Some have thousands of years of history here; others blew in just a decade ago but the red dust has seeped into their veins. Samantha Trenoweth meets six women who have made Central Australia their home.
Anika and Lindy MOLESWORTH
SHEEP STATION OWNERS
Lindy Molesworth manages more than 4000 hectares of marginal country outside Broken Hill in the far west of NSW. Her daughter, Anika, is working on a doctorate on the impacts of climate change on agriculture with a plan to return to the property and steer it through the challenging years ahead.
The Molesworths are no newcomers to challenge. Lindy and her husband, Simon, bought the property back in 2000, at the start of the decade-long millennial drought. Their introduction to marginal country farming involved destocking at the get-go, then waiting … and waiting for rain. Finally they were able to restock gradually with hardy African breeds of sheep.
Anika was 12 when the family bought the land and it was love at first sight. “I love the colours – those deep reds and blue skies and incredible horizons,” she says. “I love the rugged, ancient, fragile landscape. People think of desert country as lifeless but go walking through the paddocks and you’ll see lizards, emerald budgerigars, white paper daisies. There’s amazing biodiversity.”
Anika has established an award-winning website, Climate Wise Agriculture, a group called Farmers for Climate Action, and in 2015 she was Young Farmer of the Year. Her goal remains “to further my knowledge and skills and try to ensure a vibrant and resilient future out here in some very beautiful but also very challenging country.”
Veronica DOBSON AM
AUTHOR, LINGUIST, BOTANIST, ELDER
This story is from the July 2018 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2018 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Where to go in 2024
Who doesn't love fantasising about their next trip? We've gone for lesser-known locations, and whether you're seeking bright lights, striking natural scenery, serenity or excitement, here's where you're sure to find it.
Money matters with Effie
Didn’t reach your financial goals in 2023? While a new year won’t wipe away pressures like rising costs, there are a few things you can do now to refresh your money mojo in 2024.
Bright stars in a rugged land
The hot, dusty opal fields around Lightning Ridge in outback NSW have traditionally been a man's world. Now The Weekly meets the women who have been struck by opal fever.
The gift of life
Maureen Elliott had just months to live when she went on St Vincent's Hospital's transplant list. Thirty years on she's one of the longest living heart-lung transplant recipients in the world.
An uncaged heart
After more than two years in Iranian jails, Kylie Moore-Gilbert has forged a new life that's brimming with love, and a determination to help others who have been wrongfully imprisoned.
The woman behind The King
As Sofia Coppola's biopic Priscilla readies to hit screens, we look back at the early life and great love of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley.
Say hello to the Cockatoo cake
When we put a call-out to our readers for their best children's cakes we were inundated with recipes, and this clever cockatoo was ahead of the flock.
The French revolution
Dawn French quit her sketch show because she felt so ugly. Now the \"roly-poly comedian\" wants us all to stop fretting about our faults. She talks body image, surviving the 1980s and owning her mistakes.
Trump's women
Will it be the jailhouse or the White House for Donald Trump this year? The women in his life could make all the difference.
Can you buy a good night's sleep?
Forty per cent of Australians have trouble sleeping, and the market has responded with a mind-boggling array of sleep aids. But do any of them actually work? The Weekly goes in search of slumber.
