AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE Biography –

Whether working the mobs of cattle with the stockmen, playing cattleduffing on horseback or singing and doing lessons at their School of the Air desks, Tanya Heaslip and her siblings led a childhood unimaginable to many Australians. Growing up on a vast and isolated cattle property just north of Alice Springs, Tanya tells of wild rides, of making far-flung friends over the Air, of the dangers, the fun and the back-breaking work. As the eldest child, her added responsibility was to look after the littler ones, so she was by their sides dealing with snakes, the threat of bushfires and broken bones. Tanya’s parents, Janice and Grant ‘the Boss’ Heaslip, were pioneers. They developed Bond Springs Station where water was scarce, where power was dependent on generators and where a trip to town for supplies meant a full day’s journey. Grant was determined to teach his children how to survive in this severe environment and his lessons were often harsh. In a childhood that most would consider very tough, Tanya tells of this precious time with raw honesty, humour, love and kindness. This is the story of an Alice girl.

First Edition

• xix, 324 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), portraits (some colour) ; 24 cm #140925 (Name on prelims)
• • Prologue: The Cattle Duffers
  • 1. Where It All Began
  • 2. Cattleman-Har Hup, There!
  • 3. Our Very Own Palace
  • 4. ‘I Belong That Country’
  • 5. Dick and Dora, Nip and Fluff
  • 6. Four Good Men
  • 7. ‘Delta Queeee-Bec Golf’
  • 8. Thank You, Adelaide Miethke
  • 9. No Mic Fright for Me
  • 10. The Importance of Being Strong
  • 11. Loss
  • 12. An Outback Lifeline
  • 13. Buckjumping on the Bond
  • 14. Learning to Ride
  • 15. Bush Art and Animals
  • 16. Bush Music
  • 17. DQG in Full Flight
  • 18. Characters
  • 19. Mrs Hodder and Tall Tales
  • 20. Jane Joseland – My New Friend
  • 21. Charlie Gorey and Bush Work
  • 22. Mind Over Matter
  • 23. The Best Weekend of the Year!
  • 24. Wild, Wonderful Bush Get-Togethers
  • 25. ‘We’ve Got Visitors, Mum!’
  • 26. All the Games That We Could Play
  • 27. Eeyore John Wayne
  • 28. Everard Park
  • 29. More Show Adventures
  • 30. Writing and Music
  • 31. It’ll Take the Time It Takes
  • 32. Bush Life – Lost and Found
  • 33. The Nightmare of Shearing
  • 34. My Last Year
  • 35. Remember the Bullocks.
• • Heaslip, Tanya — Childhood and youth
  • Heaslip, Tanya — Family
  • Women — Northern Territory — Biography
  • Ranches — Northern Territory — Biography
  • Livestock workers — Northern Territory — Biography
  • Pioneers — Northern Territory — Biography
  • Country life — Northern Territory
  • Rural conditions — Northern Territory
  • Alice Springs (N.T.) — Social life and customs — 20th century