Margaret and Geoff Dunn from North Nowra first took part in the Frontier Services ‘Outback Links’ Program in 2011 and recently shared their experiences with the Nowra Uniting Fellowship.

The program aims to help rural families struggling with the demands of running properties in isolated areas.

The couple took on their first outback adventure on a property near Clermont in Queensland and spent two weeks helping out a family with two young children. 

“Meg had a 19-month-old and a two-year-old and her husband worked as a builder in town so she needed some assistance,” Margaret said. 

As a former farmer in the Wagga region, Geoff stepped in to help in the cattle yards while Margaret gave Meg a hand with the children. 

The couple reflect fondly upon the experiences, including an amusing incident where youngest child Brody followed in a working dog’s well-trained pawprints. 

“The first time I minded the kids the cattle ate their way under the electric wire near the house so Meg went out to get the dogs but Brody saw her and yanked his hand out of mine,” Margaret said. 

“He was running towards the cows and Meg yelled ‘Brody, sit!’ and he knew exactly what to do. 

“He plonked himself down right between the dogs.”

While five years have passed, Margaret said neither family will forget the time spent in each others company. A return caravan trip two years ago saw the couple leave stocked with homemade meals and fond memories. 

“Brody was four by this stage and he pointed at me and said ‘mummy, they looked after me’ so that was a really lovely experience,” Margaret said. 

Their outback adventures proved to be a steep learning curve for Margaret who spent most of her life in Sydney. The former school teacher met Geoff in her late 40s and moved to the farming region of the Riverina. 

The pair retired in 1997 and settled upon the Shoalhaven. Although they enjoyed their initial caravanning trips, their family stays provided a different perspective. 

“We went to help people but we both feel we got just as much or more benefit than the people we went to help. We understood things a lot more after living there and being part of the family,” Margaret said. 

“The thing that hit me quite hard was just how self-sufficient the country farm kids are. 

“The three little girls we had with the second family would feed the horses everyday, walk half a kilometre to the feed and carry it back; even the four-year-old was out there amongst these great big animals. Country kids just accept that’s just the way it is.” 

The couple hope to embark on another Outback Frontiers journey in the near future but for the meantime they’re enjoying their coastal retirement. 

“It was a huge change for Geoff when we moved here but he said ‘if I could move to a farm and learn how to be a farmer’s wife,’ he could learn to live here,” Margaret said. 

“Now we love it here.”