J for

J is for Jumbuck

An Aussie term for a sheep that is wild or untamed, thereby being hard to catch and shear.

and Jackaroo or Jillaroo

This is just a cool name for a boy or girl who chooses to go out to an outback property as a trainee or apprentice to learn how to be a station manager or overseer or even owner of a working cattle or sheep station.

There is a certain romance about going bush and working on a cattle or sheep station but the reality is that it is not for the faint hearted.

The term was reserved for a raw “Jacky” recruit, mostly from the city or overseas. The work was always hard, hot, dangerous and dirty working with cattle or sheep in the extreme temperatures in central Australia.

Jackaroos work beside the station owners and are treated like they are one of the family.

They were given practical & hands on experience on the running of the stations, looking after 100's of 1000's of livestock & managing the staff and workers.

Now, we still have the Jackaroo or Jillaroo but these days they are at university, going to Stations to work only when they have some 'learning' under their belts.

Some of the more famous Jackaroo incidents usually involve foreign students who, having no experience with the Aussie outback, go missing without adequate water and or fuel supplies. The stations are enormous .. Anna Downs is the biggest at 6,000,000 sq kms. Smaller stations are around 60,000 sq kms. Easy to get lost. Some are found, if lucky, before they die. Some are never found.