HARD work and a ‘never say never’ attitude have always been and still remain the reason why 76-year-old Alan Miles keeps on doing what he has always done, and what he has always done is work and work hard.
Mr Miles was born in Melbourne, and previously lived in both Heidelberg and Brunswick.
Having had a somewhat disruptive childhood after his parents divorced when he was 12, he lived with his dad, and his brother with his mother.
“I left home when I was 15 and travelled to Nyah West to pick grapes, something that I’d never done before,” Mr Miles said.
“My working life began picking grapes and I have never really stopped work and I don’t want to stop!
“It was while I was working there that I met a group of workers who had come from Mount Isa to work; at the time they were on strike.
“They treated me really well… remember I was still only 15, they looked after me.
“They as a group encouraged me to travel with them to Goodnight, which is near Tooleybuc.
“The property was owned by the Lockhart family, a wheat and sheep property. I celebrated my 16th birthday at Goodnight.
“While working at Goodnight, the Lockhart family suggested that I go to Albany, Western Australia and work on a property that the Lockhart family owned.
“For me that was another of life’s great adventures. Even then I knew what I wanted.
“My long-term goal was to own my own farm. I also had then and still have a fascination with trucks.
“I decided to buy one, I saw it as a way maybe of making enough money to eventually buy a farm.”
Mr Miles travelled back to Melbourne in 1969 and purchased a truck.
“For the next six years, I transported general freight between Melbourne and Brisbane,” he said.
“I slept in the cabin of the truck, which was during this time my home.
“It was also during this time that I met who would turn out to be the love of my life, a beautiful lady who was introduced to me by a friend.
“Joan was living in Brisbane with her three children. Our relationship developed and we were married in 1980.
“In 1975, I was advised by the Lockhart family that a property called Boree Plains Station was on the market, a property that boarded on the boundary of Mungo.
“It was 112,000 acres that had been decimated by bush fires in 1974. All the fences had been destroyed. It was going to be a massive job to bring the property back to life.”
But, true to the man Mr Miles is, he saw purchasing the land as a chance to achieve another of his dreams.
“In 1985, we moved to Boree Plains Station,” he said.
“It was the start of a great adventure, an adventure I’m not sure that many people would like to take on.
“The house we lived in, if you could call it a house, was a log cabin, lined with pressed metal.
“We had a generator for power, a kero refrigerator. We worked hard building the farm up, repairing the house, turning it into a nice family home for us.
“Joan was incredible, never complained. Joan became the teacher. We converted and Railway Guard Van into a classroom.
“The children, which we had two together, did their schooling with School of the Air out of Broken Hill.
“We were lucky that the two eldest had finished school and were now working as nurses.
“The youngest finished off their education at boarding school in Bendigo.
“We would drive into Mildura every couple of weeks for supplies. I had kept my truck, so did some contract carrying for other farms.
“We eventually built the sheep flock up to 5000 and when seasons permitted, we would sow 1500 acres of wheat.
“We also had groups mostly from Melbourne come out and camp on the property, just to get a feel of what life was like in the great Outback.
“Life and work whilst hard, was rewarding.”
Their third child Bruce Hobson said life on Boree Plains Station taught him the value of hard work.
“It is a long way from the arid and sometimes harsh life on Boree Plains Station to the sea, but that’s where life led me,” he said.
“After finishing my schooling, I joined the Navy, where I gained valuable shipwright, and engineering skills.
“I moved back to Boree Plains, then to Mildura, working on and off as a shipwright for the next decade.
“I used the skills I’d acquired in the Navy on jobs along the Murray River from Echuca to South Australia’s Riverland.
“Growing up on Boree Plains taught me a lot, mostly an attitude of ‘never say never’ and that hard work is part of life and essential for success.”
After 43 years of hard work, the Miles sold Boree Plains to Tronox, a mining company that processes titanium ore, zircon, rare earth and other materials, and manufactures titanium dioxide pigment.
“Part of the sale contract was that we were able to lease the farm back for five years,” Mr Miles said.
“At the end of the five years we moved to Mildura to start the next chapter in our lives.”
It didn’t take long for Mr Miles to want to start work again.
“There is only so much that you can do at home,” he said. “I’d spent my entire life working.
“I needed to work and that’s what I did. I started doing long haul truck driving, mostly from to Brisbane.”
Mrs Miles has kept herself busy as well since leaving the farm, doing some piano teaching, singing in the Sunraysia Community Choir, playing a recorder on Thursdays and spending time with her 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Ten weeks ago, a freak accident not only very nearly put an end to Mr Miles’ working life, but could have ended his life as well.
He had taken his truck and trailer to Lake Cargelligo for changeover.
As the trailer was being swapped, the trailer rolled forward pinning him between trailer and rig.
With the help of the of the other changeover driver, Mr Miles was released, transported by ambulance to Lake Cargelligo Airport, where he was flown by helicopter to Orange Hospital.
There he spent several weeks recuperating from the 13 factures he’d received.
Unlike most mere mortals who most likely would say enough is enough and be prepared to take life easy, read a book, and have afternoon nap, Mr Miles, now recovered, is keen to get back into truck driving again.
When speaking with him you soon realise what being tough is, along with having determination and a never give up attitude.
The last words are best left for Mr Miles himself, who says: “I’m having a great life, and the greatest part of my life is Joan.”
