Turning a page in the Cooper course

"It's amazing to see the transformation as the river changes from a desert to lush feed everywhere," he said. "It's hard to describe how barren that country can get."

Jim combined his general knowledge of creek with the written history of the area to produce a book of anecdotes and photos in May this year.

The Adelaide Hills grazier spent time along the Birdsville Track in outback South Australia when growing up.

"I grew up in the Depression so you took work wherever you could. I lived in all sorts of places," he said.

Jim completed his schooling at Townsville in Queensland and returned to the Birdsville Track. "When I turned 19, I joined the air force and spent time in Papua New Guinea as a radar operator," he said.

"I spent three years in the air force before I was discharged in 1946 and returned to Birdsville Track."

Jim and his father Josiah bought a property south of Alice Springs called Deep Well. They also operated a store at Maree and later bought Mungerannie Station.

"Then I branched out on my own and bought Mulka Station and then Kalamurina Station," Jim said.

When Jim was 30 he met Joan at a birthday party and the two were married in 1955. Joan, who grew up in Adelaide, had to adjust to life in little more than a tin shelter.

"Luckily, I was used to country life because I had lived at Wudinna for a short time growing up," she said.

The couple vastly improved on their tin shelter, building their station home and raising four children.

They had more than 25 years at Kalamurina Station, and saw the Cooper flood a number of times, from 1949 to 51, in 1955 and then again in 1974 when it was the biggest flood on record.

Jim remembers the head waters gushing down in the 1949 flood. He was crossing over the Cooper with a load of gear for the station when the waters reached the road.

The Cooper Creek spans 1300 kilometres, connecting the Thompson and Barcoo Rivers in western Queensland with Lake Eyre in South Australia.

Jim says he loved every aspect of station life. "One of the most memorable moments was the first cattle crossing over the Cooper in 1974," he said.

"I took the first mob of cattle over on the punt. It could only take eight at a time so it took all day to cross."

Before the punt was established anyone wanting to cross the river had to go over on a make-shift construction with drums on the side, powered by an outboard motor. "Dalgetys and Co gave it to clients in the first flood in 1949," Jim said. "It would take an hour to cross over."

With the local store 225km away, the Dunns would shop only once in three months. "We had a fortnightly mail service that brought a few perishables including a box of fruit and vegetables," Joan said. "We made our own bread and had powdered milk."

The family decided to find a new home and in 1982 bought a station north of Mount Isa in Queensland called Calton Hills. They went from a station with 100 millimetre yearly annual rainfall to 350mm rainfall country. "At Kalamurina, the country was barely productive enough for one family. It is very prone to drought so we needed to sell out and find something better.

"As we had both boys at home, and one was married, we were looking for something more reliable," Jim said.

The couple eventually retired back in South Australia at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills where they run Angus cattle, which they sell through the local Strathalbyn and Mount Pleasant markets.

Their son Peter moved to a small acreage at Strathalbyn while Neil set up an earthmoving business at Moomba. Their daughter Judith has a tomato farm on the River Murray near Jervois while their other daughter Barbara works as a nurse.

This is Jim's first book. Peter had a big part in its making, having taken aerial photographs of the Cooper in flood for the book.

"Peter, Neil and I got our pilots licence together in 1979 when I was 56," Jim said. "Peter was really keen to learn to fly so we decided to join him."

In June this year, when the Cooper flooded again after 20 years Jim drove up with a friend to see the sights. "We distributed 700 books along the way through Maree, Birdsville, Innamincka and Lyndhurst," he said.

"The flood brings in thousands of tourists and people at the shops and roadhouses were very happy. It's good for business."

If you want to a copy of The Cooper's Coming contact the Birdwood Newsagency on (08) 8568 5377.