The ultimate juggling act; a journalist, a teacher and a mum of three

For those who may not recognise the byline, I am Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) and I have worked as a journalist across North Queensland for the last eight years.

For the last six years I had worked at The North West Star in Mount Isa, but I found my way back to the North Queensland Register this year after having our third child.

This isn't my first stint with the Reggie, having worked for the masthead back in 2017, before having my first child. It has been so nice coming back to the Reggie this year, back to my passion of agriculture.

This year I have worked remotely from our cattle station between Mount Isa and Cloncurry, it is our little slice of heaven.

My husband helps manage the family property of Brangus cattle, alongside his parents. While I work as a journalist and home tutor for my eldest son through School of the Air, while caring for our two younger children - it has been a whirlwind.

Despite my busy day-to-day, I have managed to write a lot of content this year that I am very proud of.

I have really enjoyed sharing some of my experiences this year with Reggie readers including my introduction into the school room, while also covering topics that matter to the region.

The article that impacted me the most this year was covering the bushfires near Mount Isa, that were started from a mechanical failure on the Barkly Highway corridor.

This event saw an aerial water bomber in Mount Isa for the first time in history as it tried to slow down the fire as it burnt towards town.

I interviewed my father-in-law about the impact the fire had on our property and his anger over the lack of highway vegetation management.

This article actioned a response from Transport and Main Roads stating they would conduct wet season burns to maintain their highway corridors in 2023-24 season.

My most popular article this year was my succession yarn on Melinda Downs Station near Cloncurry.

I had a great chat to Rowan and Peter Hickson about how they successfully worked through succession of the property, and how Melinda's herd had developed over 57 years.

The highlight of my year was travelling to Wynberg Station, Cloncurry, to conduct my first, of many, livestock leads for 2023.

Working remotely from home with three kids doesn't provide many opportunities to go out on the road and conduct on farm stories, but for this one I loaded up the kids (and plenty of snacks) and headed to Rob and Ruth Chaplain's.

I had a great chat to Rob about how they were working to improve herd fertility, and rebuild after the 2019 monsoonal flood, stating "fertility was just as important as carcase weight".

My favourite yarn for the year was one of my first, and that was on Elaine McCormick (Mrs Mac), who continues to work as a rural pharmacist at the ripe age of 86.

Mrs Mac is an incredible workhorse and she had an incredible story to tell about her 65 years working across the north west. She is someone I cherish and have become good friends with through out the year, so if you haven't already head over and check out her story.

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone and I look forward to having some down time with the family and in the garden before returning in the New Year.

I want to thank everyone I have had the pleasure of speaking to this year. Thank you for opening your front gates and sharing your stories with us. We can't do what we do without you.

I want to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

- North Queensland Register journalist, Samantha Campbell.