More Than Mail

Duncan Fysh was passionate about many things, with keeping a record of history high on his list. Duncan spent years contributing local history stories to The Prickly Post. Spending his early years at Toolebuc, Duncan's family moved to Answer Downs after WWII. Both in the McKinlay district. From there it was to Proa for 50 odd years. Julia Creek became home and his passion grew to take in the Town and Country Club. Duncan was always on the hunt for his next big fossil and enjoyed flying. Duncan also had the Nelia mail run for seven years in the 90s. Most of all, Duncan loved a chat. Duncan passed away on October 16, 2023 aged 84. It was a privilege to reminisce with Duncan about his life. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Isaac Carmona grew up in Barcelona, population 1.6 million. For the last two tourists seasons, Isaac has worked at the Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay, population 10. Despite the obvious differences, Isaac has loved working in such a small town. The tourists have filled his book with suggestions of places to visit in Australia, and he has fine tuned his English. Which has mostly meant learning a whole lot of slang. Isaac's excitement for local events rubs off. His enjoyment of places and events that locals take for granted make you step back and realise just how fortunate we are to be living amongst such wide open spaces. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Luke McNeven worked on properties north of Julia Creek before calling Colwell home for 13 years. First as a base while working at Eloise Mine, before managing the property. Luke, with wife Mary-Ann and their three daughters, took the opportunity to buy their own place after Colwell was sold. And started a new life as bee keepers. Actual real life bee keepers! Luke has had to learn about a completely new industry. And how to keep 'his girls' happy. He has also discovered producing honey is a little different to producing beef. Learn more about Mrs O'Connell's Raw Honey. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Danielle Wust went to France for a gap year, skyped her parents and discovered they had bought the Walkabout Creek Hotel and upped and moved. Danielle quickly refreshed her memory of all things Crocodile Dundee, but ironically could not get a job in the namesake hotel in France. A big mail user, Danielle has mail tales from all over the world, including working at Amazon in Scotland (and literally being stuck in Scotland during the pandemic!). Danielle has spent the past two tourist season working at the Walkbout, and made some great memories while working behind the bar, in the kitchen, cleaning and in the mail room. Her energy levels are next level. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Mount Isa School of the Air is the standard way of schooling for the kids on the mail run. And for 19 years, majority of them have had the same teacher at some point - Mrs Mills. Jo Mills has always taught the lower year levels at MISOTA and has been able to visit students in their homes and attend activity days and mini schools all over north Queensland and the NT. Mrs Mills has a lot of special memories from her years as at School of the Air, including her first attempt at retirement. Learning the vocabulary of outback kids was no easy task, but Mrs Mills has always taken anything the kids throw at her in her stride. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Angus Brodie once made his sister lead her horse home after a fall, only to discover she'd broken her arm. Growing up at Redland Park, Angus got up to lots of shenanigans. He was also the last child to speak on the radio at Mount Isa School of the Air before the big switch to the phone system. Angus has returned home recently after some adventures, including starting a paddock to plate meat delivery service - Horizon Grazing. Beef from the paddocks of Redland Park delivered to your door. The last few years have been big ones for Angus, becoming a dad to daughter Louie and marrying his wife, Jo. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Makenzie Mills moved north to work and fell in love with the way of life. Growing up in the Hunter Valley, Makenzie followed in her sister's footsteps and headed to Queensland. Five years later Makenzie has worked on various properties including Barkly, Millungera and Coolullah. Makenzie has a great group of friends, loves the long days at work and enjoys the social scene. But it hasn't always been easy being so far from her family. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

The number of TAB country race meetings continues to increase. Branden Wood and Didier Kay are part of the Panosonic Studio Productions (PSPVideo) team and head to country race tracks, providing video footage to Sky Racing for broadcast. Seems like a simple job, but when you are dealing with heat, wind, flies, cold and an assortment of infrastructure, it can sometimes be a little stressful. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Regional Cast supply the footage of non-TAB country race meetings for Racing Queensland. The logistics of covering five, six or seven race meets a weekend across regional Queensland is intricate. General Manager Mark Jones has the job of ensuring Regional Cast find the best solutions for providing the footage from often tricky locations. First hand experience tells us that videoing the races is not as easy as it seems. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Roxy Weston is the photographer behind RLR Photography. Roxy has a passion for photography and racing, combining the two to take fantastic racing photos that are about more than just the winning horse. She also captures the emotions of the jockeys, trainers, strappers and owners. Based in Windorah, Roxy travels thousands of kilometres capturing the horses and the humans of country racing in Queensland. And for that, we are very thankful. Roxy also has a spectacular portfolio of channel country landscapes and wildlife that you will want to hang on your wall. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Jaye Hall grew up at Caiwarra, the most western point of the mail run. An accomplished horsewoman, Jaye remembers having to catch the horses with an old piece of bread when growing up, and just hoped she chose the right direction when finding them on foot. Jaye has worked in America and New Zealand, experiencing different horse sports. But campdrafting has always been Jaye's thing. But being at home at either Bibil at Muttaburra or at Cairwarra is where Jaye is happiest. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Ian Batt grew up on Kooroora, pretty close to McKinlay. Nita Batt (nee Banning) grew up on Cannington. Same (ish) vacinty, but quite a bit further away from McKinlay. Ian and Nita have been married for 69 years. They have six children, and brought their family up on Plainby at Richmond. They remember wars, depressions, the decline of wool prices, losing their house to fire and both rate electricty as the greatest improvement in their lifetime. It's clear the McKinlay community had a great impact on them both. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Jockeys Sarah Robbins and Brooke Richardson are also mums. Sarah's son Dusty is six and daughter Bella is three. Brooke's son Rylan is also six. Getting back on the horse after becoming a mum is a big decision. And both Sarah and Brooke travel thousands of kilometres to get to race meetings across Queensland, adding big travel days in to the mix. Sarah and Brooke take us through the decision to resume race riding post children, and the added joy having their kids support them brings. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Liz Hassett, Jenny Felix, Kate Hassett and Joanna Hassett grew up at Glendower near Prairie. Their dad, Gordan Hassett, trained horses and mum Anna Hassett was Secretary of Prairie Jockey Club for around 40 years. The sisters have all remained in the racing industry in different capacities - owner, jockey manager, administation, trainer. The connections to the horse industry are strong. The sisters chat about their memories growing up with horses, and where the industry has taken them. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Judging horse racing has come a long way. Arthur Wearing has been judging for over 40 years, and only remembers one controversial race in that time. Hugh Westcott has always enjoyed racing and wanted to give something back to his community, so learned the ropes of judging. Arthur and Hugh have shared the judges tower at Hughenden for the past few years, but Arthur has decided that at age 80, 2023 is his last year. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Bore Head was owned by Robert Chaplain from Cloncurry and his sister Carmel Burke, and won the 1965 Caulfield Cup. He won five major cups in his career - Queensland Cup, Ipswich Cup, Australian Cup, Doomben Cup and the Caulfield Cup. Once his racing days were done, Bore Head retired with the Chaplains at Boomera Station where Bob's son Damien remembers riding him as the night horse. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

In 1959 a horse owned by RN Brown from Nonda Downs in North West Queensland won the Melbourne Cup. THE MELBOURNE CUP! Macdougal took The Cup by three lengths, and was lead back in to the saddling paddock by his owner Reg, who had made the long trip to Melbourne. Reg's daughter Heather Pascoe continues her father's genuine affection for horses and continues the family tradition of breeding winners. Heather created the Cloncurry Stockman's Challenge in honour of her father after his passing and it is clear throughout our chat that horses, her family's history and the North hold a special place in her life. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Jay Morris wears two hats in the North West racing industry, trainer and club president. President of Mount Isa Race Club is time consuming, with the Club hosting a minimum of 14 race meets per year. On top of that Jay has around six horses in his stable. Jay does all of this around running his own building company. Jay's training has taken him all over Queensland, and a well earned trio to the Flemington Spring Carnival. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

We're tackling the big issue today - how a photo finish camera works. Jockey Emma Bell talks me through the confusion within the racing industry when jockeys, trainers and connections view the photo finish image. And I try my best to explain why certain things happen they way they do and the the difference between regular photography and strip photography. Here's hoping we clear up some misconceptions and not confuse people even more! More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au

Josh Fleming started racing calling at age 14. It was Longreach, December 5, 1998. The following September Josh called his first Birdsville races. Fast forward to 2023 and Josh is Brisbane's #1 race caller, calling Eagle Farm, Doomben and the Sunshine Coast. His voice is familiar to racing enthusiasts everywhere. And yet it's Birdsville that Josh holds the fondest memories of, calling the iconic race meet for the 20th time this year. Josh grew up in Barcaldine, found his callers feet at country race meets across Queensland, and is an country racing advocate. Josh is very vocal about the opportunities he got in the country leading him to where he is today. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713 or Lachy Smith on 0401168915. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au Or, you can send me an email hello@morethanmail.com.au