"It was the fulfilment of a dream for us - 40 acres on a river, not too far from town, close to the beach," Kerry says.

"I have always considered myself to be a rural woman even though I appreciate the many advantages of living in cities, especially cultural opportunities such as theatres, art galleries, museums and so on.

"I grew up on a soldiers settlement dairy farm in the Murray Valley in Northern Victoria in the 1950s and 60s. In the 1980s my husband was employed as an academic and we worked a small sheep property outside Armidale on the Northern Tablelands of NSW.

Related: Mixing life on the land with law and order

"On Mitchells Island we run a small herd of black Angus cows and a little flock of Wiltshire and Dorper sheep.

"It has been quite a learning curve to understand how to run stock and manage pastures in this sub-tropical region of Australia but there are many resources available to local farmers, most importantly, generous, knowledgeable neighbours.

"And, although I miss the city galleries and so on, I have been astounded by the richness and diversity of the cultural and community activities in the Manning Valley, including the Manning Regional Art Gallery, local choirs, local festivals, theatre performances and concerts and much more.

"I am blessed by the wonderful community to which I now belong," Kerry says.

The theme of the UN's International Day for Rural Women is Building rural women's resilience in the wake of COVID-19. Kerry talks about the challenges and the lessons learned throughout the pandemic.

"For me the greatest challenge has been the shutting down of community activities.

"It is so easy to lose touch with friends when the regular meeting opportunities are cancelled. We can see and hear each other on Zoom but that doesn't substitute for a hug.

"And it is so uplifting and stimulating to sing together with a choir of voices but community singing has been almost totally denied over the last year or so.

"But I notice that I have learned to roll with the punches in dealing with setbacks since COVID has been around. I've learned to take disappointments in my stride.

"This is partly because everybody is in the same boat and we're all working toward the same goal of being able to live as normally as possible with COVID.

"There is a willingness to make sacrifices for the community good.

"I think the government should consider the major contribution made to the Australian people by rural communities.

"To that end, I think there should be an overhaul of the rural health system to stop the degradation of rural hospitals and to encourage health workers of all sorts to work in the rural health sector."

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