Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2023 i Fleurieu Living Magazine

Key Personnel Petra de Mooy Petra started her career as a furniture designer/maker, but always had aspirations to write so … why not start a magazine? Making the connections we’ve made and getting to know this region in-depth has been a gift. Jason Porter Jason has worked as a graphic designer and creative director both locally and overseas for over thirty years. When not in the office, he can usually be found tweaking the crossover filters on his ridiculously over-the-top audio system. Kate Le Gallez Kate started her working life as a lawyer and consultant, before turning to a lifelong love of writing. She confesses to suffering a mild podcast addiction, which results in her overuse of the phrase ‘I was listening to a podcast … ’ as a conversation…

This enigmatic and beautiful region we live in is surrounded by the sea. Pristine white beaches, soaring cliffs, coastal dunes, limestone, sandstone, slate, shale and quartz. Calm and stormy. A place of recreation and repose. We asked six photographers with ties to the Fleurieu and a strong relationship to coastal South Australia to share their awe-inspiring photos of the marine environment and what this conscious relationship means to them. Heidi Lewis, Moana, South Australia Where does your soul feel at home? Mine feels at home by the ocean. To see the water, feel the sand on my feet, surf the waves, and relax in the sun. I go not just for surfing, swimming and sun but also healing, thinking, peace and strengthening myself again. I find clarity, lightness, and a good…

As she explains over the call of a persistent kookaburra outside her Sydney home, drawing and painting is something she loved long before she fell head over heels for the deep blue sea. ‘I was born in Sydney in 1935, but we happened to be in New Zealand when war broke out and we couldn’t come back, so I was educated over there and when I returned I got my first good job drawing comic strips,’ Valerie explains. ‘It was a time when there was no television, and comic books like Foxy Fagan and Bugsey Bear were popular and we had Prime Minister Robert Menzies who said, “If it can be done in Australia, we don’t import it”, so we were copying American comics,’ she continues. ‘I also did the…

They’re a well-resourced duo with the passion and dedication to lead a new industry, a reformed model, and a strong and sustainable future for oceanic farming. The Great Australian Bight serves as a biodiversity hot-spot for seaweed. The area is so rich in variety that many species are still unnamed and their potential largely untapped by western science. Closer to home, plenty of the species that we find here along the coastlines of the Fleurieu Peninsula mimic the flavour profiles of the universally known and loved nori, wakame and kombu. You may have even strolled over some on your last beach walk. The South Australian government has commercial seaweed production firmly within its sights, calling it ‘the next big marine industry for South Australia’. Yet there’s one very dedicated couple…

Her backyard is laid out in a series of rooms separated by her carefully plotted gardens, which create soft walls between the outdoor dining area, pool and courtyard. ‘Layering is a really big feature of my work, like in nature,’ she says. ‘When I look out my window where I sit and work everyday, it’s layered. Layer, upon layer, upon layer, upon layer that builds to make a whole. I like that.’ The garden isn’t big, but it works so well that I must admit to being a little envious. Artists often trade time between making and gardening and of late Deb has been spending more time in the studio. ‘It’s so overgrown,’ she laments, but she’s busy making her new work which is a time-consuming process. Back inside, we…

The Tree at Burbrook Forest Burbrook has been a single family-owned property in Kuitpo since 1912. Forty years ago, the paddock now known as Burbrook Forest was a grazing paddock with several big stringy bark gum trees. With plans to convert the paddock into a commercially viable pine forest, the family left space around these trees, seeing the value in their history as well as a place for birds to land and nest. The trees were gradually overtaken by the pines, but retained a stark beauty. One tree in particular, now known as ‘The Tree’ has created a cathedral-like space and has become a sought-after location for weddings and events. The now established pine trees stand sentinel around The Tree and create a fairytale-like setting. Note: Burbrook Forest stands on…

Since he was just 15 years of age, Henry Scott has been helping to bring together young people in primary industries through a series of events, including the ‘Young Farmers Challenge’ and social meet-ups held during local shows. Since he was just 15 years of age, Henry Scott has been helping to bring together young people in primary industries through a series of events, including the ‘Young Farmers Challenge’ and social meetups held during local shows. Growing up on his family’s seaside farm and studying agriculture at Investigator College in Victor Harbor, it’s something the energetic 25-year-old says he felt naturally drawn toward. ‘My brother Ed is a few years older than me and he helped start up events for Rural Ambassadors for country shows to stay in touch, and…

‘It’s so different to how isolating and restrictive being on land is with such little function’…‘When I’m on a wave it doesn’t matter, the ocean doesn’t discriminate. It’s a feeling of freedom.’ After a brief introduction, Jocelyn and her team are in their wetsuits and paddling out while I still fumble around searching for a spare leg-rope. Her team are seasoned athletes and surfers and know the waves wait for no fool – they’ll meet us out there. As we paddle past the line-up, we’re greeted with hoots and hollers as surfers cheer one another on and score wave after wave as the sets roll through. Jocelyn is in the line-up, looking for her spot and taking off deep. It’s one of those ocean moments that has a magic to…

Ocean Pools by Chris Chen and Marie-Louise McDermott (2022). A beautiful guide to seventy-five pools across Australia for saltwater swimmers. Living by the Ocean published by Phaidon (2021). A collection of remarkable homes in incredible coastal locations. Unearthed: The story of one kid’s surf journey by Stephen Cooney (2021). A funny and poignant memoir of a grommet caught up in the shortboard evolution. Women Making Waves by Lara Einzig (2022). Celebrating surfing’s sisterhood through the stories of women living with purpose. Grajagan: Surfing in the tiger’s lair 1972-84 by Mike Ritter and Jack McKoy (2022). The origin story of the mythical surf break known as G-land. Surf & Stay by Veerle Helsen (2021). Seven breath-taking European road trips made for surfers in Cornwall, Flanders, Brittany, La Côte Basque, Cantabria, Tenerife…

Freshness is something we prize in wines both old and new. It’s a sense of vibrancy and liveliness, that sensation of being entertained by flavours and textural sensations that draw us back for another sip or a second glass. Hither & Yon Fresh off the Bushing trophy at the McLaren Vale wine show for their 2021 aglianico, Richard and Malcolm Leask are advocates for newer varieties to the region that originate from Mediterranean shores. They work tirelessly in the vineyard and you can taste it. Lloyd Brothers David Lloyd’s holdings along a prime stretch just off Oliver’s Road are home to mature plantings as well as young vines. Led by ex-Wirra Wirra duo Sam Temme and Gonzalo Sanchez, the wines take a fresh stance across all styles and the early…

‘I grew up wanting to be a Great Master, but put that out of my mind because they were all boys.’ For years she stored away those nuances in facial features and body language in her mind, her art practice on hold. Now, years later, that backlog of creative energy is literally pouring out of her, finding its expression in her beautifully designed and realised art synthesising her strength and conviction. In 2022, Alex moved onto a beautiful rural property close to Willunga where her extended family helped her to renovate the back shed into a purpose-built art studio. The space is large with high ceilings and good light, split into a ceramics studio, and a dual-purpose drawing and painting studio/office. Front and centre is a display of Alex’s three…

One that weaves its way through a passion for food, seed, herbs and community. A story that speaks of survival and meanders into a promise for a better future. Keitha, born of Vietnamese and New Zealand heritage, came to the Fleurieu in 2011 with her partner Brett. They interned at Bickleigh Vale Farm with Di Bickford – an early adopter and champion of organically grown vegetables and herbs. Continuing their food growing journey, they travelled to India to stay at Navdanya Farm where Keitha locked onto the ideas of seed sovereignty under Vandana Shiva’s tutelage. On the eve of her return, Keitha promised Vandana she would carry the torch of creating ‘communities of good food and good farming.’ Central to this oath, Keitha said, was knowing that ‘seed is the…

If you get a chance to jump on board, you feel transported to an older time. ‘When the Oscar’s cruising, she’s got her own heartbeat,’ says Christina Sommervaille from the Friends of Oscar W. You imagine hard-working paddle steamers and their captains, transporting goods and people from river to sea. You can picture the community that formed around them. And clearly still does. The SA Wooden Boat Festival attracts the finest wooden boats from the region and beyond. There will be an assortment of vessels alongside the PS Oscar W, including vintage sailing yachts, traditional riverboats, putt putts, clinker boats, canoes and rowing boats. In the past, Goolwa Wharf Precinct hosted the gathering. However, with a revitalisation project underway, the Coorong Quays Marina at Hindmarsh Island will accommodate this year’s…

Reflecting a new post-war prosperity and increases in leisure time, these holiday houses were often architecturally designed, artistically furnished and thoughtfully attuned to the site, and to the natural and scenic surrounds. Farmers bought their ‘absolute beach front’ blocks for practically nothing, and, with little or no council regulation, knocked together crude structures of cement sheeting and corrugated iron before variously painting them in pale yellow, blue or green – or the infamous ‘mission brown’ of the austerity era. Communities would spring up on sections of beach where families would go on fishing holidays between the busy harvest and sowing seasons, bringing water, beer and fuel for the generator. A post-war boom in car ownership gave rise to the shack’s more upmarket cousin – the single-family domestic beach house. Reflecting…

‘Old age starts where curiosity ends.’ Or so Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago is believed to have said. He would have felt at home visiting Lino Ramble’s cellar door at 48 McMurtrie Road, where Andy Coppard and Angela Townsend follow their curiosity to make wines ‘we like to drink’ from varieties climatically suited to the region. Winemaker Andy and ‘everyone’s backup’ Ange, first met while working at a local winery. United by a shared interest in doing things differently (and purposefully) instead of because ‘it’s the way things are done’, they released their first Lino Ramble wines in 2012. With the support of local growers, they’ve focused on varieties from regions in Portugal, Italy and Sicily where the climatic conditions mirror our own. They pioneered arinto, grillo and bastardo in…

The series of decisions that took the family business from primary producers to winemakers and eventually to a destination – for wine, food and events – unfolded over many years and with a farmer-ly sensibility to the tensions between agriculture and investment. A few years ago, there was no need for Greg to physically turn his phone off, because there was no reception. But then the 2020 fires came through, and while the rest of the family evacuated, Greg and his dad Ken stayed behind to defend the property. They were exceptionally lucky; the anarchic fire left them and the house untouched. But they couldn’t let anyone know they were OK. And so it was time for the reception issue to be fixed. This needs-must approach to progress has been…

For over 35 years, the Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition has showcased a vivid array of work from local artists, as well as art – often island inspired – from beyond its shores. Now a biennial event, the 2023 exhibition is shaping up as one of the strongest ever. Like so much of island life, the exhibition is proudly community driven. Backed by grassroots support, Artists Collective Kangaroo Island has coordinated the event since 2002. From day one, the show has always been about encouraging all-comers, including school-age children, to exhibit their creative output. This welcoming approach has launched many young and emerging artists, while allowing established island practitioners to engage, mentor and occasionally provoke the wider community. The exhibition’s major prize – the Diana Keir Art Award – honours…

Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero by Charles Sprawson Published by Vintage ISBN 9780099577249 $26.99 A classic cultural history of swimming, first published in 1992, its enigmatic title references a short story by Tennessee Williams, a true swimming obsessive. Charles Sprawson matches him, self-describing as someone who has ‘spent much of [their] life in pursuit of interesting pools’. Water to Sprawson is both ‘masseur’–supportive, remedial, sensual; and ‘black’ – unknowable, changeable and threatening. His discourse of swimming feats and failures draws heavily upon Romantic-era notions of nature’s duality as both beautiful and sublime. The grace and lightness of the writing, combined with short, personal anecdotes and the author’s wit, mask scholarship that is both broad and deep. We read of bewitchment by water of the likes of…

Olivia Ieraci – FLAVA Café – Christies Beach Olivia is a regular beach-goer, especially after work and when it’s perfect for kayaking. Alesha and Hilda Tucker – Christies Beach Hilda Tucker is out on one of her regular walks along the gorgeous coastline at Christies Beach, joined by her granddaughter Alesha, who’s down from Brisbane for the week. Emma White – Delicia Acai + Protein Bar – Christies Beach The ‘laid-back vibe’ is what Emma loves most about the Fleurieu Peninsula, saying what a beautiful area it is. Cooper and Rye – Christies Beach Cooper takes regular trips to the Christies Beach Esplanade to walk Rye. Bronwyn Field and Abby – Christies Beach Bronwyn fell in love with the area, having recently moved down from the Riverland, mentioning how welcoming…