"Keeping up with the Joneses" a new reality Oz series, following a year in the life a a very large cattle station near Darwin, premiered tonight.
A hooting tooting heli mustering, croc chasing bag of fun...probably the best advertisment demonstrating the effectiveness and utility of light helicopters in remote areas.
Tonight's highlights included dropping a station hand by static line onto a crocidile nest to harvest croc egs.... and a 20 year old newbie pilot wearing board shorts who arrived without a hat.
New outback drama: Keeping Up With The Joneses - TV Week - TV News
Outback drama
It's a hard and lonely life on an outback cattle station - but the stars of this new reality series absolutely love it.
A cheeky crocodile snaps its jaws after being woken by stock farmer Milton Jones and his four-year-old son Milton Junior.
On the horizon a fleet of choppers buzzes overhead as they zoom over a waterfall-laden ridge and the thundering sound of a herd of cattle echoes across the cliff faces. Welcome to Coolibah Station, home of the Joneses.
Since purchasing the property with a wad of cold-hard cash back in 1988, straight-shooting Milton Senior has worked his butt off, living and working on the land of his 1.3 million-acre property in the Northern Territory.
Wrangling crocs, battling bushfires, drought and mustering cattle with the help of his 42-strong helicopter fleet, there's never a dull moment at the station.
"Making ends meet and making money is always hard work," Milton tells TV WEEK from the station, located more than 200km from the nearest town, Katherine.
"During the wet season we are trapped here, it's like an island. The river comes up three months of the year and you're isolated. We started out here with nothing, but [now] we're doin' alright."
Now, Milton and his family, along with everyone putting in the hard yakka at the station, have opened up their door to share their piece of paradise with the rest of Australia in Keeping Up With The Joneses.
Meet the clan
Milton Jones, 42
Raised in the Northern Territory and with mustering in his blood, this boss, husband and father left school at 16. Married to his second wife Cristina, Milton has three kids: teenagers Beau and Alex, plus Milton Jr. While he admits he can be a tough nut, he's always fair. "I think I am probably a hard bastard," he says with the trademark chuckle viewers will learn to love.
Cristina Jones, 35
Managing accounts and the homestead is all in a day's work for this horse lover. After meeting Milton at a Campdraft, a country horse racing event, more than eight years ago, she was initially recruited to help her now husband with his books, but love soon blossomed. "He fell deeply in love with me," she laughs.
Little Milton, 4
A little man growing up in a very adult world, this happy-go-lucky youngster is the life of the property. Rarely mixing with kids his own age and set to begin School Of The Air this year, his upbringing is unique.
"He doesn't like school much, he would rather go and do what his dad's doing," Cristina says.
Little Milton will no doubt be the series fave.
Hamish Mundel, 30
Boys and their toys! There's nothing that gets Hamish more excited than packing up his road train and hitting the highway.
Hamish comes to muster at the station every year with his wife, Kristie. "He is a likeable critter," Milton says of his brother-in-law. "He is talented, a good truck driver and great with the horses."
Jeff O'Connor, 20
With a twinkle in his eye, this Sunshine Coast lifesaver causes quite a stir when he first arrives at Coolibah. He has his chopper licence and wants to roll with the big boys.
"You've got to earn your stripes and he probably won't last here," Milton says. "He's a hardworking, bubbly guy, but he really lacks common sense."
Trevor Easton, 60
"He has his good and bad points," Milton says. Known as the "cranky chef" of Coolibah, this "ten pound Pom", who arrived in Australia in 1971, is the man behind slaughtering livestock and feeding the drovers who work at the station. "I left last year because I'd had enough, but here I am," Trevor confesses.
Raine Pugh, 22
This jillaroo has a heart of gold, but she knows how to mix it with the big boys.
"Just because I'm a girl it doesn't mean I can't be as good as any man out there," says Raine, the daughter of a croc farmer.
"She's a good kid," Milton says, adding, "She has come from nowhere and has never had much. She appreciates the job and a wage."
Kristie Mundel, 28
While her man works the land, Kristie helps Cristina around the sprawling rural property with household chores, including collecting the weekly food delivery and helping with Little Milton's schooling.
Kristie gets a surprise when her husband treats her to a riverside dinner for their one-year anniversary.
Fast facts
1. Coolibah is more than 1000 km and a six-hour drive from the nearest city, Darwin.
2. There are more than 5000 crocodiles lurking in the wetlands of Coolibah.
3. While 1955 Aussie movie Jedda was filmed at Coolibah, the Joneses turned down Baz Luhrmann's offer to shoot his 2008 epic Australia on the station. "We weren't keen on their attitude, so we said no," Milton admits.
4. In 1991, Milton and the station hands camped on the roof of the homestead due to rising floodwaters.
5. The Joneses can make up to $100,000 per road train load of cattle and they usually send nine at a time.
6. The helicopter musterers did 20,000 flying hours last year. There have been six helicopter-related deaths over the past four years.
7. A cowboy hat from country music legend Willie Nelson hangs in the homestead - a gift for Milton who met him 15 years ago.
8. There are more than 15,000 cattle to muster on the station.
9. The Joneses only make it to Darwin four times a year.
10. Teenagers Beau and Alex attend a boarding school in Brisbane and return to the station in the holidays.
Mickjoebill