Back of Beyond: One woman's remarkable story of love, adventure, disasters and wonderful times in the Gulf Country

by Jenny Old

This is the extraordinary story of an indomitable Australian woman going to the back of beyond and triumphing over adversity. It is a story about bush people and their generosity, filled with wonderful characters. Most of all, it is the story of a woman's love for her man and the adventure it took her on.

'After falling in love with my husband, Rick, I moved to a property called McAllister in the remote Gulf Country of far north Queensland, where I found myself living in a shed with a 44-gallon drum for my stove and a shower rose and a bucket in a tree for the bathroom!'

When 22-year-old Jenny Old followed her heart to the vastness of the Gulf of Carpentaria, she had no idea of the primitive conditions she'd find herself in. Often her only contact with the outside world was through her two-way radio. Stretched to the limits, she achieved more than she ever thought herself capable of. With every setback and in the toughest of times when the odds seemed insurmountable, she learnt to dust herself off, find a smile and just keep on going.

For eighteen years Jenny and Rick battled flood, drought, cyclones and personal hardship. Yet their world was a big as the landscape in which they lived, filled as it was with generosity, wonderful characters and the joy of life. At McAllister they established an oasis for their family and friends.

Jenny's motto life throws many curve balls at us, but it's how we deal with them that counts. This is the extraordinary story of a woman of the bush and her indomitable spirit.

Genres: Memoir

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2018

Reviews

[Roxanne Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely inspiring. The journey that Jenny and her family have gone on was mesmerising and engaging. I finished the book within a week and was thinking about it constantly.
I can vividly imagine life in the wilds of the Gulf country during the 70s and 80s, with Jenny’s beautiful and detailed descriptions painting an awesome picture of life in the bush.
Highly recommended to anyone who loves a story of adventure, strong female leads and a gorgeous Australian story!

[Rhonda Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir, initially entitled McAllister, was first independently published by Ocean Reeve Publishing and marketed widely in Australia by its author. Its enthusiastic response prompted Allen & Unwin to seek to republish and market to an international audience. With the intention of attracting American readers it was reintroduced with a new look and title, Back of Beyond. The author’s home photos again adorned the cover, but designer Rovina Panetta arranged the pictures in a way that spoke more of the outback that Americans could envisage than the previous version which displayed a personal snapshot of the author’s life.
It is some way into the book before the owners of the McAllister station are revealed. I confess that until I realised it was owned by shareholders, I wondered how three very young people could acquire a sizeable chunk of Australia’s Gulf country. Despite their youth, to work a cattle station was clearly an opportunity that Rick Old and his equally enthusiastic friend Paul Williams could not pass up. It was into this mix that Rick’s girlfriend, Jenny Bull arrived in 1969.
From their first months in a small shed with wings propped up on one side, to the years in the self-sustaining outback homestead they created, this story is one of resilience, optimism and the ardent enthusiasm of youth.
Jenny Old has written in an easy conversational style with every page documenting the adversities of the cattle business, joys in the friendships forged, and elements battled in this amazing wide brown land. Jenny had her babies, raised domestic animals, an orchard and kitchen garden, nurtured an oasis of lawns, shrubs and flowers around a house she and Rick had created themselves out of mud bricks. When she wasn’t doing all that, she was hostess to a steady succession of jillaroos, stockmen and guests who were invited or invited themselves for work or business or simply out of curiosity. Somewhere in there the Old’s also welcomed family who generously reminded them they were loved beyond McAllister.
Then there was the stock. A motely lot of various breeds to begin with, eventually they ran 5,000 head of Brahman cattle on 234 square miles of the outback. Jenny, who’d grown up on a farm in New South Wales, honed her skills as a musterer and fencer working beside the men in the harshest of conditions. A sincere compliment about her capabilities from an Aboriginal stockman was the ultimate proof of her worth. In the early seventies when the bottom fell out of the beef business, the Olds had to diversify – they built a road house at the junction of four of the old beef roads and borrowed money to buy the McAllister shareholders out. Assuming the debt themselves saved the worry of the others being inconvenienced – and yet, now deeply in debt, their boundless enthusiasm prevailed.
This is not just a wonderful memoir, but a slice of Australian history that shares stories of the beef industry and weather events, the resilience of youth and the cooperation between hardy people living in extraordinary conditions. And it’s a testament to the love of country.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading its prequel – Innocent Nurses Abroad which documents Jenny’s life before her adventures in the Gulf country.
Rhonda Valentine Dixon

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant read! I experienced a lot of joy reading this book. It came from imagining Jenny's life as well as having awakened memories of my own life living in Mt Isa and other outback QLD towns as a child. It was good to remember the hospitality of station owners and the amazing big hearted neighbours that surrounded them. It was good to remember the incredible hard work that it takes to keep a station going that I too often forget as I eat what other's hard labor has grown or raised for me.
This story is very descriptive and in my mind's eye I could see the red dust and smell the rain as it approached. The author did not just write about her own experiences, but introduced us to all who were in her life at that moment.
As we are taken through Jenny's life, it feels like I was invited to sit at her kitchen table and drink tea while she chatted casually about stuff. This book is a casual chat to the reader, with moments of a heart to heart, moments of laughter and most certainly moments of wonder.

[Melanie T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book very much. I was a student nurse in Mt Isa in the early 1980s . Jenny's experiences in the Gulf country resonated with me as many places mentioned I have known. Her difficulties in correspondence schooling was interesting too as I worked as a governess for a while in western Queensland before going nursing. All bush women deserve far greater recognition than they get.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the Australian bush, you will love this book. It is enchanting; a true life story by a true pioneer. Written with great skill and warmth. Very easy to read and very enjoyable. Very highly recommended.

[Carofish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story of a young couple starting out in the Gulf Country. Jenny tells it with humour and her descriptions are vivid. I couldn’t put it down because I had to know how it all worked out. I felt her sadness at leaving her beautiful home.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

very enjoyable and entertaining. Certainly makes you admire how hard this woman worked - cooking for all the workers, doing stock work all while pregnant. Also made you appreciate how this couple turned nothing to something and the wonderful comraderie of the people in the gulf.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful true story of life in remote Queensland under oppressive conditions. It provided many examples of people overcoming hardship and becoming more resilient and capable as a result. Would be a great learning read for today's younger generation.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really interesting diary of a young family and their establishment of a cattle station in the Gulf country.
A great reflection on the hardships of the modern day Aussie pioneer.

[Deb Kingston · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars 🌟 It was an interesting read and enjoyed Jenny’s humour and optimism.

[Jane Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have re-read this book quite a few times. It is a great book, quite often funny, about Jenny Old's life in Outback Australia.