Most of us get nervous when the roundabout near Woolies backs up, spare a thought for Carla Rogers. She lives on top of a hill in Jamberoo, runs a national business and relies on a single, temperamental creek crossing to stay connected to the world.

When it floods, Carla doesn’t just miss brunch. She misses meetings, radio interviews and even the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, which would have been her eighth time seeing them.

Carla doesn’t complain. She laughs. And she documents the drama with the flair of a travel blogger who swapped Europe for electric fences and a possibly aggressive bovine.

The same goes for Carla’s daughter Talise and Bardi Elder Aunty Munya Andrews, who, with Carla from the top of the hill, run Evolve Communities. It is an award-winning organisation building communities for a kinder, more inclusive Australia that values First Nations peoples and wisdom.

When the floods roll in, their work doesn’t stop. They simply switch gears.

Their flood tales are the stuff of local legend.

There was the morning Carla promised her daughter she’d get her to a Year 10 school excursion no matter what. On the way to the shed to grab umbrellas, she found their pup, Rango, mid-mouthful of rat bait. She bundled him into her handbag, navigated paddocks and 99 electric fences, rushed to the vet in Albion Park to get his stomach pumped, then made it just in time to get Talise to the excursion. All before morning tea.

There have been interviews with Radio National conducted while lying under a barbed wire fence because she didn’t make it back in time and daring return hikes through rising waters after late-night Sydney concerts or to meet with Stan Grant.

Luckily, they made it through both trials and the HSC last year without a single flood run. Carla considers that her biggest achievement yet. Her beloved VW Van50H wasn’t so lucky.

It was left at Fountaindale Road and succumbed to the rising creek waters. Vale, Van50H.

This week’s challenge, with Talise now at uni, involved facing the classic “bull or cow?” dilemma. That is an important distinction when you’re on foot and trying to reach a waiting rescue vehicle so uni commitments can still be met.

Still smiling, still stranded. Just your average Tuesday at the creek! Photo: Supplied

Thanks to clever logistics like a second car stashed at a neighbour’s, community kindness from people like Alan and his tractor, Nick and his gator, Angela’s Subaru, Jen and Donna from the Jamberoo Rural Fire Service and the neighbours who helped get the rescue vehicle out of a bog with a cup of tea in hand and a bit of satellite magic, Carla stays online and upbeat.

From the hilltop, they beam in to lead national training sessions where participants don’t just learn about allyship. They learn how to live it.

Most people’s gap year starts in London. Carla’s started in the Kimberley. It was the beginning of a lifelong journey to listen, to walk alongside First Nations people, and to help others do the same. Rain, mud, runaway cows and the odd bull might slow her down, but they have never stopped her.

In the end, Carla is all heart and steady footing. Come rain, flood or chaos. And if you’re lucky enough to be her neighbour, you’ll know. When the skies open, she’ll have chocolate, a smile and a story to share.

Carla with Stan Grant.