Journey
into the heart of Australia to experience and cherish the unique Outback
through the camera and words of Terry Underwood - wife, mother, cattlewoman,
nurse, book-keeper, cook, counsellor, gardener, photographer and writer.
These are just some of the roles Terry juggles each day on her remote and
beloved Riveren Station, 600 kilometres south west of Katherine in the Northern
Territory.
Terry
Underwood, writer and photographer, lives on a remote cattle station in
Northern Territory, Australia. Terry's best-seller called In The
Middle Of Nowhere, tells her story beginning in the bright lights
of Sydney where she first met husband, John Underwood. The
couple married in the early 60's and took up family life in a bough
shed, without electricity or running water, 600 kilometres from anywhere,
at Riveren. Today, Riveren, three
thousand square kilometres of cattle station, supports sixteen thousand
head of Brahman cattle.
Ambassador for the Outback
Terry's
photography and her many speaking engagements have also helped convey a
sense of what is so special about the Northern Territory, the Australian
outback and its people, to a much wider audience. As Ambassador for 'Year
of the Outback', Terry was to not only initiate the idea but also to
coordinate a major fund raising exercise for the Katherine Icon - the stockman's
tribute. This one and a half times larger-than-life-sized bronze
statue of a stockman on horseback by outback sculptor Archie St Clair, is
a lasting tribute to the pioneers of the pastoral industry.
Through
the generosity of 86 sponsors worldwide the dream became a reality. Terry
Underwood stated in her address at the Official Opening Ceremony:
'I did not have to search for a role model. There was one obvious person, one who qualified beyond dispute in a variety of ways. With the blessing of Dorothy and family, I announced that Sabu Peter Sing was the role model for the Katherine Icon.
A gentle humble man , he was our mate. He rode beside my husband John and many of you gathered here today. Sabu's outstanding skills as bushman, horseman, stockman and cattleman were widely recognised and acclaimed. Born of the Wardaman tribe, Sabu epitomised different races and cultures. At Wave Hill Station, he met his match and in 1970 Dorothy became his wife and soul mate. Tragically killed in 1993, Sabu's spirit lives on through his children Samantha, Gregory, Lionel and Damien. And now through Sabu, the chosen representative of all people - blackfella, whitefella, yellafella - our history and heritage will be immortalised. We are all inextricably linked'.