Outback MagazineOutback Magazine

OUTBACK PEOPLE


OUTBACK PEOPLE The men and women of the Outback define the very best in the Australian character - resourceful, resilient, colorful and friendly.

R.M. Williams OUTBACK magazine's team of leading writers and photographers captures the essence of the people who make a visit to the Australian outback an unforgettable experience.

Meet them in this selection of articles from back issues of OUTBACK magazine.

 

One that didn’t get away
Issue 37 Oct/Nov 2004
Robert ‘Bluey’ Vaughan created a fisherman’s dream-come-true when he turned his love of angling into a business on the edge of some of the world’s most prolific waters.


Homecoming vet
Issue 36 Aug/Sept 2004
Raised on a Blackwater cattle station, Myffawny Lawrie spent years studying in Brisbane before coming the full circle and returning to central Queensland as a bush vet.


Step into the light
Issue 35 June/July 2004
Ben Dark is a bushy at heart and the Darwin-based Getaway presenter is eternally glad of his origins.


Just being Ernie
Issue 34 April/May 2004
Ernie Dingo is an Aboriginal who has embraced and enjoyed the benefits of the white world, but a deep-seated sense of his indigenous culture and customs continue to figure strongly in his life.


New tracks for the Bush Tucker Man
Issue 33, Feb-Mar 2004
Les Hiddins' latest mission is off-camera and close to his heart - establishing a retreat for veterans in Queensland's Cape York.


Slim Dusty - Voice of Australia
Issue 32, Dec 03/Jan 04
Slim Dusty always knew he'd have to 'walk that country mile'. While we mourn his passing, there is cause to celebrate his life and lasting contribution to Australia.


A passion for farming
Issue 31, Aug - Sep 03
Ask Rod Manning what sort of agricultural business he's involved in and he will reply that he is a 'grower of grass'. It's all part of his passionate commitment to change the way Australian farmers are viewed - and how they see themselves.


A life going bush
Issue 30, Aug - Sep 03
Rex Ellis is ecstatic and it's easy to see why.


When land counts least
Issue 29, Jun - Jul 03
Mountain horseman and stockman Chris Stoney is pushing a mob of cattle across the Howqua River at Sheepyard Flat near Mount Timbertop.


Saint of the streets
Issue 28, Apr - May 03
Through his love of the land, Father Chris Riley is giving city street kids a second chance at life when many people wouldn't give them a second thought


From the Heart
Issue 27, Feb - Mar 03
Working as a jillaroo and rural journalist proved to be great fodder for Rachael Treasure's first novel Jillaroo, which is taking both country and city readers by storm.


White Man's Dreaming
Issue 26, Dec 02 - Jan 03
There's a bit of Harry Butler, Les Hiddins, Steve Irwin, Dick Smith, Mick Dundee and Ernie Dingo in Max Davidson. Naturalist, environmentalist, adventurer, anthropologist, historian, entrepreneur and showman, he is one of those larger-than-life characters who invariably - or inevitably - find their way to remote Australia.


Committed to learning
Issue 25, Oct - Nov 02
Megan McNicholl is relaxing - for her a rare indulgence. She is lunching with friends in the garden of Arklow, the 7400-acre family cattle property 20 kilometres south of Dulacca in south-west Queensland which runs, with another 8800-acre holding, about 1800 Shorthorn-Brahman cattle.


All his own work
Issue 24, Aug - Sep 02
Forty-five years after he set out from school in Brisbane for a life in the bush, Ken Warriner has accomplished more than most in the cattle industry. From packhorse droving and mustering camps in the late 1950s to the chief executive of Kerry Packer's agribusiness empire today, it's been a monumental journey.


The master of bronze
Issue 23, Jun - Jul 02
To those who know his work, Eddie Hackman is a genius - a sculptor who creates life-like images of outback symbols. But the man who has the bush ingrained in his soul remains relatively unknown in his adopted land. Not that he really cares.


The quintessential bushman
Issue 22, Apr - May 02
When Melbourne dentist, Richard Bassed, booked on a gulf country safari tour he never imagined it would result in fulfillment of a childhood dream - and meeting a man who would change his life.


The water method man
Issue 21, Feb - Mar 02
"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink... "Although he lives a long way from the sea, John Seccombe understands that sentiment well, for he is the driving force behind a program to preserve Australia's underground water supply.


Tunnel vision
Issue 20, Dec 01 - Jan 02
When North Queensland cattleman Gerry Collins looked for ways to make his property more viable, he found the answer right below his feet - and in doing so he created one of Australia's most unique tourism ventures.


Queen of the road
Issue 19, Oct - Nov 01
Edna Jessop has been a legend in Australia's north for half a century. Now in her seventies, her striking features may have felt the bite of age, but her spirit remains tough and unremitting.


The Canyon Kings
Issue 18, Aug - Sep 01
Northern Territory tourism operators have much to thank the Cotterills, an English family largely responsible for making the Red Centre the tourist mecca it is today. One remains, keeping his father's dream alive.


Music to her ears
Issue 17, Jun - Jul 01
Helen Dickie's place in politics and as manager of the Bushdrovers is far from what some expected of the farmer's wife from Berrigan, southern NSW. It's all about supporting communities in the bush, a job she's passionate about.


Running with the bulls
Issue 16, Apr - May 01
The story of John Quintana, 52, is something of a frontier story for the 21st century, as romantic as it is remarkable.


Fred's fighting for Cracow
Issue 15, Feb - Mar 01
In countless outback towns, Fred Brophy is a hero. Now he's bought the type of town in which he's idolised.


Crazy about crocs
Issue 14, Dec 00 - Jan 01
It's a long haul from Beechworth to Broome, but for outback aeventurer, film-maker, crocodile farmer and conservationist, Malcolm Douglas, it has been the greatest trip of all.


Destined for gold
Issue 13, Oct - Nov 00
An injury to her horse cost Natalie Blundell an equestrian place in Australia's Olympic Games team, but she'll be back.


The guru of rock art
Issue 12, Aug - Seo 00
An overfull roll-your-own dangles precariously from his ever-present cigarette holder. He stretches back in his chair and expounds. Percy Trezise, acclaimed painter and rock art historian, is discussing his second favourite subject


The making of a legend
Issue 11, Jun - Jul 00
He's only 22 but Ben Hall is already a legend in the making, a horseman of rare ability who is Australia's undisputed campdrafting king.


God's boundary rider
Issue 10, Apr - May 00
Fred McKay was a legend of the outback. A man who devoted his life to others, who was admired by people of all ages, races and creeds. The Reverend Fred McKay died recently but he has left a remarkable and enduring outback legacy of service.


Hats off for towns that hurt
Issue 9, Feb - Mar 00
Meet Lee Kernaghan - a bushie through and through who passionately taking up the fight for the people, towns and communities he sings about, and who is determined that rural Australia has access to services and facilities that citysiders take for granted.


The Cunnamulla storyteller
Issue 8, Dec 99 - Jan 00
Herb Wharton went back to Cunnamulla to write his novel Yumba Days. He didn't have a typewriter and hadn't had one writing lesson in his life.


The Bard of Bowthorn
Issue 7, Oct - Nov 99
Sydney and Melbourne book reviewers are raving about Kerry McGinnis' recently released first book Pieces of Blue.


Hawkes : the legend begins
Issue 3, Feb - Mar 99
The art of spinning a yarn has been part of Australian outback culture since the first Irishman strode into the desert and lived to tell about it.


In the middle of nowhere
Issue 2, Dec 98 - Jan 99
When John and Terry Underwood began shaping more than 2000 square kilometres of Northern Territory Outback wilderness into a cattle station, little did they realise just how much they, too, would be shaped by this harsh, isolated, yet beautiful country.


The real Troy Dann
Issue 3, Feb - Mar 99
He's developed a strong following in the cities but the people in the bush aren't so sure. Love him or hate him, one thing is certain - what you see is what you get with Troy Dann.


Back to the bush
Issue 3, Feb - Mar 99
Former Great Outdoors reporter, Bridget Adams, and her partner Damien Curr, are hotting up the Outback Queensland town of Ilfracombe with a unique bush show and historic hotel experience.


Bullo open for business
Issue 2, Dec 98 - Jan 99
Sara Henderson's next bestseller may not be a book but a farm stay venture on her remote Northern territory cattle station.


Return of the Ringer
Issue 2, Dec 98 - Jan 99
Stockmen and stock horses make their comeback against the helicopter in northern Australia.

 

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