Robyn Russell grew up on Charlotte Plains, near Cunnamulla, in south-west Queensland. The property has been in her family now for 100 years. A century of ownership, with Robyn at the helm (not the entire time, of course - she's too young for that!).

It’s not the first time she has been the sole operator keeping Charlotte Plains running. Indeed, she and her husband Reid spent four years running their family operations – Robyn’s at Charlotte Plains and Reid’s at Plain Creek, south of Charters Towers – separately and together. There’s a bit of distance between the two places, but they were determined to make it work, and they did.

Charlotte Plains is the backdrop for a lot of this conversation. It was where Robyn first met Reid, where their romance blossomed and waned and blossomed again over a 7-year courtship, and it’s been the predominant place she’s called home for her +70 years.

In this conversation, we talk about Robyn’s two great loves: Reid and Charlotte Plains. Reid died in 2011. It meant a great deal of change for Robyn. Charlotte Plains has called for Robyn to similarly adjust over seasons of drought.

We also talk about Robyn’s time travelling overseas in her twenties – it’s not the story of a global jaunt we are used to today. We talk about life away from the land, struggling with succession, and how Robyn bought her first home by door knocking in the neighbourhood.

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