A Road Less Travelled

Part 9

photo: Valpre Station

Epilogue

Ever since I had left the flooded area around Camooweal, I was again able to talk daily with Robin, and was reassured that he was alright and, in fact, had quite a few adventures of his own while I was away. But now it was time to go and get him.
Since I was only going back to Darwin to pick up Robin and our luggage, Russell lent me his brand new twin-cab Ute for the drive, so that we could have a safer and more comfortable trip. There was no sight of any flooding anywhere and no new adventures (for now...), however, I had plenty of time to relive every moment of my experiences again. An experience that amazes me still every time to this day – almost 20 years later!

Robin and I spent the remaining three months of our visa on Valpre station with Russell and the rest of the crew. Station life was back to normal again by the time we got back from Darwin, and my main job was to cook for a team of up to 12 people at times. Russell and I fell in love, and he followed me back to Switzerland a couple of months later, where we got married before returning to Australia and live in Charters Towers, Far North Queensland, Australia. We had three more children, Daniel, Sarah, and Rachel and lived in Charters Towers for 16 years, before moving even further into the Outback, to Mount Isa. Russell and I divorced eventually because we were too different, but remained good friends. He quit working for his best friends (the station owners), went back to university, and became the CEO of a training organization that offers services in several states of Australia. He is now semi-retired and back on the land. Eight years ago, I have finally realized my dream and started studying Psychology as an off-campus student with the University of New England in Armidale. I moved to Mount Isa for my internship, and currently work as a psychologist with children and their families. During my studies, I worked on the nursing and program team in a Mental Health Facility for Queensland Health.

I could tell you so many more stories ... like the time I pulled up a road train because I needed someone with a two way radio, ...or the time when Russell went to check fences on a motorbike in an inaccessible area, then had an accident, injured himself (and I didn't know how to find him, get help to him, or call for help), then the time I learned to ride and got thrown off a horse, or the day I spent cutting up, mincing, and then bagging meat from a 'kill', and many more,... Maybe I should write a whole book...

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