the need for dams and waterholes, thus saving the sheep and cattle many hours of walking to water supplies.)

The property also ran a number of cattle (including cows that were calving) and horses (including one foal that was born during our time at Stirling Downs).
After shearing was completed (in about ten days), we were able to convince Jim and Jenny to take some time off, so that Jenny could seek professional help for her shoulder. While Jim and Jenny were away, we had some minor dramas with the water pump, resulting in there being no water at the homestead for the gardens. This required us to carry out some much needed maintenance on the water system. Luckily the system was set up so that the house water ran out before the stock water. While we were in charge at Stirling Downs, our routine involved watering the lawns, feeding the lambs, doing a trough and dam run, putting out feed supplement blocks for the sheep and cattle and carrying out non-essential, but frustrating and time consuming jobs.

On Jim and Jenny’s return it was great to see them looking refreshed and rejuvenated and we were glad to hand back the reins.
Ironically, the night before we were due to leave, 32 millimetres of rain fell, which stopped us in our tracks. The black soil plains had turned into a glutinous, impassable mass. It also filled the main station water supply, thus ensuring 18 months – 2 years of water.

Three days later the roads had dried enough for us to leave and the once barren, dusty landscape had a thin green tinge, signifying new life. However, the drought is far from over as follow up rains are sorely needed in the coming weeks.

This was an experience that left us drained but happy we had been there. Our hats off to the men and women of the station country, who persevere through the extremes of the Australian climate.

Thanks to Outback Links for hooking us up with Jim and Jenny – we thoroughly enjoyed our experience and will meet again.

(Bob and Betty Anne followed this experience about a month later by lending a huge helping hand on a small crop farm. The husband on the farm was unable to work after a major emergency operation.)

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