This was first presented as a talk with slides at the Reflexology Association of Australia (RAA) national conference in Brisbane 1998. I am still asked to talk about it with updates as I am regularly in Australia. Having just returned from a visit to the outback, I felt inspired to write about it and share some of my history with you.
In the 1990s I lived in Australia and provided complementary therapies within the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in outback Queensland. With the consent of the RFDS, I was supported by several matrons to set up clinics on days when the doctor was not on duty.
Families in the outback work incredibly hard in harsh and isolated conditions. Their ‘stations’ stock mainly cattle although some also grow crops such as peanuts or sorghum. These stations are huge compared to British and European farms, the smallest being 400 sq km to the largest at 4,000 sq km. Families hire or employ stockmen, ringers, jackaroos and jillaroos, who are the different types of workers involved with the mustering of stock, branding, dipping, and mundane jobs involved to keep the business rolling. Most of the children in the outback have ‘school of the air’ lessons at home, or board in towns for their schooling. Women work not only on their own chores, but ensure everyone is fed (sometimes with staff to help) and often help out with the cattle, too. Other services in the small towns keep these centres alive… among them the council offices, the mines department, shops, banks, post office, bakery, pubs, hotels and motels, cafés, school, churches, garages, hospital, police and state emergency service volunteers (SES) who support the generations of families who live in and around them.
My husband was a miner for gold and semi-precious stones. We had several mining camps, a couple of which had no running water or electricity. I loved the life out on these mines, where we relied on water tanks, bores, kerosene lanterns, a gas refrigerator and a small generator for power. While it was hard work in the heat of the day, in the evening we could relax around an open fire and cook on the coals. I liked having a shower in a makeshift iron cubicle where the water bag was hung over a tree branch or slip into a cool rock pool for a swim and a bath!
