PODCAST · education
Destination Boarding
by Amanda Ferrari
Welcome to Destination Boarding, a podcast dedicated to Australian boarding schools & their communities. Hosted by Amanda Ferrari, the show explores all aspects of boarding life—from packing for the first time to life as a boarder & beyond. Amanda interviews graduates who share how boarding shaped their lives, speaks with schools about their unique programs, & hosts an annual "Nailing Homesickness" miniseries to help new boarders. Our podcast is essential listening for boarding families and staff, we welcome your feedback, reviews, & ratings.
Episodes
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Eight Children, One Very Long Road
What does raising and educating eight children look like when home is a sheep station in far western New South Wales and your nearest town is two hours away? For Sarah Harris, it's simply life. Sarah and her husband Rhys are raising their eight children in the outback. Three daughters are now at...
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She loved boarding school. Sending her own kids is another story.
Laura Wilson loved boarding school. Thinking about sending her own children is proving a little more emotional. A mum of six, nurse by trade and partner to Jake in their Quilpie transport business, Laura joins Amanda for a warm, funny and very relatable conversation about country childhoods…
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Keep Knocking: Jackson Dowling and the Courage to Do Hard Things
In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda speaks with Jackson Dowling, a Registered Nurse, Midwife and Flight Nurse with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, based in Dubbo. Growing up in Port Macquarie, Jackson was beginning to disengage from school when he decided to apply for a scholarship to...
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Letting Her Go, Watching Her Fly.
What happens when boarding school isn't simply about accessing a broader education, but about opening opportunities for a child that may be difficult to access at home? In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda talks with Heidi Shoecraft, who came to Australia from Denmark as a 19-year-old...
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What happens when a naturally ambitious country kid is given the opportunity to spread her wings?
In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda sits down with Jess Redfern, founder of SAVVI the Label, entrepreneur, mum of three little ones and former boarder, for a warm and wonderfully colourful conversation about opportunity, independence, motherhood and backing yourself. Jess shares the...
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The Schools That Let Them Stay Home
What does boarding school really look like when home is a station north of Alice Springs and school is in Toowoomba? In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda talks with Sally Muenster, a qualified teacher, mother of four and, with husband Dan, owner and manager of Yambah Station. After…
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She Never Planned to Marry a Farmer
How does a city girl from inner Melbourne become a farmer's wife in Central West NSW? In this episode of Letters From Home, Amanda Ferrari sits down with Georgie Cavanagh, co-founder of luxury Australian linen brand Carlotta & Gee, to explore the unexpected journey that began with what was meant…
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She Came to Bourke for Six Months... and Found the Life She Was Meant to Live
What happens when a six-month adventure turns into a lifetime? In this episode, Amanda sits down with Prue Ritchie, General Manager of Bourke's Preschool and Long Day Care Centre, Barwon Woman of the Year and mother of three boarding school students. Prue shares the remarkable story of arriving…
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The Ripple Effect: Rowing, Belonging and the Bush
What happens when you take a sport traditionally associated with city rivers, school boat sheds and fiercely competitive regattas - and put it in the middle of the Australian outback? You get something that is about far more than rowing. In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda speaks with...
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She Never Planned to Be a Farmer… Now She's Planning for Boarding School
Kaitie Nash – The Life She Never Planned Most people know Kaitie Nash as ‘First Time Farmer’ - the funny, warm and wonderfully unfiltered woman sharing the realities of learning to farm alongside her husband Will. But farming wasn't part of Kaitie's original plan. A one-way ticket from Perth to...
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She Wasn't Looking for a Rural Life... Until She Found Her Purpose
What happens when a young woman from the Gold Coast discovers her purpose in the heart of rural Australia? In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda Ferrari sits down with teacher, ICPA advocate and researcher Hannah Calcino, whose journey from city life to Winton has been shaped by one...
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One Year That Changed Everything
Kate Brow only spent one year boarding at school, but the lessons she learned during that experience continue to influence her life today. In this episode of Letters from Home, Kate shares how a unique boarding-style year helped build confidence, resilience and lifelong friendships before leading...
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When Choosing Isn't Easy: A Rural Principal Reflects on the Freedom to Choose
Can a rural school principal believe deeply in country education while also choosing boarding school for his own children? This week, Amanda sits down with Brett Wilkie, principal of a small rural primary school in Western Australia, to explore one of the most complex conversations facing rural...
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The Country Girl Who Had a Crack
Growing up in the small Queensland community of Condamine, Maddie Morgan always knew boarding school would be part of her story. What she didn't know was how profoundly those years would shape her future. Today Maddie is an agribusiness lawyer specialising in succession planning, estate planning...
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When Paradise Isn’t Enough
We'reWatching You: A Coastal Family's Boarding School Journey When Katie and Dan Toney left careers in television journalism to run a holiday park in the tiny coastal community of Seal Rocks, boarding school wasn't part of the plan. In fact, it wasn't even on their radar. But as their children...
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"You Just Make It Work" - One Mum's Journey Through Loss, Boarding School and Bush Resilience
You Just Make It Work - OneMum's Journey Through Loss, Boarding School and Bush Resilience What happens when the life you planned changesin an instant? For Sophie Elliott, the answer has been onestep at a time. Born and raised on a cattle station outsideWinton, Sophie grew up learning through the...
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What My Daughter Never Told Me About Boarding School Part 2
In Part Two, Amanda and Annabel continue their conversation, exploring academic struggles, learning support, friendships, confidence and the lessons boarding school taught that continue to shape Annabel's life today. Now a paediatric occupational therapist and business owner, Annabel shares...
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What It Really Feels Like to Leave Home at 12 - The Boarding School Conversation We Never Had - An honest conversation with my daughter Annabel Ferrari.
Over the years I've interviewed hundreds of parents, educators, boarding staff and former boarders. I've spent countless hours talking about homesickness, transition, resilience and what it means to send your child away from home. But today I'm sitting down with someone whose story I've never...
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The Boarding School Question So Many Rural Parents Ask - Amy Clark’s Honest Education Journey
As we continue travelling throughout regional New South Wales and Queensland for our Boarding Schools Expo events, we’re revisiting some of the conversations from the vault that continue to resonate deeply with families researching boarding school. This week’s episode with Amy Clark is one of…
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Go Floppy - Sarah Ryan’s Very Real Guide to Boarding School
As we continue our From the Vault series while travelling for our face-to-face Boarding Schools Expo events, this week we’re revisiting a conversation that feels especially meaningful in the lead-up to our Wagga Boarding Schools Expo. Sarah Ryan lives with her family on a Merino stud at…
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From “Absolutely Not” to Thriving at Boarding School…The Rainy Day in Dubbo That Changed Everything with Robert Bevern
As we continue our From the Vault series while travelling for our face-to-face Boarding Schools Expo events, this week’s episode feels especially timely. We’re revisiting my conversation with Robert Bevern from Dubbo on the eve of our 2026 Dubbo Boarding Schools Expo - because Robert’s family…
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Just Go and Ask the Question – A Dubbo Mum’s Boarding School Journey with Lisa Green
While we’re travelling across regional Australia for our face-to-face Boarding Schools Expo events, we’re opening the vault and revisiting some of our favourite past conversations - the ones that still offer reassurance, perspective and encouragement for families considering boarding school. This...
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When Schools Travel the Distance Too - Why Access to Education Matters in the Bush: with Angie Nisbet
As we hit the road again for our face-to-face Boarding Schools Expo events, we’re dipping into the vault over the next few weeks to share some of our favourite past episodes - the ones that still speak so clearly to why we do this work and why these conversations matter. This week’s episode is…
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After the Drop-Off - What Term 1 Really Feels Like (and Why It’s Normal) & What to Expect for Term 2: with Kirsty Wiggins
Over the next few weeks, while we’re out on the road for our face-to-face Boarding Schools Expo events, we’re opening up the vault and sharing some of our favourite past episodes with you - conversations that still hold so much value for families researching, preparing for, or living through the...
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From the Archives: Peter Debus - The Very Personal Decision of Choosing Boarding School
Peter Debus is the Managing Director of PrincipleFocus, a financial management and advisory business based in Dubbo NSW with branches in Sydney and Warren, servicing clients all over Australia. We're bringing this one back from the archives because honestly, it's just that good! When we first sat...
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From Boarding School to Womn-Kind: Ruby Riethmuller Is Changing Lives
Ruby Riethmuller grew up on a farm outside Wagga Wagga and like many country students, the path to opportunity eventually led her to boarding school. In this episode of Letters from Home, Ruby reflects on those years and how they helped shape the person she would become. From discovering new...
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When the Local Fit Isn’t the Right Fit: with Tina Clifton
A Gunnedah mum’s honest story of school refusal, confidence, and why regional boarding became the circuit-breaker. Tina Clifton is a Gunnedah mum of two boys, raising them on the land with horses, cattle, sheep and mixed cropping at the centre of family life. She’s also a veterinary surgeon…
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When Education Opens the Gate: with Duncan Taylor
Duncan Taylor knows firsthand what it means to leave a small rural town in pursuit of education - and what it means to come home again. Growing up on a sheep and cattle property in Nimmitabel on the Monaro, Duncan headed away to boarding school at just nine years old. Like many country children…
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From ‘Not Us’ to ‘Why Not?’: A Family’s Unexpected Boarding Path with Robert Bevern
What happens when boarding school isn’t in your family “DNA”… and then suddenly it is? In this episode of Letters From Home, Amanda sits down with Robert Bevern - a NSW Police dad whose family story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the biggest decisions don’t begin with a grand plan. They...
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The Postie with the Mostie: The 600km Mail Run with Bec Climie
In some of the most isolated parts of Australia, Bec Climie hasn’t just delivered the mail - she’s delivered connection, joy and community. On the vast station country of North Queensland, where families can live hundreds of kilometres apart and the wet season can cut roads for months, connection...
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The Courage to Change Course: Parenting through a boarding journey that didn’t follow the plan with Geraldine Clark
Not every boarding school journey follows a straight line - and sometimes, the bravest thing a parent can do is change direction. In this episode of Letters from Home, Amanda sits down with Geraldine Clark from Barraba, NSW, a mum who knows firsthand that “best intentions” don’t always lead to…
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Not in Our DNA: A Walgett Family’s Unexpected Journey to Boarding School with Daniel Bashford
When Daniel Bashford and his wife moved their family from the Hunter Valley to Walgett, boarding school wasn’t part of the plan. Daniel had taken up a promotion with the NSW Police, and together they embraced the move as a way to raise resilient, adaptable young people. What they found in Walgett...
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Two Homes, One Heart - Boarding from the Top End with Anna Cochrane
From one of Australia’s most famous cattle stations, this episode of Letters from Home offers a deeply grounded and quietly powerful reflection on what it means to parent from afar. Anna Cochrane lives and works alongside her husband on Newcastle Waters, managing life on a vast Northern Territory...
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City Girl, Bush Life, Big Decisions with Amy Clark
Amy Clark on belonging, “critical mass” in small-town schools, and choosing boarding to give her boys room to grow. In this episode of Letters From Home, Amanda chats with Amy Clark from Walcha on the northern tablelands of NSW, about the decision to send her children to boarding school, and...
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Big Steps, Big Love with Lisa Green: A Single Mum’s Journey to Boarding School
Researching schools, navigating scholarships, and letting go with love. In this heartfelt episode of Letters from Home, Amanda sits down with Lisa - a single mum, teacher, and devoted advocate for her daughter Ellie - to explore what it truly looks like to research and choose boarding school as a...
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The Spirit of Boarding with Tamara Nixon: Why Rural Kids Matter to City Schools
Tamara Nixon is a sixth-generation farming mum from Oaklands in the Southern Riverina, balancing life on the land with the big-hearted reality of parenting three children away at boarding school in Melbourne. In this episode, Tamara shares why she believes so deeply in boarding - the resilience,...
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Around Australia with the ICPA - WA State President Jane Cunningham
Western Australia’s size brings opportunity - and enormous challenge. In this episode of our capsule series Around Australia with the ICPA, Amanda Ferrari is joined by Jane Cunningham, President of ICPA Western Australia, to unpack the realities of accessing education across one of the largest…
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From Country Quiet to City Life: Phoebe’s Boarding Story
In this episode of Nailing Homesickness, Amanda Ferrari chats with Phoebe, a Year 10 boarder at Methodist Ladies’ College in Melbourne, who began boarding at the start of Year 9 after growing up on her family’s farm in northern Victoria. Phoebe reflects on the early days of boarding - leaving a...
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Around Australia with the ICPA - SA State President Belinda Hatcher
Throughout the year, we’ve been following the work of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association - the ICPA - across Australia. In these short episodes, we’ll be catching up with each State Council President to hear how their delegations to Parliament have gone, what motions were carried from...
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Finding Confidence, Consistency and Calm at Boarding School with Nouvelle M.
In this episode of Nailing Homesickness, we meet Nouvelle, a Year 8 boarder at Canberra Girls Grammar School, whose upbringing in an Australian Defence Force family has shaped her ability to adapt, connect and grow. Having moved frequently throughout her childhood, Nouvelle shares how boarding...
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A Leap of Faith, Kept Close to Home - Celebrating 10 Years of Boarding at MAGS
What regional boarding gives bush families - confidence, community, and opportunity. This episode takes us to Macquarie Anglican Grammar School (MAGS) in Dubbo for a milestone moment for them at the end of last year: the first cohort of boarders to complete the full six-year journey from Year 7…
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Finding Your Feet: Isla’s First Year of Boarding
In this episode of Nailing Homesickness, we hear from Isla, a Year 10 boarder who made the move from a farm near Dubbo to St Catherine’s in Sydney this year. With her first year of boarding still fresh in her mind, Isla shares what she found hardest about leaving home - her family, her dog, her...
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From the Header to the Boarding House: Harry’s First Year at Scotch
Today on Nailing Homesickness, we’re heading to a little place near Oaklands in southern New South Wales, not far from Albury and Yarrawonga, to meet Harry - a Year 8 boarder at Scotch College in Melbourne. Harry grew up working on the farm, helping his dad in the header or chaser bin at harvest,...
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From Collie to the Classroom Paddock: Lara’s Leap to Boarding
In this episode of Nailing Homesickness, we’re heading northwest of Dubbo to chat with Lara, a Year 9 boarder at Hurlstone Agricultural High School - one of Australia’s most unique boarding schools, complete with a working farm right on campus. Lara’s boarding journey wasn’t something her family...
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Around Australia with the ICPA - QLD State President Wendy Henning
Throughout the year, we’ve been following the work of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association - the ICPA - across Australia. In these short episodes, we’ll be catching up with each State Council President to hear how their delegations to Parliament have gone, what motions were carried from...
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From Station Life to City School: How Clem Found Her Feet at Boarding School
In this episode of Nailing Homesickness, we’re heading a very long way from Brisbane - all the way to a cattle station in the Northern Territory, four hours south of Katherine, at the well-known Newcastle Waters. I’m chatting with Clementine, a Year 9 boarder at Stuartholme School in Brisbane…
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Around Australia with the ICPA - NT State President Moira Lanzarin
Throughout the year, we’ve been following the work of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association - the ICPA - across Australia. In these short episodes, we’ll be catching up with each State Council President to hear how their delegations to Parliament have gone, what motions were carried from...
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Nailing Homesickness: Homesick, New School, New Sport, & Loving It: Archie’s Story
Today on Nailing Homesickness we’re chatting with Archie, a boarder at Brisbane Boys’ College who never – and I mean never – imagined he’d end up at a boarding school. Archie grew up in Gladstone in central Queensland, with strong country roots and a tight-knit group of mates. Boarding school...
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Around Australia with the ICPA - NSW State President Annabel Strachan
Throughout the year, we’ve been following the work of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association - the ICPA - across Australia. In these short episodes, we’ll be catching up with each State Council President to hear how their delegations to Parliament have gone, what motions were carried from...
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Heart-work, good policy, & the power of love behind Bronnie Taylor
Special announcement: Since recording this episode, The Hon. Bronnie Taylor has been appointed Chair of the national charity Motherland. We’re thrilled for Bronnie and proud to support Motherland and their incredible work for rural and remote women across Australia. Congratulations, Bronnie! In...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to Destination Boarding, a podcast dedicated to Australian boarding schools & their communities. Hosted by Amanda Ferrari, the show explores all aspects of boarding life—from packing for the first time to life as a boarder & beyond. Amanda interviews graduates who share how boarding shaped their lives, speaks with schools about their unique programs, & hosts an annual "Nailing Homesickness" miniseries to help new boarders. Our podcast is essential listening for boarding families and staff, we welcome your feedback, reviews, & ratings.
HOSTED BY
Amanda Ferrari
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Destination Boarding have?
Destination Boarding currently has 69 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Destination Boarding about?
Welcome to Destination Boarding, a podcast dedicated to Australian boarding schools & their communities. Hosted by Amanda Ferrari, the show explores all aspects of boarding life—from packing for the first time to life as a boarder & beyond. Amanda interviews graduates who share how boarding shaped...
How often does Destination Boarding release new episodes?
Destination Boarding has 69 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Destination Boarding?
You can listen to Destination Boarding on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Destination Boarding?
Destination Boarding is created and hosted by Amanda Ferrari.
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