Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 15 i Australian Country Homes

Dear reader, Winter is the perfect time to prioritise something we often put at the bottom of our to-do list: self-care. The cooler months can see many of us suffer from Seasonal Adjustment Disorder (SAD), which results in our spirits clouding over along with the weather. Making time to prioritise you can help stave off any winter blues that may start creeping in. This doesn’t have to look like a massage at your local day spa (although by all means, it can). This can be something as simple as taking the time to plan out the next few books you want to read and scheduling an appointment with yourself to actually read them. It can be a reminder to spend a sunny afternoon walking through your garden and stopping to…

When Prue Daly and Neisha Cass bid for the historic Lake’s Bakery in the outer Brisbane suburb of Deagon, they were charmed to meet the daughter of the original baker. “She told us stories about how she used to run to the bakery’s outside loo from the main house every morning — and how she’d run as quick as she could so the bakers wouldn’t see her in her pyjamas,” Prue says. “And how her dad sold some recipes to Tip Top when he sold the bakery in the ’60s.” The bakery was built in the 1920s with triple-brick cavity walls to protect against the possibility of fire and a full-width front door, which served as the shop entrance. The distinctive design of the building also includes external brick walls…

As Alex Kowald traces the story of her garden in the Adelaide Hills, she began with a blank canvas in 1988 and spent the better part of the ensuing years colouring in the details. “My family moved to the Hills when I was a teenager,” she explains. “I ended up marrying Neil, the boy from the dairy farm across the road. He was the fourth generation of his family to farm on Frosty Flats and his parents moved out when we moved in. Up until then, the farm had a substantial vegie garden, which they ploughed and manured every year, and there were a couple of apple trees, but not much else.” Alex started by planting conifers, gums, Chinese elms and callistemons with lawn in between. Through the years she’s…

DUX-BAK First registered in 1957 and acquired by Thomas Cook Boot and Clothing Company in 1984, DUX-BAK is refreshed and ready for the next generation of adventurers. This range is designed to take on the often rugged landscapes of our homeland, whether it be exploring the bush, fishing, working the farm, watching footy, relaxing at the lodge or keeping warm around the campfire. Featuring tough but comfortable fabrics, practical styling and harsh-weather protection, DUX-BAK will keep you going strong with a generous fit that allows for plenty of layers. thomascook.com.au ELDER LAI There’s something about the Elder Lai sculpture from Neon Wild Bear that leaves us feeling warm. Perhaps it’s his smile, which simply radiates happiness. Maybe it’s the solid structure of this homewares piece that offers a connection to…

As Claire Ayling sees it, moving to Goulburn was fate. If she hadn’t been a quilter, she would never have been trawling around on the internet, checking out the provincial NSW city, where a quilting friend lived. And she would never have stumbled across the 1840s former guesthouse, Mandelson’s of Goulburn, on a real estate site. And she and her Australian army officer husband, Steve, would never have become the proud owners of the Goulburn landmark building and put down roots after a lifetime on the road. The self-confessed English nomad met Steve when she was teaching British army children. They married in 1979 and she calculates that during Steve’s 30 years in the military they moved 31 times, three of them when she was eight months pregnant, with their…

There are few scenes as idyllic as luxuriating in an outdoor tub in the middle of the South African bush, G&T in hand, quietly listening to the rising cacophony of birdsong and stridulating insects floating through the valley at dusk. For Samantha and William Mellor, this calming ritual is the essence of Cabine du Cap, their weekend bolt hole hidden away in the bush surrounds of the Western Cape’s Klein Karoo. Immersed among rugged tufts of indigenous plants and undulating uninhabited landscape as far as the eye can see, the bath scene resembles something out of a Sydney Pollack movie. “It all started with a dream to have an outdoor tub,” says Samantha, who carefully planned the placement of their open-air custom galvanised steel bath: just close enough to the…

Although humans have been cooking with heat since the Stone Age, our sources of heat have evolved significantly, especially in the past few decades. If you’re planning a kitchen renovation, now is the ideal time to ponder upgrading your cooktop to suit your cooking needs. When you find yourself researching the pros and cons of gas, electric and induction cooktops, don’t forget to consider your cookware as well. Though you’ll find many brands are now designing pots and pans that are suitable for all heat sources, some may only be suitable for specific types of cooktops. This means your existing cookware may not be compatible with your new choice of cooktop. Cookware options that transmit heat evenly and quickly over a flat surface are ideal for electric cooktops. This means…

When neighbours started telling Lyn and John Colquhoun that their five sons were causing traffic disruptions with their street cricket games, the couple realised that they needed more space. As an Albury property developer, John was well positioned to locate a home that could accommodate the family and all their friends, who often numbered in cricket teams. He found just what they were looking for in Mulberry Hill, at that stage a 38-acre block on the outskirts of the town on the NSW/Victorian border. Forty years on, the boys are all grown up and have long since left home and, at the time of our visit, Lyn and John had decided to downsize. But not before building the most extraordinary home and garden for some other young family to grow…

What you see is what you get at Longway station, a 20,000-acre (8000-hectare) cattle property north-west of Longreach in central-western Queensland. Longway is the home of Warwick and Rosemary Champion, who can trace their connection to the property to 1914. In that year Rosemary’s great aunt Matilda Spence married James Howatson, who came to the station as a jackaroo and ended up buying it. From the 104-year-old homestead and the Santa Gertrudis cattle in the paddock to the scones they serve at “smoko” on the verandah and the flocks of birds that congregate in the extensive gardens, this is the real deal outback, with nothing tricked up for visitors. And visitors they have aplenty, as Rosemary and Warwick’s home was a stopover on Bill Peach’s 12-day Great Australian Aircruise itinerary…