More Than Mail

Keri Prandolini is a woman to admire. She never backs away from giving anything a try and has had some big adventures in her life. Kez has done everything from living overseas, working on massive properties, running her own side hussles and even birthing her oldest son in the kitchen at Iffley Station. She also trains workdogs, who she likes to name after songs. Keri has driven the mail run and has some fond memories of her time on the road delivering the post. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]

Julie McAuley came North from Victoria with her husband Peter for a job interview in the early 80s. They never left.  Together they have worked hard to build a property of their own, starting from scratch and mustering during school holidays for the helpers. Julie reminisces about the huge change moving so far from home was. Whether it's the water, the people, the town - who knows - but there is definitely something that gets in your blood when you head to North West Queensland. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]

Tim Pratt loves driving and trucks in particular. He can be found loading cattle and getting them to their destination at any time, night or day. Tim's love of driving started early, when he took any opportunity, he could to jump in his parent's mail truck and deliver the mail and freight with his dad on the Normanton mail run as a kid, a measly 21 hour round trip. In a full circle moment, Tim and his wife Groove, later went on to have the Normanton mail run contract themselves. Tim is a local Julia Creek boy who spread his wings to Cloncurry for a while, but returned home. His love of trucks started early and Tim & Groove now operate Pratt Cattle Transport. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]

Eliza Callaghan served in the Royal Australian Navy, and took her holidays to coincide with country race meetings. From the middle of the ocean to remote Queensland, because she loves racing. Growing up helping her Pop, Ilfracombe trainer Boy Forster, Eliza knew from a young age she wanted to be involved in the racing industry, and started learning the race day ropes early. Owning and strapping is where Eliza has found her niche, with New York World currently racing in her colours at country tracks. And... Eliza is also the only** country strapper to have also strapped a Group One winner! **not fact checked :) Eliza lead Apache Chase for his Kingsford Smith Cup win in 2022 for Aunty and trainer Desleigh Forster.  More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]

Emma Morton grew up on Pandie Pandie Station, 30kms from Birdsville. The Birdsville races have been a big part of her, and her family's life. Growing up with horses and races Emma always wanted to follow in her grandfather and father's footsteps and become a trainer. Life got in the way for a little while, but Emma has come full circle and took out her trainer's licence 12 months ago. She now continues her family legacy. This weekend is a big one for Emma and her family, with them all heading 'home' to Birdsville for the Birdsville races - which is basically Birdsville Christmas. Emma isn't lining any horses up this year, but there's plenty of time for that in years to come. For now, it's about catching up with those she grew up with. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]  

Robbie Katter came on the mail run, meet consitituents at mailboxes, chatted for this podcast episode and opened the gates. Good day all round.  Robbie has been in State Parliament since 2012, representing firstly Mount Isa and now Traeger. And as much as we talked about being a politician (don't panic, there's no policy conversations!) it was great to chat about where we live. We also covered what it was like growing up with Bob Katter as your dad, and answering the phone to John Howard! There's also plenty sounds of the mail run throughout the chat. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]    

A teenage Julie Eggerling drove her grandfather to the races one day and that was it, she was hooked.  Julie has owned many horses , bred a lot of her own and bought others in as ready to race horses. She gets joy from all of them.  Working in the stables and being hands on every day sets Julie apart from most owners, and she loves that she still gets to nurture the connection with horses she's always had.  Julie is the owners rep on the Central West committee and played an instrumental role in resurrecting the now very successful Alpha Jockey Club.  Julie also makes a mean corn meat sandwich.  More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]  

Holding a dual jockey and trainer's licence is not for the faint hearted.  Tash Chambers is one of a handful of females doing just that.  Tash struggled with weight through her apprenticeship, wasting to make rides every week.  A two year break followed, before making a come back in the North West.  Tash put in the hard yards when she moved west, including a pretty scary fall at Julia Creek.   Despite more downs than ups, Tash's love of winning has always kept her coming back.  Faced with a lack of opportunities, Tash didn't let that stop her jockey career, taking out a trainer's licence to create her own chances.  And it has been full steam ahead since. Tash has had runners in high profile provisional races, won the Pallarenda Stakes and had metro starters.  More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]  

Mackay based John Mazelmann knows how to train a winner in both thoroughbred and harness racing, having racked up well over 1000 wins in each code. Traditionally a harness man, John swapped to the gallopers simply because the harness track numbers disappeared. John now has over 50 thoroughbreds in work, with runners at mutiple tracks every weekend.  Lachie Manzlemann followed in his dad's footsteps, taking out a group one as a harness driver as well as training both pacers and trotters. Lachie has also now turned his hand to training thoroughbreds and has made the move to Mackay to give the country circuit a good hitout. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]

Ray Hermann is an unassuming country racehorse trainer. But in another life, he won seven Australian bronc riding titles, and two world titles. He is a legend of rodeo. Ray, or Cowboy as he is known, started with race horses, took a 30 year detour to the rodeo lifestyle, and is now back training horses.  Cowboy's passion for the sport of rodeo is obvious when you get him talking about it. Even the scary moments, which actually having nothing to do with riding rank roughstock, and everything to do with small plane rides. More Than Mail is proudly brought to you by Brodie Agencies, McKinlay. Contact Jim Brodie on 0427468713. You can follow More Than Mail adventures on Instagram, on Facebook, or at morethanmail.com.au  Or, you can send me an email [email protected]