Author: Wavell Heights News Columnist

Bush mail must go through

A veteran mailman from outback South Australia rang in from the Oodnadatta Track, where he’s one of a dying breed delivering post across hundreds of kilometers of red dirt . He painted a vivid picture of last week’s adventure when flash floods turned dry creeks into torrents overnight. With the road cut and station families awaiting their mail, he improvised by enlisting a stockman’s old diesel Toyota and even a horse float to ferry sacks of mail through mud and water. He laughed describing how a half-dozen locals met him on the far bank, swapping stories as they helped unload letters and the odd care package. “The pub had a cold one waiting by the time I got through,” he chuckled, saying that in communities so remote, neighbours pull together just as they did in his father’s day. It was a tale of perseverance and bush camaraderie that had Macca beaming – a reminder that even in 2025, the outback still runs on trust, ingenuity and a handshake.

Wetlands teeming in Kakadu

From the Top End, a park ranger at Kakadu National Park called in, breathless with excitement at the sight before him. After one of the best wet seasons in years, the floodplains around Yellow Water were transformed into a wildlife paradise . He described the dawn chorus of thousands of magpie geese, egrets and jabirus rising from the misty marshes as the sun came up. “It’s like the land is alive and singing,” he said, recounting how crocodiles cruise between floating lotus pads and buffalo graze on the fresh green fringe. Campgrounds that had been quiet during the rains are now bustling with tourists and grey nomads. Macca could almost smell the damp mud and feel the steamy morning air as the ranger invited everyone to come see Kakadu’s temporary lakes before they dry up. The call captured the pulse of the Northern Territory’s wild heart, where nature puts on a grand show after the monsoon.

Still shearing at eighty

A delightful call came from Gundagai, NSW, where listeners met Bruce – an 80-year-old former shearer who’s proving you’re never too old for the shed. Bruce cheerfully reported he’d spent the week helping his grandson crutch and shear a small mob of merinos on the family farm. With a voice as weathered and warm as a worn saddle, he reminisced about the 1960s when he could shear 200 sheep a day with blade shears, and how “the wide combs today are a young man’s game.” He described the familiar rhythm of the work: the smell of lanolin, the scrape of shears, and morning tea under a gumtree with the team. Macca asked what keeps him going. Bruce reckoned it’s the camaraderie and a love of hard yakka, and admitted with a laugh that he “can’t quite hang up the handpiece just yet.” It was an inspiring yarn bridging generations – the kind of heartfelt, authentic Australian story that had listeners around the country smiling and tipping their hats to a legend of the wool sheds.

Nude swim at dawn

Down in Tasmania, a caller from Hobart gave a preview of a decidedly chilly tradition – the annual Winter Solstice Nude Swim in the River Derwent. She set the scene: in two days’ time, on the year’s longest night, hundreds of brave souls (herself included) will fling off their clothes before sunrise and charge into the icy 11°C water just as dawn breaks. “It’s absolutely freezing and absolutely fantastic!” she exclaimed. In past years, participants have emerged blue-lipped but grinning, wrapped in nothing but an Australian flag or a quick towel, with onlookers cheering from the shore. She explained that the swim, part of Tassie’s midwinter festival, is about community spirit, courage, and a little bit of crazy fun to ward off the winter blues . Macca was tickled by the idea, joking he might stick to hot cocoa by a fire, but he applauded the Tasmanians’ plucky enthusiasm. The story added a dash of quirky humor and colour to the morning, proving that even in the coldest depths of winter, Aussies know how to celebrate life (and laugh at themselves).

Hello from Antarctica

In a truly “Australia All Over” moment, Macca patched through to Casey Station, Antarctica, where expedition doctor Samantha phoned in during the depths of the Antarctic winter. With the satellite delay crackling, she described the surreal beauty of life at 65° south: the sun hadn’t been seen in over a month, the outside temperature was – thirty-something (not that it mattered once it’s below –20!), and the station’s 24 wintering crew were preparing for their Midwinter’s Day feast – an icy Christmas-like celebration of community. She painted a picture of stepping outside at noon under the aurora-lit sky, the Milky Way blazing overhead at what should be midday. Despite the cold and isolation, morale was high – they had home-brewed beer, a makeshift band tuning up, and even a “snowman building contest” planned for when a pale sun finally peeks over the horizon in a couple of weeks. Macca and Sam traded banter about who had the colder winter (no contest there). The call was equal parts awe-inspiring and heartwarming, connecting listeners to compatriots at the farthest edge of the earth and highlighting the camaraderie that thrives even in the extreme dark of an Antarctic winter.

Byron Bay tales from a bygone era

Mid-show, Macca treated listeners to a special recorded interview from his recent road trip through Byron Bay, NSW. He caught up with Norm “Staunchy” Wilson, an 85-year-old Byron local who’s lived through the town’s transformation from a quiet whaling port to the bustling surf and tourism hub it is today. Over a cup of tea on Norm’s verandah (with rainbow lorikeets squawking in the background), the old-timer shared vivid memories of Byron’s past. He talked about the 1950s whaling station days when the whole town would smell of boiling blubber, and how he as a young deckhand helped haul in the last catch before whaling was banned . He recounted the town’s lean years after the whaling and meatworks closed – “you could buy a house for a song then, nobody wanted to live by the beach!” – and the remarkable rebirth after the hippie surfers arrived in the ’70s, bringing craft markets, music and a new laid-back culture. Macca and Norm laughed about present-day Byron’s traffic jams and celebrity spotting, which Norm finds bemusing. But with a twinkle in his eye, Norm admitted he still walks up to the lighthouse most mornings to watch the sunrise and the migrating whales spouting offshore. “Some things don’t change, mate,” he said quietly. The interview was rich in nostalgia and local lore, a loving portrait of Byron Bay through the eyes of someone who’s seen it all – and it lent the program a reflective, storybook moment that listeners won’t soon forget.

Other calls included:

• On the road north: A cheery call from a roadside rest area outside Katherine, NT came from a retired couple towing their caravan – part of the annual winter exodus of “grey nomads” heading to warmer climes. They joked that the Stuart Highway was “bumper-to-bumper with caravans and campervans” and that every happy hour at outback campgrounds now feels like a school reunion. They had just left Daly Waters, where dozens of southerners gathered under the stars with guitars and campfires. “It’s like a travelling town moving up the map,” the husband chuckled. Their message was simple: if you’re looking for half of Melbourne or Adelaide in June, try the Top End! The call added a wonderful sense of seasonal migration and camaraderie on the open road.
• Striking black gold: From the cool hills of Truffle country near Braidwood, NSW, a truffle farmer shared the excitement of the first black truffle finds of the season. With the winter rains and chill setting in, her trained spaniel had just snuffled out several knobbly, fragrant truffles beneath the oak trees that week. She described the “Eureka!” moment – the dog freezing then pawing at the earth – and the rich, earthy aroma of truffle hitting the air. These culinary treasures will be making their way to fancy restaurant plates, but for her, the real joy is in the hunt and the knowledge that this once-unusual crop is now a thriving little industry for Aussie farms. Macca was fascinated (and jokingly angling for an invite to a truffle omelette breakfast). It was a quirky agricultural success story that left listeners almost smelling that unique truffle scent through the radio.
• A poem at daybreak: As the program neared its close, Macca read out a short bush poem sent in by a listener from Longreach, QLD. In just a dozen lines, the poem evoked a chilly outback dawn: frost on the spinifex, a lone drover’s campfire painting the pre-dawn dark with a flickering glow, and kookaburras laughing the sun up over the horizon. Its final lines – “From dusky night a day is born / gilded promise with the morn” – brought a hush to the airwaves. In classic Macca style, he let the moment breathe before wishing everyone a safe and happy week ahead. It was a gentle, fitting sign-off that captured the show’s soul: celebrating the poetry in everyday Australian life.

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights. 

An Engine’s Echo for a Mate Remembered

One of the morning’s most stirring calls came from central NSW, where a convoy of 27 vintage tractors had set off the day before in memory of a much-loved local mechanic, Trevor, who passed away suddenly last year. His daughter rang in from the road — her voice emotional, but proud — describing how farmers, family friends, and mechanics had polished up their rusting Masseys, Fergies and Deeres for a slow journey between Gilgandra and Dubbo, raising funds for mental health charities. “Dad could fix anything with a motor, but he was hopeless at asking for help,” she said quietly. Each tractor bore a ribbon with his name stitched in, and as they crawled along the bitumen, strangers waved them on from paddocks and shopfronts. “The noise was deafening — all that diesel and memory.” She said her dad would have hated the fuss, but loved the turnout. Macca let the silence sit after she signed off, then softly said: “That’s Australia right there.”

In Winton, Poetry Stitched in Cloth

A cheerful call from Winton’s old CWA hall brought a welcome contrast — Betty, in her 80s, described how a group of local women had just completed a massive embroidered panel depicting the history of the region, from the Dreamtime serpent winding through the hills to shearers striking under a boiling sun. “It took us three years,” she said. “I had to unpick the barbed wire fence twice because the tension was wrong.” The panel, 9 metres long and stitched with every imaginable thread, is now the pride of the shire, and will be unveiled during the upcoming Outback Festival. Betty chuckled that her great-granddaughter had embroidered the QR code onto the corner so people could scan it and learn more — “we’re not that behind the times.” Macca was clearly charmed, and promised to make a detour to see the cloth if he’s ever up that way again.

An Emu Invasion in the South West

From near Lake Grace in WA, a wheat and sheep farmer rang to report a strange emu phenomenon — more than 100 of them, wandering through his recently sown crop in a slow, silent procession. “They’re not eating it, just walking through like they’re off to vote,” he said, mystified. He’s seen flocks before, but never so many, and never so determined. A local ecologist he spoke to reckons the birds are tracking ground vibration — following the memory of ancient songlines or the promise of water. “All I know is they ruined half a paddock and left not one feather behind,” he said. Macca wondered aloud whether the emus knew something we didn’t. “I wouldn’t put it past them,” the farmer laughed. “They’ve been outthinking us since 1932.”

Shed Music in Suburban Tasmania

A quieter but equally rich story came from Margate, just south of Hobart, where a recently retired school principal named Tom has transformed his backyard shed into a monthly chamber music venue. “We fit about 14 people, two cellists, and a kettle,” he said. The idea started with some friends during lockdown and now draws string players from around the region who squeeze between gardening tools and a model train set to play Mozart quartets. His latest guest was an 18-year-old violinist from Burnie who had never played to a live audience before. “She nearly cried,” he said. “So did we.” The concerts are free, the acoustics are better than expected, and his wife bakes scones for intermission. Macca, ever the musical magpie, seemed genuinely moved.

A Poem Rediscovered

Fax machines aren’t extinct, at least not on Australia All Over. A listener from Gundagai, digging through his late father’s war trunk, found a yellowed envelope with a poem scrawled on the back of an old invoice. The handwriting was faded but legible, the rhymes simple but steady: a bushman’s tribute to a fallen horse, written in 1944. Macca read it slowly — each line ending with the soft sound of dust and boots — and when he finished, there was a moment’s pause. “Whoever wrote that,” he said, “wasn’t trying to be fancy. Just true.” The caller said he’s sending a copy to the Australian War Memorial.

Other Highlights

• A Brisbane caller checking in from a wool shed in Dirranbandi where a “shearing school” is being trialled for high schoolers. “Kids with clippers learning to crutch and count — we’re keeping the skills alive.”
• A quick hello from a family camped by a frozen creek in Omeo, in Victoria’s high country. “Minus three this morning, billy froze solid — but the stars last night were magic.”
• A pilot from Cairns, tuning in during his pre-flight checks at 5 a.m., who thanked Macca for “keeping me company in the dark before I head into the blue.”
• A guest appearance by a volunteer meteorite hunter who helped confirm a recent find in South Australia’s Gawler Ranges — a 1.3 kg rock from space, now being studied by geologists in Adelaide. “It rang like iron when I tapped it with a hammer,” he said. 

Listen to the podcast episode here.

Disclaimer: Brisbane Suburbs Online News has no affiliation with Ian McNamara or the “Australia All Over Show.” This weekly review is an attempt to share the wonderful stories that Ian broadcasts each week and add value to what is a smorgasbord of great insights.