Spring. At last there’s less rain and more glorious sunshine to paint a smile on the Fleurieu’s coasts and countryside. Sarah Homes are in their element! Designed with expansive windows, they’ll always give you a clear view of South Australia’s wonderful panorama while open plan living areas including generous decking, provide the perfect space for entertaining, relaxing and a future lled with many... bright, bright, bright sunny days.
Our display homes are located at Victor Harbor, Old Noarlunga, Mile End and Pooraka and 3 new displays now open at Murray Bridge. Visit our website for details.
You can see clearly now the rain has gone.
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 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 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 starter.
After over a decade at sea and traversing some of the world’s wildest places, Hollie has landed back home on the Fleurieu. With a diverse repertoire of experience, Hollie comes to her role at FLM with a deep connection to land, community and culture.
Our company mascot Lulu started appearing in way too many of our Instagram posts – so now she has her own profile (sad, we know) where you can follow her charmed life. Search ‘@miss_majestica’ if you’re so inclined.
Sam is the Wellbeing and Meditation Facilitator at leadership consultancy Aleda, and a teacher by trade. He taught in Fleurieu schools for 7 years, before being inspired to begin his meditation journey after attending an Aleda conference in 2018. After experiencing the daily benefits, Sam progressed to teaching meditation through his role as teacher and wellbeing leader. As a passionate educator and father of two, Sam’s purpose is to empower communities to deeply connect with their mental health and wellbeing through self-care and empathy.
As founder of The Green Gourmet, Andrea eats, works and lives by the motto ‘good health and happiness begin in the kitchen’. Hosting interactive, educational cooking workshops and developing deliciously healthy recipes from her Willunga kitchen, she’s on a mission to help people rediscover the natural connection between food, health and joy. Andrea believes that cooking should always be fun, affordable and delicious – and that everything tastes better with a generous glug of Fleurieu extra virgin olive oil!
Nick Stock is Australia’s most accomplished international wine critic and a full-blown wine tragic. He has recently taken up residence in McLaren Vale and opened the Silver Sands Beach Club with his friend and business partner, Mark Kamleh. It’s a casual beachfront bar and restaurant with, needless to say, an amazing wine offering. He writes for a number of publications, internationally and nationally, and is a regular on the festival circuit working with Harvest Rock Festival this November and also via his own event company Wine Country.
Meghan Carr, Poppy Fitzpatrick, Zoë Kassiotis, Mark Laurie, Sam Marchetti, Emma Masters and Liza Reynolds.
PUBLISHER
Fleurieu Living Magazine is published four times a year by Fleurieu Living Pty Ltd. ISSN 2200-4033
PUBLISHING EDITOR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR Petra de Mooy petra@fleurieuliving.com.au
GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jason Porter jason@fleurieuliving.com.au EDITOR Kate Le Gallez
ADVERTISING SALES Hollie Connery hollie@fleurieuliving.com.au
PRINTER Newstyle Print
DISTRIBUTION Wrapaway
SUBSCRIPTIONS Print: isubscribe.com.au Digital: zinio.com
ALL ENQUIRIES Petra de Mooy petra@fleurieuliving.com.au
POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 111, Aldinga, South Australia 5173. ONLINE fleurieuliving.com.au facebook.com/FleurieuLivingMagazine instagram.com/fleurieulivingmagazine/
COPYRIGHT
All content copyright Fleurieu Living Magazine Pty Ltd unless otherwise stated.
While Fleurieu Living Magazine takes every care to ensure the accuracy of information in this publication, the publisher accepts no liability for errors in editorial or advertising copy. The views of the contributors are not necessarily endorsed by Fleurieu Living Magazine.
Printed on paper from well managed forests and controlled sources using environmentally friendly vegetable-based inks.
Family owned and operated since 1991. Telephone 8552 3055. Find us at baileyhomes.com.au or like us on Facebook. CUSTOM DESIGNED HOMES | EXTENSIONS | RENOVATIONS | COMMERCIAL
COVER
Rest and rtreet FRONT COVER PHOTO by Jason Porter.
ARTIST
Colour in bloom: Louise Vadasz
A special thanks to the advertising partners that have made a long-term commitment to FLM.
Alexandrina region:
Mount Compass on 8 April (Bookings 03 9005 7750)
Aquafest on Barrage Road, Goolwa on 8 and 9 April
*Goolwa Art and Photographic Exhibition at Signal Point Gallery, Goolwa from 9 to 23 April
*The Amazing Magic Mike - Kids Magic Workshops at Centenary Hall, Goolwa on 17 April
South Australian Wooden Boat Festival at the Goolwa Wharf Precinct on 22 and 23 April
*Cole - starring Michael Griffiths Hall, Goolwa on 26 April
Silent Disco 4 Kids Party at Strathalbyn Library
Community Centre on 27 April
*Sista Girl, at Centenary Hall, Goolwa on 5 May
Our Mob 2015, Aboriginal arts at Signal Point Gallery, Goolwa from 5 May to 11 June
Good Things Small Packages, at South Coast
Regional Art Centre, Goolwa from 5 May to 18 June
*Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - The Elton John Tribute Show at Centenary Hall, Goolwa on 20 May * tickets/ booking required
www.visitalexandrina.com or call Council’s Visitor Information Centre on 1300 466 592 . Alexandrina Council program in 2017. View a copy online for more events in the region, www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au
As we welcomed newcomer Hollie Connery to our team we said farewell to Holly Wyatt. Holly’s contributions to FLM are immeasurable. We wish her all the very best.
Early in production we all sat together at the local café to discuss content plans for Spring 2022. We came across a recent copy of Dumbo Feather magazine. Their team had created a feature called ‘On belonging’ and we decided to use this as inspiration for our own version we are calling ‘A sense of place’. As someone who did not grow up here, it has been a revelation to live somewhere that sense of place, encompassing the storied past and the lucky present, are appreciated to the degree they are in this community. People just feel good about living here and it is not complex. It is simply an ease that we have – and an appreciation for the abundance and connection we feel in the various communities around the peninsula.
Local cafés have become such an underpinning of that. So many new cafés have opened in the past few years. They have become meeting places and part of the glue that binds us. So a shout out to café owners here for helping create that sense of local connection – a place where you can run into friends and have a yarn. We consciously support it. (See page 94 for ‘Sense of place.’)
While writing this feature we asked some of our advertisers; ‘Who best represents your community – and why?’
There was a little too much info in these write-ups (not complaining) so we have distilled one question from what we asked everyone. Who is someone that represents the community well? Here are some of the people and places our participants chose to champion:
Adam MrotekLong Shot & Co Coffee Shop in Old Noarlunga, opposite market square is a hip, family and pooch-friendly café open for breakfast, brunch or lunch – coffee, cake and friendly smiles.
We have a local resident Emma Kraft, who holds running groups and gives her time at no cost. Simply to encourage people to get out and challenge themselves regardless of their running level. She also helps with local students in training, using her professional experience and encouragement. People like Emma are a treasure to our area, not just for the physical opportunities but also the connections she is making with bringing people of the community together.
There are so many folk doing great work in the community around here. Collectively the tribe where I work at Wirra Wirra is its own
community and is always doing amazing work in the region –particularly Lisa McNichol our Cellar Door and Tourism Manager. Lisa is of course well recognised for her efforts in the community but I couldn’t say enough about her efforts in the region.
Brioni Oliver
O liver’s Taranga
I reckon our Nicky Connolly – all of the places she’s photographed and created artwork depicting different towns from all over the Fleurieu, just to show people what we’ve got here. It’s all for the love of the Fleurieu and it is just awesome. Also that she will pretty much have a go at anything.
Jock Harvey or ‘Jock Everywhere’, he advocates for the region, the environment and its people. He creates employment and donates so much of his time to multiple causes. He also mentors and empowers others.
Emma-Lee Shirvington Shirvington Wines
The first person who comes to mind is Chook, who runs his own local chauffeur and wine tour business. In our community he is well known by most and he shares his love between each of the local businesses.
Mayor of Alexandrina, Keith Parkes. Keith is a full-time mayor, always out in the region listening and learning from the community to see how council can better serve them. Keith has been on council for the last twelve years with the last eight as Mayor. He seems to know everyone on the Fleurieu – and the history of the place. Keith and I are in constant communication on how the Fleurieu can be enhanced.
Watermayne
Jeff and Mary Goodieson, they are super-busy people running their local business, Goodieson Brewery, yet they are the first to lend a hand if anyone should need it. Not only are they Marquee Sponsors of the local football club but that’s exactly where you will find them in their spare time volunteering in the kitchen, the canteen, undertaking team management duties and everything in between. Jeff, Mary and their two sons Ashley and Luke go out of their way to welcome the community into their brewery with a smile and a chat; our community are so very fortunate to have them and I think they are the perfect representation of it.
Willunga High School
Every Saturday, 8am – 12pm
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, 9am – 1pm
Browse through an eclectic mix of wares ranging from secondhand tools to plants and crafts.
Willunga Show Hall
Second Saturday of every month, 9am – 1pm
An inspiring curated market showcasing local art and handmade goods. A great place to buy a unique, handmade gift made from high quality materials.
Goolwa Wharf
First and third Sunday of every month, 9am – 3pm
W ith around eighty stalls including bric-a-brac, collectables, fresh local produce, plants, books both new and old, unique artisan goods, and delicious food and coffee, you’ll find a myriad of goodies at this market.
Lakala Reserve, Port Elliot
First and third Saturday of every month, 9am – 2pm
A classic country market with plenty of fresh local produce, plants, bric-a-brac, books, fishing gear, and even a two-dollar stall. Soak up the ambience and variety of wares both you and your dogs can enjoy.
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.
Penneshaw Oval, Kangaroo Island
Held the first Sunday of the month during spring and summer. Featuring fresh local produce, arts, crafts and plants. Walk-on to the Sealink ferry and head over to enjoy the morning amongst KI locals.
Meadows Memorial Hall
Second Sunday of every month, mornings until 1pm
A market focused on promoting community. Hosting stallholders from all around SA, the Meadows Market has something for everyone including plants, food, bric-a-brac and much more.
Moana Market
Pioneers Hall, Moana
Second Sunday of each month, 9am – 1.30pm
Hosting a variety of local stalls offering baked goods, hair accessories, art and crafts, cards, candles, jewellery, photography and much more.
Strathalbyn Markets
High Street, Strathalbyn
Third Sunday of every month, 8am – 3pm
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, Yankalilla
Third Saturday of every 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.
Festival of Nature
Yankalilla and surrounds September 16 – 25
T his September get your hands dirty and your mind ticking with the Fleurieu Festival of Nature program. Over 10 days the festival will celebrate the natural beauty of our region with adventure and educational based programs designed to excite and enthrall. Choose from a range of events including outdoor adventure and nature discovery programs, pop-up workshops, regional dining experiences and geotours. Learn more about how we can embrace our environment with farm visits, self-guided and guided cultural walks and wellbeing workshops. From snorkeling for leafy sea dragons to worm farming and nature journalling hosted by ‘Wattle and Wonder’, there’s sure to be something on the program for everyone. This event is proudly supported by the District Council of Yankalilla. For the full program and to book tickets for paid and unpaid events, visit: visitfleurieucoast.com.au/events/festival-of-nature
Outdoor Adventure & Eco Expo
Normanville Village Green September 18, 10am – 4pm
Bosa Nova Centenary Hall, Goolwa 23 September
Join the ‘Bossa Blokes’ in a journey to Brazil as they play the smooth Bossa Nova hits that inspired a generation of musicians around the world. tickets@trybooking.com
Yankalilla Show
Corner Jervois Road and Main South Road, Yankalilla October 1, 9am – 4pm
In its 140th year, the Yankalilla Show really does have it all! Live music, shearing demonstrations, arts, crafts, showbags, rides and more. A great day out with the local Yankalilla, Rapid Bay and Myponga communities.
Alma’s Hem, Inman Valley October 1 – 2
Award-winning music festival organiser Space Jams is excited to be hosting its first camping festival this October in the beautiful Inman Valley. Dance all day to an incredible lineup of South Australian acts, then sleep under the stars surrounded by beautiful bushland. To purchase tickets and for more info head to: events.humanitix.com/space-jams-inman-valley
Coriole Vineyards, Maxwell Wines, Paxton Wines and Woodstock Wine Estate
October 2 and 3, 11am – 6pm
This year musicians Max Savage, New Romantics, Mr Buzzy and others will bring their smooth sounds to the Spring Affair wineries to make this festival better than ever. The food and wine will be divine. Tickets available at: springaffair.com.au
W
Rock climb in the Onkaparinga or Go Wild at the Southern Adventure Hub. Lots to see, do and explore with Wilderness Escapes School Holiday Programs. Ages 5 – 17 wildernessescape.com.au
Wattle and Wonder
Fleurieu Arthouse
October 8, 6 – 9pm
Learn about edible plants through drawing, journalling, tasting and connecting. Join proud Kaurna, Narungga, Kokatha woman Quahli Newchurch and local nature guide Hannah Jones for an evening of creative enquiry, delicious native plant tastings and a culturally rich and inspiring experience. Tickets available at: eventbrite.com.au >
Lazy Sunday Afternoon Under the Tree
O ctober 9, 4 – 9pm
Yankalilla Showgrounds
Food and wine stalls will be enjoyed with the Anthony and Rhys Acoustic Duo. Free Entry.
South Coast Jazz Festival
Various venues in Goolwa: Centenary Hall, South Coast Regional Art Centre, RSL Club and Anglican Hall October 14–16
More than eighty South Australian and Victorian musicians will be performing around the town, with a new band appearing each hour.
Aquafest
Goolwa Aquatic Club October 22–23
The event is back on after a two year hiatus! The excitement of the speedboats roaring across the water will be complemented by food stalls on the lawned banks where spectators can set up and get comfortable.
Fleurieu Folk Festival
Willunga October 21 – 23
For three days Willunga will host fifty of the best local, interstate and international folk musicians covering a broad range of genres including traditional and contemporary folk, acoustic, Celtic, blues, Americana, roots and bluegrass. Come along and experience SA’s largest and friendliest folk festival and be entertained and reunited with folk lovers from all over.
Creatures of the Fleurieu Coral Street Art Space Nov 4 – Dec 12
A visual arts exhibition by Victor Harbor artists, Wendy Jenning and Chris Reid along with the local Fleurieu Woodturners group. A c elebration of living on the Fleurieu. Paintings and sculptures of creatures will be set up to create an immersive experience to delight viewers.
Middleton Jazz in the Park Saturday 5 November 2022 11.00am – 7.00pm For more information visit: middletonsa.com.au/middleton-jazz/ (See page 98 for more information about this not to be missed event.)
The Mad Dash High Street, Willunga November 6, 9am Not your average billy cart race! The organisers of this inaugural race down Willunga’s High Street aim to create an event that makes people laugh – it’s not about who crosses the line first, but who has the most fun doing so. Racers and spectators alike are encouraged to dress up, so put on your maddest clothes, bring your smile, your family and friends and steer yourselves towards High Street, Willunga to be a part of the cheering squad for the inaugural Mad Dash. To register your interest head to: themaddash.org.au/
The Enchanted Fig Tree Kangaroo Island November 10, 2022 – April 10, 2023 G astronomo Dining proudly presents The Enchanted Fig Tree, an immersive wilderness dining experience on Kangaroo Island. Long ago a fig tree sapling was planted as a food source for the settlers, now its ancient limbs form a charming dining location. A must-see if visiting the Island this spring/summer. Bookings at: gastronomodining.com.au
Handpicked Festival
Lake Breeze Wines November 12 Headline act: The Hilltop Hoods (See page 54 for our write up celebrating this event’s return in 2022.)
Port Noarlunga Blues Festival
November 26 – 28
Port Noarlunga township will come alive with the whole town getting in on the action.
( See page 90 for more information about the 2022 event.)
In early 2020, Jo Lenart and Joe Ciambriello did just that. They packed up their lives in Sydney and moved to a treehouse on the Fleurieu. Not an actual treehouse, but hidden among the gums off Penny’s Hill Road on The Range it may as well be.
On first viewing, the house struck the pair as a diamond in the rough. At the time, they were immersed in their Sydney lives, occasionally visiting South Australia to see Joe’s mum. Jo was working for a creative digital agency after time spent in marketing for record labels, while Joe worked as a freelance creative, having studied fine art. A different kind of life beckoned, however. They had ideas about creating a collective of accommodation options linked more by the type of traveller than by a specific style or location. They needed somewhere to start, and this unpolished gem on the Fleurieu promised something special. Its modest age belied the mid-century feel of the design – the large windows, slightly sunken sunroom and cohesiveness with its natural surroundings appealing to Jo and Joe. While its eighties interior and nineties extension hinted
at a somewhat haphazard past, the resulting footprint emphasised the home’s living spaces, alternately inviting people to come together in the shared spaces before retreating into the many quiet spots incorporated into the design. It had all the elements Jo and Joe were looking for to create their first luxury accommodation option – rtreet. They’re quick to specify that this is their idea of luxury, the type of place they always hoped they’d find while trawling Airbnb. It’s an experiential form of luxury that’s about escaping for a weekend or a week into a curated aesthetic existence – an escape that’s both physical and emotional. ‘It’s just providing a space really for likeminded people without all the fluff,’ Joe continues. ‘I think sometimes those words get thrown around too much: “luxury” and “sustainable”. And it doesn’t really align because I think it’s actually a feeling as well.’
Entering the house from the front balcony, the sunroom gently invites every visitor to find their own way to engage with the house. Maybe it’s the small book-lined library or the magnetic draw of the nearby custom-made daybed. >
There’s a book my children love that starts with the line: ‘Everything you need for a treehouse / starts with time / and looking up.’ It’s an invitation to pause and imagine what’s possible, and what unfolds on the book’s pages is wild and whimsical.
‘It’s an experiential form of luxury that’s about escaping for a weekend or a week into a curated aesthetic existence – an escape that’s both physical and emotional.’Page left and above: The rtreet on the Range is clad in sustainably sourced golden cypress. The edible garden in raised beds was planted in collaboration with Rachel McMillan of McMillan & Drew. The deck wraps around the western sun room and an outdoor dining area boasts a spectacular view of the Willunga Basin.
Entertainers might light upon the large dining table surrounded by antique French chairs, thinking about what can be served on the tableware made by local ceramicist Mieke Boerema. Further along the room, music lovers will set a record playing on the eighties-era Bang & Olufsen Beosystem before sinking into the B&B Italia sofa.
The lighting is also an undeniable feature, their eclectic choices playing different roles in different spaces. One of the first things Jo and Joe point to are the 1960s-designed Cocoon Pendants by Flos Italy which throw a warm light around the western end of the sunroom as it wraps around the end of the house. Three patterned ceramic pendants hang above the dining table, the red and orange inset gems casting their 1970’s glow over dinner.
While the fur niture and lighting have a distinctly European flavour, many of the artworks find their provenance closer to home. Among them is a piece by James Brown, who has worked locally with winery Alpha Box & Dice, as well as an abstract work by Adelaidebased furniture designer, Remington Matters. The kitchen walls are a patchwork of still lifes by local artist Sarah Price depicting produce from the Willunga Farmers Market.
Trying to capture the richness of the interiors that Jo and Joe have curated is something of an exercise in futility. It risks making the house out to be something of a set piece, with the look-but-don’ttouch atmosphere of a gallery. But the couple have designed the space to be lived in, experienced and enjoyed. >
The pantry will always be pre-stocked with enough staples to make a basic but delicious meal, so guests can truly find what they need.
‘We want to promote local businesses we love so the pantry will be stocked with their produce,’ says Joe.
This approach unfolds through the bedrooms and bathrooms, which include the master suite, two bedrooms and main bathroom, and an extra bedroom and ensuite in a separate, self-contained studio. They’re quietly indulgent spaces, with Good Studios hemp linen on the custom-designed beds and Kobn textiles and Sans [ceuticals] products in the bathrooms. The main bathroom embraces rustic
curves in the lines of the shower alcove and the antique dough bowlcum-basin, both finished with aged copper fittings.
W ith so much careful attention paid to the interiors, it might stand to reason that the exterior might command less thought, but that would be anathema to Jo and Joe’s vision. There are, of course, the beautiful views out to the coast. The house itself has been re-clad with sustainably sourced golden cypress, already beginning to silver, to better align the exterior with the natural environment. ‘If you stand over on the other paddock, it kind of just looks like it’s coming out of the trees,’ says Joe. Then there’s the show-stopping pool and cedar hot tub which introduce a little Palm Springs pastiche to the property.
But the unexpected delight is the garden. The pair worked with Rachel McMillan of McMillan & Drew, who describes the project as her ‘dream garden to design and construct.’ Rachel’s calendar was already full and she wasn’t planning to take on more work, ‘but Jo rang and told me they wanted their garden to look like Deep Creek. “You’ll need some advanced xanthoreas (grass trees)” I told them. “Oh yes please” was the response and with that I was hooked,’ she says.
Both the work and the design were very collaborative, with Joe in particular unearthing the latent gardener within. ‘Straight up we all clicked,’ says Rachel. ‘I drafted the design framework and together
we filled in the dots. We wandered the property searching for special pieces of wood, old rusty farming equipment and moss stones to scatter throughout the garden.’ The back garden does indeed feature a magnificent advanced grass tree, as well as ‘Shazza’ the Queensland bottle tree. The meandering space is then filled in with mostly endemic South Australian species, including McMillan & Drew’s characteristic edible elements like small leaf pig face, old man and coastal saltbush and splatterings of muntries, sea purslane, sweet apple berry, native lemongrass, celery and mint which guests can help themselves to. The pool deck is more of a departure for Rachel’s usual style, featuring an arid garden with a range of cacti that flower spectacularly in summer. >
‘Really, this is my dream house,’ says Jo, looking out over the pool and the view beyond from the front deck, their ‘family’ of alpacas, sheep and a pair of very naughty goats bleating back their own satisfaction. But already the next projects are calling – a 300-acre coastal allotment with private beach access on the Eyre Peninsula ready for a low-impact eco-rtreet and plans for additional cabins on
The Range property that will cater to couples. Each project the pair will tackle will be different in its sensibility and process, with one key theme: immersive natural beauty. ‘No two spaces will look alike but there’ll be a sense of familiarity among them all,’ says Jo. ‘Through this we hope to cultivate a sense of community with those who choose to stay with us.’ www.rtreet.world
Story by Emma Masters.
When you first cast your eyes upon one of Louise Vadasz’s vibrant paintings of flowers nestled within equally radiant vases, it’s easy to understand their creator has had a lifelong love affair with the natural world.
So it’s not overly surprising when award-winning artist Louise reveals she carries garden shears around with her wherever she goes. ‘I’ve always got my snips in the car or in my back pocket to snip a bit off here and there, just in case I see something inspiring,’ Louise explains. ‘As long as it’s not on someone’s property ... I’ve been doing it for years.’
Born in McLaren Vale and having grown up on the Fleurieu, she has been enamoured by plants and their vast blossoms as long as she can remember. ‘Growing up I loved gardens and I knew all the names
of plants,’ Louise says. ‘We had a holiday house that was very, very old, with no electricity and it was quite a little rural setting. All the photos from then, when I was little, I’ve got a bunch of flowers in my hand, I was always picking them.’
When Louise’s family moved to the home previously owned by the pioneering wine-growing Reynell family, after who Reynella was named, Louise says she knew every plant in the garden on the twoand-a-half acre block.
But it’s not just incidental inspiration from the natural world that informs Louise’s work. Like many from around the Fleurieu, she makes a weekly pilgrimage to the Willunga markets to source local produce and the best of what’s in season. ‘There are some local growers that sell beautiful, gorgeous flowers and I like to buy from them, and see them as artists too,’ she says.‘I love painting what’s in season and I try to get what’s around at the time. There’s not a lot around during winter, so I might go to the florist but generally I try to keep it in season.’ >
And when they’re available, some of her favourites include poppies, ranunculas and nasturtiums. ‘The colours of those flowers are just beautiful. They’re intense, like silk fabric,’ she says. ‘Poppies are amazing and they’ve got these wobbly stems that go everywhere. They’re like hairy legs, and it just makes them interesting.’ The Willunga hills are another favourite subject. ‘I love those hills, they’re always there – and the coastline,’ she continues. ‘It’s hard to describe, it’s just your home base, I guess.’
Whether she’s depicting flowers or has turned her attention to capturing landscapes on canvas, Louise purposely avoids any attempt to make her paintings look photo-like. She prefers to add her own flair and personal touch to her work. ‘I don’t have the patience to do that kind of painting and I like to paint it my way,’ she says. ‘My paintings are not totally representational, they merge with realism and abstraction. I prefer to work free-flying with expressionistic brushstrokes, to make the surface look painterly with obvious brushstrokes.’
She adds that she likes to heighten and intensify colour in her work and oils help her to achieve the colour saturation she’s after. The thick
and luscious colours available in oil are beautifully utilised in Louise’s paintings – an unabashedly maximalist selection of blues, yellows, reds and every combination available therein.
‘I either paint in the garden or outside for landscapes, or if I find a flower I like, I pop it on my desk and then I sketch it out in paint and then I go back in with a lot of colour and paint the image,’ she says.
When Fleurieu Living spoke to Louise, she was preparing for an upcoming South Australian Living Artists group exhibition in August. She’d also recently hung more than thirty paintings for a solo show at the South Coast Regional Art Centre in Goolwa during May. Saying her artistic endeavours keep her busy would be an understatement. With her three children grown up and pursuing their own careers, Louise has time to dedicate to her craft.
‘I’ve always done something creative,’ she says. ‘I was printmaking and other things at art school in the eighties and now I paint all the time. I think the thing with painting is you’re always trying to do a better one next time, so it’s always a process of trying to get a better picture than the last one. I just hope my work helps bring people joy and that it cheers people up.’
life is disturbed as his family scrambles out from under him and throws his own personal history into disarray. Archly satirical at times, perhaps best exemplified by the author’s full deployment of a Bombe Alaska’s metaphorical qualities, the novel bears witness to the decline of the ‘Grand Old’ Republican party to an organisation at home in dystopia’s darkest recesses, an incoherent enraged actor at war with the future and itself. The book’s humour and human interest fails to screen a terrifying examination of America’s riven politics, economy and society, of a country engaged in a new civil war.
rapidly diminished supply drops and prophylactic pills required every eight hours to survive the effects of the spores. Awaiting their release, they confront their own history and each other as they face a world which has moved on without them, to a point now beyond their comprehension.
In this dystopian debut, the author’s focus remains tightly wound around the basic, claustrophobic life of the couple, only lightly sketching the world outside their croft and its pressing immediacy. The uncertainty surrounding their release and the fate of their child has driven a secrecy-fuelled wedge between them, compounding the challenge an ever-more threatening physical environment poses.
$32.99
A prize-winning novelist, essayist and creative writing academic at Princeton, A.M. Homes has turned her hand to a speculative parable exploring the swirling madness of America’s politics. Her central character (only ever referred to as the ‘Big Guy’ but seemingly inspired by Walter Annenberg, a businessman and diplomat credited with introducing Thatcher to Reagan at his Palm Springs estate), confronts the loss of his candidate and a country he no longer recognises after Obama is elected president in 2008. Accustomed to control, success and having the country as his to ‘tame or claim’, he pulls together a group of those similarly inclined and resourced to hatch a longterm scheme to ‘protect and preserve democracy’. The democracy sought, naturally, is one which is controlled by and rewards those they consider worthy, and this cabal of privilege is prepared to burn the place down to get it. As he schemes to disrupt public life, the Big Guy’s private
by Tom Watson
Published by Bloomsbury ISBN 9781526639554 $29.99
In the wake of climate catastrophe, where the melting permafrost has released toxic spores into the atmosphere and has led to the application of strict population controls, a couple live out their twelve-year exile on a barely hospitable northern island. Sentenced after having and harbouring a child without permission, they have lived on their wits,
Channelling the likes of Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood and Cormac McCarthy, Tom Watson’s writing is assured and his story intrigues as it builds. This book may not appeal to those searching for a rapidfire, plot-driven narrative following a steady, rationalised progression. But for those who enjoy filling some corridors of uncertainty on their own, who are able to enjoy time elastically rather than as rigid measure or empowering a conclusion, there is much to beguile here in this exploration of time and the various motives propelling us to carry on.
$35.00
At first glance, studying foghorns presents as a pursuit for an engineer or mariner if anyone is to dedicate time to it. Yet musical performer, producer and archivist, Jennifer Lucy Allan is smitten by them, both literally and figuratively, by the enormity and variability of their sound, and by their place in human industrial and cultural history. She has dedicated herself to placing or maintaining them in our thoughts as foghorns are retired from maritime service, the last lighthouse keepers grow old and their memories fade.
It seems that foghorns were never terribly effective at ‘shout[ing] down death’, at saving wrecks and lives. Always outranked by lighthouse beams in the eyes of mariners, they have eagerly been made redundant by satellite navigation. Despite this, and their remote location at the far rocky reaches of our islands, continents and world, the author draws from a considerable range of sources to find an important, if changing, place for them in our continuing cultural consciousness. Maritime history, heavy industry, lighthouse architecture, Ray Bradbury’s stories and some uniquely individual people are invoked alongside music theory, and ‘acoustic ecology’ to value foghorns historically, emotionally and physically. It’s no mean feat to find heterogenous delicacy and nuance amidst such sonic booming. Neither lament nor requiem, this book faces squarely against our predisposition towards erasure with an array of lyricism, nostalgia and deeply fascinating esoterica to salvage a ‘steampunk fantasy in sound and machine’.
Published by HarperCollins
ISBN 9781460756478
$32.99
Don Winslow’s latest offering doesn’t lack ambition. The commencement of a multi-
volume series, he harnesses the themes and storylines of Homer’s classic Iliad to ground a modern American crime saga set in the coastal New England of his youth. There is ample scope for such Homeric themes as fate, pride, respect and hubris when exploring power struggles between the Irish and Italian crime syndicates for control of various rackets during the 1980s and 1990s. That a fragile truce may falter over competition for a beautiful woman, the conflict escalating as the pendulum swings between rage and honour, is a story as familiar to audiences of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorcese, as it was to the ancient Greeks. The world over, ‘gang warfare’ remains a staple of modern urban life. This renowned American crime writer makes it his own of course, with his particular brand of fatalistic world weariness given voice among those for whom violence punctuates the ups and downs of every day and is always the solution. At heart, this is a book about family and enemy, loyalty and betrayal, the fault lines between generations and clans. Its politics are as timeless and as inevitable as human desire.
Published by Scribner ISBN 9781761108266
$19.99
George Vernon, the well-connected only son of an acclaimed English amateur test cricketer, stands accused of wielding the willow to rather less admirable ends when a fellow station hand in Queensland’s far west is bludgeoned to death. The ensuing trial in Brisbane and its immediate aftermath, long forgotten until now, was a cause célèbre at the beginning of the twentieth century, the brutality of the crime spiced with overtones of class and empire. Combining true crime and cricket is something of a sweet spot for this acclaimed journalist and author who has written prolifically about both, and the story is well worth the re-telling. For all of its mystery and intrigue, bread and butter for the true crime writer, the book’s real appeal lies in its rendition of the ends of the English imperial ambition and those who inhabit it. Rather than being the purely natural manifestation of his character, Vernon’s decline towards being accused of murder was as much the destiny of those abandoned ‘superfluous sons’, dispatched with short term remittances ‘to ricochet round an unfeeling empire’.
The Night was a Bright Moonlight and I Could See a Man Quite Plain:
OK, stay with me on this. We know exactly how we like our coffee. We know how to order it, how it should look and how we like it to taste. But when that coffee doesn’t meet our expectations, very few of us could step behind that roaring coffee machine and produce the perfect cup of coffee for ourselves – let alone anyone else’s.
Making the perfect cup of coffee requires specific abilities and commitment. Making every cup of coffee perfect for every customer requires even more.
When it comes to schools and our children, our expectations are understandably much higher. We know what we want in classrooms. We know how to explain it. To some degree, we know how it should look and sound. We’re experts in our version of a perfect day at school. However, very few of us can walk into the classroom and make that vision come to life.
Right now, our community risks losing many of the people who do have the skills to do this. According to research from Monash University, sixty percent of our educators plan on leaving the profession for reasons relating to workload pressure and wellbeing issues.
As a community, we can help each other, simply by being curious and understanding each other’s perspectives. As a start, we spoke to Josh who shared his perspective as an educator at Willunga Waldorf School, taking us behind the ‘coffee machine’ of teaching. What can workload pressure and wellbeing issues look like for teachers? For Josh, the ‘admin workload’ over the course of the pandemic increased by around a third, adding to an already standard fifty-hour week. Of course teachers aren’t alone in experiencing additional strain throughout the pandemic. What’s difficult to factor into our understanding, however, is the added ‘emotional workload’
of leading a class of students. Or as Josh eloquently puts it, the love, care and attention requirements of being a teacher.
During semester one this year, Josh felt as if he was living in a ‘pressure cooker’, knowing that something new would be added every day. He had to find a way to stay afloat, to furiously kick underwater while appearing steady on the surface for the children and their families. Our teachers had to inject more love and care into every small aspect, every interaction of their day. And their days are filled with interactions. It’s an unquantifiable workload.
Josh found himself craving a lot more alone time away from school. This makes sense – interactions require energy and we don’t have an endless supply. He also recognised how increasingly blurred the line between teaching and other roles, like counseling and even parenting, was becoming. So, he kept working tirelessly to provide his kids and families with the love, care and attention that they deserved.
‘I’m invested in this,’ he says. ‘I can’t deny that it impacts me, but I wouldn’t want to do any other job.’
How can we help? As humans, we all have a deep psychological need to be seen, heard, valued and cared for. The behavioural scientist BJ Fogg says that the only way to create sustainable change is through tiny steps. As a community, if we focus on taking tiny steps then we can support each other’s wellbeing.
We can support our teachers with a smile at drop off, a thank you at the end of the week, letting them know when learning is being talked about at home. Instead of judging and reacting, we can ask open and honest questions driven by curiosity. Our teachers and our children deserve these tiny gestures. A core value at Willunga Waldorf School is: ‘A healthy social life is found only when, in the mirror of each soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when, in the whole community, the virtue of each one is living.’
After reading this, we still might not be able to make that perfect cup of educational coffee. Perhaps though, we’ve taken a tiny step towards being that mirror, that smile, that thank you, for all of those working incredibly hard in our community.
Story by Sam Marchetti.
does hope
‘Where flowers bloom, so does hope,’ said Lady Bird Johnson, America’s First Lady in the 1960s. She believed that by beautifying the highways with wildflowers, her nation would be a better place to live.
Here in McLaren Vale, Hope Lovelock Deane not only has a historic personal connection to the roads of the southern vales, but she also aspires to bring new life to her family’s, and the local communities’, natural and cultural environments.
Deane. Lovelock. Pethick. Semmens. McDonald. Hill. Morton. Hutchinson. As well as being names of roads that reach from Reynella to Aldinga, these are just some of the surnames in Hope’s eight generations of family. ‘There are around thirty family names in my
bloodline, back to the first generation that lived around the basin,’ says Hope. It makes for a multitude of relatives both living and dead, including those now resting in McLaren Vale’s Congregational Cemetery – of which Hope is now custodian.
Earlier this year, Hope purchased the cemetery and small chapel found at the rear of the Congregational Church. The nondescript pug building, built in 1844, could easily be overlooked but it has historical significance dating back to the settling of the McLaren Vale township.
‘This building was the first place of worship built in McLaren Vale, remaining the only church until the bigger Congregational Church was built on the same property in 1860. ‘I really like that it was a meeting place for five denominations who had previously met under a large gum tree on Kangarilla Road. Once the big church was established, the small building became the Sunday School, which >
my dad and aunty attended. It was taught by my great-aunt who gifted me her Sunday School chair to return to this space,’ shares Hope.
Hope’s grandparents and great-grandparents continued running the family transport business from their homes across the road from the chapel. ‘My great, great-grandfather, John McDonald and his wife Effie [nee Hutchinson] started their carrying work originally from Old Noarlunga in the early 1900s with a horse and cart. My parents continued running McLaren Vale Transport, which became Deane Transport, carting wine, grapes, grain and bottles. Dad was the fourth generation of his family running this business until he retired after this year’s grape harvest,’ Hope explains.
Harvest Studio, Hope’s flower and botanical business, moved into the chapel in July. With over thirty years’ experience as a contemporary visual, installation and public arts artist, Hope decided six years ago to primarily work with locally farmed, gardened and foraged botanical materials to allow people to reconnect with nature and to view everyday environments in a different way.
‘When researching how artists could support more holistic environmental outcomes on public art projects, I realised that the most profound and useful thing that I could do as an artist was reconnect people with nature; to create installations, public art projects; to share the wonder and magic of the world outside which in turn allows people to remember their own sense of place within the environment,’ states Hope.
The cemetery and chapel are not only home to Harvest Studio but have also created the opportunity to realise Hope’s vision for a cultural garden project. The grounds of the cemetery and memorial wall are home to over four hundred graves, many of which have been
neglected over the years. Hope’s time living in Denmark has inspired her to bring life back to the historic graves. ‘The Danish cemeteries are beautiful, like a garden around a church. I would love this place to be welcoming to all, to be run as a community garden and placemaking project, with layers of planting areas to link in with different eras of local land-use including pre-whitefella, colonial, Mediterranean and current day.
Hope has shared her plans with artist and cultural geographer, Gavin Malone. He comments, ‘Hope’s plans to give life to the former church through both Harvest Studio and community participation bring a wonderful and colourful dimension to the heart of McLaren Vale and its history. Flowers and floral arrangements both celebrate life and acknowledge death; this is also what Hope is doing. We know that a few Aboriginal people attended the laying of the foundation stone in February 1844 ... What Hope seeks to do is recognise and include the bi-cultural history of place, as should we all.’
Hope is sensitive to the layers of synchronicity that seem to characterise Harvest Studio’s new home. That the foundation stone for this first church in the Vale was laid at a harvest ceremony under the original gum tree church on Kangarilla Road and that now Harvest Studio is the guardian of the site. That her research masters in public art was named ‘Spaces for the Soul’ and that she is now the caretaker of a graveyard. That her mother went into labour to give birth to Hope across the road from the site that Hope plans to be her business’ forever home. But perhaps it’s more than that. Perhaps this passionate woman who views art as a service has finally found her own unique place that will allow her to truly grow her own model paradise.
‘We’ve made that commitment to the business and to each other that it’s our place and we want to be able to welcome everybody that comes here’
left and above; The Silver Sands Beach Club’s large west-facing deck – a stone’s throw from the water – is the perfect place to enjoy the sunset complemented by great food, beverages of all sorts and stellar hospitality.
When Nick Stock was a kid living in Adelaide, he was desperate to learn to surf. He begged his dad to teach him and so they began heading down to the Fleurieu’s mid-coast, mostly ending up at Moana, but sometimes they’d go as far as Silver Sands. ‘I remember looking at the sign and, I didn’t articulate like this at the time, but I thought to myself: that is wild, that this place is called Silver Sands,’ Nick says. ‘So I remember as an eight-year-old kid thinking this is a magic, magic thing.’
Nick tells this story sitting in the new Silver Sands Beach Club, which he co-owns with his friend and business partner, Mark Kamleh. The restaurant isn’t open for service today, so we can happily occupy prime position at the front window, the panoramic view of the ocean all ours. And yes, it is magic.
Life pre-and post-pandemic stand in stark contrast for Nick and Mark. Nick travelled widely as an international wine critic, while Mark worked mostly in Adelaide as a DJ and hospitality chameleon. The two connected first through friends and then professionally, working together at Tasting Australia.
Then, of course, Covid hit. Nick took up a friend’s offer to live in a house surrounded by vineyards at Clarendon and he invited Mark to come and stay, drink wine, eat good food and ride out the lockdown. They did all those things and also incubated and hatched their first joint venture, wine events company Wine Country.
As the pandemic continued to disrupt life, Nick bought a house at Sellicks Beach (incidentally, Mark now lives on the same street). And so it happened that he was quick to notice when the temporary fence went up around the site for the new surf lifesaving club at neighbouring Silver Sands. Breaking with tradition, the surf club put the operation of the new hospitality space out to tender and it struck Nick as a great opportunity – just not for him. But then he spent more time thinking about it, got his mate Mark on board, and things went from there. >
The pair are conscious that their mandate is to create their own independent business that serves both the club members and the wider public. The space itself is a physical manifestation of how surf club and beach club co-exist, with an upturned surf boat filling the cavernous roof space and an old fisherman’s bell on the wall. Touches of beach-club chic are woven into the space, with Beach Club branding in Mediterranean blue on the drinks fridges, a mobile pink bar and planter boxes.
Come summer the focus will be firmly on the front deck, which will be casually furnished with cabana-like lounging zones. ‘We really want to make it feel super beachy out there,’ says Nick. ‘You just sit on the deck on a cushion and relax and sort of sprawl out, almost like an extension of the beach itself.’ There’ll be hooks for hanging towels
and umbrellas to extend the shade zone, plus a kiosk on the lawn offering ice creams, takeaway fish and chips and perhaps pizza. The whole idea is that people will feel comfortable dropping in any time, any way. Maybe you swing by on your morning walk and pick up a coffee, or slide out of the ocean for an ice cream. Or maybe you want to sit down for dinner, ordering from the full menu which has been honed over winter, first by chef Annika Berlingieri (ex-Vigna Bottin) now joined by head chef Alessandro Gramazio (exHerringbone, Osteria Oggi).
The locally focused menu has a seasonal, Italian bent (the winter menu features vitello tonnato, eggplant parmigiana and grilled swordfish) but the mainstays will be the classics, like the schnitzel, fish and chips and, of course, the cheeseburger. >
‘It was the first thing we really said, alright, if we’re gonna do this, it has to be like the best cheeseburger any person has had in their life,’ says Nick. In pursuit of this audacious goal, they worked with McLaren Vale’s Ellis Butcher to create their perfect pattie (a mix of brisket and chuck). They’ve also collaborated with nearby Papershell Farm and Lovely Valley Truffles among others.
Unsurprisingly, the wine list is somewhat lengthier than you might usually expect from a surf club. Nick gestures to the line-up of bottles currently sitting above the bar, which travels from McLaren Vale, to the Adelaide Hills and overseas to New Zealand, France and Italy. It’s indicative of Mark and Nick’s approach, spotlighting local wines they love as well as offering some different options to explore. Wines by the bottle don’t fall simply into ‘red’ and ‘white’ categories, instead described as ‘pizza wine’ or ‘sports drinks’ alongside a few goodies Nick has pulled from his own cellar.
Diners can expect to find Nick and Mark on the floor when they drop into the Beach Club. ‘We’ve made that commitment to the
business and to each other that it’s our place and we want to be able to welcome everybody that comes here,’ Nick says. ‘Our idea of hospitality is pretty old school.’ It also means they’re on site to lead their young, local team.
The only missing piece now is the ocean itself. So tantalisingly close and yet unapproachable in the cold weather, except to the bravest of souls. Even in winter, though, the location is undeniably the Beach Club’s trump card. It was the thing that captured Nick and Mark’s shared imagination, changing the trajectories of their lives.
‘We believe in this place so much, we know how amazing it is. We know what an incredible future it has. We know there’s a new generation of people that are here,’ says Nick. ‘And we want to be such a big part of that.’ ‘I wanna be here a long time,’ Mark adds. ‘I want to be an old person pulling beers ... Just old and grey and still pulling beers.’
South Seas Books is an independent bookshop on the Fleurieu’s south coast. South Seas will ignite your imagination.
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It’s a wondrous thing, how the wild calms a child. Sandy feet and wind lashed hair. The freckles collected on a child’s nose tells a story, little reminders of a summer well spent. Nothing is more glorious than a day exploring our beautiful adventurous coast line with your little wild ones.
It has been a long and challenging winter and artists Joanna Poulson and Pauline Richards have produced new and joyful works which celebrate the emergence of the new season, optimism and engagement with nature. The exhibition will be able to be previewed from the October long weekend. The Strand Gallery is always happy to open up outside hours by appointment by phoning Sonya Hender on 0419 501 648.
41 the Strand, Port Elliot
The beautiful Fleurieu is fast transitioning from one of the world’s best kept secrets to one of its worst. And, while there are so many reasons the world is taking notice of this beautiful stretch of Kaurna yerta, the region’s winemakers are doing more than their fair share in driving its popularity. They’re
Many winemakers in McLaren Vale have ventured into the Adelaide Hills to find crisp, cool-climate whites to complement their locally grown reds, but here’s a brand-new project that runs against that tide. The inaugural releases from the Shaw + Smith crew mark an exciting new direction.
This label has quickly made a name for producing modern wines of wide-reaching relevance that are underpinned by very authentic, carefully curated regional characters. They make wines for everyday drinking that are as compelling as they are delicious.
Alex Sherrah is a shining star in the greater galaxy of all that’s wonderful and unique about the McLaren Vale region. He has cleverly connected the dots between local quality and the tastes of contemporary wine lovers. His whites and sparkling wines lead the way in terms of sheer deliciousness and easygoing appeal.
From a site in the deeper reaches of the Fleurieu Peninsula, doyen of the Adelaide Hills Brian Croser has pioneered cool-climate pinot noir at the Foggy Hill Vineyard. These are truly unique wines and this pinot is quietly forging a new frontier of quality.
From vines planted in 1941, this is a medium-bodied, elegant shiraz that shows a lighter touch and trades on pure fruit-derived qualities. The raspberry, red plum and red currant fruits are seasoned in light, fragrant spices. Naturally attractive and approachable, this will also cellar well.
Chenin blanc is fast becoming a sought-after commodity for leading winemakers in the region and this is a super polished, powerful and striking example. The resilient acidity this variety holds underpins some clever winemaking. The result offers smooth and intense refreshment.
These old vines make a style that exudes purity and poise. I like the spicy raspberry fruit aromas and there’s a prettiness to the bouquet. In the mouth it’s quite powerful with fresh, tangy raspberry and red plum flavours delivered in a crisply athletic mode. Intense: drink or cellar this.
often the people who have awakened to the beauty and potential of a place earlier than the rest of us – and they’ve committed to it. They’ve followed their desires, are on a mission to make the great wines of their dreams and they’re heavily invested: fiscally and otherwise. Our winemakers play a starring role in the experience of visiting the Fleurieu and their bottles spread the word far and wide.
So my first wine column for FLM, which I’m thrilled to write looking out across beautiful Silver Sands Beach, is all about the sheer drinkability, innate quality and wide range of wine styles on offer on the Fleurieu, wines that reflect all that is great about this place.
This wine sits right among the top tier of the region’s grenache and delivers a cascading montage of raspberry and plum fruit aromas and flavours with some subtle savoury notes. The texture is fresh, pliable and fleshy and the flavours last long and hold so fresh. Mouth-wateringly drinkable.
This is a single parcel from Blewitt Springs, an area famous for making grenache with purity and power. Packed with raspberry, blood orange, pomegranate and blueberry. Has a strikingly muscular feel but still sits very elegant and fresh. This is Blewitt Springs grenache done right.
A rich expression that has a fine and intense structural appeal with a wealth of ripe red and dark berry fruit aromas and flavours on offer. There’s a sense of gravitas in this wine that is captivating. Already drinking so well, this will also age for more than a decade.
B ondar Junto McLaren Vale GSM 2021
This blend of grenache, shiraz, mataro and carignan is defined by the fleshy and fruit-focused grenache component, with the others adding wider shades of fruit and complexity around the central theme of raspberries and blueberries. Youthful, spicy and deliciously drinkable.
The name refers to the skin contact this white receives before fermentation, adding texture and complexity to the end result. Very fresh aromas of ripe pear and apple translate to the fresh, smoothly textured palate. Soothing yet fresh, this is a clever expression of the fiano grape.
A style that is so simple to enjoy but much harder to make, Alex Sherrah really knows how it’s done. Such intense lemon, peach and tropical fruits, this soft, foamy sparkling is one of the best examples of this style where fermenting wine is finished in the bottle to capture natural fizz.
A pinot with bright fragrance and fruit aromas of raspberry and red plum, attractive spicy complexity too. The vivid red and blue berry fruits are wrapped in a finely textured structure, it’s so balanced, long and even. Really exciting to see this quality pinot being grown and made here.
November 12, 2022
Words by Hollie Connery.Hidden among vineyards and shaded by gum trees, on the vast and sprawling lawn of Lake Breeze Wines, lies a place that, for a moment in time, becomes the delightful Handpicked Festival. What started as a small family-run music festival has now grown into one of the most talked about music festivals in the state.
After a two-year hiatus, Langhorne Creek’s event of the year is set to come alive again this November. The festival first began in 2014, after years of pondering and planning. The Folletts of Lake Breeze Wines remarked, ‘We had talked so often about how it would be great to open it up to the people. It worked out nicely that our niece Kate came along with experience in running events; she picked it up and ran with it from there.’ The event’s emphasis was to create a small boutique music festival with a focus on the little details that provide visitors with a fully immersive, sensory experience.
The first year saw two and a half thousand people stroll through the gates and onto the Follett’s property to enjoy their award-winning Lake Breeze and False Cape wines. It was a proud moment that family member and organiser Kate remembers fondly. ‘Grandpa is very sentimental; that very first year he stood in his backyard where the cows normally are and just started tearing up a little. He was just so happy to be sharing his backyard with so many people, and I think so proud of what his family had accomplished. Something he started so long ago is able to support so many of his family members, it’s a wonderful legacy,’ she recalls. From there, the festival has grown by a thousand guests each year.
A n impressive line up this year includes the likes of the Hilltop Hoods, Babe Rainbow, The Dreggs, Wafia and The Rubens. Steph Strings and Middle Kids will draw the crowds and Hot Dub Time Machine will have everyone barefoot and dancing into the night. A stellar line up aside, Kate remarks, ‘It’s more than just the music for us. People’s whole experience being here is taken into detailed consideration. We always say in the winery that it’s all about the one percenters. We like to do all those little things that add up to an amazing day.’
The family prides itself on creating a memorable experience with something for everyone, and attests that the festival is truly multigenerational. Set among the sweeping vines, the property has plenty of space to stretch out on a picnic rug under the shade of one of the hundreds of gorgeous gums. There will be over twenty food vendors, so the array of culinary delights are numerous. A cocktail forest will serve up refreshing and surprising blends, and a market laneway with over fifteen stalls creates a quieter place to take a stroll, shop boutique finds and meet the makers. The whole festival has been designed with sustainability and beauty in mind.
The anticipated return of the festival after Covid restrictions meant that the early-bird round of tickets sold out in fifteen minutes, before the line-up was even announced. ‘It’s just huge for our family, knowing that people would be there supporting us no matter who we are going to put on the stage,’ Kate says. This ‘crazy idea’ may now boast big numbers, but its organisers remain true to the small backyard concert vibe that started the whole thing. As Kate says, ‘I want to just keep working on the experience and keep flying the family flag.’
T he Handpicked Festival will kick off on Saturday November 12 at Lake Breeze Winery, Langhorne Creek.
Ben Kernahan, Tom Shaw and Sam Foutoulis – together known as 35º South Building Company – are sitting around the generous table in the dwindling light of a cool winter’s day. There’s a clear camaraderie between the three. They converse easily and listen to each other’s responses, their mutual respect obvious. The table is crafted from rough-sawn timber and it aptly symbolises the shared purpose that led them to found 35º South.
‘We like timber and we like working with it,’ Ben says. ‘The first clear cut goal we had that united us was to buy a freestanding saw mill.’ They registered 35º South in 2019 and some six or so months later, they realised this objective, purchasing a portable Lucas Saw Mill. The mill is housed in their workshop/office – a converted chicken shed on Tom’s parent’s property outside of Goolwa – and it’s now the foundation of their business.
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‘We use it as much as we can, and utilise whatever [wood] we can get our hands on to create feature carpentry or bespoke elements in our builds,’ says Ben. As one of only a few licensed builders in Australia who operate a Lucas Mill, it’s a clear point of difference for the young craftsmen.Story by Petra de Mooy. Photography by Jason Porter. Styling by Liza Reynolds.
Ben, Tom and Sam first met when they were all working towards their building apprenticeships on the Southern Fleurieu. After being introduced by mutual friends and family, they began doing small jobs together and just generally helping each other out – whether it be moving, building or simply sharing a meal. ‘We all loved the balance of lifestyle and creating beautiful things,’ says Sam. As they continued to catch up and talk about their shared dreams, it made sense that they’d eventually join forces.
Their professional alliance is underpinned by their shared work ethic and generosity. All have helped, or will help, each other build their respective homes. And now as wives and children expand their
cohort, all three are more than happy to call Goolwa Beach home. When Tom began to visualise the home he wanted to build, all he had was a rough floor plan and an eye to sustainability. ‘I’m not big on forward planning,’ says Tom. ‘I like the shape and form of the gabled roof line and cathedral look. The design was based on a really simple floor plan of two rectangles that are offset to give a bit of interest. I really like timber cladding and I wanted it [the home] to perform really well but also be really durable. But a lot of stuff came from decisions we made along the way.’ The building belies this somewhat ad hoc approach. It feels very well conceived, with the organic way of working allowing for design changes and improvements
along the way that only seem to have enhanced the outcome. The finished house, which Tom shares with his partner, Grace, and their two children is clearly a labour of love full of bespoke elements and meticulous attention to detail.
The three builders had already worked with the key materials they’ve used on Tom’s home in smaller features for their clients. Tom’s build offered the chance to explore the full potential of these materials on a larger scale, including the striking Siberian larch siding which extends across all exterior planes, hammered into place with over 4,500 copper nails. The wood will eventually weather off to a beautiful silver grey, much like the sandy soil it sits upon.
The building’s high-performance aspects aren’t immediately evident, but Tom tells us that the wall build-up is thicker than standard (120mm as opposed to 90mm) so that they could maximise insulation. The building is also ‘wrapped’ with a German-made wall membrane to make the home airtight. This membrane is airtight, but vapour permeable, allowing moisture buildup inside the home to escape. A ventilated wall-batten system was used to create an air cavity behind the timber cladding, which ensures there’s adequate airflow to remove the moisture buildup as it escapes the building. The building’s airtightness performed impressively when measured by a blower door test, prior to drywalling: they achieved 1.9 air >
changes per hour, which doesn’t mean a whole lot until you realise that most homes would be more like fifteen.
These measures also combine to help create an even indoor temperature. ‘At the moment we have minimal heating or cooling and it’s pretty comfortable inside,’ says Tom. The underfloor heating at this stage (mid-winter) is only turned on for a couple of hours a day, with the thermal mass of the concrete floors doing the rest of the hard work, retaining any passive solar heat to keep Tom and his family warm.
Personalised elements in the home like the tilework and the colourful doors were introduced to bring character to the interiors – to set the home apart from what Tom says was a bit too ‘neat and tidy’ prior to the introduction of these elements. ‘We spent a night with friends
drinking wine and painting the doors with everyone having free reign on what they could do,’ he explains. The result is an individualised entrance to every room each with solid-wood, hand-turned handles, unified by the colour palette Tom and Grace chose. It has to be said, they clearly have a creative bunch of friends – this level of free reign could produce results of varying quality in less artistic hands.
The design for the mezzanine also offered the chance for personalisation, as Tom considered how to incorporate timber to define the space. In the end, they landed on a hand-crafted open screen, with a triangular cutout mimicking the lines of the window at the far end of the living space. ‘It’s a nice feature because it accentuates the pitch of the ceiling and shows off the cathedral style of the space,’ says Tom. These unique elements make the home >
feel warm and approachable, and though the family had only lived there for a few weeks on the day we visited, it felt well lived in and well loved already.
The kitchen design is simple, but solid wood elements and a bit of colour give it character. The team collaborated with Goolwa Kitchens on the fitout, working with a grey, green and matte black palette that creates a clean look softened by the timber elements added by 35˚ South after the kitchen installation. The scalloped detailing on the main bench in particular adds warmth and a furniture-like quality to the cabinetry. The kitchen overlooks the double-height living area, which features lighting designed to enhance the scale of the room. Long, black light fittings sit flush with the pitch of the ceiling, while round wall sconces create subtle pockets of light along the length of the room.
The building’s exterior also has some beautiful details. Tom opted to go for aluminum window frames, in part due to their durability and robustness in the face of a fairly severe corrosion zone. Choosing Rylock’s Commercial Series frames, powder coated in a matte black finish, gave Tom the practical benefits he was after in a sleek and
attractive design that cleanly defines the windows and doors within the textured exterior surfaces.
These details, and others like the copper downpipes, have all been carefully considered not only on their individual merit but also on how they relate to the other elements of the house; how they meet both physically and aesthetically and combine into the whole. The result is reminiscent of furniture joinery – crafted rather than simply combined. ‘As a company we like fine detail. We have discussions on the aesthetic details and we work hard to get all of the details really nice,’ says Tom. ‘We’re pretty proud of the work we do and it’s what we focus on.’ ‘Tom’s place is the culmination we wanted to see in a job and shows off the best in all of our abilities,’ Ben adds.
Tom and Grace have named their home ‘sunahama no koya’ which means ‘sandy cabin’ in Japanese – a nod to the Japanese and Scandinavian design Tom is inspired by ‘with a bit of Aussie thrown in as well,’ he says, a twinkle in his eye. It’s not only a beautiful and functional family home, but also a showcase for 35º South’s sustainable style, design and craftsmanship.
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The rainy late winter has finally given way to a bright and blossoming spring, and we can once again shed our woolies and don our sandals and short sleeves. Now’s the time to get out in the garden, do a spring clean and create new pockets of delight around the house. Our local retailers have a beautiful selection of art, accessories, homewares, fashion, books and bouquets to fill your heart and home with spring joy.
Kantha Floral Quilt $165, Bev’s Remnant House. An array of plants and pots available, prices variable, Charlie & Jack. Yellow Bird handmade bag $155, Fleurieu Arthouse. The Architecture of Bathing – Christie Pearson $75.00, Forage – Liz Knight $39.99, South Seas Books & Trading. Elk Senja clip purse $99, Walnut Melbourne Mel pink leather slides $129.95, Elliot & Me. Reality Sunglasses recycled frames $59, South Seas Books & Trading. Kyra kaftan $75, Kyra pants $49, Dragonfly necklace $180, Coco & Raj. Creative, fresh and modern flower arrangements inspired by nature – prices vary, Pink Tulip Flowers.
Selections sourced from Bev’s Remnant House, Blondie’s at Aldinga Central, Charlie & Jack, Coco & Raj, Elliot & Me, Fleurieu Arthouse, Kookery, McLaren Vale Garden Centre, Miss Gladys on Sea, Pink Tulip Flowers and South Seas Books & Trading. Photographed by Jason Porter. Styled by Liza Reynolds.
Yellow Bird handmade leather bag $175, Fleurieu Arthouse. Travaux en Cours Paper Fedora $129, King Louie Cardi Raglan $119.95, Devoi Margot Skirt $229, Miss Gladys on Sea. Cabelo Comfort Shoes ocean, red, kiwi and orange $169.95, Blondies at Aldinga Central. Talavera handmade ceramic chilli peppers $75 each, Talavera handmade Mexican plate $150, McLaren Vale Garden Centre. Embroidered purse $32.50, Coco & Raj. In an Artist’s Garden – Claire Orrell $24.99, Healing with Plants – The Chelsea Physic Garden Herbal $49.99, South Seas Books & Trading. >
Creative, fresh and modern flower arrangements inspired by nature – prices vary, Pink Tulip Flowers. The Little Veggie Patch Co seeds – prices vary, Kookery. The Dreamer Label hemp blouse $240, South Seas Books & Trading. Lindenhaus by Alex Linden small ceramic platters $65 each with ceramic implements $17 each, Fleurieu Arthouse. Cotton scarf $45, Coco & Raj. Kollab banana palm market bag $20, Elliot & Me. Dr Denim Echo Superlight Blue Jay $109.95, Miss Gladys on Sea. Burgon Ball garden implements $29.95, Burgon Ball secateurs $49.95, Kookery. We the Wild plant care products $45, Charlie & Jack.
I’m halfway across Yorke Peninsula, creating a makeshift office on the bottom bunk of an old fisherman’s shack when I finally catch Dylan Beach, Regional Manager of Fleurieu Peninsula Tourism, on the phone. I’ve managed to reach him just before he makes a return trip to Indonesia and we talk of warm water and waves.
But mostly we ramble about our shared love for discovering and supporting the small businesses that keep a region moving, and how it’s in these in-between encounters with locals that lasting memories are made.
When first encountering Dylan’s easy humility, honesty and self agency, it’s hard not to feel like he has the landmark features of a professional twice his age. At 32, Dylan is currently the youngest Regional Tourism Manager in South Australia – a position that holds substantial responsibility in leading the region’s tourism sector on both a state, national and international level.
Don’t be fooled by the smart shirt and title however. There’s most likely sand in his pockets and a damp wetsuit in the back of his car for when the south-west swell moves across the Southern Ocean and an offshore breeze from the north blows its gentle promise.
From boardrooms to barrels, Dylan can cruise with effortless professionalism, humility and grace between the two worlds, swapping one black suit for another.
Anyone who has spent time in Port Elliot will recognise the entrepreneurial presence of the Beach family. Dylan’s father started the organic farming business, Beach Organics. Then there’s the longstanding Dog Dragon furniture import business on North Terrace, run by his uncle John and the more recently added Beaches Cafe, owned by his cousin Rosie. They’re a family with deep ties to the region.
Growing up on the pounding shores of the south coast, Dylan’s connection to the ocean saw him compete at an early age in both local and national bodyboarding competitions. It was here, in these formative years, that Dylan learned a lot about what drives him. During a national pro-bodyboarding tour, Dylan remembers clearly
wanting to be on the inside. ‘I was intrigued by looking at the events from the back end. I guess that’s a part of my entrepreneurial self, I wanted to be that person, making it all happen,’ he says. And did he ever. He has a bit of a laugh at himself, remembering when scouting for sponsorship, he created his first professional portfolio in a PowerPoint presentation, much to the organiser’s astonishment. ‘I guess they were a little bit like, who is this kid?’ recalls Dylan. His assertiveness paid off and Dylan eventually became an integral part of bodyboarding culture in South Australia, running clubs and events.
Next came the chance to step up nationally and run the Australian Bodyboarding Association and the Australian pro tour, a huge accomplishment for a guy in his early twenties who was still studying for a degree in tourism and event management. It wasn’t long before Dylan’s attention to detail, his warmth and ability to think outside the square led to greater and more complex roles, including Tourism Manager for Zoos South Australia.
Dylan ever-so-humbly attributes his philanthropic ethos to being raised with a strong sense of family and community. His mother Teresa is one of fourteen siblings, and the family tree now includes some forty-plus cousins for Dylan. ‘Mum’s originally from Melbourne and she didn’t really have a lot of family in South Australia, so she always instilled in us a very strong sense of community,’ says Dylan. It’s this sense of community that allows Dylan to understand that the greatest asset he brings to his current role is his capacity to be the connective tissue between the small businesses that occupy the Fleurieu Peninsula and the people who run them. ‘What actually leaves a really deep impression are the people. The best experiences and the best memories you cultivate are around the people you come across,’ says Dylan.
Representing the region and the tourism industry it relies so heavily upon, Dylan aims to be at the forefront of sustainable, nature-based tourism with a strong emphasis on respecting community, land and culture. A far cry from the sometimes rambling rhetoric of staunch localism in surfing culture, in Dylan we find the exact person who has tied his laces, left the car park, and is actually doing something about protecting our shores and our small business culture. As Dylan sets foot into an international arena, we can be confident that the representation of our region is in very capable hands.
‘I was intrigued by looking at the events from the back end. I guess that’s a part of my entrepreneurial self, I wanted to be that person, making it all happen’
Inspiration can strike at the most unexpected times. For Maslin Beach mother-of-two Lindsey McEwan, it happened as she tried to refill a series of glass jars in a bulk food aisle, while struggling to stop her young children from digging their tiny bare hands into the goods.
Two years later, Lindsey is the owner of Bulk Cellar, a successful boutique online store that offers a growing range of whole food items and environmentally sustainable products – all with the convenience of home delivery.
Lindsey says the opportunity to help people reduce their use of plastic is the driving force behind the store. ‘From my early twenties I started becoming more conscious of plastics and the impact of convenience buying, and so I started to shop bulk to reduce household waste,’ she says.
She saw the massive impact of plastic pollution firsthand while travelling through Indonesia, South East Asia and Central America. But the idea for Bulk Cellar really began to crystallise when her desire to reduce waste collided with the realities of shopping with young children who, as any parent knows, just have to touch everything.
Lindsey brainstormed ideas with a friend for a year. ‘Then I developed a business plan and it was just one step in front of the other to reach the dream of the store,’ says Lindsey. Bulk Cellars launched online in February last year, with a website built by Lindsey and a fledgling warehouse retrofitted into her backyard shed.
The store now offers an ever-expanding list of around 350 items, including dry pantry foods such as nuts, rice and flour through to oils, herbs and dried fruits. It also has a range of home and natural cleaning products and personal care items, from toothbrushes to soaps and deodorants. The goods are packed in recycled paper bags and glass bottles that customers can either purchase or supply.
‘It’s a different model of ordering your foods this way – packaging without plastic and doing it with bulk items,’ she says. ‘And even though we focus on delivery, I’ve set up the warehouse like a shop where everything is in easy-access bulk bins with prices so people can still come in at certain times and scoop and weigh what they like.’
Her plan was to start small and focus on delivering around the Maslin Beach and local area. ‘The community support has been great – I’ve had customers that have been with me since I started,’ she says. As more people become conscious of waste reduction and buying local, her client base has grown organically, mostly through word-of-mouth.
Lindsey aims to stock Bulk Cellar’s shelves with as many local products as possible. Food is one thing, but Lindsey also looks for locally produced green alternatives to household items. ‘For example, I’ve got a local lady who crochets cotton dish cloths and another making beeswax wraps,’ she says.
‘If I can’t get them from the Fleurieu or South Australia, I look across Australia and I also try to choose organic but if I can’t find it nationally or if the price is just too high, I will go non-organic because I want it to be affordable for people. I don’t want people to think bulk food shopping could be more expensive, when it should be the other way around.’
Lindsey also speaks about the importance of education and revels in the opportunity to help people make more sustainable consumer choices. ‘It’s just really trying to create awareness that we don’t need to be buying all these things that are one-time use or we use it for a month and then it gets thrown out like a plastic toothbrush,’ Lindsey explains. ‘My goal is just really to help inspire the community, just to promote a life with less plastic and less waste.’
It’s talk that Lindsey strives to walk across all facets of her life, pointing out that her mission to reduce landfill in her home and business is an ongoing journey. When she spoke to Fleurieu Living, Bulk Cellars held a plastic-free status and her family had celebrated one month of zero waste. ‘Plastics are going to be here well beyond us and our great, great grandkids and there’s going to be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050, so we need to change our reliance on it,’ she says.
She’s quick to add that people shouldn’t feel pressured to do everything all at once. ‘Plastic-free living isn’t about perfection, it’s about choosing to make better choices and doing what you can within your own means to make simple decisions and changes,’ she says. ‘Zero waste is merely a goal, not a purity test. You don’t have to reach zero in order to have a positive effect.’
‘Plastics are going to be here well beyond us and our great, great grandkids and there’s going to be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050, so we need to change our reliance on it.’
Above: Lindsey McEwan, owner of Bulk Cellar in Maslin Beach.
WHO WE ARE: Matt Wadewitz
It would take a remarkable proposition to bring the conductor of the Australian Symphony Orchestra, the coach of NRL team the Sydney Roosters and television personality Dr Chris Brown together. Or perhaps, a remarkable person, like Matt Wadewitz.
It all started with an idea that was so compelling a sporting club offered to double Matt’s yearly salary as a teacher just to apply his scientific coaching to their team. Matt turned the offer down – a big gamble at the time, considering he had a young family and had also recently left his secure career in education.
If it wasn’t for a meeting with his long-time friend Luke Darcy (former AFL player and now the co-founder of Aleda) over coffee, he might not have made the bold choice to quit his job. After hearing the pitch, Luke believed in his approach so strongly that he offered to buy into the business and work alongside Matt. Matt recalls the advice Luke gave him at the time: ‘You’ve got this idea that clearly, they love. So why would you just give it to them? Why don’t you take this idea and take it to a lot of different places?’
Thus, seven years ago, Aleda was bor n. The name is derived from the misspelling of an Old Scots word ‘alede’ meaning to guide, educate, teach, and draw out information. It’s the name of the business but it also captures Matt’s personal modus operandi. For Matt, the passion to empower leaders is all-encompassing. Since that time, he and Aleda have worked with numerous leaders across sport, education, the arts and wider industry – a conductor, an NRL coach and a TV vet among them – to put collaboration and shared learning at the heart of leadership.
Matt grew up in the township of Willunga and, at 17, was drafted to play in the AFL fulfilling a childhood dream. Unfortunately that dream was shattered when he broke his leg. ‘It pretty much ruined my career in football,’ Matt says. Of course windows close and doors open, and through that unfortunate incident, Matt discovered a deep love for education. For nearly 17 years, Matt taught in classrooms across the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Matt loved teaching but felt there was more he could do to boost learning outcomes for his students. So, he began to explore the idea of how systems could help leaders and educators to improve their practice, taking himself on a study tour around Australia to learn more.
Matt soon discovered that the number one thing that raised performance in students was strong collaboration between teachers. ‘I thought, you know what, I can really help kids in my class ... and make a difference, but if I can work with 100 teachers or 100 leaders, I can have a much bigger impact, a much more positive impact, so why don’t I just do that?’ he says.
Matt views leadership not as an inherited skill but as something that can be learned, nurtured and shared. Focusing on the leader not just as an individual but as a member of a community – whether in the boardroom, the coach’s box or the classroom – Matt and his team work with leaders to expand their positive impact through collaboration rather than going it alone.
This approach has led Matt down some non-traditional pathways when it comes to leadership development. A sporting coach wouldn’t typically be observed while they work, but Aleda does just that. They visit the coach during a training session and watch them work, after which they provide insightful feedback into how they can improve their craft.
Similarly, leaders often look to learn within their own industries, but Aleda encourages cross-pollination among leaders. Their approach provides a platform for leaders to meet, share their pain points, then receive insight into what is currently working for others beyond their respective industries.
The Aleda philosophy begins in organisations but also trickles into its practitioners’ personal lives. ‘When you become a coach, you become a better listener,’ Matt says, laughing while confessing ‘it’s always harder to do it in your own house than anywhere else. I’m by no means perfect, but I try to practice what I preach.’
Staying true to his sporting roots, Matt volunteer coaches his teenagers – Harry, 16, and Eve, 14 – in their Willunga and Victor Harbor teams. He and his partner, Sarah Moore, are also passionate advocates of the Willunga community. ‘It’s beautiful when the kids can walk from the house down the main street and see people you knew growing up,’ Matt says as he recounts his love for the sporting clubs, visiting the beaches, wineries, pubs and chatting to locals at the bakery.
Writing in the depths of winter, there’s a real clouds-parting-to-revealblue-skies thing about Matt. His enthusiasm is contagious and his dedication to unearthing solutions that will nurture future students and leaders – truly honourable.
‘I thought you know what, I can really help kids in my class ... and make a difference, but if I can work with 100 teachers or 100 leaders, I can have a much bigger impact’
When Karla Tegan spotted a post on social media for quirky little needle-felted dogs, each one a customised miniature of the owner’s real-life pup, she was enchanted. ‘I thought, oh cool, I love my dogs, I’ll get one,’ Karla recalls. The $700 price tag was, however, somewhat less enchanting.
That initial spark of excitement she felt at the thought of seeing her beloved pet rendered in tiny, fuzzy details stayed with her. She began to wonder what she could bring to the craft. Four years and much experimentation later, Karla now creates her own felted pooches (and other critters) under the name ‘Art with Archi’. And how else could she name her creative enterprise, other than in honour of her own canine companion – Archi the eight-year-old cocker spaniel. Karla’s early explorations into the craft of needle felting, started with a few books. She’d always been creative in drawing and painting but had never worked with fibres, so her next stop was the local craft shop to source the necessary needles and wool.
In the early days, she started out with random shapes to test out felting techniques, though she soon challenged herself to try making an animal. Using a wire armature, Karla works the wool around the shapes she has created to build out the characteristics of the
individual creatures. She began posting her work on social media and through word-of-mouth started to get commissions.
In 2018, she entered a dog-themed art show – ‘Dogs Day Out’ – held at the dog park at Port Elliot. The exhibition included all types of art in different mediums. Karla’s work stood out as a unique entry among the many drawings and paintings. She even took home some ribbons for her work.
While word-of-mouth has been a valuable source of commissions, connecting into the online world of the dogs of Instagram has led Karla in some interesting directions. After she began following ‘Sugar the surf dog’ in California, Sugar’s owner took interest in her work. Karla felted a mini Sugar for him and he then shared it to his page. She also created a three-legged dog for a Canadian man whose dog was being treated for cancer and eventually had to be put down. These types of stories are important to Karla and she likes to understand the feelings behind the commissions she works on, so that the end product will have meaning for the owners.
Having now refined and perfected her technique, Karla sources her wool from the UK where they have the best wool felting materials available. Of course, we couldn’t resist the chance to ask Karla to create a wool felt replica of our own Fleurieu Living mascot, Lulu the Chihuahua. If the result is anything like her most recent commission –a personality-filled mini sculpture of a Jack Russell terrier – we’ll have something to treasure forever.
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The winter sky is a clear blue canvas on the July morning I meet artist and maker Lilli Kimber at Goodness Coffee Co in Aldinga. She’s tucked herself away with a coffee in one hand as she works on her latest creation with the other, warmed by the winter sun through the window. The young artist emits a glow that tells me she’s in her happy place.
Amaro – meaning ‘bitter’ in Italian – is the liquor used in a negroni. It’s also Lilli’s favourite drink and the inspiration behind the name of her two-year-old multi-faceted creative endeavour, Amaro Tones. Lilli’s eye for beauty extends to anything with a charmingly aged quality; just as much of Amaro Tones is lovingly-restored retro furniture as it is juicy prints. ‘I associate amaros with orange and warm tones and my pieces are quite Mediterranean-inspired so it made sense,’ Lilli says.
Lilli’s artistry was nurtured during her Willunga Waldorf primary schooling years, both at school and via private lessons with artist Lesley Redgate. Lilli fondly recalls memories of walking across paddocks from her Willunga childhood home to Lesley’s old house >
for after-school lessons. ‘She showed me colour and how light works and I’m still really glad my mum organised that for me,’ Lilli reflects.
I’m blown away by the intricate detail in Lilli’s work – which she shares on her Instagram account @amarotones – her digital brushstrokes opening a window to elsewhere. In her latest garden piece, tiny mangoes hang like ornaments, each one rendered with its own individual detail, a series of tiny still lifes within the bigger scene.
The same reverence for detail can be seen in pieces of restored furniture that Lilli works on. She spends much of her time trawling the internet and her local leafy backstreets looking for pieces – usually cane or mid-century – that capture her eye and speak to her heart. ‘I always wonder how many times it’s been sold before, how many homes it’s been in and the stories it’s collected over time,’ she says.
A desire to be more environmentally aware led Lilli to teach herself how to fix cane furniture. Transforming aged rattan into sought-after boho pieces is a laborious task – one that Lilli believes is well worth her time. ‘If I see something on the street I’ll pick it up and make it beautiful again – that’s just the way I live – to make this a better place for my kids,’ she says.
A lack of space in the upstairs apartment of her mum’s Aldinga Beach shack – where she lives with her partner Rodrigo and their two children – as well as the realities of life with spirited young’uns prevents Lilli from keeping her revived furniture. ‘Some things are just too nice and I know they’ll trash them,’ she giggles. This is also why
Lilli currently uses Procreate to paint on her iPad. ‘It’s exactly the same as on paper, but a little cheating with layers, erasing and no mess,’ she explains.
Art has been there for Lilli in the trying times of pregnancy and early motherhood. Her relationship with creating is deeply personal and has become an integral part of how she rides the fluctuating waves of mental health. ‘I’m not very headstrong, but I feel like this is how I make a statement and is just my way of coping with mental health struggles and making myself happy,’ she says.
As Lilli prepares to enter her thirties, she says the dream is to open her own Fleurieu market stall and use paper and paints to create from a studio with French doors unfurling onto an ocean vista. However, her immediate time-poor-mum-of-two-bubs plan is to build a hothouse studio space on her deck; having a space to create is all that matters. Lilli’s philosophy is that all humans are meant to make some kind of creative statement. ‘I feel like we lack colour as a society and that we need to go back to embracing individuality.’
Lifting my eyes again to today’s azure sky, I reflect on how much lighter everyone appears looking up in awe of that glittering blue expanse. Perhaps Lilli is onto something here. In an age of neutral tones and minimalism, maybe we need to come back to colour. ‘It’s like people are almost afraid of it,’ she says. ‘I just want to start painting colour back into life’.
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Being raised by a strong network of supportive people is a privilege shared by many of those who’ve grown up on Fleurieu soil. In childhood, it begins with our parents’ close-knit circles. As teenagers, often it’s teachers who become our biggest sources of inspiration. Then as young adults, bosses in part-time jobs impart some of our most valuable life lessons, along with the dedicated regulars patiently receiving a shaky cup of coffee.
As 23-year-old Jesse McKinnon returns to his former school Encounter Lutheran College to take up his first post as a middle and senior school teacher, this lifecycle has begun to turn again.
Jesse started at Encounter in year three, after moving from Grange to Port Elliot with his parents and older sister. He recalls the move as an exciting change of scenery for their family, while maintaining the coastal lifestyle they loved. Spending the remainder of his primary schooling on the south coast, Jesse then kicked off his high school career at Tatachilla Lutheran College, where he joined a much larger cohort than he had experienced at Encounter.
Eventually, the lure of Encounter’s basketball program – and a much shorter commute – pulled him back to complete years 11 and 12 and he was among the school’s first year of senior school graduates. Jesse and his peers were able to grow in chorus with Encounter, as it slowly expanded its classes through to year 12 with each year they completed. ‘Because we had such small classes, we got so much more one-on-one time with the teachers. It was a really tight-knit community and I really loved my entire schooling there,’ Jesse says. Jesse’s extracurricular activities were always centred around sport, with football an integral part of his connection to the southern Fleurieu community, as well as his broader network at South Adelaide Football Club. Jesse was given continuous support throughout his final two years of school, allowing him to train three to four nights a week with South Adelaide while keeping on top of his studies.
Jesse speaks fondly of the teachers who made school an enjoyable and engaging environment for a student whose talents and interests existed primarily on the sporting field. Jesse connected particularly well with his PE teacher Sam Dunbar and maths and biology teacher Troy Wegner – both of whom shared his passion for sport, and made course content relatable to him and his peers. ‘It was in year 11 and 12 that I started to enjoy maths and other things I hadn’t so much in previous years because they made it so engaging and fun,’ he says.
It’s no surprise that Jesse then went on to study a Bachelor of Human Movement at UniSA, majoring in PE with a minor in maths, followed by a Masters of Teaching (Secondary). Now, even as his role models have become colleagues, Jesse still consciously adopts his favourite parts of their teaching styles as he continues to develop his own – including encouraging students beyond the classroom, just as they did for him.
Well beyond his graduation, Jesse’s Encounter teachers urged him to apply for a new position opening at the school. As house captain in years 11 and 12, along with his experience coaching the Saint Peter’s boys football team during his final university placement, Jesse’s leadership skills equipped him to re-enter the classroom environment, now standing in front of the class rather than sitting behind a desk. In only his first year out of uni, Jesse walked straight into a full-year contract at his old stomping ground – his transition from student to teacher made surprisingly seamless by his high school leaders happily welcoming him in as an equal.
As Jesse juggles teaching a full load, including his year eight homegroup, health and PE, maths and science, he somehow still manages to find a balance that seems only possible in this part of the world. Entering a new stage of the Fleurieu lifecycle, Jesse and his fiancé Winnie are preparing to move into their first home in McCracken, along with their golden retriever Archie. After 15 years of seemingly endless commutes, Jesse seems to have found his professional and personal place, with everything he loves – work, friends and family, a cold beer at Hotel Elliot or a cup of De Groot coffee – only ever ten minutes away.
‘His transition from student to teacher made surprisingly seamless by his high school leaders happily welcoming him in as an equal.’
‘I’d been living in the UK, and buffalo mozzarella was just a staple in my weekly shopping basket. When I got back to Australia, it was like “Oh my gosh, how am I going to live without it?’’’ Emma Rooke tells me, sitting in her Myponga kitchen. The view through the kitchen window overlooks rolling hills and a herd of water buffalo wallowing nearby.
It turns out she couldn’t live without buffalo mozzarella. And she was willing to take matters into her own hands.
Emma and her partner Eric Oxenham moved to their 14-hectare property in Myponga in 2015. The couple knew they wanted to create a value-added product in livestock agriculture, and Myponga already had a great reputation for dairying. With the relatively small size of the property, they needed to focus on a niche business for it to be worthwhile. All these factors dovetailed with Emma’s penchant for fresh buffalo mozzarella, and their future course was set.
Their plans were cemented after meeting Michael Wohlstadt of The Dairyman in the Barossa Valley at a Future Foods conference. Michael has a traditional small-scale mixed farm that produces premium butter, cream and pork products – where the animals are pasture-raised and treated with respect. This type of business model made perfect sense to Emma and Eric.
After detailed research, and with an initial stock of purebred Italian Mediterranean water buffalo purchased from the Northern Territory government in 2018, Emma and Eric established Myponga Water Buffalo, the home of Buff Love yoghurt and cheese.
In 2019, the couple went to Italy to study buffalo management. The second part of this course, in mozzarella making, was due to take place in 2020, but was postponed due to COVID. ‘Mozzarella is not a beginner’s cheese,’ explains Emma, so their initial focus turned to producing grass-fed buffalo yoghurt, followed by their feta and halloumi, which now appear weekly at the Willunga Farmers Market from spring to autumn.
The generosity of knowledge and skill-sharing from local dairies, buffalo dairies, cheesemakers and producer networks has spurred the small business’ success. ‘We’re very lucky,’ says Emma. ‘From people right here in Myponga, through to the TAFE Artisan Cheese Making Course, the Fleurieu Food network, and small cheesemakers like Second Valley Cheese, Section 28 and Lilyarra Artisan Cheeses –they’ve all been amazing.’
In fact, it was Jane Ar nold from the Second Valley Cheese Company who taught Emma to make halloumi. Jane was retiring and wanted to know that there would be a local cheesemaker who could continue to supply her customers with halloumi. Emma wasn’t convinced about her first efforts with the cheese, but when Jane tasted it, she went ‘absolutely nuts and asked if I was going to put it in for the Delicious Awards,’ recalls Emma.
So, what is it that makes the yoghurt and cheese so special? It tur ns out that buffalo milk is richer in protein, vitamins, minerals and fat than other dairy products. The lower water and higher fat content gives the milk a thicker texture, making it especially luxurious for cheesemaking.
The dairy’s ethical, animal welfare and land management practices clearly contribute to the quality of the end products. ‘The biggest part of this is keeping our calves with their mums for the first three months until they are weaned,’ says Emma. ‘It’s what we call “animal-focused production” and our customers are really confident in our practices.’
The couple also do a lot of behavioural training and low-stress stock management to keep the buffalo relaxed, because, as Emma laughs and says, ‘You can’t tell a buffalo anything, you need to negotiate with them!’ Getting to know their individual personalities, likes and dislikes, Eric has earned himself the nickname of ‘buffalo whisperer’.
This care for their animals is expressed in the dairy’s artisan products. ‘You can really taste the milk,’ says Eric of their yoghurt, halloumi and feta. And it’s clear that customers agree, with demand increasing and products frequently selling out at the farmers’ market. Local restaurants and wineries have also started approaching the dairy, keen to have Buff Love products on their menus.
But what about the bur ning question on everyone’s lips: will we see your mozzarella this year? ‘Yes,’ say Emma and Eric in unison. ‘2022 will finally be the year of mozzarella.’ >
This version adds extra spring veggies and replaces the traditional Indian cheese, paneer, with halloumi. It’s a switch that makes good sense, both because paneer is traditionally made from buffalo milk, and halloumi is much more readily available in South Australia. It’s what I call a ‘genuinely inauthentic’ recipe, because it takes inspiration from a classic without being wedded to it, while using the best of local, seasonal ingredients that are true to the area and easy to source.
A quick cumin and lime pickle-spiked raita served on the side brings the whole dish together – and you can have everything on the table in under 30 minutes.
You can substitute any spring greens you like in place of the suggestions here –broccolini, snow peas and green beans are all good. Leftovers reheat well too. What you’ll need
1½ packs (300g) Buff Love Squeaky Cheese Buffalo Milk Halloumi, cut into 1cm thick, 4x4cm squares
Olive oil
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3cm piece fresh ginger, grated
1 large fresh green chilli, halved – seeds removed if you prefer
1 punnet (250g) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon sea or pink lake salt, to taste
1 cup (250ml) water
1 bunch gai lang (Chinese broccoli), thick stems cut in half lengthways, stems and leaves separated
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced in thirds on a slight diagonal, stems and tips separated
1 cup (150g) baby peas, fresh or frozen
½ teaspoon garam masala
Freshly ground black pepper
Large handful fresh mint leaves, roughly shredded Extra mint leaves, fresh sliced chilli and lime wedges, to serve
Start by cooking the halloumi: Dab both sides of the halloumi squares with paper towel to dry. Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron frying pan over mediumhigh heat. Add the halloumi to the dry pan in a single layer and cook for a few minutes on each side until they form a golden crust. Remove onto a clean plate. (You don’t need to add any oil to the pan when cooking the halloumi, as long as it’s a good nonstick or cast-iron pan. If needed, add just a tiny splash of olive oil.)
To make the curry sauce: Add a generous glug of olive oil to the same frying pan. Slide in the onion with a good pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is golden around the edges. Add the garlic, ginger and fresh chilli, cook for another minute until fragrant. Tumble in the tomatoes, stir and cook for about 3 minutes, until they are just starting to break down, adding a splash of water if the mixture looks a little dry. Add the ground coriander, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric and salt to taste. Stir for another minute, until the spices smell delicious, then add the water, increase the heat, and cook for another couple of minutes until you have a nice jammy sauce.
While the sauce is cooking, quickly blanch your green veggies: Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the gai lang stems and cook for 1 minute. Add the asparagus stems and cook for 1 more minute. Lastly, pop in the gai lang leaves, asparagus tips and peas, and cook for a final minute.
To finish: Put the frying pan with the curry sauce back over a medium heat. Quickly drain your blanched veggies and add them straight to the curry sauce (it’s fine if a little water splashes in). Stir to mix, then add the cooked halloumi back to the pan. Sprinkle in the garam masala, black pepper and shredded mint leaves. Stir gently and cover the pan, allowing the flavours to mingle and heating everything through for couple of minutes.
Remove from the heat, top with some more shredded mint and extra sliced chilli if you like, and serve straight from the pan with fluffy basmati rice or naan, lime wedges, and raita on the side.
Quick cumin & lime pickle raita
½ cup (125g) Buff Love Buffalo Yoghurt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan
2 teaspoons lime pickle, finely chopped if needed (we used Port Willunga Fine Foods Lime Pickle which doesn’t need to be chopped)
Squeeze fresh lime juice
Simply stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and add more lime pickle and lime juice to taste if needed. The salt in the lime pickle means you don’t need to add any extra seasoning.
Any leftover raita is fabulous dolloped on baked potatoes or grilled fish.
Wine pairing: The spice and acidity of this fresh curry are perfectly complemented by Oliver’s Taranga’s zesty 2021 Vermentino.
Taken an amazing photo on the Fleurieu lately? Tag us on Instagram and you could see your handiwork in print. Each issue we’ll choose an image to publish right here in the pages of FLM. @fleurieulivingmagazine This image of a great egret was taken at the Goolwa Barrage by Sally Porter, @porterphotography1
November 25 – 27
Words by Hollie Connery.This three-day, all-blues, no-shoes event is set to entertain music fans once more this November. The Port Noarlunga Blues Festival will again send out its siren call for lovers of blues and roots to come gather on the Port Noarlunga foreshore, cold drink in hand, and settle in for a huge line-up of local and international acts.
A true testament to the strength of the community and its relationship to music, Port Noarlunga’s local residents and business owners have collaborated to ensure festival goers can saunter from stage to stage over the three days. Patrons can weave their way in between cafes, restaurants and community clubs as they transform into musical venues for the duration of the festival.
Now in its fifth year, the music is getting sharper, the crowds larger and the line-up ever more impressive as international act the Matt Schofield Trio joins local guitar hero Chris Finnen to headline Saturday night at the Arts Centre in the heart of Port Noarlunga.
The kids are alright ...
If you’re a die-hard blues fan you know that there’s something about this particular style of music that just begs to be experienced live. So the best way for blues to survive in its purest form, is for our youngsters to get in on the act, allowing the blues notes to sink into their bones and be carried forward with them in body and soul.
This year for the first time, Port Noarlunga Blues Festival has expanded the youth program to include one youth act at each of the eight main venues, with artists coming from ARBA (Adelaide Roots and Blues Association), the City of Onkaparinga Youth Program, local schools and committee selection. Shining a light on these young musicians interested in the art form, and giving them a taste of the audience that connects to their genre, is one way of encouraging blues appreciation in the next generation. Organisers are also encouraging avid musicians to sign up for the Alan Gilbert open mic program to be housed at Port Burgers, just a stone’s throw from the water.
So for the love of blues, get on down, enjoy the show and play your part in ensuring blues survives on our streets. You never know, you could be looking at the next Ma Rainey or Muddy Waters.
Tickets available via website: portnoarlungabluesfestival.com.au Proudly supported by the City of Onkaparinga.
Home to the largest creative therapies team in Adelaide. Their professional and qualified therapists create a comprehensive support network for assisting individual clients to experience the best possible health and wellbeing outcomes. ATS also provides learning and training opportunities for parents, therapists and organisations to increase awareness of the benefits of working with the unconscious mind through art and play to express emotions and ultimately make meaning of our experiences. With a new location in Goolwa, ATS now has two Fleurieu locations, and works in schools across the state. artstherapyspectrum.com.au
Emma takes care of parents so that parents can take care of their babies. She is a counsellor, doula and parent educator with over 20 years’ experience working with families. Emma offers an opportunity for new mums and their families to be completely held by providing a unique blend of the mental and emotional health support of a counsellor, with the practical support and education of a doula and parent educator.
Emma provides holistic, in-home (or online) support services to families from preconception through to one-year postpartum. emmaholdsworth.com.au
South Coast Nurturing is a youth-focused outreach counselling service specialising in supporting at-risk youth.
Melanie is a registered and professional Australian Counselling Association practitioner and NDIS provider for youth in our community. Her driving force is to equip her clients with lifelong skills to navigate through life’s adversities as they occur and to reach out to others when they’re in need. She provides an immersive experience of self discovery, by engaging clients within nature and utilising her therapy animals when required. southcoastnurturing.com.au
As winter lifts its veil and the promise of spring brings opportunities for renewal and refurbishment, the Fleurieu Peninsula boasts a range of world-class services to help our community to live in their best light.
Better mental health and wellbeing is possible and we’re creating positive change stories in our community. Regardless of circumstances, everyone’s experience of mental health and wellbeing is uniquely individual. Together we’ll create a strength-based way forward so you can live the life you really want and start flourishing. With our in-home or telehealth services, you can work one-on-one with a qualified professional or join us for an evidence-based program or masterclass to grow your wellbeing and share it with your loved ones, friends and local community. fleurieuwellbeing.com
Roar Speech offers accessible paediatric speech pathology services to families across the Fleurieu Peninsula and metro Adelaide. We have two child-friendly ‘dens’ to welcome our families in Port Elliot and Unley. At Roar, we nurture relationships with each child, their family and communication partners, and we pride ourselves on playing, being creative, innovative and fun in our sessions. Our mission is to support and encourage each child to build confidence and independence when communicating so they can roar! roarspeech.com.au
Assisting teenagers, pre-teens and adults navigate the adolescent years. More than ever we need to learn how to journey through our wellbeing, as well as grow our knowledge on what our kids need, when confronted with challenges and change.
Louise Flaherty counsels families to learn to thrive in their relationships with themselves and each other. Her bush camps and workshops use rites of passage concepts to help parents and children nurture their inner confidence and resilience, and grow the bond between mother and sons, mother and daughters, fathers and sons and individual gender groups. littlebigjourneys.com.au
After six and a half years as CEO of District Council of Yankalilla, Nigel felt honoured to be selected as CEO of Alexandrina Council. ‘Staying on the Fleurieu was important to me, I love the sense of open air and freedom… It is just spectacular, clean and green and it feels right,’ he says. For Nigel, all of these things intersect at Forktree Brewing in Carrickalinga. ‘It is a place where you can sit and relax and watch the kangaroos on the rolling hills of the farmland and out to the ocean of the Fleurieu Coast while listening to the joys of the sounds of community chatter and laughter.’ If not taking in the view at Forktree, Nigel can be found watching the sunset from his home in Middleton. He enjoys taking time to walk in the footsteps of history on the Great (Big) Gorge Walk, which runs adjacent to the Yankalilla River and follows Colonel William Light’s walking route during his first surveys. When he feels like some community connection – or sometimes some hot debate – Nigel knows he’ll always find some form of camaraderie when visiting Rick and the team at the Range Restaurant, Mount Compass Golf Course.
Co-owner, Egan Builders at worksite, Port Elliot
The feeling of community within the Fleurieu is what defines Amelia’s sense of place. ‘There seems to always be support both personally and in business and I have witnessed this many times,’ she says. Amelia feels grounded by the people she surrounds herself with – ‘anywhere in this local area when I am with my family and friends’ –rather than a specific destination. When looking for an opportunity to reset, Amelia is drawn to the ocean. ‘We are so lucky to have so much beautiful coastline on the Fleurieu.’ Amelia’s favourite place to watch the sun rise and fall is from her home, where she’s lucky enough to have beautiful views on her doorstep. Amelia connects with other Fleurieu folk at her regular Hill Street Fitness sessions in Port Elliot – a place that serves her physical and mental wellbeing while also fostering a strong sense of community. ‘I have always felt a sense of support and belonging there, as I know others do too.’
For Brioni, the Oliver property is where she finds her strongest sense of place. ‘Our family has been here for six generations, so as soon as I come over the hill into McLaren Vale, I know it’s home and it is just a feeling you have. I think it’s from our family history and living here my whole life – not only my life but my dad’s and my grandparents’,’ she says. Brioni feels most grounded in the forest on their property. Not only is it a place full of memories of childhood play, but also ‘just quiet, grounding and calming.’ Brioni’s sense of place extends to the coast, only ten minutes from her roots in McLaren Vale, where something about the surroundings feels ‘cleansing and refreshing’. To get her community fix, Brioni likes to drop into Duke’s Restaurant at the Moana surf club. ‘I feel like when I go down there I always find someone willing to have a chat and it’s just really friendly,’ she says. For a different kind of bonding, Brioni also loves her netball and footy club, full of familiar and friendly faces: ‘it’s all local people and everyone has the same goal.’
Life on the Fleurieu has given Matt and his family a strong sense of community and belonging, intertwined with beautiful landscapes and clean air. Watching the sun slowly rise over the south-eastern hills from their back deck to the soundtrack of chirping birds on their McLaren Flat acreage is a sacred morning ritual, rivalled only by the sunsets they view from the front. ‘Summer sunsets,’ Matt says, are breathtaking. ‘The sky is filled with red, pink, purple and orange underlined by the silhouette of trees, vineyards and old rustic rainwater tanks.’ Matt also loves that he can balance the country life with beach life: ‘Seaford and Port Noarlunga first thing in the morning on a still day; the smell of the salt air; the sound of the waves lapping the shore, and the squeak the sand makes being walked on for the first time that day is bliss.’ If Matt is looking for some company, he knows he’s guaranteed a warm and welcoming environment with familiar faces aplenty at Goodieson Brewery – as well as an outstanding selection of beers. At the other end of the day, Matt can find a different kind of community feel at Kicco Espresso on the main street of the Vale, ‘with coffee that is simply the best!’
Owner at Face the World at The Flat to Vale Trail
Nothing makes Charles feel more grounded than his 6am bootcamp on the beach twice a week, or an early morning Thursday walk with his circle of mates – both of which are followed by a dip in the ocean no matter the time of year. ‘The feeling of exhilaration the salt water dip brings cannot be underestimated, I always come away feeling alive and my cup full, both from the sea and the connection with other good men from our community,’ he says. For Charles, the perfect places for contemplation in nature are Onkaparinga Gorge or sitting looking over Horseshoe Bay at Port Elliot. If not there, Charles says he finds his sense of place beside his ‘beautiful wife, Janice, at home in our veggie garden, walking our dogs on the new Flat to the Vale trail, or at Port Willunga beach followed by coffee at Maxwell’s or Goodness.’ Charles takes it all as it comes, his favourite days bookended by the sunrise over their vineyard and sunset at any of our stunning Mid-Coast beaches.
Sales and Brand Manager, Shirvington Wines at the Port Willunga jetty poles
‘Our vineyards in McLaren Vale encompass a sense of place. I feel most at home among the vines,’ says Emma-Lee. ‘I have grown up in a wine family from the age of twelve and I have found myself constantly surrounded by our beautiful land and vineyards.’ On a clear day, Emma-Lee loves watching the sunset over the family vineyard from the back corner of her house in Whites Valley. If not there, the next best sunset destination is Port Willunga beach. If Emma-Lee feels like taking some time out to contemplate in nature, the Shiraz Trail paves the perfect path to enjoy the fresh air and some exercise, all while soaking in McLaren Vale’s picturesque surroundings. The Willunga Farmers Market, with its bustling energy and community spirit, is Emma-Lee’s favourite place to connect with other locals, while supporting small businesses. There’s nothing quite like coming home with a bag overflowing with produce, knowing that the proceeds go straight into the hands of local families. >
We asked members of the Fleurieu community and our advertising partners to reflect on where we live – or more importantly how we live, how we connect and what gives us a real ‘sense of place’ here on the Fleurieu.Adam Mrotek
Owner, Mrotek Town Planning at the footbridge, Old
NoarlungaAdam’s sense of place spans the Fleurieu’s ‘dramatic coastlines, sandy beaches, rolling green hills and spectacular views, be it over the Willunga Basin or to the lower lakes and Coorong.’ He feels most grounded in the Onkaparinga River National Park, where he can enjoy ‘the solitude of walking through the gorge amongst the tall eucalypts and the timeless perspective this ancient landscape brings to present day problems.’ Whether it be on a warm summer’s evening or a ‘crisp sunny winter’s day,’ Adam can’t think of a better place to watch the sunset than riding along the stretch of coastline between Christie’s Beach and Moana. If not there, Adam can be found walking the river’s edge next to the Old Noarlunga township, ‘something that is very accessible to all abilities and a great way to connect with the community.’ Adam goes to Long Shot & Co in Old Noarlunga, opposite Market Square for a ‘hip, family and pooch friendly’ coffee or brunch fix, along with ‘friendly smiles.’
Viticulturist at Wirra Wirra Vineyards at the Aldinga Scrub
Ironically, Anton feels most grounded when he’s out on the water: ‘either snorkelling out on the Aldinga reef, fishing from my tinny, surfing on the South Coast or en route to the Cape Jervis ferry.’ The coast is what first lured Anton to McLaren Vale, a unique place where he could enjoy a relaxed wine region with a hint of salt in the air. Anton watches these two worlds meet from a peaceful spot on a sand dune behind his house in the Aldinga Scrub, taking in the view of the Willunga Hills all the way through to Sellicks, or further south watching swell at the dramatic Waitpinga Cliffs. When Anton thinks of community, he thinks of his Wirra Wirra tribe who are ‘always doing amazing work in the region.’ Anton’s favourite zone for contemplation is running at Aldinga Beach, Deep Creek, or on the southern leg of the Heysen Trail. Despite the sometimes brisk Saturday mornings Anton spends watching his son Jarvis in the under 10’s Willunga Demons playing footy, he wouldn’t have it any other way – especially when it includes a post-match visit to Home Grain Bakery.
‘To me, the Fleurieu Peninsula brings such pride. It is a place you want to return to when away, it is a place you feel safe, and a place that you want to respect and preserve,’ says Nick. His sense of place in the region isn’t only in its unmatched, picturesque landscapes, but also ‘the small community feel no matter where you visit.’ Nick feels most grounded when he’s outdoors in the fresh air with his family. ‘You know they’re safe and quite often it is a time I find myself reflecting on just how lucky we are.’ Nick fondly reminisces over the community he found in the old Myponga General Store. ‘As soon as you opened the door Kev and Vicki met you with a smile and a story to tell, then you could sit there having conversation after conversation as locals came and went.’ Nick counts his lucky stars that previous generations of his family picked the Fleurieu as their home all those years ago, giving himself and his partner Tina the opportunity to raise their kids in ‘such a special place.’
Saturday 5 November 2022
Words by Hollie Connery.If you take your music in block chords and broken time, make your way to the Middleton foreshore on the 5th of November for eight hours of non-stop jazz by eight of Australia’s best jazz ensembles.
After a long hiatus, the Middleton Jazz Festival is being reinvigorated. FIrst held in the early 2000s, an impressive collaborative effort from this tight-knit community has brought the festival back to life. And they’re coming back with a pulsing lineup sure to impress even the most avid jazz enthusiasts, and all for a humble $50.
Relax on the grass and enjoy the three-piece, all-female chordless trio The Boys Club. Winner of the 2020 National Jazz Awards for voice, She Gave Him Oleander, will enchant with their evocative music encompassing jazz, folk and traditional songs in a contemporary setting. The Max Grynchuk Big Band is an 18-piece jazz orchestra composed of some of Australia’s finest young musicians.
There will be local food and beverage vendors in an open-air festival setting, so with your toes on the grass and a wine in hand, you can sip on Soul Centric’s groove, or get moving to the Afro-Cuban beats brought by Lazaro Numa & Sabor a Cuba. Not to be missed will be the Shaolin Afronauts, an Adelaide Afrobeat band who describe their music as ‘interstellar futurist afro-soul’, whatever that means! An eleven-piece soul-funk outfit, Blow, will be fronted by Adelaide trombonist Annie Isaksson filling the afternoon with smooth vocals, phat horn lines and tight rhythms.
If that isn’t enough to satiate the palate of jazz cats, then perhaps the vast array of local beer and wine will. Organisers attest ‘our objectives are to promote and deliver fantastic musicians and provide locals and visitors with a highly entertaining line-up and a selection of great food and wine.’ A family-friendly day at a family-friendly price is sure to put a beat in your step, so be sure to make your way there, double time.
Victor Camoirano is a glass-half-full kind of guy – always showing up with a smile and a laugh while delivering croissants to local cafés. He loves his job and the time he spends on the road – the solitary periods listening to music punctuated by interactions with the people he delivers to. ‘It gives me the best of both worlds – I get variety. Life has to have harmony and balance,’ he says. ‘That’s what my mother taught me.’
19,
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An avid fisherman, Tony comes to Port Noarlunga up to five times per week to fish off the jetty and breathe the fresh sea air. He sometimes enjoys a beer with friends at the pub afterwards.
02. Derrilee Noah, Woodcroft
Derrilee has been fishing most of her life, and visits the jetty on her Monday off work – every week! She loves how clean the water is, and has developed strong friendships with the community of fishers that frequent the jetty year round.
03. Radha Solomon, Port Noarlunga
Radha loves the community in Port Noarlunga, which she likens to a little bubble where you see people you know on the street all the time. ‘The cafe community is great, and I hear there is a new wine bar opening,’ she says.
04. Flora Jennifer, Christies Beach
Working for Port Noarlunga Aquatics means Flora is on the beach year round. On her time off she likes to surf locally as well as dive on the reef and kayak the Onkaparinga River.
05. Maria Vouis with her dogs, Port Noarlunga Maria has lived in the area for nearly twenty years and enjoys the ‘sense of a village’ in the town, and the ‘proper’ Italian coffee served at Coffee Factory Cafe. She adores the marine sanctuary, and wants to see people look after it.
06. Bec O’Connor, Barista Cheffy Chelby’s
Bec has worked at Cheffy Chelby’s in the heart of Port Noarlunga for two years. She has great relationships with her regular local customers who adore her. When she’s on her break, she takes a stroll on the jetty or goes to the beach.
07. Adriana Gregory, Heart and Whole Adriana works at Heart and Whole, a bulk food store that opened a year ago in Port Noarlunga. She remarks that when they opened their doors, the response from the local community was very supportive. She loves shopping the bohemian fashion next door at Sound of White.
08. Gary and Jacob Barter, Noori
Jacob and his father are building an exciting new bar that will open in September called Noori. Jacob calls it a cafe-bar-hideout and says he chose Port Noarlunga because he loves the Mid and South Coast and appreciates the great quality of life.
0 9. Reneé Yarrow, Beck’s Bakehouse
Reneé has been working at Beck’s Bakehouse for ten years and loves the area for its strong community that gathers together to help each other out. Her favourite place to shop is Charlie Rose.
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