Holly Wainwright

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Holly Wainwright

We knew it was coming. The camping trip when the kids would be up later than the parents, adult ears tuned in not for tears and temperatures but for tent zips flicking up and down at midnight, our alcohol audited and phone trackers at hand. This past Easter weekend, it arrived. The count was the same: 11 adults, 14 kids. The destination was new, but not unusual. A classic Australian campground – powered sites, a well-worn kitchen and a toilet block with a code it takes days to remember.

2 weeks ago | mamamia.com.au | Holly Wainwright

But behind that, there is the aforementioned hard work, by the bucketload. And constant forward planning and upgrading of technology that touches everything from the sort of grass being grown to measuring water efficiencies and methane output (yes, that's right, the farts), breeding, birthing and calf care. All of that, along with a dedication to keep growing and improving farms and practices and a deep passion to protect the family business. There's a lot going on between the pretty paddocks.

2 weeks ago | mamamia.com.au | Holly Wainwright

The forest vibrated with a low thrum of life. Always hungry, inching forward, manoeuvring to reclaim its stolen space. Marching insects and scuttling rodents. Advancing spiders and snakes and slugs and snails. Nibbling, sucking, sliming, gnawing. The strangler vines always reaching. They'd have a thick, nobbled tendril around Lachy's ankle by morning. It was strange that no-one was calling his name. He was still breathing, but not so you'd notice. Shallow, now.

3 weeks ago | mamamia.com.au | Holly Wainwright

And obviously, that's rain, hail or shine? Christmas and birthdays? Grant: Yep, that's rain, hail or shine — seven days a week, 365 days a year. Who gets to decide who has to go out at 4.30 on Christmas Day? Grant: Generally, Christmas day, we start even earlier just to get done. There's a lot of family that'll come in for Christmas, so we can enjoy the day, and then we usually get back around 3 or 3.30 for the afternoon milking, which tends to be quicker so we can get back home.

1 month ago | mamamia.com.au | Holly Wainwright

I have a friend who thinks I'm not always the best mother. She thinks I'm a bit slap-dash. A bit inconsistent. That I'm not across the details enough, and that for children, details matter. She thinks that out of guilt, I indulge my kids a bit. She's right. I have a friend who thinks I can be a bit selfish. That emotional labour isn't my strong suit, and it wouldn't kill me to lift my head and organise a birthday dinner every now and again. She's right.