Table of Contents

Prologue

Part One

1. From the Riverina to the Gulf

2. McAllister at Last

3. Home Sweet Home

4. Testing Times

5. A Memorable Day

6. Setting Up

7. I Do

8. Home Again

9. An Urgent Need for a House

10. Playing the Hostess

11. Friends, Neighbours and Shareholders

12. Off to Mount Isa

Part Two

13. A Sticky Situation

14. Enjoying Ourselves

15. From the Wet to the Dry

16. Hard Times

17. Friends of the North

18. Forces of Nature

19. Uncertain Times

20. The Burke and Wills

21. The Joys of Parenthood

Part Three

22. Our Caravan

23. Back Home

24. Stormy Weather

25. Raising Spirits

26. Light at the End of the Tunnel

27. A Dream Come True

28. The Invasion

29. Boarding School

30. Keeping Busy

31. Disaster Strikes

32. The End of an Era

33. Our Sad Farewell

Reflections

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Brought up on a comfortable farm in the Riverina, at twenty-two, Jenny Bull fell in love with Rick Old and went to live and work with him on his property, McAllister, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. There, she faced incredible hardship, living in a hut with not even basic necessities. Her only contact with the outside world was a two-way radio. In this vast empty landscape, she battled drought, flood, fire, and cyclones. For eighteen years she and Rick struggled to stay on in the Gulf, eventually triumphantly turning McAllister into a thriving oasis.