Karanja Run

NOW AVAILABLE AS A 6 PART MINI SERIES

Karanja Run (the name honours the aboriginal people on whose traditional land part of the station is located,) is a cattle station located in the Channel country of north Queensland. It is located about two hundred kilometres north of Birdsville. It is approximately ten thousand square kilometres (approx. three thousand, six hundred square miles) in size. The station is operated under a ninety-nine-year pastoral lease that was extended to a further ninety years in the late 1990s.

Around one and a half million head of cattle is the usual stocking number. 

What water the station needs comes from the Wongitta Waterhole and this is supplemented by several bores scattered around Karanja Station.

The distance by road from Brisbane to Karanja Run is a little over two thousand kilometres.

The nearest town is Bedourie, but the only scheduled airline flights to Brisbane are on Tuesdays and Fridays. In contrast, flights from Brisbane are only available on Mondays and Thursdays.

The stock is usually shipped by road train to Winton and then by rail to Rockhampton.

Mail to Karanja Run is delivered by light aircraft as are fresh supplies.

The Flying Doctor Service handles any medical situations.

As there are no nearby schools, children are supervised by their mothers and taught by the School of the Air. For those going on to secondary school, there is no alternative other than boarding school.

As well as the usual tractors, land cruiser utes, motorcycles, and quad bikes the station also runs its fleet of trucks and trailers. Karanja Run also owns a Bell 47 trooper (ex-Korean war) and a Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

Our story starts with the expulsion of Allison after being discovered in a compromising position with another girl. Allison always claimed that it was an innocent incident, but the shame of a same-sex relationship haunted her. She returned to “Karanja Run”. After a short, while her father sent her to be trained as a helicopter pilot working with the cattle movements on “Karanja Run.”   After a short-lived romance with a station hand, she is recruited as a helicopter pilot by the Volunteer Emergency and Search Agency (known generally as VESA).”

Her sister, Gloria trains as a nurse and eventually becomes a Flying Doctor nurse. Their brother Giles prepares to take over and run the family station.

After several rescue operations, Allison and her crew are kidnapped by a crime syndicate.

Her subsequent rescue from an Asian jungle location is a gripping adventure on its own.

Returning from a normal; Flying Doctor mission, Gloria’s aircraft runs into a bad storm, drifts well of course then crash into the thick bush. Her pilot eventually dies from his injuries while Gloria uses all her survival skills waiting for a rescue.

Enduring bushfires and floods all contribute to each other’s strength of character.

Our story concludes with Giles dying in a flood leaving his wife and his sisters to look after Karanja Run.