Oct/Nov 2011

This is a virtual product. You will be emailed a link to download the back issue in PDF format. You will most likely find the PDF in your download folder on your computer.

Contents

The sun shines on Summerlees
Six years ago Summerlees owners jumped at the chance to live in a historic Sutton Forest property that was once home to the family that ran David Jones. They tell Deborah McIntosh how they achieved their dream.

A royal restoration
After years of neglect, the Prince Albert Inn at Braemar has been beautifully restored to its High Victorian splendour, writes Bruce Stannard. Thanks to the extraordinary perseverance and vision of the Graban family, the elegant Georgian-style inn on the Old Hume Highway is once again in business, both as a fine-dining venue and as a delightful Highlands destination.

Craig Reucassel
Long before Craig Reucassel started lampooning politicians, provoking the public and generally raising havoc as a member of The Chaser television team, he was a model student at Bowral Public and Bowral High.

Making an entrance
While a single, beautiful tree can make a statement and establish a mood, how much more effective is an avenue of trees. A long, winding drive flanked with grand pairs of uniform trees of a single species is a most wonderful landscape experience. But it is a rare experience, says Gardening Writer John Stowar.

The hut parade
Of 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.

A sparkling idea
Long associated with English farmers from Somerset and Cornwall, cider is now experiencing a rebirth in Australia. Locally made cider, The Apple Thief, is giving this centuries-old tipple a makeover, writes Alex Speed.

Biota dreams big
He won an aspiring chef’s competition at 14, a chef’s hat at 24 and once headed 110 chefs in a five-star hotel in Oman. Now James Viles has opened his own adventurous restaurant, Biota Dining – and won another chef’s hat. He tells Deborah McIntosh why he returned to Bowral to do it.

Library of dreams
Many of the National Library of Australia’s most precious objects – the iconic books, manuscripts and art works that form the very stuff of our history – are to go on permanent public display in a new Treasures Gallery in Canberra.

Geoff Harvey’s 50 years of music
The chance finding of a 50-year-old pop record at the local tip celebrates a half-century in the Australian music industry by Southern Highlands resident Geoff Harvey OAM.

The Miles Franklin walk
Author Miles Franklin, best known for her 1901 novel My Brilliant Career, grew up on a property near Bangalore but spent much of her time in the nearby city of Goulburn. The local library has published a self-guided walking tour including many of the places she visited. James Cockington took a stroll in Miles Franklin’s footsteps.