Western Queenslanders relished being once again able to publicly honour their servicemen and women on Anzac Day as much as the rest of Australia, none more so than the community of Morven.
It was able to shine the lights on an eye-catching laser-cut representation of the Commonwealth Australian Military Forces insignia that had been created by Kylee and Mick Tindale-Smith for the community's cenotaph.
It was an idea brought to the Morven Progress Association and the result has been hailed as a stunning expression of the regard that the country's military personnel are held in, in the district.
Also cut from steel a camouflaged sentry stands on either side of the insignia, guarding it and the cenotaph for time immemorial.
The insignia was painstakingly redrawn by Kylee into the computer program Mick uses to control the laser cutter.
The pair also made the light box and field of poppies in front of the insignia.
Flashback: Rural Queensland lights up the dawn
A pride in the character of Australia's soldiers is what motivated station cook Jodi Lake to compile a comprehensive pictorial representation of some of our military campaigns that she displayed in Blackall for Anzac Day.
Jodi, 42, went rouseabouting and jillarooing after graduating from the Longreach Pastoral College in 1998, turning to cooking in 2006.
It was while she was at Brunette Downs in 2015 that she became inspired to find out more about why Anzac Day had such an important place in the hearts of Australians, in the lead-up to the centenary of the Gallipoli landing.
"I didn't know anything more than that but now it's become the only day I really care about," she said. "I want all the young staff I cook for to relate to what Anzac Day means, and people relate to pictures - that's why I started collecting images."
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Most of them have been sourced from the Australian War Memorial, along with the information that accompanies them.
Jodi said she had no idea how many there were but the more she researched, the more interesting she found it.
"What it shows is what they had to go through and how they managed it," she said. "Really, all of us working in the bush now need to toughen up - when I see this, I feel like we've got nothing to worry about."
She wants to reach as many young people as she can - last year it was the staff at Isis Downs and this year it was the community of Blackall, a full circle for Jodi, whose grandmother Dulcie Hauff grew up there.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
