Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue#20.6 November 2017 i Australian Country

It’s been a bit of a bucket list year for me as we ticked off a few destinations and experiences I’ve wanted to share with readers for some time. We travelled the Carnarvon Highway for the travel story in this issue, attended the Outback Vision Film Festival in Winton (the story will appear in our next issue) and spent an extraordinary couple of days in the winter wonderland of Victoria’s High Country (you’ll have to wait for our May/June 2018 issue for that story). We shot fashion on and in the Jumbo jet at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum in Longreach, and we visited the Stanham-Macarthur family’s historic Camden Park homestead. As always we relished the opportunity to meet with people and readers from all over. In this issue they…

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…

Iron goddess iced tea with plums, mint and lemon leaves Makes about 1.25 litres Iron goddess is a Chinese tea known for its signature floral scent and it’s one of those teas that doesn’t like the temperature of boiling water — hot water does the job.. 4 plums, plus extra plum slices, to garnish (optional)1 mint sprig, plus extra to garnish5 lemon or lime leaves1½ tablespoons iron goddess or oolong tea leaves1 litre hot water (see note)Sugar syrup, to taste (recipe follows) Put the plums in a large container. Crush with a muddler or the end of a rolling pin until the skins have broken (leave the stones in). Add the mint and lemon leaves and set aside. Put the tea leaves in a large teapot or saucepan, pour in…

VISION SPLENDID The western Queensland town of Winton, Australia’s very own outback Hollywood, recently rolled out the red carpet for the annual Vision Splendid film festival. The nine days of film curated by the festival’s creative director Greg Dolgopolov and based on the theme, Celebrating Women in Film, premiered with a screening of David Stratton’s A Cinematic Life in Winton’s historic open air Royal Theatre. The documentary’s director, Sally Aitken, David’s longtime TV co-host, Margaret Pomeranz, and actor Roy Billing were among the cinematic luminaries who attended the opening night celebrations, which kicked on into the night at the adjacent North Gregory hotel. ocals joined a band of visitors from Brisbane and interstate celebrating the extended week of film with breakfasts with the stars, masterclass lunches and workshops extending the…

Julie Brown says the Eureka moment happened while walking out cattle. It was the summer of 2007, and she was on the motorbike shifting cattle with her husband, Adrian, on Marchmont, their 50,000- acre (20,234-hectare) sheep and cattle property 40 kilometres north of Ilfracombe in central-western Queensland. As anyone who has been there will attest, droving stock is not the most stimulating of pastimes. Take it steady, ride with the mob and make sure you don’t stress the animals, particularly when they’re not in the best condition. “Being on the bike gives you plenty of time to think,” Julie observes. “We’d often discussed ways of generating off-farm income to shore us up against season and price fluctuations. Somehow I hit on the idea of making sun-safe swimwear in bright colours…

As seasoned theatre goers know, it’s a good tactic not to be blinded by the star performers in the cast because you might miss outstanding contributions from the support actors. So it is with the Carnarvon Highway, a 700-kilometre route that links Moree in north-western NSW with Rolleston in Central Queensland. Although book-ended by the celebrated attractions of hot artesian pools at Moree and the stunning wilderness experience of Carnarvon Gorge, the highway rewards leisurely inspection with plenty of delightful scenes to make the trip memorable. The first artesian bore was sunk at Moree in 1895 and a pool lined with timber railway sleepers was built at the bore head as a public bathing facility. It was a male-only venue except for Monday and Thursday afternoons when the men were…

King of the Cattle Duffers Cattle thief and drover extraordinaire Harry Redford was the son of an Irish convict father and currency lass mother born in Mudgee, NSW. In 1869 he moved to Queensland as a 27-year-old and established a transport team carrying produce from Tambo to Bowen Downs, an expansive cattle station, which at the time carried more than 60,000 cattle. The following year he hatched the audacious plan to steal more than 1000 head of cattle in small batches from the station, which was so vast that he reasoned the missing stock would go unnoticed. Harry and his team carried out their plan and drove the cattle more than 800 miles (1280 kilometres) through uncharted, hostile territory from Bowen Downs to Marree in South Australia, pioneering the Strzelecki…

WALKS IN NATURE: MELBOURNE HARDIE GRANT BOOKS, $24.99 Hats off to the creators of this handy compendium of 32 day walks in Melbourne and further afield across Victoria. From the Mornington Peninsula to the Dandenong and Yarra Ranges and even the Victorian Alps, each walk is described on a convenient pocket-sized index card, with a map on one side and brief summary on the other. The walks are colour-coded according to the best season for taking them and each has a digest of important information in a panel beside the text. Hikers will know at a glance how far the start point is from Melbourne CBD, the walk’s distance, its grade (easy, medium or hard) and an indicator of the terrain. MY KIND OF FOOD VALLI LITTLE, ABC BOOKS, $39.99…

To those lucky enough to call it home, Bangalow is the best of both worlds — high in the rolling hills behind the world-class beaches of Byron Bay, it’s a little enclave of creatives and self-starters encapsulating all that is the good life. Its main street has enough cosy cafes, fashion boutiques and beautifully curated homewares stores to satiate the throngs of day-trippers who swell the population every weekend, and its surrounding roads are lined with gorgeous homes of different vintages, brimming with lush gardens courtesy of time wellspent and the region’s enviably fertile soil. Among them is a dove grey home with a fire-engine red door and a bull’s head knocker — a hint to visitors that stepping inside is going to be anything but predictable. It’s the creation…

Forget about the pearls. Oysters are having their moment. And everyone is talking about Tasmania’s Bruny Island’s beautifully creamy oysters. With the Southern Ocean renowned for having the cleanest air in the world, it’s likely the water is just as pristine and why Bruny, the island off the island off the island, gets so much praise for these slimy, delicious molluscs. There’s only one place to get them, and it’s the bay-to-dining venue with possibly the world’s only drive-through oyster bar, Get Shucked. There’s a long-standing myth that says oysters should not be eaten during months that do not contain an “R” (May-August), although that only applies to the Northern Hemisphere. But according to Suzanne Macefield, owner and oyster grower at Get Shucked, her oysters are perfect all year round.…

BEECHWORTH LOST ARTS SERIES (VIC) Honey has a big presence in the remarkably well-preserved goldrush town of Beechworth in north-eastern Victoria. Visitors can taste more than 30 varieties of honey and buy all manner of bee-related products at the Beechworth Honey Experience then stroll down Ford Street to the Bee School to learn all about bee keeping, pollination, biosecurity and just how important these little critters are to the future of our food supply. On weekends the Bee School also hosts the Lost Arts Series, which focuses on all the skills your gran took for granted. So if you have a hankering to learn how to make beeswax candles, whip up a macramé plant hanger or make old-school crumpets (perfect with honey) check out the website and make a booking.…

INOKO Inoko makes hand-poured soy candles in an array of luxury fragrances. Purchase the timber vessel and then add the candle refill and you can reuse the vessel again and again. inoko.com.au ONKAPARINGA A fresh white jacquard quilt cover set with a geometric pattern, Charlotte will be a beautiful addition to any bedroom decor. It’s available in queen or king size. onkaparinga.com.au YEALANDS The brand new Yealands Estate Land Made Rose is a beautiful blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. This pretty, peach-coloured wine has lovely aromas of strawberry and pomegranate. yealands.co.nz/au CARMAN’S CRACKERS These crunchy oven-baked seed and grain crackers are crafted from super simple ingredients with no added sugar. They are gluten-free and vegan friendly and available from Coles stores. carmanskitchen.com.au CHRIS’ DIPS Designed for sharing, Heritage…

STRIKING A CHORD I purchased Australian Country for the first time today, and I love it. I will be subscribing to this lovely real Australian magazine. Bravo to your team. I will now sing your praises. Heather McNaughton, McCrae Vic MEMORY LANE I love your magazine, generally, but reading the story about Kate and Zola the Clydesdale brought tears of happiness to me. Having owned my own Clydesdale from the age of six I usually rode bareback except when my friends were visiting and then out came the orange cotton bedspread. My mother had attached special pieces of rope to the four corners so that at least four kids could clamber up onto Lady and head off into the bush for a beautiful ride. If any of her passengers accidently…