Outback podcast showcases bush characters on the Kynuna mail run

In 2023, she made the decision to take others on the mail run with her, starting a podcast called, More Than Mail, sharing stories of people on the Kynuna mail run.

But this is not where Ms Climie's story starts.

She first moved to outback Queensland for what was to be only 12 months, almost 18 years ago.

Moving from Western Australia, Ms Climie started her journey in north west Queensland as a governess, teaching children on remote cattle stations.

After working two years as a govie, she planned to move home when she was offered a job in Julia Creek.

Whilst living there, she held a number of positions, including sport and recreation officer at the McKinlay Shire Council for nine years.

One day, she "quit her job on a whim" and decided to help out with the mail run, for only one day a week.

After 12 months, she took over the contract for the mail run, conducting two mail runs a week to 34 mailboxes.

"That was almost seven years ago now. I deliver mail to the Walkabout Creek Hotel (in McKinlay) for their mail run and then I drive the mail run for the Kynuna region," Ms Climie said.

"Each run is 600 kilometres and I do that twice a week. We have a unique mail run in the sense that it is very community orientated, it is like its own community.

"We have our own mailbox secret Santa, mail run lotto, biggest morning tea, mail run book club, mail run show day, and for a while we had a mail run book club.

"All these different things that local communities have, but brought back to a mailbox level. There is always something different happening and it is nice to be a part of peoples lives in a really distant way."

With a background in journalism, Ms Climie had deliberated the idea of creating a podcast, highlighting the characters and stories of the Kynuna mail run.

"I listen to a lot of podcasts because I do a lot of driving and I love listening to ones about people I know. So I was thinking about all these great people on the mail run who have great stories or a loose connection to the mail run, so I sat on it for a few years and then I decided to start it last year.

"I hoped I could get 20 people to talk to me and do a year, but I put out 56 episodes and spoke to 94 people, so it was full on but I loved every moment of it."

Recording episodes on the mail run, Ms Climie said she wanted listeners to get an authentic experience of what it was really like.

"There are two parts to the podcast, one is people who have loose connections to the mail run and most of those are done by phone, and the second is people who live on the mail run.

"They jump in the car and come for a spin with me and have a chat and I run them back later. But you can hear the car rattling as we are driving along and the vibration of going across cattle grids, it really feels like you're sitting in the car with me."

Topics range from how they ended up on the mail run, to people's backgrounds and career, but everyone gets asked the same question at the end of each episode which is 'what would you do if you won the lotto'.

"Everyone has pretty much the same answer which is, 'keep doing what I'm doing but with less debt'. They love what they're doing and they wouldn't change it," Ms Climie said.

"We discuss people's history, the challenges of living out here, and discussions like 'what would you like to have easier access too', favourite part of living in the bush, and finding out more about the people we have so much to do with."

Ms Climie is a tetris champion in her own right, packing everything into her Hilux ute in order of delivery.

"It is a juggling act," she said.

"I have to pack the heavy stuff on the bottom but also pack parcels in order of delivery. Then throw in the odd curve ball of delivering chooks or guinea fowls.

"There are always items to move from one mailbox to the next, if it's hand-me-down clothes or eggs. Last year I had to deliver a poddy lamb and I've delivered a few puppies too.

"This week I went shopping for wedding cards because someone was attending a wedding and hadn't got a card yet, things like that. You become someone they can go to for little things that they can't get easily."

While the furry friends are welcomed companions on the mail run, Ms Climie said there were a number of challenges that accompanied the highlights.

"The wet season is challenging. There are weeks where I cannot complete a full a mail run and that is just part of living up here, but also the wet season is really rough on my gear," she said.

"I am constantly having things break, because the roads are so rough. At the moment there is 60km dirt road that is really rough and it just rattles, suspension breaks and I end up with a sore back.

"Also having the mail contract, mail has to be delivered twice a week, every week of the year, no matter what, so it is hard to find staff, to have a day off. I have the most amazing back up driver, Jess, but if she is busy you still have to deliver the mail. If you wake up crook, you've still got to deliver the mail.

"The mail run is great and you really get to connect with people. We host a mail run show day, where kids enter their best dressed pet or cutest pet, and they have to meet me at the mailbox with their pet.

"One year a girl trained a pig to go into the horse float, and last year she had an orphan foal with a bow in its hair, so there are lots of fun things to enjoy."

When asked what she would do if she won the lotto, in true outback fashion, she said, "I would still be doing what I am doing now, just in a more comfortable car."