No Regrets
Host: Myroodah Station
Written by Pam Daniell – Manager, Myroodah.
Sunset storms over Myroodah Station.
The sand-hills and spinifex are not for everyone. The Great Sandy Desert to our south ensures this landscape dominates much of Myroodah Station. But for one faithful employee, Kim Cuffe, it is just like home!
Western Queensland’s channel country where sand-hills are also prolific is where Kim grew up and has spent much of her working life. She was born in Charleville and lived for a number of years in Bedourie. Her father worked on Stations as a Headstockman and Windmill expert, ensuring Kim and her six siblings were involved in a bush upbringing from an early age.
Kim at home on Myroodah Station.
Kim’s first full time job at the age of 17 was working as a jillaroo on Sandringham Station, near Bedourie. She worked there for a man for whom she has much admiration, Manager at the time, Geoff Schrader. “Geoff could get a horse to do anything. I always wanted to be like him”. Geoff was a role model for Kim during her younger years as she learnt a lot about horsemanship from him. It is no wonder she now has two passions in life – her horses, and her loyal dog, a tiny Chihuahua called “Pigmy”. To me . . . “Pigmy” is an unlikely passion in life, but to Kim, who says the pup that came to her from Lamboo Aboriginal Community near Halls Creek, WA, was the only one with any brains in the litter! And they do look like best friends as the little dog leaps in to the air from the ground in to Kim’s arms.
Kim with one of her best mates “Pigmy”.
Kim has had a varied working career. She’s done everything from working at a Racehorse Stud in southern Queensland, to working at a feedlot, being a Lifeguard, looking after parks and gardens for Diamantina Shire, being a Carpenter’s offsider, a barmaid, and working on several cattle stations in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia. On Myroodah Station, Kim has been our Cook for nearly 12 months now, but she can turn her hand to absolutely everything and is often required to do so.
Somewhere in her 50+ years, she’s also found time to have two children of her own as well as bring up two other young Indigenous girls who were in need of a good home. Kim rates bringing up the four children and keeping them away from trouble or too much mischief as one of her greatest achievements in life. “Most parents worry that their children might fall in with the wrong crowd at some stage, but I’m proud that mine didn’t.”
For downtime, Kim enjoys fishing, gardening, photography, walking, and of course working her horses. She is a keen Campdraft competitor and is already looking forward to the first Kimberley region Campdraft for the year held at the little town of Fitzroy Crossing.
Where to from here? Kim said she is very happy working at Myroodah – she is saving to travel to America sometime in the next 12 months for a holiday, and after that, who knows! As for regrets . . . “I don’t have any regrets – if you don’t make mistakes along the way – you can’t learn from them”.
Kim and “Classy”.