"I found it hard writing this one. I couldn't really pinpoint one specific year that was tough for me. However I did find the drought years really hard to take. Living on a farm during a drought is heartbreaking. However we survived and plenty of people have been through worse with fires, Robyn".
Just looking back, I suppose some of the toughest times for me were the droughts of 1997-1998 and 2006-2007. We were relatively new to farming after moving from Melbourne in 1991. It certainly was a challenging time just adapting to farm life and all the scenarios associated with it.
Another tough time - the 1993 floods when we received 12 inches of rain over a 3 day period. I remember hearing the rain on our tin roof and thinking when is it going to stop. I suppose we were lucky as we came through it relatively unscathed, except for the loss of a few lambs. The cattle ended up on the banks of the dam, so we were able to feed hay out to them. However we did have a windfall with the top soil from our neighbours farm being washed onto our paddocks.
In 1997 we had the beginning of a drought. We planted over a 1,000 trees in August that year, given to us by Landcare. It was hard work as the ground was hard and at that time there weren’t many Hamilton Tree Planters available, so my husband had to use a crowbar. We waited for the rain but it never came and we lost all the trees. Some years later we were given another 2,000 trees to plant. The prisoners from Beechworth came to help us plant them. This was organised through Landcare. The trees are still there today.
In 1998 we still hadn’t had rain by April then the frosts came. I counted over 30 days in a row and one morning when we had -6 our hot water system blew up. Most days our water was frozen until late morning when it finally thawed. During the drought we were regularly buying truck loads of water for the house. Eventually it rained in July.
In 2006 the Spring was the driest on record in the North East District and on our farm we experienced very low rainfall and water shortages. Our dams dried up and our largest dam became two small dams. It was very shallow and we could walk across it.
Another tough time - the 1993 floods when we received 12 inches of rain over a 3 day period. I remember hearing the rain on our tin roof and thinking when is it going to stop. I suppose we were lucky as we came through it relatively unscathed, except for the loss of a few lambs. The cattle ended up on the banks of the dam, so we were able to feed hay out to them. However we did have a windfall with the top soil from our neighbours farm being washed onto our paddocks.
In 1997 we had the beginning of a drought. We planted over a 1,000 trees in August that year, given to us by Landcare. It was hard work as the ground was hard and at that time there weren’t many Hamilton Tree Planters available, so my husband had to use a crowbar. We waited for the rain but it never came and we lost all the trees. Some years later we were given another 2,000 trees to plant. The prisoners from Beechworth came to help us plant them. This was organised through Landcare. The trees are still there today.
In 1998 we still hadn’t had rain by April then the frosts came. I counted over 30 days in a row and one morning when we had -6 our hot water system blew up. Most days our water was frozen until late morning when it finally thawed. During the drought we were regularly buying truck loads of water for the house. Eventually it rained in July.
In 2006 the Spring was the driest on record in the North East District and on our farm we experienced very low rainfall and water shortages. Our dams dried up and our largest dam became two small dams. It was very shallow and we could walk across it.
Our largest dam became two small dams
Our dam which fed our troughs and garden was very deep, but it even became very low.
Whilst we had the drought to contend with in 2006, we had the fires in early 2007. The Mount Buffalo National Park was on fire and at night all we could see was a red glow in the distance. It was a frightening time for us as there were fires quite close in Tatong. The smoke was there every day and we had our bags packed just in case. We had 69 days of fires. It was truly a frightening experience and one we will never forget. Then the rains came.
Our flooded backyard
The dams filled overnight
When the rain came our dams were filled overnight. We had a seasonal creek running through our property and when it rained up the Valley the creek would start to flow.
It certainly was a learning curve for us living through the droughts. Living on the land has its ups and downs as the weather is the governing factor for survival. We did learn resilience, adaption and the delicate balance of life. We learnt to appreciate the good times and adapt to the bad times.
Robyn Desmier
May, 2026
It certainly was a learning curve for us living through the droughts. Living on the land has its ups and downs as the weather is the governing factor for survival. We did learn resilience, adaption and the delicate balance of life. We learnt to appreciate the good times and adapt to the bad times.
Robyn Desmier
May, 2026
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