The Station

The Station consists of roughly a dozen structures arranged in an open-ended rectangle formation. The Homestead, or the House, as this part of the Station ais referred to, is only 1.5 km off the paved highway. Fortunately this means that it is almost always accessible, even after heavy rains. Many stations in the area are not so lucky, set 30+ km down dirt roads, so once it starts raining they are essentially stranded, trapped by an impassable length of mud.

As you approach the House, you first pass the cattle yards on the left. This is where they work (brand, ear tag, etc) the "weaners" as they muster (round up) them. Ajecent to that are the horse pens, including a round pen and small sand arena where they break their colts. The Station has 100+ horses and, as far as I can tell, they are all trained here. As you continue up the driveway a large horse paddock boarders the left side. Since it is the Wet season everything is green and muddy, although I;m assured that will quickly change once it stops raining at the end of March.

As you pull in, the first building is the main house. As one would imagine, it is the nicest building here. It is home to the Fulchers who run the place- Cameron and Felicity and their 2 children, Ton (10) and Lucy (8). It also serves as the Walhallow office.

To the right of the main house are a cold house for meat storage, the Walhallow Recreational Club where employees can for for a drink from 6-7 after work (also home to the computer!), and then another storage building for dry goods, vegetables, and sundries.

Turning the corner from this last building you come to the Shed, the heart of operations here. If you look up Walhallow on Google Earth, it is the long building with 'Walhallow' painted on the roof. It is a maintenance shop, consisting of 3 large bays and the saddle shed at the far end. In front is the generator, a large building unto itself that powers the whole Station and always sounds like a low-flying plane. Behind the Shed is the motor pool, a long covered parking area for the half dozen trucks, 2 tractor trailer cabs, assorted other vehicles and, oddly enough, 2 boats.

Next to the Shed is one of the males' quarters, next to that the females' quarters (mine!), and finally the house for the helicopter pilot who is kept on retainer throughout the season.

On the other side of the compund are assorted bunk houses, including one for the younger men, some family homes, and one for the pilot. Wedged in the middle is the school (which has only 2 students- Tom & Lucy), overseen by Millie, an 18 year old govorness from Queensland who is here on a gap year.

There is also a runway and a hangar, a dump, and some smallish horse paddocks in the immediate vicinity of the House. Apart from that we are alone. There is no passing traffic, no airplanes overhead, barely even any radio stations. As an American, it is hard to even conceive of such isolation, even while experiencing it.