97-Year-Old Australian Rancher Still Works Daily on Outback Station
Doug Harrison refuses to retire at 97, spending every day working on his family's sheep and cattle station in the Australian outback with his chihuahua by his side. After eight decades on the land, three generations now work together at Langwell Station near Broken Hill.
At 97, most people would be slowing down, but Doug Harrison still wakes up every morning ready to work on his outback cattle station.
"If you get to the stage where you haven't got anything to do when you get up in the morning, what's the point of getting up?" he says. Doug scoots around Langwell Station on his trusty gopher with his pet chihuahua Ilhi never far from his side.
The grazier has lived on the property 55 kilometers south of Broken Hill since 1932, when his parents bought the land. He was just three years old then, and he's been tending sheep and cattle there ever since.
After finishing boarding school in Adelaide in 1946, Doug returned home at 17 to work alongside his father. He married his late wife Joy, a school teacher, in 1952, and together they raised three children on the station.
Doug's life on the land brought unexpected adventures, including learning to fly at 23 after a few beers convinced him to try. Despite thinking he couldn't do it because he'd never even made a kite fly as a kid, he went on to earn his commercial pilot's license and flew mail runs and mustering jobs across western New South Wales.
The tough times tested his resilience, like the devastating 1982 drought when a dust storm buried 800 sheep overnight. "All you'd see on the ground was bumps," he recalls. But Doug's philosophy kept him going: just get up in the morning and carry on.
Today, three generations work together at Langwell. Doug's middle son Mitch now manages the property, while eldest son Chris helps out when he's not working as an aircraft mechanic at Broken Hill airport. Their wives and Doug's grandchildren pitch in too, keeping the family operation running strong.
Sunny's Take
What makes Doug's story so heartwarming isn't just his impressive age or his refusal to retire. It's watching a family built around shared purpose and love of the land. The same property where Doug learned to work as a small boy now hosts his sons, grandchildren, and daughters-in-law working side by side. While things might be slowing down a bit, the spirit of Langwell Station remains as vibrant as ever.
Doug still drives his ute and tractor around the property, cuppa in hand, living proof that purpose keeps us young.
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Based on reporting by ABC Australia
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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