- Zabby and her husband Loid have raised raised four kids in rural Queensland
- In 2019, she discovered GirlsTrek – a travel company that plans guided, female-only outdoor adventures
- The hiking trips brought new friendships and has allowed her to reconnect her with old mates
Here, Zabby Appleton, 44, from Belyando, Qld, shares her story in her own words.
Gathering the kids, I served up a hearty meal of steak and vegies.
‘Dig in,’ I beamed, inviting my husband Loid, and our employees to fill their plates too.
Loid and I owned a cattle company, and lived a life surrounded by animals, family, and station hands who helped run the farm.
We met back in 2000 at the Townsville races, when I was 18 and Loid was 22.
I was a country girl and Loid was a farm boy, so we knew in our hearts we’d venture further into the bush someday, to start a family and run a business.
After our wedding in 2003, we welcomed our daughter Charli the following September.
When she was one, we formed the family-owned cattle company and acquired a small property in Mallawa, Queensland.
Charli was around cattle before she could even talk.
More children followed – Izzy in December 2006, and our boys, Lochie, in August 2008, and Jack in June 2011.
They all had an appreciation of the outdoors from the start.
Charli always had a pen and notebook in hand, and loved studying nature and the wildlife.
‘This is buffel grass,’ she’d tell her siblings as they tramped around the property.
Izzy loved horses, her favourite being Sonny, a cheeky buckskin pony.
Saddling up and going for a ride together was the best fun.
Lochie was always playing with a footy and running amok. And Jack was a free spirit who loved being around trucks.
Every two weeks, I’d make the five-hour round trip for the boys’ footy training in Charters Towers, Qld.
While the kids were homeschooled, every term we made the two to three hour drive to Clermont or Charters Towers for a week, where the kids participated in swimming and athletic carnivals.
Over the years, we acquired more property and had thousands of breeding Brahman cattle.
READ MORE: The ‘Sejuela’ sisterhood bringing South America to NSW
READ MORE: I started a hiking group because I was lonely – Now 3,900 women are hiking together
Although life felt full, there was one thing I yearned for – more time with my girlfriends!
They led rural lives too. It meant that our meet-ups were fleeting – scheduled between errands and cattle work.
Of course, our station hands felt like family, but sometimes a woman just needs her mates.
‘I just wish we could have an adventure together,’ I sighed to the girls one day over coffee.
With the kids growing up and some off at boarding school, I sometimes felt a bit isolated.
‘We have each other,’ Loid would comfort me.
But I felt adventure calling…
In 2019 I heard about GirlsTrek – a travel company that plans guided, female-only outdoor adventures.
Scouring their website, I saw they did hiking packages across Australia and the world.
The trails, activities and hotels were included in the price – all you had to do was organise the flights!
‘Let’s treat ourselves and book a trip to Tassie for my 40th!’ I urged the girls.
They were fully on board but then, it was postponed due to Covid.
GirlsTrek gave us a credit voucher and in 2022 my friends and I locked in a trip to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland for a trek over several days. It involved walks of up to six hours – some over steep and rough terrain. But we were country girls and up for the challenge!
Given a training plan, I headed across our vast, flat property towards our dam and walked up and down along the walls in order to get fit.
That autumn, I flew to Brisbane with the girls, then transferred to our accommodation on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
Our group of 12 included women from all walks of life – some young mums, others who were single, and even some grandmas.
Our hike took us through gorgeous rainforests and dense bush.
‘The surroundings change so much here,’ I gasped as we tramped through a towering forest one day.
Being able to chat to my girlfriends without racing away to run errands felt like such a treat.
‘Get in for a photo!’ our guides Frith and Ruth urged, as they snapped pics of us.
When the adventure was over, I decided the next trek couldn’t come soon enough. Thankfully, my mates agreed and, in 2024, two friends and I set off on a trip to Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
This involved navigating historic, coastal, and hilly tracks for four to six hours a day – and we had an arvo of pampering at the Peninsula Hot Springs too.
‘This is the life,’ I sighed, as I sank into the warm water.
READ MORE: Our teenage pact led us to the outback!
‘The scenery is even prettier than I imagined,’ one of the girls said.
Back at our accommodation, we sipped wine and nibbled cheese together, feeling totally recharged and reconnected.
Not only have the trips afforded me more time with my mates, but I’ve also forged connections with other women, staying in touch over the years.
These days when I’m busy with work, I catch myself dreaming of my girls’ trip to the McLaren Valley in SA next year.
We’re sure to make more lifelong memories.
My kids are all living their own big lives and they’re so happy to see me adventuring.
I hope one day my travels will take me overseas. But it doesn’t matter, as long as we are together.
