Welcome to Alexandria Station’s Blog
Host: Alexandria Station
Written by Narda Grover – Manager, Alexandria Station.
Hello, my name is Narda Grover and I live on Alexandria Station with my partner Stephen Bryce. We have both have lived and worked on cattle stations across the top of Australia all our lives, so I’m not sure what a reader of this blog would find fascinating or interesting, because everything that happens on a station is pretty much classed as the normal part of our day to day life.
Alexandria Homestead.
So what can I say about Alexandria Station . . . Alex would be the biggest cattle property we have ever worked on, I guess living at Alex gives a whole new meaning to the saying “having a big back yard” as 3.98 million acres could be referred to as having your own postcode! I heard a fellow once tell a jackaroo, if he was going to work at Alex, he would need to take an umbrella and an electric jug, because there are no trees for shade and no wood for a fire. He wasn’t wrong in saying that. My partner and I moved up to Alex in the manager’s position about six months ago from the Channel Country in Queensland where we previously managed Glenormiston Station for NAP Co.
Open Spaces.
I have lived on some isolated cattle stations, but the vastness of wide open plains on the Barkly Tablelands, gives you a new meaning to the saying being in the middle of nowhere. In winter time the wind likes to blow a gale. Over the years the strong winds have been fondly named the Barkly Breeze. The most amazing thing I have noticed since moving to Alexandria are the Sunrises and Sunsets.
I have always been a person to notice the colouring of the sky. This could stem from having a painting/drawing interest. I would have to say I have never been anywhere else, where the daily ritual of the sun coming up and going down is guaranteed to be a show of its own. For the first week or two I would pause for a moment just to admire how Mother Nature puts on a daily show of beauty just for us on the Barkly Tablelands. The vastness of the unbroken horizon magnifies every colour, just as if you pressed the enhance button on a photo shop program.
A huge Barkly Sunset.
The cattle mustering season at Alexandria has just about finished for the year, the hot humid weather has arrived, hopefully we will see some early storms soon. The only trouble with early thunderstorms is the risk of bush fires increases. Bushfires from a lightning strike is something we don’t want. The grass plains this time of the year have hayed off, the perfect fuel for a fire; add a bit of the Barkly breeze and there is no stopping a fire from burning the feed in a few paddocks.
That’s enough about fires, let me tell you about a milestone worth celebrating. During the month of November the whole station and neighboring stations will be celebrating a milestone with one of its most loved staff members. Johnny Rankine or ‘JR’ as he is affectionately known will be celebrating his 65th birthday. What makes celebrating this particular birthday so special, is that JR was actually born on Alexandria station. Having lived and worked here all his life, he will also be celebrating the milestone of 50 years employment with NAP Co at Alexandria.
JR – 50 years with NAPCO.
I hope I have given you a small look at the beauty of life at Alexandria.
Cheers, Narda