Everything in Willie Cook’s life was going to plan – he’d met the love of his life, he split his time between flying helicopters and working on his family’s station in the high country of New Zealand, and together with his partner and parents, he’d branched out into his own lease country.


And then it all came crashing down.


In this episode, Willie shares the story of how the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 saw he and his family lose absolutely everything they had, and how he came to Australia for a fresh start.


Willie, his wife Liz, and their two young sons have been in Australia for less than a decade, and they’ve already made serious headway in rebuilding their lives, as well as capturing the hearts of the nation through their time on the ABC tv series Outback Ringer.

Everything in Willie Cook’s life was going to plan – he’d met the love of his life, he split his time between flying helicopters and working on his family’s station in the high country of New Zealand, and together with his partner and parents, he’d branched out into his own lease country. And then it all came crashing down. In this episode, Willie shares the story of how the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 saw he and his family lose absolutely everything they had, and how he came to Australia for a fresh start. Willie, his wife Liz, and their two young sons have been in Australia for less than a decade, and they’ve already made serious headway in rebuilding their lives, as well as capturing the hearts of the nation through their time on the ABC tv series Outback Ringer. <hr>

True stories from the Australian Outback, told by the people who live them.

Meet the men and women who live and work on some of Australia’s most remote cattle stations.

There are tales of mustering, stock camps, working dogs, rogue cattle and hard bloody yakka, but also the fun of a bush wedding or kicking back at a rodeo.

There’s the simple wonder of living in an amazing landscape, but also the downside: the ravages of flood, fire and drought.

And always there’s the inherent danger of isolation – times when the Flying Doctor came to the rescue, but also times when lives have been tragically cut short.

These compelling true-life stories show what outback life is really like – and why many wouldn’t live anywhere else.

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