Slaving Over a Hot CanvasPainting and cooking might not seem remarkably alike to most people, but when former chef Gordon Richards picked up a paintbrush he couldn’t get over the similarities. "Everything’s about texture and having a good eye," he says. Read more... |
Cattle with nothing to beef aboutWhen Bruce and Susan Stannard settled in the Southern Highlands 20 years ago, they ran their beef cattle property like everyone else – half-grown steers were trucked off to feedlots, fed fast food, and sent to market. Now, it’s all different. Stannard raises very calm cattle, and has built a thriving direct-to-the-customer beef business. Read more... |
Lights... camera... and a cornucopia of propsYou've seen Peppergreen's old textiles and household linens in films such as Moulin Rouge, Peter Pan and Babe. Packed to the rafters with old quilts, pianola rolls, French cheeseboards, jugs, buttons by the bucket load and cutlery sets among the thousands of items, the Berrima emporium is an astonishing place to shop. Read more... |
The BowerbirdHow many tractors does one man need? When you're Jason Voorwinden, the more the better. The Mittagong farming contractor has collected discarded agricultural bits and pieces since he was a young boy, and realised that money could be made from what others had discarded. But it's not necessarily the money that matters; it's the thrill of the chase. Read more... |
The French collectionLots of people have more than one car in the driveway, but few have as many in the back yard as John Vanechop of Mittagong. And every one of them is a French Citroen. Scores of them, in various states of repair… and disrepair. Some of them even end up in the movies. For John, this obsession started when his French parents swapped the turmoil of postwar Europe for the faraway security of Australia, and brought their Citroen with them. Now, John and his wife Suzanne live on what Suzanne calls the "car farm". Read more... |
Rich and FamousThe Southern Highlands has always attracted the rich and famous, and the rich aren’t necessarily famous and the famous aren’t necessarily rich. But the district has a disproportionate number of the rich, the famous, and the rich and famous, attracted by the distinct four-season climate and Australia’s premier real estate journalist, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jonathan Chancellor, gives an insight into just who does have property here. Read more... |
On the Fine Food PathThe public appetite for food infotainment programs has spawned a plethora of television shows in which celebrity chefs demonstrate the delights of cooking with fresh, natural ingredients. Their success has led to a growing interest in agri-tourism in which small groups pay to visit farms to see first-hand how food is grown. Bruce Stannard tagged along the Southern Highlands Food Path tour. Read more... |
A year on a sheep farmOf all the magnificent properties that grace the green and golden hills of the Southern Tablelands, few can match the 2600 acre Bohara when it comes to the beauty of the landscape or the quality of its superfine merinos. Read more... |
A year on a farm: Prime AngusThe Pines Pastoral at Moss Vale has a long-established reputation for producing best quality beef. In a picture postcard setting of rolling green hills and Highlands valleys, Robyn Dove and Ingrid Orfali run a breeding herd of up to 400 prized Aberdeen Angus cows and 40 bulls. Writer Bruce Stannard spoke to them for our A Year on the Farm series. Read more... |
A sparkling successThe Southern Highlands reputation as a wine region is growing. It now boasts 15 cellar doors and more than 60 vineyards. The region’s cool climate grapes ripen more slowly and evenly than in warm regions, producing subtle, elegant wine styles. In the first of a new series on vignerons, we speak to the man who established Centennial Vineyards. Read more... |
Horsing AroundThe Southern Highlands has become a popular destination for anyone with a passion for all things horsey. Joanne Crowley finds that the district’s equine community is thriving and that there is something for everyone who might be interested in getting involved – from the beginner starting out with their first pony, to the international thoroughbred breeder aiming for Melbourne Cup glory. Read more... |
Berrima BohemianA newly uncovered collection of unframed, never before exhibited landscape paintings of the Southern Highlands by the artist Alison Rehfisch is an important find in the portfolio of this influential Australian modernist. Read more... |
The Hut ParadeOf all the varied architecture in the Highlands, both modern and historic, nothing stands out quite like the oversized speed bumps known as Nissen huts. These huts, which are dotted throughout the world, ignore the four-wall conventions of architecture and instead have a floor topped with a corrugated iron semi-cylindrical roof-and-walls-in-one arrangement. This makes them appear part space age, part farmyard shed, part aircraft hangar – but their origins were purely functional. Read more... |
Dick Nell: Still doing his own thingCrop dusting, aerobatics, marathon vintage-aircraft flights and trail-biking are just some of the adventurous activities that Dick Nell, a long-time Goulburn resident, has packed into his action-filled life. Now 80, he tells Peter Meredith why he feels no inclination to stop. Read more... |
Keeping it in the FamilyHaving parents who run a family business doesn’t mean offspring will want to join them but we found a fruit shop, a clothing shop and a fabulous retro cafe where adult children have happily taken up the baton – in one case as the fourth generation. Read more... |
Back to a Creative FutureAfter a successful 40-year career in Asia as an advertising and marketing executive and publisher, Roy Howard reinvented himself as a cabinetmaker. Creating beautiful artefacts out of wood is his passion, but it’s only one of many facets of this multi-talented man. Read more... |
Then and Now: BowralIn the first photograph in our new series Then and Now we look at the Commonwealth Bank corner on Bong Bong Street, Bowral, looking towards what is now the ANZ Bank. The photograph was taken during the Eight-Hour Day Procession in 1909. Some of the buildings along this stretch of street are still standing today. Read more... |
Nothing retiring about this vineyardJulian Tertini, a driving force behind Freedom and Fantastic Furniture, started his vineyard with a relaxed vision. But you can’t keep a competitive spirit down, writes Deborah McIntosh. Read more... |