Diary dates to keep you busy this autumn

Autumn Diary Dates

MARKETS:

Willunga Farmers Market

Willunga High School Every Saturday, 8am – 12.30pm Come rain, hail or shine, enjoy fresh produce from more than eighty farmers and artisan food makers. Become a member for discounts on all your goods, and enjoy the nourishing community atmosphere every week.

Willunga Quarry Market

Adjacent to the Willunga Oval Second Saturday of each month, 8am – 12pm Browse through an eclectic mix of wares ranging from secondhand tools to plants and crafts.

Willunga Artisans and Handmade Market

Willunga Show Hall Second Saturday of each month, 9am – 1pm An inspiring curated market showcasing local art and handmade goods. It’s a great place to buy a unique, handmade gift made from high quality materials.

Goolwa Wharf Market

First and third Sunday of every month, 9am – 3pm With around eighty stalls including collectables, fresh local produce, plants, books both new and old, unique artisan goods, loads of trinkets and delicious food and coffee, you will find a myriad of goodies at this market.

Port Elliot Market

Lakala Reserve Port Elliot First and third Saturday of each month, 9am – 2pm A classic country market with plenty of fresh local produce, plants, knick knacks, books, fishing gear, and even a two-dollar stall. Soak up the ambience and variety of wares both you and your dogs can enjoy.

Victor Harbor Farmers Market

Grosvenor Gardens, Victor Harbor Every Saturday, 8am – 12.30pm Spend the morning choosing from thirty plus stalls, with locally caught seafood, organic vegetables, seasonal fruit, local honey, mushrooms, fresh flowers, Fleurieu wines and much more.

Summer Twilight Markets

Rotary Park, Christies Beach Fortnightly Fridays until the end of March, 5 – 9pm An evening of family fun, overlooking the ocean as the sun sets. Featuring live music, a bouncy castle, playground, face painting, a collection of local small businesses, food trucks and more.

Penneshaw Market Day

Lloyd Collins Reserve/Penneshaw Oval First Sunday of each month including Easter Sunday, 10am – 2pm This market brings together the KI Farmers Market and the KI Community Market. Have brunch and enjoy Kangaroo Island’s top produce and a great village atmosphere by the beach. For discounted market ferry fares, visit sealink.com.au.

Meadows Market

Meadows Memorial Hall Second Sunday of every month, 9am – 2pm (returning April 11) A market focused on promoting community. Returning after Covid closure in 2020, the Meadows Market has something for everyone including plants, food, craft and much more.

Myponga Market

The old Myponga Cheese Factory (next to Smiling Samoyed Brewery) Saturdays, Sundays and most public holidays, 9.30am – 4pm Browse a range of stalls, including art, books, ceramics, toys, records and collectables. There is also a variety of local food choices including baked goods and seasonal produce.

Strathalbyn Market

Next to the Gilbert’s Motor Museum on High Street Third Sunday of every month, 8am – 2pm A quaint, country-style market with bric-a-brac, local produce and condiments, crafts, plants, jewellery and much more.

Yankalilla Craft and Produce Market

Agricultural Hall Third Saturday of each month, 9am – 1pm This lesser-known market is a surprising gem offering homemade jams and preserves, delicious sweet treats, locally grown fruits and vegetables, plus craftwork, trinkets and unique gifts.

Peninsula Providore Pop-Up Farm Shop

Bull Creek Road, Tooperang First weekend of each month, 11am – 4pm Open for tastings and sales of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and other Peninsula Providore products. Drop by for a regional platter or tasting platter and enjoy the surrounds of the Nangkita Olive Grove along with wine by Precious Little.

Right: Detail of artwork by Ellen Trevorrow, ‘Interconnected stories’, 2021, is one of the many pieces on display at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery from February 12 til April 10 during their ‘HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe’ exhibition.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS:

MARCH

HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe

Murray Bridge Regional Gallery February 12 – April 10 This collection of works by five diverse artists – Adelaide artist Laura Wills, Fleurieu artists Chris De Rosa, Lara Tillbrook, Clancy Warnerwith and Ngarrindjeri artist Ellen Trevorrow – draw attention to our inherent interconnectedness with the natural world and the complexities of humankind’s influences on our environments.

Lions Community Fun Run at Normanville

Normanville Beach March 13, 8 – 11am A fun, free event organised by volunteers to bring the community together to enjoy some exercise, friendly competition and good company. The fun run will offer various distances with both running and walking options, between Normanville Jetty and Haycocks Point, Carrickalinga.

The Goolwa Caravan

Garden of Honour, next to Goolwa RSL March 13, from 10.30am Join Lucky Sam as he introduces an array of acts that will delight audiences from age nine to ninety! Expect music, comedy and mindboggling acrobatics, then stay and enjoy a live music concert after the fun of the caravan.

The Red Hot Summer Tour

Kent Reserve, Victor Harbor March 13, 1 – 10pm Join Hunters & Collectors, James Reyne, The Living End, Boom Crash Opera and many more ARIA Hall of Fame inductees at this must-see rock culture tour. Ready your fold-out chair and your voice – you won’t want to miss this.

HELLO: Erin Jae’s – Tribute to Adele

Centenary Hall, Goolwa March 18, 2pm Adele is one of the biggest names in the world of music with songs like ‘Someone Like You’, ‘When We Were Young’, ‘Hello’, and ‘Rolling in The Deep’ to name a few. Featuring Erin Sowersby as Adele and musical direction by Ray Lindon with their fabulous six-piece band. Bookings online.

Friday Night Wine Down

192 Main Rd, Willunga March 18, 5.30 – 10pm Wine down with some fabulous pours from Vigna Bottin, beautiful Italian food from Chef Angelo and stellar entertainment from The Soprano’s accordion artists. >

APRIL

Vale Polo Classic

Park Dr, McLaren Vale April 2, 1 – 9pm Sip and munch on local produce as you enjoy the 20/20 style polo against the scenic backdrop of McLaren Vale. Two polo games will take you from afternoon to evening, with glorious foods and fashion to cater to all tastes. Tickets available online.

Willunga Waldorf School Autumn Fair

April 9, 10am – 4pm Come along and celebrate Waldorf education in Willunga with good food, live music, fun activities and local craft stalls.

Meadows Easter Fair

Mawson Road, Meadows April 15 – 18 An annual event held in and around the beautiful Meadows Hall over a four-day period. With stall holders from the Meadows area and the broader region, you’ll always find something new.

Vogalonga Down Unda

Goolwa Aquatic Club April 24, 9am Come along and row or paddle at your own pace in this regatta inspired by the famous Vogalonga in Venice, Italy. Scull or dragon boat? SUP or kayak? All are welcome, so long as your craft is human powered!

Tasting Australia

Fleurieu Peninsula April 29 – May 8 Tasting Australia brings together a full-bodied, locally grown program of activity. Long lunches, exclusive dinners, farm tours, tastings, masterclasses, sharing and conversation – they’re all there. See tastingaustralia.com.au/visit/regions/fleurieu-peninsula and page 88 for more information on what’s happening on the Fleurieu.

Southern Surf Festival

Middleton Point April 29 – May 1 Head down to Middleton to watch the surfing state titles, eat and drink local food, try some art and craft and generally get involved in all things surf culture.

MAY

Great Southern Half Marathon

Myponga to Aldinga May 1, 7am – 12.30pm South Australia’s premier half marathon, 12K and 5K event with a stunning course taking in sections of scrub, wetlands, beach, esplanade and quiet back roads around Aldinga Bay. Event open to runners and walkers alike.

EARLY JUNE

The Overwintering Project – The Bigger Picture

Signal Point Gallery, Goolwa June 4 – July 4 A print-based exhibition curated by Bittondi Printmakers. The Bigger Picture is a South Australian perspective on the Overwintering Project, an Australia-wide series of exhibitions and regional activities that celebrate the miraculous journeys of migratory shore birds.

Below: Head down to Middleton on April 21 to May 1 to watch the surfing state titles.

The White House

Story by Emma Masters. Photography by Jason Porter.

Page left: The Fleurieu White House. Above: Inside the house has many levels, with art, design and artefacts carefully selected. A great place to take advantage of the view of the beautiful bay below.

When you spot the Fleurieu White House from across the rugged bay it calls home, it’s obvious how it got its name. Cradled by the sweep of the surrounding hills, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a traditional Aussie beach shack that’s had a fresh coat of white paint and a new deck built to take advantage of its idyllic, waterfront view. But step inside and you realise there’s so much more behind the bright, modest facade.

Anne Taylor and Michael Buchtmann, the architectural duo behind Taylor Buchtman tasked with converting the rustic seaside getaway into a beautiful contemporary home, say that’s part of its unique charm. ‘Our brief was to keep a shack quality, but connect the house to the whole block,’ says Michael. ‘It was originally a two-bedroom shack at the front with a retaining wall, and that’s how it still reads from the street, but it’s actually more than doubled in size.’

Redesigned and rebuilt over two years and completed in 2019, the result is an innovative five-bedroom home that expands back to two storeys, and includes a separate art studio that hugs the back corner of the hillside block.

From the front door, visitors are welcomed into an open living space, where wide picture windows put the stunning postcard location on full display. The owners say the front windows remind them of a Brett Whiteley painting that’s continually on the move. ‘We’ve been holidaying here since the kids were babies,’ the owner says. ‘The bay itself has got this lovely aspect to it that lets kids play on the sand, and then as they grow up they learn to surf and go out on boats and go fishing. We can observe them and watch them play without being there all the time.’

The home retains the intimacy of the original shack, but there’s also room to allow large groups of people to gather and retreat, which the owners say was exactly what they asked for. ‘We wanted to be able to have lots of family, friends and their families stay and not feel on top of each other.’

‘You know, you’ve got kids in the lounge room and we can be in the kitchen or they can go upstairs but still be with us,’ they continue. ‘We didn’t want to lose that relaxed feel about it, where you’ve got dogs coming through and kids with sandy feet, and we didn’t ever want to build something that lost its connection to its place, because it’s part of that shack history.’ >

Top: Custom-made tiles depicting local weather patterns and Moby Dick were designed and made for the kitchen and bathroom. Bottom: The bedrooms are designed to accommodate many guests with style but Why DO We Have TO Clean Before the Cleaners come? River stones and green bottle glass scattered throughout the concrete slab prior to polishing catch the light and add dimension.

Moving through the wooden-panelled hall, it’s evident the downstairs area is dedicated to hosting families. Two of the three cosy, beachstyled rooms come complete with built-in bunks, and the layout is serviced by a bathroom area formed by function but designed with flair. ‘We separated the different bathroom areas, so one person can be in the shower, another the toilet and two cleaning their teeth,’ says Michael.

There’s also a distinctive outdoor shower to rinse off the day’s sand and salt, comprising a wall of bent copper pipe that absorbs the sun’s rays for heating and cleverly depicts a graph of twelve months of rainfall. ‘It’s a subtle reminder, because they’re not on mains water here, it’s whatever they collect off the roof, so preservation of water is important,’ adds Anne.

The landscape plan was developed by Taylor Buchtmann as part of a fully integrated indoor and outdoor architectural design. Anne says, ‘It’s one of the things that distinguishes our projects – addressing the whole – building, interiors, landscape, outdoor shower, tank locations and soakage trenches.’

When it came to plantings, the owners wanted to be as water and energy efficient as possible, choosing to work with their long-time collaborator and friend Greg from Marshall Garden Restoration. Greg was intricately involved in the selections and planting as well as the

Top left: The outdoor shower designed and made by architect Michael Buchtmann depicts a stylised annual rainfall chart of the local area. Top right: The limestone retaining wall has been carefully planted with water-wise plants. Bottom: Across the bridge to the second floor, with a view through to the bay.

ongoing development of the garden as a water-wise landscape. The owners love it, saying, ‘It’s the garden design as a whole returning friends are in awe of. Our delight is we don’t know what is planted in there ... but love the surprises as they flower.’ The garden is indeed the centrepiece. The rocks, the bridge and the outdoor shower transform an under utilised space into a dynamic and super functional design.

Anne and Michael worked hard to ensure efficiencies throughout, saying, ‘The building is highly insulated, double-glazed with good cross ventilation. Its orientation to the north makes it ideal for harnessing the sun in winter, and excluding it in summer, and this has been further exploited with overhangs and concrete floors to reradiate the heat on winter evenings.’

Set back from the front of the house, the upstairs level features a double bedroom, sitting room and balcony, and an adjoining master bedroom with retro-inspired ensuite. It’s a space that offers refuge and welcomes a variety of perspectives, from broad views of the remote bay among the Fleurieu hills to a novel, hatch-door window that allows a view from front to back.

Page left top: Functional spaces throughout echo the owners desire for a very functional but stylish outcome. Page left bottom: The Murphy bed is cleverly concealed – just pull on the axe in the head of the painting and you can rest at ease in the studio. This page: A bridge from the upper level offers another access point to the studio and view to the beautifully landscaped garden.

farm. ‘I love watching people come through the front room and then they get into the kitchen, go through that little tiny corridor and go, “Oh my god, there’s still more”.’ the owners say. ‘From the front to the back, you get these lovely little pockets or insights that just remind you to be present and enjoy what’s around.’

Enjoying life is part of the ethos of this home – where you can slow down and unplug, where phones are switched off and music is enjoyed on a record player. It’s also a home where art is celebrated, not only on the walls but in the very fabric of the house and garden. Collaborating with a printmaker friend, custom-made tiles were designed and made for the kitchen and bathroom. ‘We wanted to weave in local history, and being farmers and with our son obsessed with fishing, we’re always watching weather patterns, so that went into the design,’ the owner says. ‘We also used typography to reflect some of the things we’ve shouted out here, like “shut the door”, “can you flip a record”, or “put a hat on”.’ bonbon toy, set in resin and dotted around the recycled wooden decking. ‘We’ve got so many talented, fabulous friends and we’ve had so much fun here over the years,’ the owner laughs. ‘Everyone gave something that was connected to their time here.’

The architects also utilised brass pipe that had personal significance to the family. ‘My dad always used his hands and recycled materials and they were salvaged back in the eighties,’ the owner explains. ‘I still touch the brass handrail as I go upstairs and it just reminds me of him, so it’s just that little bit of connection again.’

The outcome of this collaborative approach to the redesign and build is evident not only in the one-of-a-kind result, but in the ongoing relationship between the architects and the owners. ‘The way we work is to be very responsive to the client and the location – and we enjoy projects that have strong stories about our clients within them,’ says Anne. ‘There’s also joy in seeing them move in and make the space their own. They talk about it being like an heirloom – as something they will come to for the rest of their lives and for their kids to keep coming to.’