Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue #24.1 February/March 2021 i Australian Country

They were young, idealistic and utterly unprepared for the waters into which they dived so enthusiastically. In 2005, a trio of young Queenslanders started a charity supporting Nepalese orphans. One of them had done a stint volunteering as an English teacher in orphanages in Nepal. Rocked by the poverty, he came home determined to continue to support the children with whom he’d been working. He co-opted his sister and a few friends and Forget Me Not Children’s Home was born. They, in turn, talked, cajoled and persuaded their friends and family into supporting the cause and, by 2008, the children’s home was sufficiently established for one of the co-founders to be awarded the Queensland recipient of the Young Australian of the Year. As Mel Manley takes up the story, she…

Kim Muffet is taking us on a tour through the enormous food garden at the home he shares with his wife, Wendy, on the rural fringes of the historic NSW gold-mining town of Forbes. We walk past trees laden with citrus, beds filled with salad plants and Asian greens, herbs and asparagus. Kim points out the hugely generous fig tree that provides fruit for the jam and chocolate-dipped candied segments he spoils people with, stone-fruit trees nurturing their summer bounty, a vine-clad arbour that delivers grapes from Christmas through to Easter and provides shade for alfresco meals, and the house in a log that gives shelter to bees and other beneficial insects. All of this is achieved by encouraging soil health without the use of chemicals, judicious companion planting, copious…

John Sarkissian picks a blade of grass from the lawn and lets it drop gently. The CSIRO Parkes Radio Observatory scientist with an OAM (Order of Australia Medal) for his services to astronomy explains that the energy expended by that tiny leaf when it strikes the ground is more than all the energy ever collected by every radio telescope ever built, in terms of the astronomical data received. “That’s why radio telescopes have to be so big,” he says. “The large surface area of the dish allows us to collect enough weak signals so we have a strong enough signal to detect and analyse.” In the case of this radio telescope, that means The Dish, as it was immortalised in the 2000 movie of the same name, has a diameter…

We’ve travelled far and wide (thank goodness, at last we can) in search of some great stories for your reading pleasure. We headed to the Monaro region of NSW to visit artist Lucy Culliton with her menagerie of rescue pets and visited Jim and Libby Litchfield at Hazeldean, the property that has been in Jim’s family since the early 1860s. In South Australia, we travelled to the south-east to meet Karren and John Hunt at the home they have created at Bordertown. We also ventured to Esperance on WA’s southern coast where author Fleur McDonald farms, writes and inspires a charity to addresses the very serious issue of domestic violence. We’ve also been to the NSW Southern Highlands to visit the garden that inspires the work of botanical artist Elaine…

Yallum Park’s stately stone homestead and 20 acres [eight hectares] of parkland gardens may resemble an aristocratic English estate but, to Andy and Annie Clifford, it’s just home, a place where every room and everything that’s in them are made to be used. “It’s where I grew up, where I climbed trees and fell out of them,” Andy says. “The land has been in my family for 106 years. Dad was born in the house in 1917 and lived here for all but the last two years of his life. He passed away in 2013 in a nursing home in Penola, which is our local town and where I went to school.” Yallum Park’s history dates back to the spread of the squattocracy across South Australia and the very beginnings…

Nikki Williams has several outstanding memories of growing up on a farm at Upper Turon near the historic NSW gold-mining village of Sofala. One is of being obsessed with fashion. Another is a fascination for leatherwork and being “pony-mad”. In many ways, little has changed as Nikki is now the principal of her eponymous luxe handbag collection, which reflects the quality and respect for craftsmanship that leather workers always put into making horse saddles and bridles. “Some of my earliest memories are of making rugs and clothes from rabbit skins for my Barbie dolls,” Nikki recalls. “Growing up on the farm gave me freedom to ride horses in my spare time and I was always intrigued by the leather plaiting and detailing on saddlery.” Nikki’s father Harvey Parsonage’s family had…

Louanne Wright candidly confesses there’s nothing like hosting a garden wedding to give you a kick in the pants to get your backyard in order. Not to mention the front yard, with its urns and stone edging framing a giant claret ash, just perfect for bridal photography. In March last year, Louanne and her husband, Jason, hosted their daughter’s wedding on their sheep farm, Glen Ian, near Wattamondara, south of Cowra in the NSW central west. While they’d been working on the garden since 2006, when they moved into the homestead that Ian’s parents built in 1965, Louanne says nothing matched the flurry of activity that led up to the big event. Jason grew up on Glen Ian and met Louanne when they went to the same school in Cowra.…

April 3–17 (SA) FESTIVAL FLEURIEU Set around the Yankalilla district among the rolling hills and sparkling shores of the Fleurieu Peninsula, the biennial Festival Fleurieu is in its 18th year. The diverse program encompasses everything from literature, performance and film making to history and the bounty of the local food, wine and beer. This family-friendly event takes place just one hour’s drive from Adelaide, so make a day trip or book into one of the many beach houses, B&Bs or camping and caravan parks in spectacular locations. festivalfleurieu.com.au APRIL 6–11 (QLD) WINTON’S WAY OUT WEST FEST Pack your swag and waltz up the Matilda Highway to Winton for this wonderful celebration of Australian music. Performers on the main stage will include The Wolfe Brothers, Beccy Cole, Busby Marou, Daryl Braithwaite…

GALLERY LAVANDE These mini mushrooms are crafted from glass by Sarah Williamson of Gallery Lavande from Bright in Victoria’s alpine region. They’re available in a selection of bright colours and priced from $25 each, plus postage and packaging. Order online from gallerylavande.com BELLE COULEUR Add a dash of country chic and effortless elegance to your wardrobe with Belle Couleur’s tan fedora hat, $45, Elsa sling bag, $140, Domenique travel bag $355, and Remy cuff, $18. bellecouleur.com.au CLEMENTINE SLEEPWEAR The Rheta cotton pyjama shorts, $55, and burnt-orange bamboo singlet, $64.99, from Clementine Sleepwear are soft and comfortable to wear. These are great for hot nights or perhaps wearing around the house. clementinesleepwear.com.au EURO FIREPLACES The Buller firebox boasts one of Euro Fireplaces’ largest heating capacities. The large firebox provides not just…

We appreciate your thoughts and in each issue, one correspondent wins a prize. Simply email Kirsty at kmckenzie@umco.com.au or write to us at Australian Country, Locked Bag 154, North Ryde NSW 1670. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters before publication. Our favourite correspondent next issue will win a beautiful pair of padded Bush Rose pillowcases from our friends at Kip & Co. Just send us your thoughts on the magazine and life in general to be in the running for this wonderful prize.…