This week’s Australia All Over brought in the kind of grounded, deeply regional stories that form the show’s backbone. From dry paddocks and long fence lines to an old bread truck turned tool library, the episode had a practical tone—interrupted only briefly by a poem, a piano, and a passionate runner asking Australians to show up.
- A notable call came from Julian, a 57-year-old IT professional from Sydney, who spoke about his routine of running a half marathon every month as a personal challenge. He said he wasn’t doing it competitively—“just me and the stopwatch”—but used the runs to keep fit and stay grounded. More importantly, he used the segment to issue a public call for more Australians to volunteer. “We’ve got millions of people with time and skills who aren’t doing anything with them,” he said. He encouraged people in their 40s, 50s and 60s to look at community groups that need help—particularly aged care, youth mentoring, SES, and local events. “You don’t have to change the world—just be someone people can count on,” he said plainly. It was one of the more direct and purposeful calls of the morning—delivered without fanfare but hard to forget.
- Elsewhere, a grazier from Walgett, NSW described walking the edge of his last full dam and finding it almost dry, weeks before winter. He gave a clinical description: cracked banks, goat tracks leading in, and the sound of frogs gone silent. His bore water was brackish, good enough for sheep but too harsh for young calves. He was carting 1,000 litres at a time, every second day, to keep up. After three years of flood and one of dry, he said this was the kind of season that quietly breaks your back if you’re not watching.
- From Marree, SA, a fencing contractor detailed his work patching sections of the Dog Fence, especially in spots where floodwaters had twisted mesh or loosened tie wires. He mentioned the surprising uptick in wild dog sightings this autumn and described the scent trails that lure them through gaps—mostly roo carcasses and feral pig offal. He’s using heavier pickets and double tying the joins. “You can’t out-build nature,” he said, “but you can slow it down.”
- A Horsham grain grower checking his seed drill phoned in with an update on wheat sowing—going in dry, 80 kg/ha, with trifluralin on board. His gear had just been re-rigged after a bearing collapse last year. He said three of his neighbours were still hesitating, waiting for a break in the weather. “We’ll know in six weeks who bet wrong,” he added.
- A banana grower near Carnarvon, WA, reported improved results using shade cloth and bunch covers to control ripening and wind damage. His crop, sold through a local delivery run, is packed in re-used cartons and mostly bought by small shops. “No cold chain, no shrinkage,” he said.
- One inventive segment came from Coffs Harbour, where a retired mechanic has turned a decommissioned bread van into a mobile tool library. The van houses drills, clamps, saws, and chargers, all lent out to men’s sheds and small DIY groups. “People need tools more than advice,” he said. The whole operation runs off two marine batteries and a solar panel.
From Winton, QLD, a schoolteacher called in about her students’ homemade weather stations. Built from PVC pipe and Arduino boards, the sensors were recording data every 12 hours and being compared to Bureau forecasts. “Kids trust real numbers. They’ll believe a thermometer faster than a whiteboard,” she said.
- Other calls included:
- A Mount Gambier dairy farmer using pasture mapping apps to schedule rotations based on real-time dry matter readings.
- A Castlemaine woman who sorts her firewood stacks by species and purpose, with chalk labels for ironbark (cold nights), redgum (fast start), and box (general use).
- A Goolwa rail historian cataloguing dozens of NSWGR depot library books, with thumb-worn covers and pencilled-out borrow slips.
- A Bungendore researcher recording oral histories of shearer’s cooks, including one woman who worked 46 sheds before age 40 and never lost a pot roast to dust.
- The show closed with a final stanza from a 93-year-old bush poet in Longreach, recalling frost-bitten boots, a drover’s grin, and the clink of enamel mugs before dawn.
Listen to the podcast episode here.
Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights.
