Season 10 of Back Roads begins next week on ABC with host Heather Ewart in Julia Creek, Queensland.
Even in this day and age, it’s sometimes assumed it’s the men who run the show in the Outback. Heather Ewart heads to north-west Queensland to put that to the test in the tiny remote town of Julia Creek.
Heather arrives for the town’s annual Dirt n Dust Festival. Visitors from across the country get down and dirty in events ranging from a gruelling adventure race, to one of the state’s toughest rodeos, race day fashions on the field and a dazzling line-up of live music. It’s all run by Sheree Pratt, clothing designer, business owner, sparky and the festival’s dynamic director. She says it’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on, including its highlight – Australia’s Best Butt competition. How does it feel to have a crowd of 3,000 cheer you on as you shake your booty at them?
Heather meets 81-year-old Joni Curr, who came to Julia Creek as a 19-year-old to run the cattle station she won in a land ballot. It’s a story worthy of a best-selling romance novel – except it actually happened and has spawned a dynasty of strong young women as a result. Amy Tinning tells Heather she realised her childhood dream of having an international dance career despite living on a remote cattle property.
Amy arrived in Julia Creek determined to give other bush kids a chance of realising their dance dreams, like 12year-old Alice who’s been dancing since she was 3 years old and isn’t letting living in the outback hold her back.
Teacher Kylie Cook shows Heather how she and her family survived the catastrophic floods in 2019, that wiped out hundreds of thousands of livestock in the region. She says the women of the community pulled together to recover – including rebuilding the Dirt n Dust festival.
8pm Tuesday on ABC.
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