OUTBACK PEOPLE
Bullo open for business
Sara Henderson's next bestseller may not be a book, but a farm stay venture on her remote NT Cattle station
Story: Kandy Curran
When
Sara Henderson was named Businesswoman of the Year in 1990 and two years
later published her best selling book, from Strength to Strength, about family life on Bullo River Station in the Northern Territory, little
did she imagine how much she and her family would enter the hearts and minds
of the nation.
People from all walks of life - whether struggling financially or in other ways, on the land or within relationships - found points of identification and inspiration from Sara's own struggles, heartaches and triumphs.
The fascination with Sara and her family life on her remote outback cattle station continues. In Sara's office the phone rings regularly. At any time a call could be from a fan, her book publisher, about the newly published The Strength of our Dreams, a talk-back radio host, or television scriptwriter wanting to know how to word a scene for the mini series about her first book, The Strength in Us All. And there is a mountain of mail from people wishing to congratulate her on her books, and wanting to visit Bullo - one of the most frequent requests.
In
response Sara and daughter, Marlee, and son-in-law Franz, have decided to
share the real life experience of Bullo River Station, by offering homestead
stays and tours. "We have always enjoyed having people to visit," says Sara. "There is very little money in cattle at present. To survive we have to diversify
to supplement our income, like a lot of people on the land."
The most visually exciting and dramatic arrival at Bullo is by air,
which captures the scale and beauty of the station. The Victoria River -
with the widest river mouth in the world - and surrounding flood plains,
which are a rich source of grasses for the boutique Brahmans bred on Bullo,
are enough to arouse the spirits of anyone with a drop of pioneering blood.
And the Pinkerton and Spencer Ranges that make the road into the station
so rough and hilly look like red sandstone totems guarding Sara's family
from the outside world. 
Full story: Issue 2, December 1998 - January 1999
