Jenny (in black-and-white top) and Barry (in yellow) during harvest time with their very first 'farm family' , the Kirkwoods, at Glenmorgan.
With many farmers and station owners doing it tough, an increasing number are turning to grey nomads and other travellers as another potential income stream.
In recent years, the number of remote outback properties offering camping and some sort of tourism experience has exploded as managers seek to protect themselves from the unpredictability of the weather and the fragility of the rural economy.
The Brisbane Courier-Mail reports that country families opening up their properties to tourism is part of a modern day Outback gold rush that has seen the west become the fastest-growing tourism sector in Queensland.
Dan Walker has opened up his working sheep and cattle station at Camden Park, between Longreach and Ilfracombe, to tourists and is reaping the rewards … but he does feel the demand reflects a wider issue.
“I really do regret that Queensland has, to some extent, lost that connection between city and country, which was once so much part of everyone’s life,’’ he told the Courier-Mail. “It was only a short while ago that everyone in Brisbane seemed to have a country cousin, but in recent years that connection seems to have broken.’’
The staff at Camden Park is show visitors around the property and talk to them about life on the busy grazing property … and the visitors love it.
Some grey nomads, of course, prefer to get an even more in-depth insight to rural life by working on these properties and really getting to know the people who run them and the challenges they face.
During their six years on the road, Barry and Jenny M, have worked at places including a sheep property at Katanning, a beef farm in Albany, Pardoo Station in the Pilbara, a dairy farm in Gippsland and another near the Great Ocean Rd, and a cattle station near the Burdekin Dam in Queensland.
“We have made life-long friends at each place we have worked, especially with our very first ‘farm family’ at Glenmorgan in Queensland,” said Jenny. “All of the places we have worked have given us access to their landline phone and limited internet access when there has been no mobile services … and we’ve really enjoyed the diverse country our jobs have taken us to.”
· Have you made visiting stations and rural properties part of your Big Lap adventure? Comment below.
Do you have a list of stations we are able to visit
This sounds wonderful we do travel with our 2 large dogs would thus be a problem?
Yes Shauna, we are wondering the same thing. We also have two dogs, one is a small foxie the other a mid sized foxie. Great “protectors/watch dogs” and would not travel without them. Does restrict where we can go and stay.
Also country pubs can be worth a look. We stayed at a couple on our last Queensland trip. They let people camp in their yard and use the toilets etc. just buy a couple of beers or a meal in return.
I love cooking, gardening and have a small very old dog who also enjoys travelling with me in my tiny camper trailer.