We LOVE featuring Australian women, telling their stories and sharing their style with our community. This month's Woman in Style is the effervescent Sammie O'Brien, a great friend of Goondiwindi Cotton. Sammie is a TV presenter on Channel 7's Creek to Coast and Weekender, mother to Lenny and a passionate advocate for rural Australia, spending time between her farm on the Scenic Rim and in Brisbane.
Tell us what you love about regional Australia?
I think my love for Queensland’s outback regions comes from a unique perspective… firstly as a traveller, being fortunate enough to experience all the outback has to offer as part of my job, but also as someone now (semi) living and breathing rural life.
I often tell friends and family that the bush is more than just some kind of geographic location - it evokes a particular feeling. There’s an emotional and somewhat romantic attachment when people speak about the bush. The smell and heat of the country, the buzz of the cicadas in the afternoon, the vast landscapes and the big skies.
It sounds cliché, but I’ve come to realize, that it really is the people who make the country. It’s the warm and genuine outback hospitality that brings people back time and again. Travelling through Queensland, it becomes apparent very quickly that people working and living in regional Australia have a special quality.
What is your favourite place in regional Australia?
I have lots of favourites, it’s so hard to choose just one. I really don’t know that I can! As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve been blessed to have visited so many beautiful places all with their own wonderful and unique features and people.
Tell us about when you visited Goondiwindi?
We’ve visited Gundy many, many times. A lot of our great mates live in there and in the surrounding areas, so we’ve been lucky to spend a fair bit of time there over the years. I really love Goondiwindi, it has such a beautiful feel, and like most country towns, the people are wonderful and welcoming. The Polo and the Picnics are always fun days and the shopping in town is amazing!
How would you describe your style?
My style is very simple. I like to stick to block colours. My winter go-to is boots, jeans and a button up, and summer is usually a dress and sneakers.
