Back Roads: Jan 9

This week on ABC Back Roads heads out to one of the country’s largest cattle properties.

Brunette Downs Station in the Northern Territory is legendary in the outback and living and working there is almost like a rite of passage. It’s bigger than some European countries and with 70,000 head of cattle and 55 full-time staff, it’s a massive operation.

Presenter Heather Ewart discovers it’s a place that’s steeped in history and tradition but it’s also attracting new generations who are changing the game.

The station may be remote and rugged but that no longer means being cut off from career choices. Advances in technology are allowing people to combine head-office jobs with the joys of station life, riding horses, mustering and living in a tight-knit community.

Heather Ewart meets some of them in this episode; a UK grain farmer who was lured to the bush by backpacking jackaroos to become the station’s assistant manager, a fine-dining chef who feeds this small town, a business analyst who helps with the horses, a head stockman who takes his young family mustering, and a seasoned horse whisperer who teaches new dogs old tricks.

Heather hears moving stories of the Traditional Owners and the skilled Aboriginal stockmen and women who helped build this industry.

It may feel like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but Brunette Downs also hosts one of the most iconic events in the outback. Heather makes it to the Brunette Races and meets the Northern Territory’s ’s first woman jockey who is set to break another record!

8pm tonight on ABC.