Outback House

6/12/2005

Sixteen participants have been selected out of more than 5000 applicants to live the life of a squatter, his family, domestic servants and station workers. We meet our adventurous participants as they set off to undertake training in their new life. They learn how to manage stock, use the tools of the time and grow food to survive, all without the help of present-day technology. Paul and Juli Allcorn, along with their three daughters Persephone, Pierette and Portia are the squatter family, and Glen and Kim Sheluchin take on the roles of station overseer and his wife. Genevieve Yates is the girls’ governess, and station cook is Carolina Francese. There are two maids: Claire Williams and high-school student Danielle Schaeffer. Danielle along with station hand Mal Burns, are from the local Wiradjuri tribe. Also taking the position of station hands are Peter Gordon and Adam Carter. Bernie Kennedy and Dan Hatch as the shepherds, complete the group. Our squatter has invested heavily in the hope of making a fortune ’off the sheep’s back’. He must earn enough money in the next three months from his first wool clip to buy the land he is leasing when the Lands Act comes into force on 1 January 1862. The bullock wagon is packed with provisions and the men leave the 21st century and set off in search of the homestead. Like their 19th century counterparts, the men have to move their stores, equipment and a mob of sheep through unknown country to a distant homestead they’ve never seen. As was the custom, the women and children follow some days later, leaving the men to find the station and make it habitable. Almost immediately there are dramas. In his anxiety to get the mob of sheep moving, shepherd Bernie has inadvertently mixed the wethers in with the pregnant and lambing ewes. This leaves squatter Allcorn to make his first major decision: attempt to move all the sheep at the risk of losing a number of lambs, or leave them where they are in the care of junior shepherd Dan to tend the flock and protect it from foxes and other dangers. On arrival at the abandoned homestead, the men investigate their new dwellings but the excitement of the new world is quickly overcome by class tension as the men sort out the station pecking order. Over the ever present drone of flies, friction builds and egos are challenged—as they make the place ’right’ for the women. Who has the skills to survive in the Australian outback and who is willing to share the knowledge? The first wagonload has brought half the furniture for the main house, plus tools, clothing and enough food for one month. They’ve also brought two geese, 25 chickens and a rooster to increase the flock. Meanwhile, Dan is still tending the flock and already feeling the isolation and hardship of living off the land in 1861. The women finally arrive at Oxley Downs, bringing a fresh perspective to the male dominated station life. But before long, problems start brewing in the kitchen too. The next three months promise to be challenging for everyone.