“I never wanted to throw the towel in – I love living too much.”

It was the inspiring story of professional cowboy Bradie Gray, who was given just a two per cent chance of surviving an horrific rodeo accident in the United States that landed him in an induced coma with both lungs collapsed, nine shattered ribs, a cracked sternum, bruising around the heart and a lacerated pulmonary vein to the heart back in June. Two months later, he’d proved doctors wrong, was back home in Hallsville, walking again and vowing to one day get back on a bull. I had the privilege of telling his story of utter resilience, determination and grit back in August – and it’s a tale that without the support network of the tight-knit rodeo community, he says, could have had a dramatically different outcome. Read his story.

“I’m just happy doing what I do.”

Not words you’d expect from a man who’s called the open road home for 40 years. But Victorian-born John Cadoret, who was 62 when we stopped him on the side of the New England Highway for a yarn in February, is happy to have eschewed the trappings of modern life. No home, no car, no bank account, no mobile phone, no Medicare card. The former banker has been walking around Australia for four decades, carrying nothing but a change of clothes, his swag and a tarp. His concept of time seems only to be measured by the frequency of cattle trains that pass him and the number of horns that are honked his way. Some fantasise about throwing in the corporate life in favour of life on the road. This guy has actually done it – and he has a cult-like following on Facebook to prove it. Read his story.

“I was told you’d never shear again, but I can’t stand doing nothing.”

Legendary Nundle shearer Ian Worley first picked up the comb in 1956. In April, he decided to celebrate his 80^th birthday by returning to the sheds and shearing 100 sheep after open-heart surgery and a hip replacement. It’s a career that’s taken him right across the New England, North West and Southern Queensland, and after a 20-year sojourn in Sydney as a copper, one that he’ll do for the rest of his life. Mr Worley is as modest as he is down-to-earth, which is hard to believe for a man who’s been known to sheer 24 sheep in one day at Texas. I loved sharing his story – a man made of hard work and humble pie. He did share with me this one handy tip that he’s carried around since he started. Read his story.

“Red hair, Red Cardinal.”

It was a 21-year-old Tamworth ginger who proved not all media get the best seat in the house. And that it’s not just Spanish matadors with red capes who can tame bulls. Mitch Salter was back in his hometown of Tamworth on Melbourne Cup Day, where he caught the attention of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was in the country music capital to support his former second-in-command, Barnaby Joyce, during the New England by-election. Amid a heated media scrum, it was regular punter Mr Salter who managed to catch the attention of Mr Turnbull, before the two had a brief conversation in selfie-mode on social media app, Snapchat. During his 19 seconds of fame, Mr Salter offered the PM his hot tip for the race that stops the nation. Watch his video here.​

“If he didn’t have it, he’d make it.”

This was a story that went close to not being told. The first we heard about Allan Wright was when his prized collection of rare engines, model trains, books and antiques went under the hammer at the region’s largest clearing sale on his family’s Loomberah property in September. But after speaking with the family, it became clear that the face behind the sale was far more worthy of a tale. Mr Wright died at the age of 87 in November. But it was his lifelong passion for fixing, tinkering, building and making that saw him win the quiet respect of everyone who came across him. His incredible collection – from rare engines to model trains, books to antiques – was an insight into the great man who used every daylight hour doing what he loved. Read his story.