Barkly Women’s Day November 2016

Wow, it seems so long ago now that I met our fabulous guest speakers for Barkly Women’s Day at the Mt Isa Airport.  We had the best weekend and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

A couple of weeks ago 4 fabulous Bloggers flew in from various destinations to make their way out to the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse in the Northern Territory.  This is a Roadhouse like no other and I have spoken about it in many a blog post, so if you want to know more about it you can find out HERE and HERE.  Those posts will tell you what the day is all about and give you an idea of just how big this remote roadhouse, in the middle of nowhere, really is.

But lets talk about more important things… like our fabulous guest speakers.  I was lucky enough to meet this bunch of women back in 2014 when I attended my very first ProBlogger Conference on the Gold Coast.  You see I had started blogging after my friend, Flick, told me to have a read of this blog called Baby Mac.   Flick told me she had been reading this blog for years and I couldn’t believe she had kept it a secret from me all this time.  So off I went and didn’t stop reading for about 3 days, Beth calls those sort of people Super Fans and that is definitely what I became.   From here I found out about Styling You, Woogsworld and Cooker and a Looker.

So after quite a bit of stalking and digging deep I felt like I knew these women.  Then I really met them, now we are actually friends, like – in real life.  Can you even believe it.  The internet is an amazing place.  It will take you all over the world and introduce you to some wonderful people.  I didn’t ever think for one second that this would happen, I just wanted to share my story with people, I didn’t think many people would actually read it.  But you know what – they do, and I just can’t believe the beautiful people who have come into my life.

After collecting this great bunch from Mt Isa International we headed to The Isa Hotel for a quick bite to eat with Mr Chardy – I am pretty sure it was his worsts nightmare sitting amongst 5 bloggers who were all madly photographing stuff and Instagramming it.  It was like me going to a campdraft meeting.

Anyway, Amanda had hired a car thank goodness, so we convoyed out together.  First stop – my local: The Crab Pot (The Camooweal Pub) – easy to get into and hard to get out of, but we managed to make it a snappy one.

Then off to the border so Nikki from Styling You could take her #everydaystyle photo.

After a couple more stops along the road (I have never stopped so much in my life, ha ha ha) we finally made it to The Barkly Homestead.  I am pretty sure the girls thought we were never going to get there and they were absolutely hanging for something cold and bubbly so when this appeared before us I think they nearly cried…

My friend Flick had of course prepared some welcome drinks that were SECOND TO NONE!!!  (Baby Mac even wrote a blog post just about Lady Mouse – aka Flick – you can read it HERE) You see this sort of caper is her specialty, it was basically a G&T bar but she had also catered for Miss Chardy with this special bottle of wine from her friends winery…

Gosh it was a great welcome, everyone settled right on in.

The next morning it was time to get up, primp and set up for the day.  Thank goodness Baby Mac and Flick were on board to help.  Baby Mac has superior Tablescaping skills and she didn’t disappoint.  She also didn’t have a whole lot to work with.

Women travelled, once again, from all over the NT.  My friend Ruthie even had to overnight in Tennant Creek.  Another friend, Bec, just popped up for the day in her plane.

Guest were greeted with a glass of bubbles on arrival.  The day was run a little differently this time, all the guest speakers sat up the front as a panel and I did a bit of a Q&A session with them,  The audience was encouraged to ask as many questions as they could think of.   It was all very relaxed and I am pretty sure everyone really enjoyed the panel.  Afterwards it was time for a delicious lunch and more catching up.

The girls from KICS (Katherine Isolated Children’s Association) travelled all the way down to hold a playgroup for the kids which gives the Mum’s a much needed break so they can catch up with friends.

It was a very hot day so we retired to the pool in the afternoon.

I can’t even begin to tell you what fabulous time we had, there was so much laughter, these memories will last forever.

And you know what else hit home for me… the women of outback Australia really are something else.  These bloggers were just gobsmacked after listening to what all the women do.  We don’t think much of it and just get on with it but I suppose it is a unique lifestyle, I guess you just get used to it.

Thank you so much for travelling all the way up Beth, Nikki, Kayte and Amanda, we are so glad you did.  I know it was a very long haul home for you, but now you know what it is like to travel from Bum Truck Nowhere, ha ha ha ha.

This day would not be possible without our fabulous sponsors, so I would like to do a huge shout out to Ridley Rumevite & Napco (our major sponsors).

We appreciate your support more than you can imagine.  It is just so important for these remote women to have regular catch ups, so THANK YOU!

If you would like to read more about this fabulous weekend then just head on over and read these posts…

Baby Mac

Woogsworld

Styling You

Cooker and a Looker

So tell me, were you there?
Perhaps you hold your own Women’s Day.
These days are just so important aren’t they!!