Channel Country Ladies Day sees hundreds flood to outback ghost town of Betoota
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The population of Australia's smallest town increased from zero to 200 for the fifth annual Channel Country Ladies day.
The event brought women from remote properties together to concentrate on their health and well-being, under the guise of cocktails and pampering.
Committee president Michelle Rae said the Betoota race track, in Queensland's south-west, was transformed into a hub for guest speakers, shopping stalls, beauty treatments and health providers.
"I live on an isolated cattle property; we've got staff and the family, but you haven't got those connections or those friends there," she said.
"You miss that female interaction and you don't realise you need it until you don't have it.
"It lifts them up [and] it gives them that opportunity to do things they wouldn't usually do and just focus on themselves.
"It's just unexplainable really the effect it has and the vibe it creates."
Ms Rae said after years of drought, this year's event was upbeat.
"Even the drive out here ... you're already lifted by the time you get here — it's just green and wildflowers, just wildlife everywhere, [and] cattle brought in are already getting fat," she said.
Quineen Gilby travelled from Bedourie for the event and enjoyed the luxury of being pampered.
"I got a massage and I hadn't had one in a really long time. I got my toenails painted, I had a look at all the stalls," Ms Gilby said.
"Definitely one of the highlights was the food.
"Compared to what we usually get out here, it's usually steak and just veg, but we've had a few different things which was really nice.
"You don't usually get this stuff out here so definitely [we're] freshened up ready to go again.
"All the men have their time at the pub and us girls don't get much so it's good to just hang around with the girls for once."
Katie Brown, originally from the channel country, travelled from a remote station near Onslow in Western Australia.
"I think it's really important for station women to get away and to come to things like this," she said.
"When you do get to go to town, you never get a chance to do an art class or do something that's really for you [so] I've just really enjoyed catching up with everyone."
Serious side to event
Amid the glitz and glamour, some women were reflecting on issues faced by remote women, including access to health services.
This year a number of women missed the occasion because of treatment for breast cancer.
Leonie Nunn, who lives south-west of Longreach, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.
"There's been so many people diagnosed ... There wouldn't be one person here that cancer in some form or another hasn't touched," she said.
"It's really hard for women living in isolated areas because you have to go away for treatment and it's what's happening at home and you're away in a different environment — that is a big thing.
"I'm particularly thinking of someone today who has just been diagnosed and her journey's just starting.
"And you do have to look at it as a journey and sometimes it's not a very pleasant journey."
She said after consultation with doctors she decided to undergo a mastectomy.
"Living where I live for me it would mean if I didn't have a mastectomy, I would be away for quite a long time having radiation," Ms Nunn said.
"The tablet I took caused osteoporosis and depression, but I've learned to deal with that.
"I've got a better understanding of mental health issues now and an appreciation of people and what they go through.
"I consider myself a really lucky person. I'm nine years down the track and have stopped taking medication."
Ms Nunn welcomed the event's approach to tackling the big issues in a relaxed and upbeat environment.
"Even if one person goes home and checks themselves and finds out they're not fine then it's worth it," she said.
"Your mental health and your physical health are the most two important things in your life."
Mobile Women's Health nurse Cheryl Hawkins presented at the event, urging women to become "breast aware".
"You grow them, you know them," she said.
"It's really important — knowing your body and knowing any changes."
Topics: people, human-interest, community-organisations, community-and-multicultural-festivals, charities-and-community-organisations, womens-health, health, rural-women, rural, birdsville-4482, longreach-4730, qld, australia
