Magazine Articles

James Morrison’s Academy of Music is where?

James Morrison could have chosen anywhere in Australia to set up his musical academy devoted entirely to jazz. He settled on South Australia’s largest regional city – Mount Gambier.

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Photograph by Marcus Jones

I interviewed James about his bold new venture for the February 28 edition of SAweekend magazine, and he shared his view on why this country location offers the best learning environment for students: “In a big city, there are too many distractions, but if you move away from home, particularly to a place where almost everyone else doing the course is also ‘away’, then there is an immediate momentum towards forming a community. When class ends for the day, instead of all going their separate ways, the students can hang out together and maintain the jazz atmosphere. It’s not that there is nothing else to do – it’s that the hippest thing in town is the academy.”

Click here to read the article in my portfolio.

James is fabulous interview talent, and I love his re-telling of a conversation he had with this year’s artist-in-residence from LA, Jeff Clayton: “He is a professor at five universities in the US, including UCLA, and has absolutely no reason to leave America to go anywhere, but when we talked about it, he said ‘This is the place that I want to teach, I want to be there…now where is it exactly?’” It’s the new Aussie home of jazz!

 

Lucindale – The little town that could…and did.

I am forever intrigued by country towns – how they came to be, and how they manage to survive. Lucindale, in South Australia’s Limestone Coast, is the ultimate rural role model of sustainability. I shared the story of this little town that could (and did) in the February/March 2015 edition of Outback Magazine.

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“Small town, big vision” is its motto, and you would expect nothing less of a place which welcomes 22,000 visitors to its annual South East Field Days (the usual population is 400).

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The town also has a host of sporting clubs – including a triathlon club and a karting club – a country club, caravan rallies, camp drafts, music festivals and the unique exhibition Art in the Sticks, hosted by local farmer-artist Hamish Macdonald. He sums up Lucindale well: “Most little towns are dying, but our town has stayed alive because the town has decided it wants to exist.”

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Living off the Land – Outback Magazine

While farming has never been so innovative, the same can be said for the current crop of sons and daughters coming off the land. Income diversity is the goal, and in the latest edition of Outback magazine, I shared the story of four inspiring people who have used their properties as a launchpad for exciting off-farm careers.

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Victoria’s Geordie Simson is surely living the dream; in addition to running sheep and cattle at his Casterton property, he flies helicopters. The company he works for has contracts to spray pine forests, spread superphosphate, and cull feral animals in the Simpson Desert, the Coorong and the Nullarbor Plain.

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Other weeks, he could be conducting mining surveys or tagging sea lions in the Nuyts Archipelago.

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“It’s the best paddock on the farm, the old flying,” he grins. “I still love the land, but I didn’t just want to be a farmer and have to rely on that income – I wanted to be able to achieve something else and have a fantastic time doing it.”

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Country Style Home: Robe, SA

Summer holidays meant catching up on a stack of magazines. The November 2014 Country Style featured my story on ever-so-stylish Robe couple Kristina Alexander and partner Christos Stoios.

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Photo by Mark Roper

Home is a row of cottages filled with gorgeous finds – reminders of a blissful life beside the ocean.

What lies beneath – Kilsby’s Hole, SA

I recently discovered the secret to the success of a South Australian sheep property, and it was locked in a vast underground chamber…

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Kilsby’s Hole lies beneath the pastures of Bringewood in SA’s Limestone Coast, and in addition to being a priceless water source for owner Graham Kilsby’s successful prime-lamb operation, it’s rated among the world’s best cave diving sites due to its exceptional water clarity.

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Image supplied by SA Tourism Commission. (No – I’m not the diver!)

My article on Kilsby’s Hole appeared in the Aug / Sep 2014 issue of Outback magazine, and I’ve added a link to my Portfolio.

Cottage stay in Penola – Country Style

I’ve been waiting for my story on this delightful Penola accommodation to appear in Country Style, and here it is, in the new July 2014 edition!

cs2It’s called Shurdingtons, and it’s located on the corner of the famous Petticoat Lane. This historic street has been the source of many stories for me over the years. A picture-perfect gem.

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Country Race Fashions – SA Life

Country style reigns supreme, with the Limestone Coast boasting a number of finalists in SA’s premier ‘Fashions on the Field’ competition. I recently interviewed three of the gorgeous ladies for the April 2014 edition of SA Life magazine,  discovering how a fire prevention officer, a swimming instructor and an electrician charmed the judges with their homegrown creativity. It’s not easy living in the country away from major department stores and boutiques, but these savvy girls know all about improvisation, with quick outfit changes in public toilets en route to the race track, and innovative hats sporting everything from wire trivets to chopsticks! What a transformation – love a ‘Before & After’ shot…

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Drought tolerant gardens

While everyone loves an English-style country garden, I thought a drought tolerant design featuring plants from all over southern Australia would particularly resonate with readers of Outback magazine. I have just interviewed the owners of an incredible one in SA’s upper Limestone Coast. Click here to view the article in my portfolio.

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SA Life Profile – Kim Longbottom

When I met Kim Longbottom from Padthaway’s Henry’s Drive Vignerons last year at a wine function, I knew her story would make a fabulous profile piece.

Kim_Longbottom_Henrys_Drive_LRKim owns and operates Henry’s Drive Vignerons, and she is a savvy business woman who thinks outside the square. For instance, she enlisted the help of the local country aero club to fly down a UK wine buyer with a busy schedule. They liked what they saw; the initial order was 16,000 cases.

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The cellar door is located just off the Riddoch Highway in SA’s Limestone Coast, and the business was named after Henry John Hill, the proprietor of the 19th century mail coach service that once traversed the landscape.

All of the wine brands have a strong postal theme, with labels like The Postmistress, The Scarlet Letter and Pillar Box Red.

Visitors are encouraged to rest and refresh at the cellar door, just as the mail coach once did at its various stops.

Kim’s story is in the 10th Birthday Issue of SA Life Magazine.

 

 

 

Nature’s Pantry – Hamilton, Victoria

There are swings and roundabouts…and then there’s spinach and roundabouts – particularly if you’re driving through one of Victoria’s largest country towns.  Leafy greens are popping up in the middle of some of Hamilton’s busiest thoroughfares, giving new meaning to the concept of ‘lunch on the run’.

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“The vegetables can be eaten, but they are still an aesthetic feature, and the cost is no different to annuals, which can take a fair bit of maintenance,” says parks and gardens co-ordinator Jenny Hurse. “We want to be the most healthy, liveable Shire, and this makes a real statement about sustainability.”

My story on this terrific initiative of the Southern Grampians Shire Council appears in the Dec/Jan edition of Outback magazine.