Two-year-old Masie is growing up 400kms north west of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, on Mt Doreen Station.
“Literally in the middle of nowhere!” said Maisie’s Nanny, Amanda Rosenzweig.
The closest township, ‘Alice’, is four hours drive away. The homesteads driveway alone is 75kms long. Needless to say, it is a lifestyle suited to a select few, with long days and hard work going hand-in-hand with the terrain.
There are also great rewards that come from this life on the terracotta earth- of vibrant mornings resplendent with generous golden sunshine, of freedom to roam, of working as a team and being part of a community. Of family and sticking together.
For the 13 people currently living at Mt Doreen, with others coming and going from the station, there is camaraderie. Together they thrive on the connection to land and what that means to be connected together across the wide, open flat plains. This filters down to the children, the upcoming generations who watch on, listen, build skills and experiment with trial and error on the outskirts, close-by.
An exciting and ever-changing world is open to Maisie, with each sunrise awakening a new day of possibility and play.
“Not many children get to experience this incredible life style, I mean why wouldn’t you want kids to grow up out here,” said Amanda.
“Kids get to experience the every day life of living on a remote cattle station!”
“Maisie is very aware of what is going on and never likes to miss out on the action whether it’s going down to the yards to watch her dad and the crew work cattle or going to collect the mail from the mail plain weekly.”
Amanda has been Maisie’s Nanny for five months and is relishing the experience.
“I love it!” said Amanda via email from the station.
Amanda is originally from the small country town of “Keith” in South Australia, 2000kms from where she is living now. She grew up with 2 younger brothers and many younger cousins that she spent lots of time with. This is where her love of children come about.
Life is very different living 400 kms from the closest town, most fortnights someone drives ½ hour one way to collect the groceries from the back of a refrigerated truck that is on its way to an indigenous community close-by. This allows us to have fresh supplies of fruit and veggies, as well as other cooking supplies.
“You can imagine how much food we go through!”
Each week on a Tuesday Maisie and Amanda drive to the mail plane that flies out from Alice springs and delivers their mail and mail to other stations in their area.
Amanda was inundated when she first put a Facebook post out, looking for a Nanny job in the Northern Territory. Nannies are far and few between along the many stations weaving throughout the middle heart of the country. So too are many of the services available to children and families in major cities and towns.
Lots of kids connect online for lessons when at school, but Amanda said that she couldn’t find a similar interactive experience for younger children.
That is how Maisie and Amanda started attending Playgroup at Home, beaming into the Zoom sessions that first began during lockdown in Victoria, as the global pandemic began to spread, and yet, pandemic or not, Playgroup Victoria quickly realised that many families were isolated, hankering for more connections, meeting them where they are.
“We started using Playgroup at Home live Victoria as there is nothing for kids Maisie’s age in the Northern Territory. We found that Maisie was needing something where she could interact and see other kids playing even though it is through a computer.”
“It’s nice being able to log online every Tuesday and Friday and have the facilitators remember who you are and interact with you!! It’s also nice seeing the same families and facilitators each time!”
Amanda said that the different activities each week keep Maisie interested.
“She loves dancing to the songs they sing and the musical instruments they use.”
It has been five months now, Maisie alongside Amanda, learning together as they go.
“I have seen her develop over time and it’s always good ‘seeing her brain’ tick over when she’s thinking.”
“She’s a highly intelligent and independent little girl and at the moment we are trying to master numbers, she knows most of the numbers 1-10 even if she does say them in the wrong order! We are getting there, slowly!”
“We live in such a beautiful part of the Australian outback and this lifestyle is truly unique!
“No one day is the same,” with the experiences opening themselves out to Maisie.
A childhood rich with learning opportunities and adventure and fun at hand- and stories to pass on and share, with a deep connection to people and the land.
Article by Sinead Halliday