Stop!
Please read carefully
Coming to work as a station hand, there are plenty of things to consider and a tone of things to learn! You have to take into consideration that although you will only be out here for a short time, you will gain so much.
Put simply, working on a cattle station is NOT for everyone.
Working on the land is an experience best lived first hand. Becoming part of the team and diving into station life head first teaches you to appreciate yourself, the little things, the cattle industry and the resilient Aussie battlers that work within it; Day in, day out. Rain, hail or shine.
You will learn to be patient, prioritize, appreciate where meat comes from and understand the hard work that is put in by Aussie station workers to provide for our country. When your part of the team, you need to appreciate that everybody plays a part. You will learn to value the meaning of teamwork in a remote and rural setting, learning that the little things in life, go a long way.
Life on the land can be extremely challenging, but sticking it out through the tough times, you can really appreciate and recognize your own self development and growth. You will be physically, mentally and emotionally stronger for it. Although we plan best as we can, sometimes things just don’t go our way so you have to be a little flexible and adaptable at times.
More than being just a job, work at a cattle station is a lifestyle. Part of having a good attitude means accommodating that lifestyle and wanting to learn.
Station work stands as a truly unique experience. From the remote setting and challenging tasks to the intimacy one finds with nature, it is impossible to replicate what you will encounter working on a station. Because of that, many people leave with memories like jewels and a satisfaction that can only come from meeting a big challenge.
However, it is a long road from freshly arrived newbie to an accomplished station hand and a lot of people never make it MOSTLY DUE TO ONES ATTITUDE! After decades of working with travellers from all over the world we have found that one thing above all else makes a good station worker: attitude. While this is true for most areas of life, it is absolutely essential on a cattle station for a number of reasons.
On a station (and LIFE) it is guaranteed that you will have a bad day at some point, it’s just the law of averages. While a “bad day” differs from person to person it can include anything from doing something extremely gross, to feeling like you’ve let your whole team down, to just feeling sick of being far away from civilization (no cell service out in the sticks!). How you deal with those bad days more or less dictates how your time here will be. A bad day only makes you appreciate the better ones.
More than being just a job, work at a cattle station is a lifestyle. Part of having a good attitude means accommodating that lifestyle and wanting to learn. The more you learn, the more you can do and, truth be told, some of the jobs here are really fun and can’t be done anywhere else (think driving dirt bikes through the woods to muster cattle with the help of a helicopter!). However, that rarely doesn’t happen on day one. You first must want to understand how cattle move and behave before you can ever attempt to guide them, but if you are willing to learn we are more than happy to teach!
All in all, people never really know how they will react to life at a station, remote living, no cell phones, dirty jobs, overwhelming situations, and depending how you look at it, constantly being surrounded by work, or a new place to call home away from home, until they do it. A lot of people come here and let themselves be overwhelmed by the situation. However, if you are willing to take it all as it comes, open to learning, while keeping a smile on your face at the end of the day, then sign right up because you’re exactly the type of person that makes our little world go round!
Finishing your set 3, 6, 9 or 12 months is when you can look back and say ‘I did it! I worked on an Australian cattle station and gave it a good red-hot crack!‘
Cattle must have a constant supply of food and water available to them, which can cause hours to be irregular. Days can be long and weather can be unpredictable. It can be extremely hot, it can be extremely cold, it can be windy and it can get dusty. Some things we simply can’t control and with your help, only plan for!
You can’t expect to be here for a week and say you know it all. You have to arrive with an open mind and an eagerness to learn the tricks of the trade. The key to success is completing your season. If you quit after a week, you’ve given up. Finishing your set 3, 6, 9 or 12 months is when you can look back and say ‘I did it! I worked on an Australian cattle station and gave it a good red-hot crack!‘
Heck, you might even want to move in and set up home! Even better !