A busy busy bookkeeper
Host: Legune Station
Written by Susan Munday – Bookkeeper, Legune Station.
Nothing like an afternoon out fishing.
Growing up I was terrified of cattle, so I was not sure what mum was thinking when she suggested at the age of 19 that I go to Katherine Rural College and then work on a cattle station. All she had to go on was the fact that I loved horses.
My baby.
Sixteen years on and I think mum knew best.
I live and work on Legune station over on the NT/WA border. This is my second year working on the station. I love photography and enjoy camp drafting and fishing, so Legune is the perfect spot for all of that. Legune has always felt like home for me. It is a long way from my family and friends, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
I first worked on Legune back in 2000 to 2003 as a Jillaroo. I loved it then and I love it now. I have worked in every state except SA, always chasing cows. It has taken me twelve years to get back to where it all started. I came back this time as the Bookkeeper, so I do the invoices, checking statements, cattle numbers, ordering parts . . . the list goes on! Anyone who works on a property knows that you don’t just do what’s in your job description. You become Jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
Bullwinkle helping out in the office.
Flossy likes to help me out in the office quite a lot.
Recently I have been given the task of updating the Asset Register. I started by checking out the air conditioning units (we didn’t have aircon when I was first at Legune), and just when I think I have counted all of them, I then remember another room or building. It is so time consuming and tedious that I get sidetracked and go do some other jobs. Last Monday I was busy doing this register after lunch when I was asked if I could finish the mowing as the gardener had become ill. I jumped on the mower, shifted sprinklers, and emptied all the rubbish bins, and that took up the rest of that day. Being Monday it is also my turn to be the “bar wench” at the social club. There are five of us that have the pleasure of this task to keep the staff sane, selling nice cold beer at the end of a hard day’s work.
Come Tuesday, the stock crew needed a hand down the yards so back to being a jillaroo for me. This, I love doing, much more exciting than doing the Asset Register
Walking cattle away.
Wednesday morning was a great calm day, perfect for spraying “Round Up” (a herbicide) on the weeds. I have been waiting for over a week for this to happen! I steal the quad bike from the gardener and with the sprayer on the back I spray the weeds all around the station compound, all the buildings and pathways, garden beds, fence lines, and anywhere we cannot use the mower. It takes me quite a few hours. Being Wednesday, I also had to do the store orders (general groceries and supplies), and then it’s lunch time already! Ok, now where was I? That’s right, time to check back in with the asset register.
We get lots of visitors throughout the year, the electricians are here now and I put the assets register aside so that l can show them what jobs needs doing and where they are staying. Now, where is that assets sheet? It turned up later that day when the gardener found it in her shed . . . somehow I had managed to leave it in there earlier. Well, tomorrow is Thursday so I’ll get onto that register again.
It blew a gale last night and a large branch has broken off the mango tree and blocked off our gateway to the office, a great start to the morning! I’ll just get the chain saw and cut it up so we can use the path again. Smoko time comes and I’m only half way through, so I rope the govvy and the gardener into helping me load the truck and take it to the dump – we finished by lunchtime. Bloody termites! After lunch it’s back to that darn register, I am getting there slowly – I have done the furniture/electrical appliances and am now getting down to the nitty gritty, things like linen, office supplies, and kitchen equipment. It is never ending!
Friday is store day so I take the trusty (or sometimes not so trusty) Isuzu to town to pick up groceries, freight, and any other parts or supplies we need. While I was in town we had a good storm, so we tried out the 4WD in the truck to get home, boy there was some water laying around. This makes for an interesting trip. When I get back we unpack the truck and put all the stores away. Saturday is a half day to just catch up on jobs that need finishing . . . such as the assets register! This particular Saturday afternoon I’m heading to town to get my hair done (this only happens about twice a year, if that). While we live in the NT, our nearest town is Kununurra in WA. When we leave Legune, we actually get to Kununurra the same time we left, as the WA timezone is 1.5 hours behind the NT. Not so good on the way home after a night at the pub!
Sundays are my day off and when the Barra are biting, so the only thing to do is go for a fish.
Amazing sunsets.
Unbelievable fishing here. Two of many caught here last year.