FOUND Regional Issue 8 • Winter-Spring 2024

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

MEET TENTERFIELD’S SERA J WRIGHT –NATURE LOVER, EXPLORER, PHOTOGRAPHER.

PIXIE DUST

By Karlee Rawkins Never Never Creek, NSW

Karlee Rawkins is a painter recognised nationally for her bold and totemic imagery. Her work celebrates the joy found in the unexpected and the opportunities offered in journeys that are more adventurous or different. Pixie Dust depicts the flying pirate ship of Peter Pan’s Neverland, reimagined with pink and silver sails.

@karleerawkins

FOUND Regional is published by The Found Media Group PTY LTD

CONTACT US

FOUND Regional

PO Box 2016

Armidale NSW 2350 hello@foundregional.com.au foundregional.com.au

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Steph Wanless steph@foundregional.com.au

ART DIRECTOR

Krysten Rhoades-Brown artwork@foundregional.com.au

PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR

Claudia Monique claudia@foundregional.com.au

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

Meg Miller meg@foundregional.com.au

COLUMNIST

Jen Drew hello@jenniferdrew.com.au

PROOFREADERS

Carole Hollebrandse and Elora Wilson

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Martin Wanless martin@foundregional.com.au

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Claudia Monique claudia@foundregional.com.au 0439 700 280

PRINTING

Lewis Media Group

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Jim A. Barker

© Copyright The Found Media Group PTY LTD 2024 All rights reserved. All material published in FOUND Regional is copyright. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher.

DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this magazine is correct. The Found Media Group makes no representations regarding the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any product or service advertised in this magazine, or any editorial material published in this magazine, and takes no responsibility for any errors or omissions herein.

COVER STORY

28 FROM SERA, WITH LOVE

Sera J Wright’s photography practically cradles you in colour, so rich is the sense of place behind her work. Here’s how she’s honed her self-taught craft, from the shores of Byron Bay to acreage at Tenterfield.

44 IN CONVERSATION WITH Karlee Rawkins

TIME OF YOUR LIFE

STAY AND PLAY WITH CENTRAL HOSPITALITY GROUP DISCOVER TAMWORTH'S BEST

Welcome to Tamworth, where the Central Hospitality Group offers an exceptional stay and play experience. With premier venues that cater to all tastes, your journey through Tamworth will be unforgettable.

Start at CH Boutique Hotel, the epitome of luxury in a convenient location. Whether for business or pleasure, CH Boutique Hotel ensures a comfortable stay.

Indulge in culinary delights at DECO Wine Bar & Restaurant , where Modern Australian flavours take centre stage. Open seven days a week to all diners, DECO offers an unparalleled Tamworth dining experience.

For spacious accommodations, choose CH Boutique Apartments

Located near renowned attractions, these serviced apartments provide a luxurious retreat for families, including pet-friendly options.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of Hopscotch Restaurant & Bar, nestled in scenic Bicentennial Park. It's the perfect spot for enjoying great food and drinks with loved ones.

Discover the sophisticated Pavillion Function Centre & Gardens for your event needs. With award-winning gardens and comprehensive packages, your event will be extraordinary.

Experience the character and atmosphere at The Pig & Tinder Box , a casual dining pub housed in a historic bank building. It's perfect for casual drinks or celebrations with friends and family.

Take a break at The Bureau by Red Ribbon, a cozy café serving the best coffee and delightful breakfast, lunch, and dessert options on weekdays.

Escape to Dungowan Brewery in the serene Dungowan Valley. Surrounded by natural beauty, it offers historic charm and modern casual dining for a unique experience.

Choose the Central Hospitality Group for an extraordinary stay and play adventure in Tamworth. With exceptional venues and dedicated service, your visit to Tamworth will be truly remarkable.

thechgroup.com.au

WORDS: Hayden Pannell PHOTOGRAPHY: House of Lucie, Open2View, Protography by Kristy Weik

Notes from the Team Notes from the Team

Are you ready for adventure?! Then you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to issue eight of FOUND Regional – the adventure issue!

We’ve met some incredible humans putting this together; people who climb boulders and teach kids how to skateboard, artists who capture Never Neverland and photograph the night sky.

They are explorers and athletes, creative spirits and bold business minds. The one thing they all have in common? They say yes to adventure.

When I asked our team about their biggest adventure to date, here’s what they had to say…

STEPH WANLESS

Co-founder and Editorial Director

Way back when, at the age of 11, my folks took my brother and I out of school for three months to travel across England and Europe (#legends). I remember eating a lot of lasagne in Italy, touring a tonne of chateaus across France, staring in awe at Stonehenge, dodging bees the size of small birds in Provence… and catching chicken pox in the UK. I also vomited on a double decker bus in central London, I blame the scambled eggs the plane served up for breakfast. Still, overall it was a wild ride.

CLAUDIA MONIQUE

Partnerships Director

In my early 20s I spent three months backpacking across Europe – it was incredible. Fast forward to my early 30s and I recently rode on the back of a motorbike with my brother from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hands down one of the best things I’ve ever done, and I was so happy to share the experience with my brother.

KRYSTEN RHOADES-BROWN

Art Director

At 19, I went on this incredible week-long volunteering adventure in the mountain forests of Northern Thailand, where I worked with elephants transitioning from the tourism industry back into the wild. It's heartbreaking what these amazing animals have had to endure. A truly life-changing experience.

MARTIN WANLESS

Co-founder and Managing Director

A few years ago I travelled to London for – literally – a long weekend to watch my football team Sunderland play a Cup Final at Wembley. We got beat. Still, worth it. I did it again in 2022 and caught COVID on the flight over so missed the game. Less fun. One of my favourite, adventurous memories though, is watching cars rallying through the woods in the dark with my Dad when I was eight. It was before health and safety, so the cars were flying past us just millimetres away. And it was a school night.

MEG MILLER

Digital Marketing Manager

Once upon a time I lived in Canada for a year. There was snow, pizza, thick down jackets, Bloody Caesars… and more snow. It was a total adventure and I loved every minute. These days I’ve swapped the mountains for the ocean and my snowboard for a surfboard. I’m excited to see where this next adventure takes me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we live, learn and work, the Anaiwan people, and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We extend our respect to the Yaegl people to the north and the Gumbaynggirr people to the south, and all the Aboriginal people of this beautiful land we’re lucky enough to call home.

MEL STREATER

@marramarracreative

With thanks to Mel Streater for sharing this beautiful artwork, Giiny Nuganirra Budhang (Black Heartbeat). A descendant of the Wiradjuri nation who was born and lives in Guruk (Port Macquarie), Birrbay Country, Mel’s love of art developed at a young age while watching her Babiin (Father) paint and sculpt. ‘Marramarra’, the name of Mel’s graphic design and arts studio, is a Wiradjuri word meaning ‘to create, to make, to do’.

“My visual narrative is crafted with detailed, fine line illustrations and contrasting colour palettes – I enjoy tying visual and written content together to share ideas and stories and central to all my work is a desire to design from a culturally aware and ethical framework. The story behind this artwork? Beneath the surface of a country run by a white government with a white mentality, lies a strong, black heartbeat. She calls to us to remember her presence, to be guided by her, to stand up for what is right and just. When we listen to Mother (Country) we are renewed in our spirit, our health, and our determination.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Look for the good, the helpers, the folks who are here to make the world that little bit better.

Like the elderly couple from Burleigh Heads whose final wish was to leave all their worldly possessions, including their family home, to Guide Dogs Queensland – the latest in a string of estates being bequeathed to animal charities. Not to mention a Shanghai woman who recently left her $4.2 million fortune to her pet cats and dogs, instead of her adult children, after they failed to visit during her illness. Touché.

Look to teenage sprint sensation Torrie Lewis for becoming Australia’s fastest-ever woman after breaking the Australian 100-metre record with a 11.10 second run, and to Bunnings for joining forces with beloved TV series Bluey to give select stores a Hammerbarn-themed makeover.

Look to Australia’s 2023 Local Hero, Amar Singh, who has joined forces with an alliance of fathers (including Hamish Blake and Red Wiggle Simon Pryce) to change the landscape for fathers to help their kids and partners thrive. The Dads’ Action Plan for the Early Years calls for a national strategy to support fathers in taking equal share of parenting, including 12 weeks of federally funded paid parental leave.

Look to Insta-famous animal pair Peggy the staffy and Molly the magpie, who have been reunited after Queensland Premier Steven Miles stepped in to keep the furry family together. Molly, who was surrendered to the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, will now stay with their family to educate the public about caring for Australian wildlife.

And finally, look to the 3000 people who took part in a massive game of hide-and-seek at IKEA. Sure, the cops shut it down, but way to keep the child within us all alive. Count us in next time.

That’s a whole lot of good. Cheers to that.

BEHIND THE LENS

Armidale, NSW

DANIEL ELLIOTT

I’m honestly relatively new to photography. I've been an illustrator and animator for over 20 years, a filmmaker for almost as long, but photography is something I’ve only really gotten into in the past couple of years – and it’s something I have quickly fallen in love with. I’m lucky enough to not just be able to work across all of these creative mediums for a living – with some projects mixing and matching elements of all of them – but I also get to ride the line between artist and commercial artist.

It’s all about telling stories in the end, and I like to tell my stories, both in stills and in motion, with as much texture and character as possible. In an age of squeaky-clean digital content and now AI as well, I’m blessed to have people come to me because of the way I use vintage lenses, black and white, and embrace elements like film grain to evoke a more human feeling. There is a softness and a warmth to the images these tools capture that can’t be created after the fact. It can only be realised in the moment, and I am endlessly thankful that it’s something a lot of businesses and individuals are beginning to value.

visitorsfromdreams.com

@visitorsfromdreams

1. APSLEY FALLS, WALCHA

The stunning area known as Apsley Falls is located just outside of Walcha in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. A part of the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests – an area containing the most extensive subtropical rainforest in the world – Apsley Falls offers visitors a place to relax and unwind, with a free barbeque area, camping facilities and a walking track for guests to explore while soaking in views of the park’s ancient gorges and breathtaking waterfalls. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/ picnic-areas/apsley-falls-picnic-area

2. DANGARS GORGE, ARMIDALE

Also a part of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park and the Gondwana Rainforests is Dangars Gorge in Armidale. Offering jaw-dropping views of ancient rock formations and the powerful rush of the falls, this is a place that speaks to the adventurer in all of us. And with plenty of walking trails, lookout points, and even spots for picnics or a night under the stars, Dangars Gorge is the ultimate destination for those seeking a true connection with the great outdoors. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-todo/lookouts/dangars-gorge-lookout

3. FLEET ADVENTURES

Fleet Adventures, operated by Fleet Helicopters, invites thrill seekers and nature lovers alike to experience the region from a whole new perspective. With the wind in your hair and the world far below, you can take to the skies for an adventure tour and discover the New England region’s patchwork of farmland, waterfalls and gorges in a new light. fleetadventures.com.au @fleetadventures

4. THE GREEN GULLY TRACK

Located within the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, The Green Gully Track is an award-winning, self-guided 65km walk that takes you deep into the Apsley-Macleay gorge system. Offering hikers the opportunity to explore the New England Region (quite literally) off the beaten path, The Green Gully Track is unique in that you don’t need to carry a tent. Instead, you can stay in the restored stockman huts that dot the trail. This trail is often booked out months in advance, so planning is required. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/ walking-tracks/the-green-gully-track

THE MOUNTAINS

5. BALD ROCK NATIONAL PARK

Bald Rock National Park, located just outside of Tenterfield, is well known for its picturesque views and location along the New England Granite Belt. As its centrepiece sits Bald Rock, also known as the Granite Titan, which stands proud at 1300 metres above sea level. This iconic landmark offers panoramic views of the National Park, stretching right to Girraween National Park across the Queensland-New South Wales border. Pack your camera. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/ parks/bald-rock-national-park

6. GLAMPING TENTS, TENTERFIELD

Keen to experience next-level off-grid camping with a side of luxury? If the answer is yes, then it’s high time you book a weekend away at Mirumiru Bubbletents in Tenterfield. Providing off-grid glamping experiences for couples, friends, and now families, Mirumiru gives you the chance to fall asleep to the starry night sky and wake up to the sunrise, all from the comfort of your queen-sized bed. mirumirububbletent.com.au @mirumirububbletent

7. ADVENTURE CYCLING, THE NEW ENGLAND HIGH COUNTRY

From leisurely countryside meanders to bike-packing overnighters, the New England region offers diverse gravel and off-road experiences. Take in the New England High Country with its abundance of wildlife and breathtaking waterfalls, gorges, and national parks. Explore art, culture, and boutique shops across the region and indulge in delicious food, coffee, and cosy accommodation. newenglandhighcountry.com.au/ adventure/adventure-cycling

8. MOREE

ARTESIAN AQUATIC CENTRE, MOREE

Having recently undergone a $7 million redevelopment, the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre is a familyfriendly facility that offers both indoor and outdoor pools. Fed by the region's renowned artesian hot springs, this centre offers visitors a rejuvenating experience like no other, and with a range of facilities including spas, saunas, classes and wellness treatments, this centre ensures a comprehensive retreat for both the mind and body. moreeartesianaquaticcentre.com.au @maac_moree

1. THE NEW ENGLAND WILDERNESS WALK

THE WATERFALL WAY

From the edge of the New England Tablelands to the Bellinger River, the New England Wilderness Walk is a challenging two to three-day trek that takes you straight through the heart of the New England National Park. Traverse along ridges, into bushland and across creeks and farmland, all while being surrounded by spectacular scenery. And with ample opportunity for swimming and exploring, what’s not to love? nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/thingsto-do/walking-tracks/new-englandwilderness-walk

2. CATHEDRAL ROCK NATIONAL PARK

If exploring Cathedral Rock National Park is on your New England adventure list, consider this your sign! A stunning escape located just out of Ebor, Cathedral Rock offers breathtaking 360-degree views of the eucalypt forest and granite outcrops. Enjoy short walks or tackle longer trails like the Barokee to Native Dog Creek walk. Perfect for birdwatchers, seasoned hikers and those just wanting some fresh air, Cathedral Rock is ideal for both day trips and longer stays, with camping available at the Native Dog campground. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/ parks/cathedral-rock-national-park

3. FLY-FISHING AT MOFFAT FALLS

Located in the picturesque New England region, Ebor and Dorrigo are renowned worldwide for their pristine rivers teeming with rainbow trout. So why not try your hand at something new? Teaming up with Yaraandoo Eco Lodge, Moffat Falls brings you expertly guided catchand-release fly-fishing tours. Suitable for beginners and seasoned anglers alike, you'll enjoy exclusive access to private streams as well as all your gear provided.

moffatfalls.com.au/fly-fishing/ @moffatfalls2453

4. DANGAR FALLS, DORRIGO

Located just 2km from the town centre of Dorrigo, Dangar Falls is an awe-inspiring waterfall complete with a swimming hole and plenty of places to lay out a towel and soak up the sunshine. With a viewing platform and a paved 1km trail leading down to the waterfall, this magical place offers the perfect opportunity for a day trip and a swim.

5. DORRIGO NATIONAL PARK

Also known as the gateway to the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests, Dorrigo National Park is a must-visit while adventuring across the region. Meander along paved rainforest trails, enjoy leisurely picnics and explore hidden waterfalls. While you’re there, don't miss the panoramic views from the elevated walkway, stretching as far as the eye can see, and be sure to visit the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and the Canopy Cafe for a souvenir and a treat before hitting the road.

nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/ parks/dorrigo-national-park

6. LOMBOK ON WATERFALL RETREAT STUDIO

Surrounded by lush rainforest and cascading waterfalls, Lombok on Waterfall Retreat Studio provides a perfect escape for both adventure seekers and those seeking peace and serenity. Whether you prefer exploring ancient rainforests or discovering the local food and shopping scene, this luxury Balinese-style accommodation inspires relaxation, peace and Bali vibes without having to leave the country. lombokonwaterfall.com.au @lombokretreat

7. LEVENVALE FARM, BELLINGEN

Located just a short drive from Bellingen and a stunning two-hour drive from Armidale along the Waterfall Way, Levenvale Farm offers a place to play, stay and learn. Featuring its own 200 acres of rainforest and a collection of accommodation options, this regenerative farm is the perfect place to host a wedding, function, retreat or workshop. With regular events such as the Terra Firma Long Lunches, fire-cooking workshops and permaculture, Levenvale Farm aims to build community, regenerate our ecosystem and grow nutritious food. levenvalefarm.com.au @levenvalefarm

8.

BELLINGEN CANOE ADVENTURES

Whether you're seeking a leisurely paddle with loved ones or an adventurous exploration of hidden waterways, Bellingen Canoe Adventures provides guided tours tailored to all ages and experiences. Discover the rich biodiversity of the region, spot native wildlife along the riverbanks, and create cherished memories against the backdrop of the Bellinger River. canoeadventures.com.au @bellingencanoeadventures

1. TREETOPS ADVENTURE, COFFS HARBOUR

Located in the beautiful Coffs Harbour region, Treetops Adventure offers a thrilling experience for adventure seekers of all ages. Featuring a range of obstacle and rope courses, this naturebased theme park will have you swinging from ziplines, balancing across tightropes and navigating suspension bridges as you explore the trees from a whole new level. treetopsadventure.com.au @treetopsadventureaust

2. THE BIG BANANA, COFFS HARBOUR

A symbol that stands for all things fun and banana-themed, the iconic Big Banana is a must-do for all visitors to the region. Located in Coffs Harbour, this fruit-shaped attraction offers entertainment in spades – from thrilling rides and water slides to tours showcasing the history and cultivation of bananas, the Big Banana promises an unforgettable experience for all ages. bigbanana.com

@the_big_banana_icon

3. HWH STABLES – RIDING SCHOOL AND TRAIL RIDES

If a sunset tour of white sandy beaches on horseback sounds all kinds of romantic to you, you’re not alone. And thankfully, you can turn your dreams into reality with HWH Stables – Riding School and Trail Rides. From the beach to the river to the bush, this riding school offers guests and students bucketlist-worthy experiences. Whether it be swimming your horse in rivers, cantering along a beach or learning to ride with confidence, HWH Stables – Riding School and Trail Rides is what you’ve been looking for. hwhstables.com.au @hwh_stables

4. COFFS SKYDIVERS

With a tagline like ‘On the other side of fear is freedom’, Coffs Skydivers take the words awesome, thrilling, jaw-dropping and exciting to the next level (quite literally), with Australia’s highest skydive. Catering to the thrill-seeker in all of us, this skydiving company lives for adventure sports and loves nothing more than to share that excitement with others. Experience what it’s like to jump from a plane, free fall, and then watch the world from above as you float back to earth, landing on the

THE SEA

pristine beaches of Coffs Harbour. coffsskydivers.com.au @coffsskydivers

5. THE SOLITARY ISLANDS COASTAL WALK

A three to four-day walk along the beaches and through the rainforests of the Coffs Coast, the Solitary Islands coastal walk is perfect for spotting whales as they migrate along the east coast, bird watching, swimming, and enjoying the beautiful scenery that Coffs Harbour is so famous for. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-todo/walking-tracks/solitary-islandscoastal-walk

6. FAMILY WHITEWATER RAFTING AND TUBING WITH EXODUS ADVENTURES

Regarded as one of the best rivers in Australia for rafting, the Nymboida River features surging grade 5 rapids, but also beginner-friendly experiences too. With this Family Whitewater Rafting and Tubing tour, guests will be guided through lush rainforests, rugged gorges, and calm pools as they learn a new skill and experience the power of white water for themselves. Available all year round, this adventure will keep the whole family engaged and on their toes! exodusadventures.com.au/activities/water @exodus_adventures_rafting

7. SOUL SURFING, PORT

MACQUARIE

A family-owned surf school in Port Macquarie, Soul Surfing has been operating for the past 20 years. With a strong connection to country and a deep love for the ocean, owners Corey and Loren Enfield share their passion with all who want to learn to surf. Offering lessons and programs for both children and adults of all abilities, Soul Surfing provides its students with the utmost care and will have you up and riding (or shredding) waves in no time.

soulsurfing.com.au @soulsurfing_pmq

8. RAWSON FALLS WALK

Located in the Boorganna Nature Reserve only an hour’s drive from Port Macquarie, the Rawson Falls walk takes you past a picnic area, lookout and swimming hole right to the bottom of a 40m high waterfall, with a plunge pool to boot. Pack a bag and a picnic, because this sounds like a mighty fine day trip to us!

nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/ walking-tracks/rawson-falls-walk

IN PICTURES THE STARRY EXPLORER

PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Hull @michael.hull.photographs

“I was in my late teens when I started taking photos. I had a job, saved some money and bought a camera. I was that friend at a party who’d always be snapping away. That’s all I did for years – but I’ve become a bit more serious about it the past 10 years.

“I’ve gradually shifted to a digital Nikon, and (with much encouragement from several friends) signed up to do an astrophotography course. There were 20 people in the room that day, and I was the only one who kept going with it.

“There’s something really peaceful about being out at night. I love where we live in Uralla. I mostly walk around nearby farmlands, camera in hand. I love bringing images to life that people can’t just go and see. Sure, if you stand outside at night and wait 10 minutes, you can steal a glimpse of the Milky Way. But you don’t really see all of it – the camera brings it out in far more detail than you can ever imagine. And when you get that kind of star show above our local buildings, it’s magic.”

FIND MICHAEL’S WORK

You can discover Michael’s star-filled work at the below venues. He also releases a calendar each year, with orders opening in September. So keep your eyes peeled!

The Alternate Root 48 Bridge Street, Uralla McMahon Your Drycleaner 6 Moore Street, Armidale

Armidale Art Gallery 149 Beardy Street (Central Mall), Armidale

A PLACE TO DREAM

The New England High Country is home to waterfalls and rock climbing, cycling and hiking; it’s a place where rivers run wild, snow dusts mountaintops, leaves crunch underfoot and adventure beckons around every corner. The region’s townships are also formidable hosts, offering beautifully appointed, luxurious spaces, complete with roaring fires and modern luxuries – the perfect retreat after a long day exploring the winter wonderland beyond. Here we introduce you to four of those hosts, just waiting to deliver a place to dream.

WORDS Steph Wanless

LINDSAY HOUSE

128 Faulkner Street, Armidale lindsayhouse.com.au @lindsayhouseboutiquehotel

Perfectly positioned overlooking Central Park, just a hop, skip and a jump to the CBD, Lindsay House is a historical Armidale treasure. The exquisitely furnished guest house combines modern touches with heritage beauty in all five of its rooms – such as Wi-Fi and antiques, bay windows and luxurious linens. Don’t forget to take tea in the sunlit sitting room, complete with north-facing windows, views across Central Park and reading materials to get lost in after a day of discovery in the New England High Country.

COME UP AND EXPLORE

OXFORD ON OTHO

61-67 Otho Street, Inverell oxfordonotho.com.au @oxfordonotho

Built in 1886, the Oxford on Otho was the first two-storey brick hotel to grace the streets of Inverell. Today, it’s undergone extensive (and exquisite) renovations to offer up a space fit for families, couples and solo travellers searching for a cosy space to rest their head. We’re talking central heating, electric fireplaces and lush robes, bath tubs to write home about and gentle nods to historical features throughout. Don’t get us started on the linens… you need to feel it to believe it.

Discover a place where nature finds its way into every experience and story. A place with incredible natural landscapes, where the air is fresher and your senses are heightened.

COSY DINNER ON THE CARDS?

After an adventurous day out, you’ll need to refuel. Here are some of the must-try dinner venues in the beautiful New England High Country.

Armidale

Tattersalls Hotel Armidale tattersallsarmidale.com.au

Signor Vertelli signorvertelli.com

The Cottage Restaurant & Bar thecottagearmidale.au

Inverell

The Union theunioninverell.com.au

The Riverside Restaurant Facebook: Riverside Cafe, Restaurant & Function Centre

The Tatts Hotel tattshotel.com.au

BALMORAL

45 Henderson Street, Inverell lifestylestays.net.au/en/balmoral-inverell-accommodation

A stately home in the heart of Inverell, Balmoral is a slice of luxury for up to nine guests seeking sanctuary after a day of exploring. Featuring four large bedrooms, an additional bedroom/retreat area, two bathrooms and multiple living spaces, this historic home invites guests to relax in ultimate comfort. While the pressed metal ceilings and original decorative fireplaces offer a beautiful snapshot of the building’s past, reverse-cycle heating, electric blankets and deluxe bedding deliver the modern day touches you’ll long for in the winter months.

Glen Innes

The Local Glen Innes thelocalgleninnes.com

Great Central Hotel greatcentralhotel.com.au

The Stones Restaurant thestonesrestaurant.com.au

WATERLOO STATION

67 Waterloo Road, Matheson waterloostationnsw.com.au @waterloostationnsw

Set on 4000 acres just 15 minutes from Glen Innes, Waterloo Station boasts a huge variety of outdoor activities for your next adventure. Try your hand at sapphire fossicking, trout fishing, bushwalking or wildlife spotting, before heading back for a relaxed evening in front of the fire, local vino in hand. Perfect for large groups or solo travellers alike, Waterloo Station offers family-friendly digs in the Waterloo Stockmans Cottage and Shearers Lodgings, as well as the very unique one-bedroom Schoolhouse.

newenglandhighcountry.com.au @nehighcountry

The experiences will exhilarate, thrill and inspire you. And when the time comes to return home, a little piece of this place will stay with you forever.

ELEKOUSTIKA toWelcome the stagetoWelcome the stage

PAUL ARMSTRONG

Led by Paul Armstrong, EleKoustiKa aims to be disruptive – to break moulds and to challenge the traditional expectations of what jazz music is supposed to be. Embracing the freedom of creative expression, this quartet’s style enables each member to push beyond their comfort zones, take risks and explore vulnerability in the process.

WORDS As told to Meg Miller PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Elliot

After retiring from the United States Air Force Bands Program in 2013, Paul landed a gig with Grooveline Horns – an American Funk and R&B horn section best known for touring and recording with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5 and Zac Brown Band, to name a few.

It’s here we should probably mention that Paul has performed and recorded with famous jazz singer Diane Schuur and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, is a two-time Grammy-award winner for his work with The Mavericks, and was a semi-finalist in the esteemed Louis Armstrong International Jazz Trumpet Competition.

But touring his whole life and being away from his family for up to 250 days a year had taken its toll, and, making a snap decision to sell everything they owned in Austin, Texas, Paul followed his wife and children to Australia in 2017.

TIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT WITH MUSICIANS, PERFORMERS AND ACTORS FROM STAGE AND SCREEN.

EXPERIENCE ELEKOUSTIKA

EleKoustiKa is adventurous. It’s abstract and it’s vulnerable –a dance of push and pull between music, art, and storytelling. This quartet aims to bring studio sound quality to a live audience, all the while challenging norms, testing boundaries, and exploring the freedom of creative expression. And as Paul tends to say, “EleKoustiKa is jazz, but it’s not really jazz.”

To find out where EleKoustiKa will be playing next, be sure to follow their Instagram or email Lisa for details.

@emptyspace_productions emptyspaceproductions01@gmail.com

An idea that had been brewing since he left the Air Force, Paul had a vision: to create an improvised visual and musical experience using DJ and modular synth technology. Moving to Armidale and meeting Ash Hall, Lisa Goldzieher, and the latest member of the group, Elspeth Goldzieher, provided the perfect opportunity to bring this vision to fruition.

ASH HALL

Believe it or not, Ash had been following Paul’s career since the early 2000s.

“Paul was a member of the Maynard Ferguson Band, and as an extraordinary big band and high-note player, every trumpeter looks up to Maynard Ferguson. I first saw the band perform on TV and immediately noticed the remarkable talent of Paul Armstrong. That was 20 years ago.”

Learning to play the trumpet at an early age, Ash has had a love

for the instrument his whole life. Moving to Brisbane to develop his music and performance skills, he worked full time performing on the club circuit, taking every opportunity he could get to play. Returning to Armidale in 2003, Ash has since played with numerous local and national bands.

“About five or six years ago, somebody told me I wasn’t the only trumpet player in Armidale anymore because a jazz trumpeter had just moved to town. They said, ‘I think his name is Paul Armstrong’. My heart dropped and I thought to myself: ‘Oh boy, I better start practising’. Then Paul reached out to me. We’ve been hanging out ever since.”

Never really giving him tips on how to better play the trumpet, Paul instead talked to Ash about sound and how to use space. “I was in a bit of a dip musically and Paul helped me learn how to love music again. He re-inspired me.”

In the way of regional communities, while playing in a local trio called Caution Horses, Ash and Lisa’s paths crossed, forging an important connection that would see them both develop their improvisational skills.

LISA GOLDZIEHER

“For my Postgraduate Creative Practice as Research performance in 2016, I created a one-woman show called Wildcard where I played 13 characters. I was in rehearsal by myself for up to eight hours a day – the only other collaborators I had were these three amazing musicians from a band called Caution Horses. One was Stephen Tafra, the other was Steve Harris, and the third was a trumpet player called Ash Hall. That’s where Ash and I met and we started our improvisational journey there.”

Lisa Goldzieher is an Armidale-based actor, writer, director and producer. Having a passion for making thought-provoking creative work, Lisa values community and has always enjoyed working with music. “It’s become a pivotal part of both the process and performance for me. Over the past decade, I have collaborated with composers, designers and musicians to develop original musical scores for productions I’ve been involved in,” she says.

ELSPETH GOLDZIEHER

Some say that creativity runs in families, and in this case, they’re right. Introducing the fourth member of EleKoustiKa, Elspeth Goldzieher – Lisa’s daughter.

Having studied classical violin for 11 years at the Heart Strings Academy under acclaimed teacher Sofia Debus, Elspeth has performed as a part of ensembles, orchestras and bands both locally and around the state. Currently coordinating the music for The Welder’s Dog Bar Armidale, as well as being one of the coordinators for the town’s Black Gully Festival, Elspeth is well-versed in the music industry.

“I joined EleKoustiKa in December 2023. In terms of risk-taking while performing, I’ve found that it’s easier when playing with other musicians. EleKoustiKa provides a comfortable outlet to perform something completely new and abstract in front of a group of strangers. It’s been exciting working with a fusion of styles, genres and multimedia modes of storytelling.” *

FROM SERA with love

Sera J Wright’s photography practically cradles you in colour, so rich is the sense of place behind her work. Here’s how she’s honed her self-taught craft, from the shores of Byron Bay to acreage at Tenterfield.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Jim A. Barker, inset images Sera J Wright

This story begins within the pages of another magazine – the National Geographic. The familiar row of yellow spines stood tall on many an 80s living room shelf, usually next to a Pioneer audio cassette tape deck (John Farnham at the ready) and a potted maidenhair fern. Or at least that’s where they lived in Sera J Wright’s childhood home. Pride of place.

To Sera, they might as well have been gold bullions lining the shelf, she so treasured the worlds within. Thanks to her parents’ subscription, waterfalls in the Amazon, sunsets in India, moonscapes in Alaska and moss-covered stones a little closer to home were delivered to her doorstep every month.

“I’ll never forget that one photo – it was taken in Tasmania somewhere, these mossy green rocks clambered together, a stream flowing through them. I remember looking at it, completely intrigued by its beauty,” says Sera.

“That was it for me, I’ve been obsessed with photographing the natural world ever since.”

Add to the mix an enduring idolisation of David Attenborough, a ready supply of Kodak’s disposable point and shoot and the ability to sit and stare at sunsets, sunrises and waterfalls for hours on end, and Sera’s career choice makes a whole lot of sense. ››

NATURE BABY

Today, Sera is an award-winning Australian photographer, writer and creative whose work has even been published by Australian Geographic (how’s that for a manifest moment?!). Based in Tenterfield and Byron Bay, she has travelled the world capturing images for tourism boards and businesses, unique accommodation and interiors, editorial publications and people and has long since upgraded her camera equipment to go with the gig. Saying that, she does still have her folks’ first Minolta film camera.

“They were always snapping away with that thing. I followed along with my very own point and shoot – it even produced panoramic photos; that was fancy back then.”

Sera’s childhood was kissed by the Byron sun. A selfconfessed nature baby whose family home was just 500 metres from the beach, she grew up with an intense love for the great outdoors. Hours disappeared in the shoreline, in the fields behind her house where wild horses ran, or bashing through the bush at her big brother’s heels.

“We used to go camping as a family eight times a year –Fraser Island was a regular spot for us. I loved the sand dunes and the lakes, the fresh water creeks and the beach.”

What she didn’t like was the classroom. Perhaps she felt too closed in, separated from her adored outdoors… restricted… trapped, even? Whatever the case, study and Sera weren’t mates, but the one subject she was drawn to was photography.

“That was different. I feel old saying it, but the photography course I did in years 11 and 12 taught us how to develop black and white prints in dark rooms. I loved it, and I still have all my negatives and photos from those days.”

At the end of her final year, the school brought in a single digital camera for the students to use. It was a whole new learning curve, one that saw Sera trying to wrap her head around the fact you could take as many photos as you wanted, adjust light at the flick of a button and, most importantly, capture colour.

“I think I see the world in a very colourful way,” says Sera. “So instead of enrolling in more courses or a degree after school, I knew I’d do better learning on my own, using my own colourful lens. I’ve been self-taught ever since.”

She continues chatting about her free-flow approach to her work, how she doesn’t use a tripod or studio lighting, but rather lunges from bed in her PJs, runs into the backyard, puts her camera to her eye and takes the photo. It’s off the cuff and in keeping with the wild, nature-loving child deep down. And people love it. ››

SERA J WRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY – THE PRINT STORE

Sera has been running her print store for more than 10 years. She’s sold thousands of prints to homes all over the world and she loves every minute of it. More often than not, these are the photos she’s captured in her own time, while on her favourite bushwalk at Bald Rock or back in her hometown of Byron, with the sand between her toes. Check it out for yourself asap and follow along on socials – beauty awaits.

serajwright.com/print-store @serajwright

“Every day with my camera is another day of me trying to capture the feeling of a place through a photo.”

GOING PUBLIC

The first time Sera started making money from her photography was by selling prints. Friends and family had seen shots on Facebook and asked to buy them. Then in 2010, Instagram arrived – a whole new social media platform dedicated to sharing imagery with the world. Although, at first, Sera didn’t realise it was quite so public.

“I was using it as an editing tool for my landscapes, sunsets and selfies – not that I’ve ever been a huge selfie person (still struggling with the fact I’m on the cover of this magazine if I’m honest), but I had no idea other people could actually see my photos,” she says.

It was a friend who alerted her over text: ‘Sera, are you aware everyone can see your photos?!’

Oh. My. God.

“Not that there was anything bad on there, it was just the dawning realisation that nothing was private and I, clearly, had no idea what I was doing.”

That same wise friend suggested Sera learn how to use Instagram properly to promote her work, using hashtags, naming locations, tagging people, the whole shebang. Sera listened, removed all her old photos and started fresh. By 2013 she was one of the first people in Byron to start sharing beautiful landscape imagery – we’re talking white sandy beaches and blush pink skies, oceans the colour of David Bowie’s right eye, and rockpools the colour of his left.

Her audience grew – fast – and while she struggles to say the word to this day, ‘influencers’ were on the rise. And this was her first experience as one of them.

“I was tagging Canon in my Instagram posts and they reached out about an event they were hosting in Byron – they took a group of photographers hot air ballooning and, yes, we were all being referred to as ‘influencers’.”

*Reader feels a shudder.

“Obviously I wasn’t getting paid. I was still working full time, but my costs were covered and it led to other opportunities.”

Those opportunities included travel photography work in tropical North Queensland, Samoa and Japan. Her first paid job? A trip to Myanmar for Changi Airport, Intrepid Travel and Singapore Airlines, ultimately leading to more paid gigs with the likes of Visit NSW, Visit Sunshine Coast, Visit Noosa and Discover Vanuatu. Sera juggled the jetlag for years with her full-time customer service role at a Byron Bay clothing company, until the universe gave her a nudge.

“I was made redundant in 2018, so I took a year off and filled it with social media and influencer travel jobs. I eventually found full-time work again, but ended up injuring myself in that role. It was one big kick up the bum from the universe to go full time with my photography – and that’s what I’ve been doing since 2019.” ››

ENTER KNUCKLEHEAD WINES

The next year was a turning point for Sera. Not just because she’d established her full-time career in the freelance photography world, but because 2020 was the year she and her partner Kyle moved to Tenterfield. It was a treechange, sure, but one that was triggered by bushfires and COVID-19.

“We wanted to be closer to my mother-in-law. She’s on 120 acres here and needed help mending fences damaged by the 2019 fires,” says Sera.

“But Kyle also has silicosis from a decade working as a stonemason – he was diagnosed in 2018, three months after we got together. So when COVID-19 arrived we knew the busy streets of Byron wouldn’t be the safest place for him with his lung condition. It was a challenging move at first, but exciting too. We always said we’d give it a year and four years later we’re still here, so we must love it.”

The decision has not only opened up regional photography opportunities for Sera – mainly generated by good old country word of mouth – but also an unexpected career move for Kyle. In the space of a year, he went from working in boutique wine stores, to an assistant winemaker, to launching his own wine.

“It started when we pulled over to try some wines in the Granite Belt Region of Queensland one day,” says Sera.

“Kyle was chatting to the owner and she could tell he had strong industry knowledge and asked if he was looking for work. The next minute she’s hooking him up with the owner of Bent Road Winery and he’s now the assistant winemaker there.”

Great gig, led by great people; they even encouraged Kyle to start his own label. So he did, and in 2021, Knucklehead Wines was born – ‘where wine meets art and good times are had, minimal intervention wines produced in the Granite Belt region’.

“The name? Yep, that’s all Kyle – the brand very much embodies who he is, a lover of music, cars and motorbikes. He also has ‘FINE’ ‘WINE’ tattooed on his knuckles, since he’s only getting better with age, so he says.”

While Kyle’s the winemaker, Sera does all the behind-thescenes legwork. That means the branding, the admin and stock management. Right now you can buy directly through the website (snap up six bottles or more to unlock free shipping), or sample the goods directly from Tenterfield’s own wine bar, Stonefruit, who also sell Knucklehead Wines takeaway. Winning.

It’s another adventure Sera’s dived into with both feet. Sure, it’s different to standing on top of a volcano in Vanuatu, or disappearing behind waterfalls in New Zealand, but it fuels her creative soul nonetheless.

“I’m happy to have the opportunity to build something with Kyle because, as most creatives know, one of the hardest things about working for yourself is flying solo. That and the consistency of it all.”

What Sera says next is one of the last things I’d expect to hear from her lips. This exceptionally talented, established and

Sera x

successful artist has doubts. More than that, she still has moments of panic, where imposter syndrome sweeps over her, attempting to swallow her whole. She has work booked weekly, a print store that sees her work shipped worldwide and a reputation that’s hard to beat – but she questions herself, regularly.

“What am I doing?! When’s the next job coming? What should I post on Instagram? Then the overwhelm kicks in and I need to take a beat – especially on the social media front,” says Sera.

“It’s such a necessary part of what I do and my followers are incredible people, travellers and explorers who love beautiful spaces and places – I want to share content that speaks to them in a very authentic way. Every day with my camera is another day of me trying to capture the feeling of a place through a photo. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do with my work – to make people feel like they’re there in that scene, or that they want to be there.”

On that note, I suggest you stop what you’re doing and take a moment to look at Sera’s work. Before you know it, you’ll be sipping cocktails from coconuts beneath palm trees, walking towards a sunset on a golden dirt track, swimming with dolphins or climbing snowy mountain peaks. They’re a rare and treasured glimpse into the beauty of our world, without the noise and the news and the stuff that ties us down.

“I hope people can see how much I love this life, that I’ve never been more comfortable with myself and the work that I do. I hope my pictures make people smile, and I hope they spark adventure deep down within.” *

KNUCKLEHEAD WINES

You know you want to try Knucklehead Wines – minimal intervention wine of the highest quality. You’ll currently find a tasty collection of Pinot Noir, Amphora Montepulciano, Amphora Nebbiolo, Chardonnay, Sangiovese Pet Nat and skin contact Sauvignon Blanc online and at these devoted stockists.

Knucklehead Wines knuckleheadwines.com.au @knuckleheadwines

Stonefruit, Tenterfield stonefruit.bar

North Byron Liquor Merchants, Byron Bay northbyronhotel.com.au/liquor-merchants

The Cellar, Byron Bay thecellar.com.au

Curious Craft, Lismore curiouscraft.com.au

UP CLOSE WITH STEPHANIE TRETHEWEY MOTHERLAND FOUNDER AND CEO

Most of us can agree that when we become mums for the first time, we don’t know what the hell we’re doing. But then society feeds us this potentially dangerous view that motherhood is the greatest gift #blessed #grateful…

There was an element of that for me. But then came the perfect storm – moving from the city to rural Tasmania, a six-month-old baby in tow, launching into farm life with no clue and a husband out working seven days a week.

Add to that this perception I carried of tough country women and resilient rural communities. While that’s true –we are resilient out here – we have to be careful with how we use that word. I felt like because I was a farmer now, I had to accept that life on the land is tough, motherhood is tough, but this is the bed we make for ourselves, so put up, shut up and get on with it.

That didn’t work well for me.

I had a miscarriage between my two children. I lost that baby on Christmas Eve and instead of grieving and being kind to myself, I got up the next morning, jumped on a quad bike and drove out into the paddocks to move cattle with my husband. Because that’s what tough rural women do, right?

I didn’t speak to my husband about it, I didn’t ask my parents for help. After all, how dare I not be happy and grateful. That decision led to a very deep and difficult struggle with postnatal depression after both of my kids. I felt like I was failing.

Looking back now, I can see I was wrong. I can see so clearly how I arrived in rural Australia thinking I had to be that ‘strong’, ‘silent’, ‘resilient’ rural woman – and that’s a dangerous narrative I’ve had to unlearn. Motherland has saved me from that in a lot of ways; I’ve grown up as a mum through telling other people’s stories and realising that it’s okay to be vulnerable. That’s what Motherland does for rural women – provides a safe space to talk about the hard stuff with a community of like-minded women. There is zero judgement and you know straight away you don’t have to be strong here; it’s okay to fall apart a little bit.

But sometimes it’s so hard to do that with the people closest to you.

That’s where living in a rural community can be bittersweet. We’re so tight-knit, which is really beautiful and important. But the flipside of that is, quite often, everyone knows your business and it can be tough to open up. The biggest thing I learnt after launching our online rural mother’s group program, Motherland Village, was that most women want to be connected to mums outside of their immediate region too. And that makes sense, because there’s a beautiful anonymity that comes with a fresh set of friendships, someone who doesn’t know you, your partner, your life history.

To ensure this kind of support is accessible to women everywhere, I made the decision to begin operating as a charity two years ago. I wanted to do more good and it’s really important to Motherland that any women who are struggling financially, or just need a little helping hand, can access our program free of charge. That’s where our scholarship fund comes in, and we’re so grateful to Thankful4Farmers for kickstarting that fund, and to all those people and businesses who have made donations since to keep it operating. It’s something we’re very keen to grow because we know the conversations our mums are having is improving their mental health. We survey women before and after the program, and over 90 per cent of mums who said they were struggling with their mental health say the program has improved it. So while Motherland is centred around connection and reducing isolation, the subsequent impact on mental health is very important and a huge focus for us moving forward.

So have those tough conversations – start now, don’t leave it until you’re at crisis point. It all starts with putting yourself first for once, and making an effort to find your village; Motherland might be a part of that support network. While we’ve been a digital organisation for so long, with our online program and the podcast, our events are enabling us to start nurturing in-person connections too. The popularity of our National Conference and our recent Mother’s Day fundraisers at Spring Ridge, Goondiwindi and Kangaroo Island are testament to the importance of that physical connection for women everywhere – we’re very excited to close that loop with more events in the future. *

WORDS Stephanie Trethewey PHOTOGRAPHY Ness Vanderburgh

PRESERVING WINDY STATION

The year is 2020 and Clare Lee, proud manager of the historic Windy Station Woolshed, together with current custodians and owners, Romani Pastoral Company (RPC), have a vision. They want to preserve and cherish, celebrate and uplift the 1901 building found 30km from Quirindi and Willow Tree, 100km from Tamworth, Scone and Gunnedah, 260km from Newcastle and 380km from Sydney. Clare sees conferences and field days, markets and weddings, creative productions, school tours and general open days. But the structure’s foundation system is failing, the DA approval process is lengthy and the Heritage NSW requirements extensive.

Enter Barnson.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Sally Alden, Sophie Hansen, Rebecca Andrews

“I love that building. You can walk in there and still smell the sheep – to this day it feels like a working woolshed. And that’s the beauty of it – its character. It was a oncein-a-career job; I won’t do a better one.”

That’s Barnson Project Manager Jack Massey speaking with serious heart about the Windy Station project. Assigned in 2020 to oversee the woolshed’s revival, Jack, Clare and the extended Barnson team have worked side by side over the past four years to breathe new life into the treasured, historic structure. There have been highs, lows and waiting time in between. The key hurdles?

“Firstly, it’s a state heritage-listed building – in fact, Heritage NSW have indicated that it has national significance, so it’s a pretty important building.”

Combine the above with Barnson preparing the DA documentation, arranging lodgement with the council and following through the approval process, it’s easy to see

where the first three years of this project went. Barnson brought in Heritage Consultant David Scobie for his specific expertise here, while the company’s structural engineers set about the second-biggest hurdle.

“That would be the fact that the foundation system was failing. The structure is built on timber piers from the early 1900s – there were 1000 of them and after a full structural audit we discovered the majority were not in good condition; there was decay in place both below and above ground,” says Jack.

“But the thing is, you can’t just go about replacing heritage timber. The message we received from Heritage NSW was that the original construction method needed to be adopted for any rectification works. However, the message we also received from our structural engineers and other timber specialists was ‘no timber in the ground’ – because it’s going to rot over time and bring us back to square one.”

ONE-STOP SHOP

Barnson is a multidisciplinary firm with a broad range of capabilities including:

The answer? To retain the outer three rows of piers as the original timber above ground and use a concrete footing below ground with a steel connection detail to the timber post. Free-draining gravel would then be installed around each post to effectively have the posts meet the nominal ground level and appear as though they were extending below ground, as originally constructed. Internal piers in good condition could be brought forward to replace those in the outer rows that didn’t make the cut – ultimately maintaining the integrity of the building. Internal piers beyond repair were either replaced with a suitable timber pier to match or a steel pier.

DELIVERING ON DESIGN

With the foundations of the building secure, it was time to design the amenities needed for RPC’s long-term vision.

“We knew the ultimate goal was to host big events – but that comes with regulations in terms of having certain amenities on site,” says Jack.

“With David’s heritage advice and Clare’s big-picture thinking, we created a kitchen and bathroom facilities that are essentially their own little structures within the woolshed. If needed, they can even be removed from the building at a later date. The whole intention here was to preserve the fabric of the building as best as possible, while delivering

Building Design

Structural and Civil Engineering

Town Planning

Landscape Architecture

Environmental Consulting Project Management

Geotechnical Services and NATA Accredited Testing Labs Registered Surveyors

In short, the team is a one-stop shop, by your side from project day one to handing the keys over. With offices in Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Mudgee, Orange, Sydney and Tamworth, they service their clients’ needs all over NSW.

barnson.com.au @barnson_pty_ltd

on RPC’s vision. To complete the picture, we brought in an interior design team, The Design Paddock, who came up with finishes that are sympathetic to the space.”

The result is a building with a renewed sense of purpose, a place of community, education and connection. A place to collaborate and be creative, to celebrate history and welcome the future. *

MAKING HISTORY

History was made the day the Windy Station Woolshed was awarded $1 million in matched funding after winning the first-ever NSW Government Heritage PitchFest – funds that ultimately enabled the owners to transform the building into a multifunctional event space accessible to the community and visitors near and far.

“We’re so proud to have received this award. It's an incredible opportunity that demonstrates what can be done with regional heritage, and I hope it helps and encourages others who might like to re-activate their empty spaces,” said Clare.

“With this funding, we’re hoping to create a vibrant conferencing and educational facility, a space for creative production that takes advantage of the spectacular use of light and texture within the woolshed, and a wedding and social venue that celebrates our rich history and exciting future.”

IN CONVERSATION with

THE MID NORTH COAST ARTIST ON MOTHERHOOD, INCLUSIVITY AND CREATING ADVENTURE-FILLED ART WITH HER SON.

THE JOURNEY TO NEVER NEVERLAND

Artist Karlee Rawkins has always been interested in the nitty-gritty, the unexpected edges of the world we live in. So when she saw an opportunity to collaborate with Raji Renshaw, her 15-year-old son and one of her biggest influences to date, she grabbed his hand, held on tight and together they dived into Never Neverland .

WORDS As told to Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Jason Brown

I can see my grandma now, milking the cows – and there’s my mum, washing the horses. My childhood home was a small farm on the outskirts of Toowoomba, and aside from the cows and the horses, the chickens and the dogs, it was just me, mum and my grandparents for a while there. I loved it. We had the most beautiful orchard; I’d spend days sitting among the fruit trees, gorging on figs and mulberries. Weekends were filled with looking after the animals, pony club, book club and art classes. I can still remember the smell of the paint.

My first experience of being creative was when I discovered a big pile of printing paper in my grandmother’s sewing room. I’d sit and draw in there for hours. That’s a very clear memory for me. I would have been four years old, perched by the window drawing the trees, the dogs and the horses – I’d draw a lot of horses. I was terrified of getting on the back of them, really – that was mum’s thing – but I had a very strong connection with them for as long as I can remember.

I didn’t come from the same mould as the rest of my family. By the time I was eight, my younger sister had arrived, followed by my brothers and we became one big blended home. But we were such a country family, it was always a bit of a surprise that I was so drawn to art. In high school it was my best subject by far, and thanks to the early art classes mum had enrolled me in, I was confident with acrylic paints.

Painting was the number one medium for me. Thanks to my wonderful teachers, I was given great freedom to explore it and pursue whatever I wanted. In my final year I was selected for ArtExpress – it was called something different back then, but the premise remained the same. That was my first exhibition under my belt, before I’d even left high school. So when it came time to tick the box for what I wanted to do at university, my first thought was art.

No one else in my family was creative or artistic; no one understood it. To be entirely honest, even I didn’t really grasp how you could become a professional artist at the time. But I followed my gut and completed a degree in Visual Arts, majoring in Painting. I did the first half of my degree at the University of Southern Queensland, before moving on to Lismore and finishing at Southern Cross University. Toowoomba is a beautiful town and I was happy there, but it was time for me to leave and find bigger adventures.

From university to now, my work has always focused on a single totem. There’s rarely much there to locate or place the subject, it’s more about the encounter with that one animal or tree as an archetype. But earlier in my career, human figures would appear in my work too. Over time, I’ve allowed them to drop away. I found them too specific – are they male or female? Young or old? Clothed or nude? Humans can be complicated and we relate to them differently. But with animals there’s something more totemic about them right away and every one of my works then connects to a broader symbolism.

It’s a concept I learnt more about during a trip to Darwin, where I connected with the local Aboriginal Art Centres. I’d travelled there with a friend from university – the clappedout old 300 van we were driving got bogged in the salt crust at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and we wedged our paintings under the wheels to force it out. That aside, it was a great experience and I ended up doing a joint exhibition with a friend I made in Darwin. Every one of my works sold on opening night. Hooley dooley! Suddenly I had enough money to do something else.

So I went to India – and the colours there have been one of the biggest influences on my work by far. They’re bold, bright and all-consuming – like you’re bathing in colour. I backpacked through northern India and trekked across Nepal. I’d teach teenagers to read and write in exchange for their beautiful drawings and painted a mural – that’s when the scale of my works really started to grow. It was an incredible experience, but when I got home, all I could think about was the malnourished dogs I’d seen on the streets of Delhi. I love dogs, so to see so many of them starving and yet still suckling their puppies was an image that stuck with me.

So I decided to paint it – and that’s when Bitch in India was born, the piece I entered into the 2003 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. Winning that prize came as a complete surprise to me. I was 26 years old and had barely been able to afford paints. All of a sudden I had $25,000 and a three-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, administered by the Art Gallery of NSW. The opportunity to travel was a huge shift in my world, and one that I grabbed hold of with two hands. I decided to add on some time in New York, where I spent three weeks, before moving to central Paris for five months.

Wendy Whiteley said to me, just take it all in, don’t worry about working. And in some ways I wish I had done more of that, but I was so inspired by all these new images and experiences, museums and galleries, I just wanted to paint. Seeing pieces in the flesh I’d learnt about in textbooks was wonderful, it was a huge cultural learning for me. The artefacts in front of me were a huge influence and really set the course of my practice, fuelling my interest in archetypes and mythology. And all of that aside, since winning the prize, every single one of my paintings had sold out in my two Australian galleries – they needed more pieces.

So I’d go to work, while looking out over the Seine in a freezing cold, open white space in the Cité Internationale. It was a beautiful building, but undeniably cold. There was a tiny kitchen in one corner, a bed in the other. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was painting. I quickly discovered where to source art materials, learnt how to ask for certain paints and colours and just went wild. The experience changed my world entirely and to this day I love the work I created there. ››

When I arrived back in Australia, I was attracted to nature and isolation so decided to move to a place near Bellingen, right out in a forest called ‘Die Happy’. I hadn’t visited previously, it was more of a random real estate hunting exercise. I just wanted something I could afford, that was beautiful and away from people. There I discovered I was pregnant with my first child, Raji. That was quite a journey too. I had no family or friends nearby, no stable electricity, no phone connection.

When Raji arrived, it was complicated. I had no idea about Down syndrome and he needed three weeks in special care. He was tiny, he wasn’t breastfeeding well and I was right out in the sticks. I can still remember the smell of the burn-offs on the day we arrived home, the smoke swirling through the air. It was this wild, surreal experience to go from almost a month in hospital to remote bush. Ultimately I didn’t have enough support or information in those early days. It was a very stressful and intense experience and I’ve since recognised the impact of post-traumatic stress. My life changed significantly after that and when Raji was three we moved to Never Never Creek where we now live with my partner and two young boys.

I’ve been painting about my experience of becoming a mother, being Raji’s mother, ever since. It’s allowed me to explore ideas of perfection, authenticity and joy – joy in the unexpected, joy in change. It’s been an amazing time of my life. But the opportunity to exhibit at Yarrila Arts and Museum in Coffs Harbour made me feel like I was ready to try something different, to be a bit more experimental. That’s where Never Neverland began. At the start of the working period for the exhibition, Raji was coming into my studio twice a week to draw – he’d sit there for hours. One Monday I said to him: ‘Raji, tell me – what am I going to do for my show?’

‘Islands mum, magic islands.’

After a recent school trip to a nearby island, he’d become fixated. His pastel drawings of paradise were already sprawled across my studio and I could immediately see some standout motifs, patterns and repeated colours. Raji’s work was my starting point and we dived in deeper together from there. We read Peter Pan and Treasure Island, we watched Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy which cast Noah Matthews Matofsky as the leader of the Lost Boys – he was the first actor with Down syndrome to be cast in a major role in a blockbuster film. It was a wild and extraordinary, joint creative process.

We’d talk, he’d draw and I’d paint. I was responding to his work and he was responding to mine. We were constantly influencing each other and there was this amazing crosspollination process happening. Our own individual perspectives fed the works, both of which are so unique. Raji experiences and sees things so differently – he’s so open, he feels everything much more intensely. This was also the first time I really leaned into the fact that I have a visual impairment. Having vision in just one eye has always affected my interest in pattern and positive/negative space, but this exhibition was the first time I really recognised that and allowed it to guide me in terms of the work’s size and scale.

Next, adding islands and palm trees to the collection was a really logical progression for me. These symbols connect so clearly to my study of paradise and how perfection isn’t what we think it is. In my view, islands are beautiful, but isolating. And that’s been my experience of motherhood, particularly mothering a child with a disability. It’s extraordinary, but not many people understand it or appreciate it. ››

“Islands

are beautiful, but isolating. And that’s been my experience of motherhood, particularly mothering a child with a disability. It’s extraordinary, but not many people understand it or appreciate it.”

One of the first paintings that represents this is Drifting Away

The island is beautiful, but it’s moving. At the time, I was feeling really distant from my community; there are a lot of things that even close friends don’t really understand about how we navigate disability. It can be tiring and I was done, ready to disconnect from others.

I think there needs to be great community change around inclusion. People who have a disability and the people who support them are doing a hell of a lot of work. The mainstream community needs to step up too. That means if you’re planning an event, teaching at a school, hosting a kids’ party, coaching a football team or even own a local shop – ask yourself the question: ‘How can I ensure everyone is included in this space or event?’ If you don’t feel like you have the knowledge to answer that question, educate yourself. Read a book about people with disabilities, watch a movie, follow people with disabilities on Instagram. It’s only two generations ago that people like Raji were institutionalised, so there’s been a big change culturally and socially – but it needs to keep going.

Raji is now 15 and very much the keen teenager. He has all the clothes, the caps and the sarcastic lines. He’s a big sweetheart and he’s loved the experience of us working together. It was quite a significant step up for him, because it has recognised his unique skill and vision too. Parenting him has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my life – he’s brought me so much joy and confidence, passion and creativity. That doesn’t mean it’s always been smooth sailing, but it continues to be an adventure.

Adventure doesn’t always mean fun; I’ve always been interested in the nitty-gritty, the more difficult moments and the unexpected. Because there’s so much potential for growth there, and joy too. That’s really the journey I’ve been on with Raji, for the Never Neverland exhibition and for our whole lives together, too. Being his mother has forever altered how I view the world and I can so clearly see that the edges are the best bits; opportunity and hope, adventure and love lies there. *

UP CLOSE WITH NEVER NEVERLAND

We asked Karlee to describe some of her favourite pieces from the Never Neverland exhibition. Here’s what she had to say.

Pixie Dust (pictured page 4)

My favourite is Pixie Dust, the boat, because it’s my most adventurous piece. I haven’t painted an object, ever. But seeing Captain Hook’s ship in the books we were reading showed me it was such a symbol of journey – a magical one, because it even flies. When I was studying it I looked at it as an object and saw it almost as a bird. It has the same sort of shape, lines similar to wings and I thought: I’m going to paint that ship. I’m so glad I did.

Mermaid Lagoon (pictured above)

This was a really successful piece in terms of the scale of the work and being a more specific location – it’s more of a traditional landscape. That’s something that has interested me for a while, but I haven’t known how to do that while holding onto this symbolic, ambiguous kind of feeling in my work. I think this combines the two in its own magical way.

Great Big Little Panther (pictured left)

This is the totem of this series. I’ve always been interested in the animals that hunt and those that are prey. And I’ve always loved totems that are powerful in themselves. There’s also a contradiction here; we see beautiful tropical flowers with something lurking behind. I’m keen to convey the sense that things aren’t what they seem to be, to question our experiences and the way we see things. It’s a power piece, it confronts people and I can see a fierce mother coming to the surface. It’s also an opportunity to transition. This is the moment you have with that piece or that encounter – recognise that, seize the time and step forward into change.

TENTERFIELD WHERE HISTORY MEETS NATURE

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Sera J Wright

Tenterfield is one of the biggest shires in NSW and is made up of five villages, but it’s the CBD precinct and surrounding national parks that will give you a feel for what all the fuss is about.

Grab a brochure from designated shops that carry tourist information for a self-guided tour of historic buildings, as well as the not-to-miss places including beautifully restored boutiques and bakeries (FYI: Bad Manners Café on Manners Street serves delicious hot donuts), galleries, retail shops and a new divine wine bar, Stonefruit, on the main street.

Searching for some local handmade goodies? We recommend the handmade leather goods at Matilda Leather and one-ofa-kind pieces from local potters and painters from Make It Tenterfield. A visit to the Tenterfield Saddler is always a must and the Royal Hotel across the road had a recent makeover and offers some great beers on tap.

Fancy a sticky beak at some Federation homes? Molesworth, Rouse, Logan and Manners Street are home to some great old buildings and amazing seasonal autumn trees that are becoming a huge hit with visitors. Round off your day in town with a stroll along the banks of Tenterfield Creek, where you’ll find a newly built art trail and new kids and youth precinct with pump track, skate park and a mountain bike skills park.

PACK YOUR WALKING BOOTS AND CAMERA

Here’s the thing, Tenterfield is surrounded by six national parks – so when it comes to scenic walks and outdoor adventures, you are seriously spoilt for choice. Pack a picnic and set off for Mount Mackenzie Lookout, where views stretch across the Tenterfield Valley and to the Queensland coast beyond. Or nearby you’ll find Draining Rock on Kildare Road, the second largest granite rock in the southern hemisphere, well worth a look. Who took out the top spot you ask?! That would be Bald Rock, found at none other than Bald Rock National Park, a 30-minute drive north from the CBD. Crowned the southern hemisphere’s largest granite monolith, you’re invited to climb to the top and lap up the panoramic views, it’s seriously amazing.

Fancy a dip? Look no further than Boonoo Boonoo Falls – bring the esky, there are BBQs on site. Then there’s the Torrington State Conservation Area, an ideal spot for fossicking, or the Tooloom National Park, a bird-watching paradise.

HOP ON YOUR BIKE

Tenterfield is a blossoming hot spot for road, gravel and mountain biking, serving up single day, multi-day and offroad options. For those who are especially serious about the sport, the town’s altitude is between 800m and 1300m above sea level, making this unique landscape an ideal training location for athletes countrywide. Angry Bull Trails is a new mountain bike trail initiative that has recently received serious government funding – so expect big things in this space for 2025 and beyond.

SAMPLE A LOCAL TIPPLE

Knucklehead Wines is where wine meets art and good times are had. It’s also where Kyle Goodwin and Sera J Wright – who are based in Tenterfield – started this unique brand and are striving to make the highest quality, low intervention wines in the New England High Country and Granite Belt. Sample the goods for yourself at Stonefruit Bar and other outlets in northern NSW. Stay tuned for an emerging food scene in Tenterfield with 2025 set to have some great new events and businesses with new offerings coming to town.

So Tenterfield is without doubt an emerging destination town that's ripe for some positive change – get up there soon to see what all the fuss is about. *

ARE YOU READY TO EXPLORE?

It’s high time you got to know Tenterfield… you won’t be disappointed. visittenterfield.com.au @visittenterfield

1. JUDGEMENT-FREE ZONE

It’s more than the gym’s tagline, it’s something they wholeheartedly believe in. Are there mirrors? Yes – but only in front of the free weights and Smith machines so you can check you’re doing the correct form. That’s a safety thing. There’s not a mirror to be seen in the cardio section, but you will spot breathtakingly beautiful views of nearby mountain ranges. As for scales, they don’t exist here.

2. NEXT-LEVEL AFFORDABLE

Gjenae, Montana and the team don’t believe having access to improving your health and fitness should be a luxury –that’s why their basic membership is just five dollars a week. That not only includes access to the open gym, but to all fitness classes too. Winning. (PS – speaking of luxuries, there’s a spa too! The chilled-out space includes hydro massage lounges, massage chairs, a red light therapy booth, and spray tan booth – all within your reach for just $9.95 a week.)

3. GUIDED HELP

As part of the weekly membership, clients also have access to the gym’s free fitness training, meaning you sit down with a trainer who will happily guide you through a ‘how to gym’ course. This includes upper body, lower body, full body and a 30-minute cardio circuit so you can come to grips with all the equipment in the room. From there, they’ll also work with you to create your own personalised program to suit your fitness level and goals. Keen to try the classes? Great! Because they’re all beginner friendly and your trainer can talk you through those too.

FIT FOR PURPOSE

Sisters Gjenae Rosekelly, Montana Rosekelly, their dad Dallas, and the whole team behind Planet Fitness Tamworth want to make a difference. Together, they’re hoping to help the community fight back at the 2020 Australian Bureau of Statistics report that crowned Tamworth Australia’s fattest town.

WORDS Steph Wanless

“Four years on, it’s become something the locals joke about, and that’s of course fine – but we want our community to know we’re here to help,” says Gjenae, Planet Fitness Tamworth’s Creative Director.

“The stats remain: eight out of 10 adults here are overweight, and that alone shows us there’s a very clear way we can make a positive impact on people’s lives.”

Saying that, the Planet Fitness crew also know how tough it can be stepping foot inside a gym for the first time (or for the first time in a long time). That’s why they’ve worked hard to create a friendly, non-intimidating environment with help on hand every step of the way. Here’s how they roll.

4. TECH-SAVVY SUPPORT

That’s right, for when you don’t quite need that human touch, the Planet Fitness app shows you how to use every single piece of equipment. It even has a list of suggested exercises and can help you create your own workouts based on your favourite equipment.

5. FAMILY VIBES

Planet Fitness Tamworth is all in the family – a dream that started with Gjenae and Montana’s dad Dallas, who grew up in Dubbo. Working on the family farm alongside his parents kept him fighting fit. Then one day, he heard about these things called ‘gymnasiums’ – places people could go in cities to exercise. It was something he needed to see for himself, so he moved to Newcastle and went to a gym for the first time. After a few years he finally decided to open his own and the rest, as they say, is history.

Gjenae and Montana grew up in the gym (well, above it). Come closing time each day, they’d run downstairs and to their own personal playground. By the age of 13, Gjenae was working reception and she hasn’t left since. As for Dallas, come 2021 he’d set his sights on launching a gym in a regional location. After his first visit to Tamworth to scout for locations, he knew he’d found the home for his USA Planet Fitness franchise.

Over the years, the Rosekelly family has learnt that moving your body is so much more than a physical thing – it’s a mental health and wellness journey too. Suffice to say, the team behind Planet Fitness Tamworth believe in what they’re doing – and they believe in you too. So go on, step inside, you won’t regret it. *

Time Of Your Life

HOLLY HARRIS

When Holly Harris took up mountain biking at the age of 15, she didn’t have any real strategy in mind. She simply hit the trails with her dad and his mates every weekend – where the banter was strong and Lycra was frowned upon. As it turns out, it was the perfect training ground for a sport that demands the strongest of mindsets, a heady dose of courage and one solid sense of humour.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY @TBSphotography, @matt_rousu_photography, Colin Dibble

Holly Harris loved running. That’s where it all began, the feeling of freedom that came when it was just her and the open road ahead. But when a knee injury set in, she needed another outlet. Holly chose mountain biking, and damn, she was good. We’re talking about representing Australia all over the world for both XCM (Cross-Country Marathon) and XCO (Cross-Country Olympic).’

1995-2010

Llangothlin, 11km north of Guyra, NSW

Unless you’re from around these parts, it’s unlikely you’ve heard of Llangothlin. The rural village boasts a population of around 100 people and a little nature reserve with one of the few high-altitude freshwater lagoons remaining on basalt soil. There are houses and hobby farms – one of which the Harris family called home.

“I was an outdoorsy kinda kid. I rode horses, helped look after the cows and was constantly out exploring the nearby creek and railway line with my little brother and our friends from down the road. It was a pretty cool childhood. My primary school years were spent at Guyra Central, then I caught the bus into Armidale every day to go to high school at NEGS. By the time I reached Year 10, we decided to move to Armidale – that made life a bit easier.”

2010

Armidale

In her teens, Holly caught the cross country bug. Big time. She loved the pace, the wide open spaces and the adrenaline rush each time she reached the finish line. But a dodgy knee crept in and she needed to pivot.

“Once my knee started playing up, I really struggled to run. So one day, my dad said, ‘Come for a ride with me’. I had such a crap bike, it was a pink Raleigh mountain bike with grip shifts. But we went on this 12km ride and I found it so easy compared to running. The pressure was off my joints but I could still get that rush I loved. The next weekend I joined dad at a race. There were two girls in my category and, somehow, I won. The prize was $50. I was 15, I had $50 in my pocket and I’d just fallen in love with a whole new sport.”

2011

Mid North Coast

Cross country was out. Mountain biking was in – and while Holly was well and truly hooked, local competition (particularly among girls) was slim. So with her dad’s help, she sought steeper competition (and trails) further afield.

“We found a state-level race on the Mid North Coast, so I signed up for that. When I turned up, I quickly realised I didn’t have any of the right gear – everyone was in Lycra, I was in footy shorts. I’m looking around thinking, ‘Shit, this is embarrassing’. Still, I must have done something right because I won that race. There I was, standing on the podium (which was actually the back of someone’s ute) in my ruggers and T-shirt.”

2011 Perth

Next, Holly set her sights on the national level. Thanks to her dad’s mad research skills, together they tracked down the All-Mountain Cup (now known as the MTB XCO National Series), the Australian National Series featuring races across the country. The first stop? Perth. ››

“We booked flights and off we went. But this time, I looked the part. Thanks to the support of a bike shop in Newcastle, I got my first proper bike (that wasn’t a handme-down from dad) and my first set of Lycra. It was pretty cool, but I still wore footy shorts over the top. The thing is, I’d grown up riding with middle aged men and it was frowned upon if you didn’t wear shorts – they would have been like, ‘Mate, put some clothes on’.

“Come race day, reality kicked in. I hadn’t ridden anything technical before; all the trails around Armidale are pretty basic. This was hard and I fell off – a lot. There are photos of me face-planting, I got a black eye – it was carnage. I have no idea how, but I actually won my race. I think I must have been really fast between the technical sections. So I’d be like: fast, crash, fast, fast, fast, crash. It wasn’t the best way to do it, but I made it work.”

2012

Adelaide

Unorthodox or not, Holly’s race tactics worked. She continued on the rest of the rounds across Australia, before landing in Adelaide for the National Championships.

“We had a fairly good turnout – there were more women than I’d ever raced before, that’s with the number sitting at around 10 competitors. I was 17 years old, racing in the under 19 women’s division. It was a pretty hectic race again – there were a lot of crashes. But that day I won my first National Championship. I was very lucky. It was a close race from the start but somehow I got ahead. Standing on that podium was surreal. Someone handed me a bottle of passion pop to celebrate… I didn’t even know how to open it.”

2013

Albstadt, Germany

By the time she wrapped up Year 12, Holly was ready to take on the world. Every few months from 2013 onwards, she set sail for another country, another race and added another notch to her incredible mountain biking belt.

But her first stop was Germany. In May 2013, as part of the Australian Junior team, she packed her bags and headed for the first round of the World Cup series.

“That was a shock to the system. Back home I was so used to racing with around 10 girls; over there, I was up against 90 of the best in the world. As Australian Champion, I started in the first row – but I had a massive crash on this huge mountain and finished mid field somewhere. It was my first taste of mountain biking at a world level. I remember riding home, covered in mud, watching blood drip onto my bike. It was pretty intense –but that’s what mountain biking is.”

2013 continues…

Czech Republic

Fast forward a few more races and Holly found herself in the Czech Republic. The competition was stiff and the injuries grew worse.

“That’s where I crashed off a ledge and ended up dislocating my elbow. I can remember being in hospital

with my elbow literally hanging out of the socket. The doctor was standing in your standard doctor’s coat, no shirt underneath, with a medallion that resembled an Australian dollar coin around his neck and Crocs on his feet. My first thought? I’m going to die here. Thankfully, I didn’t. But a translator told me if I wanted to leave that night I needed to pass on the pain relief while having the joint put back in. I agreed, and the weird Czech doctor literally karate chopped my arm back into place.

“When I got back to my accommodation, I called dad to tell him what had happened. Based on his research, he reckoned since it was only dislocated and was now back in place I could maybe ride the next day. I thought, he’s probably right. So the next morning I got my friend to cut my cast off with a butter knife. As it turned out, I couldn’t ride the rest of that trip.”

2013-2019

Africa, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, France and New Zealand

Holly calls herself a quick healer. Which is lucky –because despite such injuries, she continued on her overseas cycling adventures across Africa and Italy, Norway and Switzerland, Austria, France and Queenstown right up until COVID hit.

“I’ve raced everywhere you can think of, all with different terrains and climates. I’ve climbed up into a glacier and pushed my bike through knee-deep snow. I’ve stayed in an African compound surrounded by razor wire and ridden through an Italian fortress to be greeted by pizza and gelato in the old city on the other side. I’ve crossed rivers in Queenstown at waist height, holding my bike above my head while holding onto a rope. I’ve seen crazy stuff, broken a lot of bones, had stitches all over my body and been to the emergency room in most countries. It’s character-building, that’s for sure.”

2017 Cairns

In between the overseas trips and multiple injuries, Holly secured one of her best results ever on home soil. It was at the World Championships in Cairns where she placed fifth in the world.

“It took a long time for this result to sink in for me. I think it’s probably only now that I can really appreciate its significance. When you’re an athlete I think you’re always looking for something better, you pick apart every bit of your performance. It’s not until you look back that you really appreciate what you’ve achieved.”

2022 Noosa

A few years later, coming out the other side of the pandemic, Holly signed up for her first national gravel champs – the Elite Women National Gravel Championship in Noosa. The thing is, she wasn’t in her best form – having battled a recurring run of illness –and couldn’t quite get ahead. Still, she soldiered on.

“I wasn’t expecting too much. The race was over a weekend, kicking off with a 100km mountain bike race on the Saturday and a gravel ride on the Sunday.

Day one was my priority, but I had a crash and it completely threw me. So by the next day I was feeling pretty blasted. I decided to just go out there and have some fun. It was a rough start, but I just kept pedalling and somehow landed in the first bunch. From there, I started cruising along and was feeling pretty good. A few girls got flats and, before I knew it, I was coming third.

“Then we came up to a massive climb. I knew I just had to hang in there, chugging up the hill at my own pace, and keep rolling through. I caught the girl up front on the downhill and we started cruising together. Holy crap, I was in second place. Leading up to the finish, we approached my crash site from the day before – no way was I going to let the same thing happen again. I took the inside line on that stupid corner and just went as hard as I could. I didn’t look back and I’ve never been more surprised in my life to win a race than I was that day.”

2022-2023

Armidale

Let the record show that mere months after that race, Holly was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. On her doctor’s recommendation, she took a step back from racing and moved back to Armidale.

“That was really tough for me to accept. But at the same time, I’d been struggling for so long and needed answers. I could barely ride and I didn't understand what was happening. So many doctors had told me I was perfectly healthy, so I was trying to push through – telling myself I was just tired or lazy. That only made it worse.”

2024

Armidale

Holly started 2024 training for her first race back since her chronic fatigue diagnosis – the Wagga Wagga Marathon National Championships in May 2024. While she’s trying to ease herself back in, she admits that not a day goes by she’s not out on the bike – without it, she gets grumpy.

“It’s true, if I don’t get my ride in I get super grumpy. For me, I just love the whole experience of it – it’s so freeing. Anything that happens that day can be totally forgotten when you’re out on the bike, there’s nothing else in your mind. I know it’s a cliché, but there’s something about the feeling of the wind rushing across your skin; in that moment it’s just about you and the bike, and I need that daily fix.” *

KEEN TO GET IN THE SADDLE?

Reading about Holly’s mountain biking adventures got you all inspired to give it a go? We get it. First, heed Holly’s top tips:

1. Bikes are expensive. There’s no denying it. But just start by getting the best one you can and take it in for a service before you hit the trails.

2. Start small and pace yourself. Do a 10-minute loop around town and go from there.

3. Check out Strava to see routes other people have done right on your doorstep – some good trails in Armidale are out at UNE and the Pine Forest, or head towards Dangarsleigh or Boorolong to get some real pace in your legs.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Matty Day, who grew up exploring Melbourne’s concrete jungle by skateboard, has had an unwavering dedication to the sport from the first time he stepped on the deck. He’s witnessed its journey from counterculture to earning its own place in the Olympics. Now the owner of Coffs Harbour’s Skate and Create, Matty shows us why skating communities provide important social fabric for those living both regionally and remotely, and why finding your skater feet isn’t as hard as you might think – provided you get the right support.

WORDS Meg Miller

PHOTOGRAPHY Meg Miller, James Lander

Matty Day started skating in 1987. It was the neon colours of the late 80s and early 90s that sucked him in; the way the skaters looked as they flew past on four wheels – it oozed freedom, fun and adventure, and he wanted in.

After begging his parents for a skateboard – a PowellPeralta, Santa Cruz or Dogtown brand like he’d seen the other skaters riding, he was given the more affordable option of a Variflex. “I hassled my parents for a skateboard and got one for Christmas. It wasn’t the exact one I wanted, but from the very beginning, I had the hunger to skate, and the Variflex board gave me the chance to do that. I loved how it felt to roll around on a skateboard and I loved how it looked – the fashion, the art, the culture, everything.”

Growing up around Noble Park in Melbourne, skating was hard to miss. The abundance of stormwater drains and

their wide, smooth surfaces drew skaters to the area. “I didn’t realise it at the time, but Noble Park was one of the places skating was incubated in Australia. There was a really strong skate scene in the area and that was because of those drains.”

And so, with board underfoot, Matty’s skating journey began. Little did he know that his passion for the sport would span 30 years and beyond, seriously kicking off in the late 90s and early 2000s. Matty’s love of skating would see him travel Australia as a sponsored skater, become a national team manager for a leading skate company and be featured in magazines and videos both nationally and internationally. Skating would take him to new heights and new locations and, along the way, he’d find a new crowd to skate with – one deeply rooted in building communities in regional and remote areas. ››

HEADING NORTH

Landing a dream gig in Alice Springs, Northern Territory –a place far away from, well, anything – Matty packed his bags and moved to the Red Centre.

“I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a coach and a mentor to Indigenous boys in a sporting program, so, I went to Alice Springs and started working with the kids out there. I fell in love instantly – with remote Australia, with the desert and with the Aboriginal communities. I ended up living there for almost 10 years.”

Living in Alice taught Matty a lot, but one of the biggest lessons he walked away with is the knowledge of what it’s like for young people and families who live in remote and regional Australia – both the opportunities and the challenges.

“There's an amazing community in Alice Springs – it's the kind of community that knows that if it wants to do anything, it has to do it itself. So, we were very good at making our own fun.”

Seeing an opportunity to bring skating into the mix, Matty started running small events to get people together, eventually securing the backing from Skate Australia to train a handful of coaches and open the first skateboard school in the Northern Territory, along with a small skateboard shop.

Local skater and proud Arrernte man Nick Hayes was one of the people who used to frequent the skate shop. “I encouraged Nick and supported him to become a leader in his community,” says Matty. Since then, Nick has created his own skateboard brand called Spinifex Skateboards and just last year, he opened the first skatepark in the remote community of Ltyentye Apurte, Central Australia.

SEA CHANGE

Fast forward a couple of years, and it was time for Matty to replace the dusty red desert scape with blue horizons and salt water, and preferably lots of it.

“I had a partner who wanted to live on the coast, which also fitted in with my childhood dream of one day becoming a surfer. And after a while of living in the desert, the idea of being close to the beach sounded pretty good, so we travelled around in a caravan looking for somewhere to live.”

Not wanting to rush his decision, Matty had some requirements for his new home: it had to be on the east coast, it had to be regional, and it had to have next to no skateboard scene. Why? Because Matty Day was going to test his skateboard school model in a new location.

“Through our travels, we identified Coffs Harbour as ticking all those boxes. I was excited because I knew I could build a community of skaters here. So I started running events and teaching others how to skate, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

“We develop good people, not just good skaters.”

SKATE AND CREATE, A COMMUNITY FOR SKATERS

Enter Skate and Create, a state-of-the-art indoor skatepark, skate shop and art studio in North Boambee Valley, Coffs Harbour. A place that teaches skating to both children and adults, breaks stereotypes, helps to build resilience and most importantly, provides a safe place for novice and experienced skaters to have fun and get creative.

“What we've built here at Skate and Create is more than just a physical space that young people and families can come to; it's a home – a place of inclusivity where we can come together to skate, have fun and make art. It’s also a place to learn and practice really important life lessons, like calculating risk, patience and building resilience.

“What we do as skaters is fail our way to success – we take calculated risks by biting off a little chunk and seeing what happens. There’s that great saying, ‘It’s not how many times you fall over, it’s how many times you get back up’, and we embody that as skateboarders.”

Resilience aside, the coaches at Skate and Create aren’t about hard and fast lessons or competitiveness. Building life skills takes time, and this skate school values patience and encouragement. The coaches will teach you what you need to know and help you focus on the positives, all the while providing constructive feedback to help you improve your technique.

MORE THAN A SPORT

To find out more about Skate and Create Coffs Harbour, the workshops that Matty and his team run over the school holidays, and any upcoming events, be sure to check out their website and Instagram.

skateandcreate.com.au @skate__and__create

“We develop good people, not just good skaters, and it takes a certain type of person to coach in that way. If you're too focused on the negative part of what a student did or didn’t do, then you're going to scare them off or you're not going to get the best out of them. Everyone is different and if you can find the right balance for each person, you can help them improve.”

Skate and Create also runs outreach programs, working with local councils and youth services along with Skate Australia (their peak body), to bring skateboarding to other regional communities.

“I’ve been an adviser for Skate Australia in the development of skateboarding for the past few years. We also had a program in 2023 working with YMCA Action Sports – they had funding that enabled us to deliver free workshops up and down the coast. As part of that, we were also able to provide professional training for a few coaches as well.”

The takeaway lesson today? Skateboarding is more than just winning and losing and playing a sport. It’s a way of life, it has its own culture, it’s on the cutting edge of fashion and, with Skate and Create, it's a way to connect with your community. *

MEET KYLIE KING

How Roberts + Morrow’s Kylie King climbed the firm’s ranks thanks to her knack for numbers, her people-first approach and one incredibly proud daughter cheering her on.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Jim A. Barker

Kylie King always had a knack for numbers. Even at school in her hometown of Tamworth, the arithmetic and algorithms, statistics and equations sprawling across the board made sense.

So undertaking a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Accounting, at Sunshine Coast University was a logical post-school step. While her first career move saw her shift into hospitality, it wasn’t long before Kylie rose up the ranks, found her feet in restaurant management and relished the opportunity to hone in on her business skills.

It was time well spent, but the hours grew long and increasingly unsociable. Kylie needed a change – so in 2006 she applied for her first accounting role with Duncan Plante + Co in Tamworth. Eighteen years and three mergers later, Kylie has earnt her place as a partner at Roberts + Morrow.

“From a graduate accountant with Duncan Plante + Co, progressing to partner at Roberts + Morrow, I’ve loved every minute of my career along the way,” says Kylie.

“I’ve had so much support in my career progression at Roberts + Morrow and have embraced huge opportunities to take on more responsibility, mentor newcomers and increase my client contact – that’s the part I love the most, working with the people behind the businesses.”

PEOPLE PERSON

You hear the word ‘accounting’ and you immediately think ‘numbers’ – but as Kylie points out, it’s the people behind the numbers that matter most in this profession.

“Meeting new people, hearing their stories, getting to know them and figuring out how I can best help them is my favourite part of the job,” Kylie adds. “Some of my clients started with me way back at Duncan Plante + Co and have taken the journey with me.”

As for challenges along the way? Giving herself permission to step into a high-level career, while also juggling motherhood, has been a big one.

“I do feel guilty that I’m not home enough,” says Kylie. “But then I have to take a step back and remind myself of what she says: ‘my mum works, my mum helps people’. That’s what she sees when I’m working and that makes me really proud.

“Now stepping up to the role of partner, I feel extremely lucky to be a part of the leadership group of Roberts + Morrow. I love working at a firm that has a proud history and is focused on creating a workplace where our core values underpin what we do every day. I love that the company embraces energy, diversity, high performance and encourages the achievement among team members of the firm’s goals, while at the same time having fun getting there.”

Kylie’s personal goal is to free up more time for her clients to focus on what they do best.

“I’m so passionate about helping my clients to spend less time working in their business and more time working on their business to achieve their financial goals,” she says. “I want them to feel in control, driven and happy – that’s what I love most about working with my clients and I am excited for what is ahead – with my daughter cheering me on from the sidelines.”

“Meeting new people, hearing their stories, and figuring out how I can best help them is my favourite part of the job.”

GOT A CUP OF AMBITION?

To find out how Kylie and the Roberts + Morrow team can support your ambitions, contact one of their five office locations today.

Wine Tour

THE REGIONAL ROAD TRIP

Quirindi

TAmworth

willow tree

MururrundI

nundle

FOUND FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FINE FEATHERED FOLKS HIT THE ROAD TO SAMPLE THE SIGHTS AND DELIGHTS OF OUR GLORIOUS REGION.

SCOTTS head

Armidale

WALCHA

muswellbrook

hunter valley

newcastle

forster

taree

port macquarie

gunnedah

manilla

barraba

guyra

uralla

moree

merriwa

bellingen

kempsey

SCONE

Bundarra

WERRIS CREEK

EBOR

1. Winmark Wines

2. Greenway Wines

3. Kawal Rock Distillery

4. Margan Wines & Restaurant 5. Whispering Brook 6. Krinklewood Estate

THE BROKE FORDWICH TOUR

When planning your stay in the Hunter Valley Region this winter, take the trail less travelled and immerse yourself in the stunning valley of Broke Fordwich. Home to some of the best boutique and sustainable wineries in the region and one of the most welcoming village-like communities, you’re in for a wholesome treat.

WORDS Claudia Monique

KRINKLEWOOD ESTATE

@krinklewood

What are they pouring? French-inspired, biodynamic wines. The only biodynamic winery in the Hunter, in fact! Come for the stunning rosé (they’ve even got a non-alc option), immerse yourself in the Provencal garden setting, and if you’re a club member or a wedding guest, you’ll be able to enjoy their Farmstay – which received a National Commendation Award for Small Project Architecture.

WHISPERING BROOK

@whispering_brook

What are they pouring? Portuguese varietals are their passion, sparked by a winemaking trip in Portugal. In time, they extended their offering to olives, a guesthouse and delightful foodie experiences like their wine and chocolate pairings and annual Olive Long Table gastronomic experience. After a white? Try their Arinto. Chasing a red? The Touriga Nacional will go down a treat.

GREENWAY WINES

@greenway_wines

What are they pouring? The first Sparkling Fiano in the Hunter! Or perhaps Turkish delight characteristics mixed with citrus aromas are more your thing in the Fiano Gewurz. Then there’s the crisp Favoloso Fiano and the Campania methode traditionale Fiano. Family-run. Smallbatch. One hundred per cent estate grown. And one of the most enchanting entries on foot as you walk the path to the small red barn. Sound delightful? It sure is!

KAWAL ROCK DISTILLERY

@kawalrockdistillery

What are they pouring? Gin. Yup. Brandy. That too. Moonshine and Moscato. Why not? The girls on the hill at Kawal Rock Distillery are mixing things up in Broke. A rustic cellar door, an eye-catching Tassie copper still and delicious hand-crafted spirits – like their Campfire Gin –will warm you up this winter! For something extra special, check out their Picnic in the Sky – they’ve teamed up with Hunter Valley Helicopters for this exclusive experience.

MARGAN WINES & RESTAURANT

@marganwine

What are they pouring? All Margan wines are estate-grown and made. Try their Chardonnays and Semillons, and their Shiraz and Barbera will be your perfect companions this winter. For one of the best meals in the Hunter, you can’t go past Margan Restaurant. It’s consistently awarded one-hat in the Good Food Guide. Find out why for yourself – book in for the Ultimate Margan Experience featuring a tour of the garden and winery before enjoying lunch.

WINMARK WINES

@winmarkwines

What are they pouring? Chardonnay. That’s it folks. Four distinctive and delicious Chardonnays. This is a tasting you won’t want to miss. Hopefully you’ll have the pleasure of meeting Karin Adcock, the founder of Winmark, after purchasing the property in 2016. Karin’s love of art is on show everywhere you look – in the on-site art gallery, across the entire vineyard on the sculpture walk, and also on the walls of each guesthouse. *

BOULDERING COUNTRY

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, there’s every chance you’ve heard about bouldering – a problem-solving sport fuelled by brains over brawn, collaboration over competition, and good vibes on massive rocks. To get to the bottom of the bouldering craze, we spoke to Armidale’s own boulderer from way back, Brendan Heywood.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Volodymyr Koziy

“In the beginning, there was climbing, and everything was about people getting to the top of something big. We’re talking mountains. Then people began to notice that some of these mountains had really complex, rocky sections –so they had to learn technical climbing skills in order to get to the top. That evolved into a subdiscipline, where people started climbing the hard stuff without caring about getting to the top. That’s when bouldering was born.”

Brendan Heywood’s explanation of how the sport of bouldering began is a good one. Because, from an outsider’s perspective, it’s simplistic in its aim:

1. See big boulder.

2. Get to the top of big boulder.

But this sport is deceivingly complex, layered like the granite rock boulders dotted across the New England, and gaining worldwide traction, fast.

A PROBLEM-SOLVING SPORT

Brendan’s rock climbing journey began 25 years ago. A Gunnedah boy originally, he arrived at Armidale UNE to study computer science/mathematics and took up squash to keep active. The court overlooked the gym’s climbing wall and he can distinctly remember resting between games, looking at the wall and thinking: “There’s no way I could ever do that.”

Fast forward a few years and he was running the climbing wall, undertook the role of club president and recently became the club’s first life member.

As for his first bouldering experience? That arrived in 2002, when he was introduced to the sport by his fellow UNE climbers.

“Originally invented by gymnast John Gill back in the 1960s, bouldering was often treated as a training ground for rock climbing. By the 80s, it was growing in popularity and has really taken off in gyms across the world in the past 10 to 20 years, especially now that it is an Olympic sport,” he says.

“An outsider looking in might find that weird, because you can’t see the technical side of the sport – it just looks like you’re hanging onto this boulder.”

(Took the words out of my mouth Brendan.)

“But it’s so much more than that. In physical terms, bouldering is broken down into a number of technical climbing sequences or moves in order to solve the ‘problem’ and get to the top of a route.”

The key term here being ‘problem’ – a miniature climbing route (between one and five metres) that typically takes between one and 10 moves to ‘solve’. This combination of moves is called a ‘sequence’ and this can vary from person to person.

“That’s because people are all different shapes and sizes, so a sequence that works for one person might not work for another,” adds Brendan. “But because of the short nature of boulder problems, climbers can often try the same problem many times over in a single session, each time making small adjustments to test their sequence of moves.” ››

“bouldering is broken down into a number of technical climbing sequences or moves in order to solve the ‘problem’.”

COLLABORATION OVER COMPETITION

Listening to Brendan speak, I can immediately see how his mathematical mind was drawn to the sport. It’s more about brains, not brawn, and takes a problem-solving approach to master – with a decent serving of grace, balance and flexibility thrown in for good measure because, well, you don’t use a harness or ropes.

“You will fall 90 per cent of the time, and that’s part of the process.”

I’m sorry Brendan, we’re just going to need you to repeat that.

“Fear of falling is natural, it’s a healthy thing, but remember we’re not talking about mountains here – you’re closer to the ground than rock climbing, it’s much lower risk and you will be supported by padding laid out on the ground.”

The padding Brendan’s talking about are foam mats appropriately called ‘crash pads’. These are the main bit of kit you’ll need for your bouldering endeavours, along with a good pair of climbing shoes and people you trust with your life… or at least your head.

“Bouldering is a very positive, social sport. You typically go out in groups and cheer each other on while attempting different problems,” says Brendan.

“If you’re climbing a high boulder or one with an awkward fall potential, then you’ll want a spotter – someone who works in a similar way as when you’re lifting weights at the gym.

“But on smaller boulders you don’t need a spotter; it’s more if the fall is higher or if you’re doing a route where your body is horizontal and the chance of falling awkwardly head first is worse. That’s where the spotter will step in to try and hold your shoulders so you fall feet first. Depending on the problem you’re attempting, you might need two or three spotters.”

It’s this team-style approach that separates bouldering from rock climbing. While traditional climbing typically sees adventurers go out in pairs to tackle rock faces while being separated by about 20 metres of rope, bouldering is more compact, faster and – according to Brendan – a lot more fun.

“Sometimes we’ll head out with 10 people in a group and every single one of us is there to collaborate, to help each other up rather than compete. It’s a great feeling."

“You will fall 90 per cent of the time, and that’s part of the process.”

GET THE MOVES (LIKE JAGGER)

If you’re keen to get bouldering, it’s important you master the moves. Here’s a quick rundown of a few of the big ones so you know the lingo.

Send

To finally climb the boulder problem, often after a lot of tries and different sequences to see what works for you.

Onsight

To climb the boulder on your first try and without any extra information about what sequence might work (e.g. you can’t watch a video of anyone trying it).

Flash

SO, WHERE DOES ONE BOULDER?

Good question. Lucky for you, there are a multitude of bouldering destinations on our doorstep, including Gara Gorge, Bulagaranda (aka Mount Yarrowyck), and Stonehenge (near Glen Innes). Looking further towards the coast? Check out bouldering at ‘The Scones’ near Glenreagh, or on many headlands such as South West Rocks, Middle Head, and Sawtell.

You can find a detailed overview of all these locations at: thecrag.com/en/climbing/australia/new-south-wales-and-act

But, first things first. Track down your local climbing club before heading off with your crash mat.

ARMIDALE

Sport UNE Bouldering and Climbing Wall – Outdoor Adventure Club unione.unelife.com.au/clubs/outdooradventure

TAMWORTH Tamworth Bouldering ten4bouldering.com

PORT MACQUARIE Centre of Gravity centreofgravity.com.au

To climb the boulder on your first try, but you had prior information such as watching a video of someone sending the problem, or even reading a detailed description of the sequence.

Dab

If any part of your body, usually your feet, touches rock which is off limits (some problems specify holds which are not ‘in’), or touches a crash pad or even a spotter. As in, ‘Hey man, you blew the flash cause you dabbed’ – often half-jokingly –but only half.

Crimp

A small edge. Also a powerful grip in which the second finger joint is bent sharply and the thumb presses into the index finger (AKA, full crimp).

Jug

A large incut hold (AKA bucket).

Undercut

A downward-facing hold (AKA undercling).

Jamming

Wedging a body part into a crack.

Highball

A tall boulder problem where the risks of falling become serious. Very highball problems blur into a ‘free solo’ of a climbing route.

In the Frame

In the Frame

A CURATED GLIMPSE INTO THE ART WORLD WITH TAMWORTH REGIONAL GALLERY, WHERE ART IS FOR EVERYONE.

JAMFACTORY ICON JESSICA LOUGHLIN: OF LIGHT

Mark your diaries. Tamworth Regional Gallery will showcase the work of studio glass artist Jessica Loughlin throughout July and August – a free exhibition not to be missed.

WORDS Steph Wanless PHOTOGRAPHY Rachel Harris, Grant Hancock

JamFactory’s ICON series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media – and from 29 June to 25 August, it will showcase the mesmerising work of Jessica Loughlin at Tamworth Regional Gallery.

A studio glass artist for over 25 years, Jessica creates ethereal kilnformed glass artworks that explore her fascination with the beauty of emptiness and her extensive research into light and space. Taking her artistic cues from the vast, flat landscapes of South Australia, she has been especially drawn to the natural splendour of salt lakes Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and Lake Gairdner.

Rarely filled with water, the remote lakes appear to fuse with the land and sky – “light became the landscape, and I looked down into the sky,” says Jessica. “It was as if I was suspended in space… landscapes of space, reduced to sky, land and light, give little visual reference, nothing for the mind to hang on to – so the sensory system fires up to find a reference, to locate the body – and those references come from within.”

Jessica Loughlin with receptor of light xi, 2020, kilnformed and handground glass, 470 x 580 x 90 mm. Photographer: Rachel Harris.

SEE THE LIGHT

See Jessica’s mesmerising work on display at Tamworth Regional Gallery from 29 June to 25 August.

466 Peel Street, Tamworth tamworthregionalgallery.com.au @tamworthregionalgallery

JamFactory ICON Jessica Loughlin: of light is a JamFactory touring exhibition assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory board. Jessica acknowledges the support of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet through an Arts South Australia Grant.

Jessica’s glass practice sees her fuse kilnformed sheets of opaque and translucent glass together in flat panels or thin geometric freestanding pieces that allude to shadow, reflection and refraction. While her work is characterised by a restricted use of colour, a gentle palette of soft muted hues and the motif of the mirage is a recurring theme across her practice.

“Tamworth Regional Gallery is very proud to showcase a range of art mediums each and every year in our rotating exhibitions,” Director, Art Gallery & Museums, Bridget Guthrie, says.

“JamFactory brings some of the best glass sculptures to our region, and we’re thrilled to offer it to the public as a free exhibition for all to admire.”

Jessica Loughlin, cerulean cycles, 2021, kilnformed and cold worked glass, 490 x 3540 x 30 mm (10 pieces, installed). Photographer: Grant Hancock.

Jessica Loughlin with traces of light, 2016, kilnformed glass, 1020 x 1510 x 25 mm. Photographer: Rachel Harris.

JamFactory ICON Jessica Loughlin: of light, installation at JamFactory Adelaide, 2022. Photographer: Rachel Harris.

A WINTER ADVENTURE…

…but make it beachy, adrenalinefuelled and fun. That’s what you can expect from Welcome Hospitality’s guide to some of the Mid North Coast’s best adventures this winter. Just because the chill sets in, doesn’t mean you need to stop moving.

WORDS Steph Wanless

TOORMINA

GET YOUR BOUNCE ON

That’s right – Toormina serves up a state-of-the-art facility that’s all about bouncing. Enter Springloaded, a jumpingfilled adventure that invites you to try trampolining, parkour and gymnastics. Rain, hail or shine, this one’s a winner. springloadedcc.com.au

GO KARTING TIME

Keen to kart? Five minutes down the road is Coffs Harbour Kart Club – where kids big and small are invited to slap laps around their five stunning tracks, all of which boast breathtakingly beautiful surrounds. On your marks, get set, go! coffskart.com

ON YA BIKE

If two wheels are more your style, Toormina and the surrounding Coffs Coast offer some superb mountain biking tracks just waiting to be explored. Catering to all ages and abilities, this is a choose-your-own-adventure you won’t want to miss. coffscoast.com.au/our-great-outdoors/mountain-biking-cycling

A WELCOME OASIS

After bouncing, karting and cycling your way throughout the day, step inside the Toormina Hotel for some wellearned R&R. The family-friendly pub comes complete with palm trees and cabanas, delicious cocktails and a state-of-the-art kids’ playground – and a menu just waiting to boost your engines. toorminahotel.com.au

MOONEE BEACH

TWO WORDS: BIG BANANA

Step one: get your photo taken in front of the Big Banana (#classic). Step two: try to choose from the whopping range of adventures on offer. We’re talking escape rooms, ice skating, tobogganing, laser tag, bumper cars, a giant slide and more. Don’t leave without a choc-coated banana for the ride home. bigbanana.com

TO THE TREES!

Discover the Orara East State Forest from glorious heights thanks to Treetops Adventure. This serene slice of paradise has 90-plus aerial challenges – including 20 thrilling ziplines – for you to experience the bush from a whole new perspective. treetopsadventure.com.au

LOOK AT ME NOW

Feel like taking a hike? Look no further than the Look At Me Now Headland walk. Boasting some seriously jaw-dropping views across Moonee Beach, this right here is a prime whale-watching spot in winter… so pack your binoculars and enjoy the quiet adventure of this 1.6km loop. coffscoast.com.au/trail/look-at-me-now-headland-walk

MOONEE BEACH HOTEL

Did you say lazy lunch and unbeatable live entertainment? Enter Moonee Beach Hotel – a must-visit venue after a day of exploring. This super cosy (yet expansive!) setup comes complete with a massive playground, big movie screen and climbing walls, not to mention a menu the whole family will love. So kick back, relax and get ready for your next adventure. mooneebeachhotel.com.au

SAWTELL

HIT THE WAVES

You hear ‘Sawtell’, you think ‘beach’ – and the waves don’t stop as the temperature drops. But, cards on the table, Main Beach is not patrolled at this time of year. So stay smart, invest in a good wetsuit and take a mate along for the ride. sawtellnsw.com.au/discover/beach

GIVE WATER SPORTS A WHIRL

Surfing not your vibe? How about giving paddle boarding, canoeing or kayaking a go? C-Change Adventures offer kayak, canoe and paddle board hire, as well as kayak eco-tours exploring the wonderful rivers from Boambee Creek to Bonville Creek in Sawtell. cchangeadventures.com.au

EXPLORE THE WATERWAYS

If you’re searching for something even more chilled this winter, taking the time to explore tidal rock pools is a must. At the southern end of Sawtell Beach you’ll find Sailors Bay, a small island which can be reached at low tide. Mental note: take a bucket for the treasures you find!

REST AND REBOOT

After a big day of exploring, you’ll need a place to refuel. That’s where Sawtell Hotel comes in. Serving up warm coastal hospitality since 1932, this right here is the ideal venue to wine and dine, rest and reboot. With family rooms, queen ensuite rooms, bunk rooms and single rooms on offer – all just a 100m stroll from the water’s edge – every style of adventure is catered for here. sawtellhotel.com.au

REGIONAL ABODES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, SURE TO INSPIRE YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY, OVERNIGHT RETREAT OR RENOVATION PROJECT.

WEILHOUSE LIVING

WeilHouse Living was never a plan, but rather an accidental business born from owner Susan Weil’s desire to share her simple life with others. The four fully self-contained, eco-friendly properties offer people a place to unplug, slow down and reconnect.

Each property caters to a wide range of tastes and budgets, giving everyone the same opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. The Bellingen Farm House, Bellingen Vintage Farmstay and Bellingen Farm Shed can all be found on Susan’s eight-acre hobby farm in (you guessed it) Bellingen. The fourth property, Hernani Wilderness Hut, is a quirky, off-grid abode found an hour outside Bellingen, in the mountains of Hernani.

GETTING THERE

Bringing your own wheels is a wise move so you can easily access the many beautiful rivers, waterfalls, beaches and hikes on your doorstep. Coming from further afield? Book a flight into Coffs Harbour airport (just a short one-hour jaunt in the sky from Sydney or Brisbane), then rent a car from the airport. Countrylink Trains also has a service that stops at Urunga. WeilHouse Farm is a 30-minute drive from Coffs Harbour, 17 minutes from Urunga and five minutes from Bellingen. If you’re heading to Hernani Hut, you’ll need your trusty steed (again, a car) too – Susan recommends an all-wheel or fourwheel drive if possible, so you’re prepared for rainy conditions.

THE STORY

Susan made the move from Sydney with her one-yearold daughter in tow back in 2009 and quickly snapped up the farmland now known as WeilHouse Living. The location ticked all her boxes – five minutes from town, north facing and up high to lap up that sea breeze. It also boasted magnificent views across Old Man Dreaming, the range of mountains that runs along the Dorrigo Plateau. At the bottom of the farm was a Besser Block house and an old shed; a dwelling for Susan and her young daughter while she figured out what to build at the top of the property. ››

THE STAY

The Bellingen Vintage Farmstay

First, Susan gutted the Besser Block house, added a vaulted ceiling and opened it up so the new open plan living and kitchen space could bathe in natural light. The Vintage Farmstay was born. Complete with its own orchard, outside bath and big bonfire to enjoy in the cooler months, this space sleeps four guests (one double bed in the main bedroom and two singles in the second bedroom). Have more heads to rest? Susan will happily provide additional mattresses and bedding.

The Bellingen Farm House

This dreamy space was in fact found rotting in a paddock by Susan in a valley not far from her own property. Determined to give it a new lease on life, she combined the structure with a large, 100-year-old timber barn to create an open plan living, dining and kitchen space that now sleeps eight to 10 guests (in luxurious, organic bedding). Designed to blur the boundaries between the indoors and outdoors, the Farm House invites guests to enjoy its elevated north-east mountain views and sea breezes from its own outdoor shower, bath and daybeds. Visiting in summer? Kick back beside the private plunge pool. Booked in for winter? Enjoy a glass of wine at the bonfire pit.

Whatever the season, this unique country getaway (which also comes with a fully stocked pantry) gives guests permission to switch off and relax the moment they set foot inside. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and a must-visit for all avid adventurers.

The Bellingen Farm Shed

While others had tried to turn the Farm Shed into a useable space before Susan, it took her unique vision and determination to complete the project. Today you’ll discover a simple, rustic, converted shed that boasts an indoor/ outdoor kitchen with a slow combustion fireplace, bathroom and beds for up to five guests (a queen bed in the main open space, two bunks in the second bedroom and a single bed in the third bedroom). The space serves as a reminder that living outdoors is a very special experience. Again, Susan will happily supply extra mattresses for two extra guests –and there’s room for camping too!

(PS – each house is completely private from the other properties, and guests are welcome to book the entire farm for a special occasion; WeilHouse Living can accommodate up to 21 guests.)

Hernani Wilderness Hut

This rare find is on the National Trail, the longest uninterrupted hiking track in the southern hemisphere that stretches from Cape York Peninsula to the Mornington Peninsula. Originally used for transporting cattle until road trains arrived, the land on which Hernani Wilderness Hut stands now offers guests a totally private bush experience with three national parks and some of the best hiking and trout fishing in Australia on its doorstep. Keen to explore further afield? You’ll be rewarded with waterfalls and swimming holes, all just 30 minutes from Dorrigo, one hour from Armidale and one hour from Grafton (via Coffs Harbour). Sleeping up to nine guests, the space offers three queensized beds downstairs, a fourth in the loft and a single bed beside it. And yes, there’s extra room for camping. Winning.

FAST FACTS

WHO?

Susan Weil, who invites people to unplug and unwind, alongside her attention-loving farm animals who enjoy nothing more than a pat and a feed. Keep your eyes peeled for the hilarious family of ducks who wander all over the farm.

WHAT?

WeilHouse Living – an eight-acre hobby farm that’s home to the Bellingen Farm House, the Bellingen Vintage Farmstay and the Bellingen Farm Shed all just five minutes from Bellingen, and the Hernani Wilderness Hut in the Hernani mountains.

WHEN?

Book online at: weilhouseliving.com.au @weilhouseliving

WHERE?

WeilHouse Living 490 Bowraville Road, Brierfield NSW

Hernani Wilderness Hut 10392 Armidale Road, Hernani NSW

THE INTERESTING BITS

Susan designed each house herself and was lucky to find builders who understood her vision to create rustic spaces that reflected what matters most to her: to tread lightly on the planet in every way possible, limiting her own carbon footprint and that of her guests. Her team built ethically and sustainably, using only recycled materials and designing each house to incorporate passive solar design elements – including good airflow, a thermal mass to store sunlight, north-facing positions, solar and rain tanks. The result is four breathtaking properties that relish natural light and shelter Susan’s guests in warm, inviting spaces where you can cook delicious meals using farm fresh, organic produce and eggs, play board games or do a puzzle. There’s nothing precious here. Susan invites her guests to put their feet on the coffee tables and forget about coasters. Instead, pour a glass of wine, climb into a bath beneath the stars and toast the night sky above. *

ECO-WARRIOR TALES FROM ACROSS THE LAND, SHOWCASING THE SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES BUSINESSES ARE BUILDING FROM THE GREEN GROUND UP.

DACHSHUND HOUSE

The gentle sloping angles of the roof, the muted palette of greys, greens and browns, the way the house seems to wrap itself around the growing maple tree in the courtyard, and the flourishing native garden not only take your breath away, but also reflect a meticulous approach to sustainable building design.

Aptly named after Ted, the Weekes’ family dog, Dachshund House is a unique sustainable home in Tamworth, NSW. Set against the backdrop of the Moonbis, this family home represents a whole new way of accessible, sustainable and healthy living in regional Australia.

WORDS Meg Miller PHOTOGRAPHY Toby Scott

FROM THE OWNER, ELIZA WEEKES

“Doug and I moved to Tamworth in 2018. We were only going to be here for 12 months, but we decided we loved it and wanted to build a home here, so we bought a block of land in Moore Creek.

“In 2018 to 2019, we faced one of the toughest droughts in Tamworth's history. In that time, we’d learned a lot about climate change, which prompted us to want to do things differently. Sustainable housing was a concept we were unfamiliar with then, so we turned to Eddie and he jumped on board. That’s where it all started.”

Seeking to create a sustainable, cost-effective and healthy home for their growing family, Doug and Eliza Weekes reached out to Eddie Page of Maxwell & Page.

After working for award-winning architectural firms in Newcastle, Sydney and regional New South Wales for over 10 years, Eddie set out to create a boutique service that offers bespoke architectural design for people looking to create liveable, functional and sustainable spaces.

Serving Newcastle, the Hunter, the Central Coast and now Tamworth, Maxwell & Page believe in thoughtful design over sheer scale, and they have absolutely nailed that with Doug and Eliza’s new home.

“The design phase took about 12 months, but as Eddie will tell you, we weren’t designing that whole time. Eddie spent a lot of time educating us on why he was doing certain things, and we changed our plans too. There was a lot of back and forth with what we originally thought we wanted.”

Add in COVID-19, having two children, and construction on top of that, and the whole process took about two and a half years to complete.

“Out of that time, it took us six months to get approved for finance. I think that’s because the house we were trying to create was such a new concept for everybody, especially in a regional area where it’s not your typical residential or kit home. No one knew what to expect.”

Another of Eliza’s favourite features of Dachshund House isn’t in the house at all – it’s the native garden she designed herself. “With the extreme heat we experience in Tamworth, we didn’t want to establish a yard we’d have to spend a lot of time, money and resources on, so we opted for a smaller grassed area in our courtyard for cricket and picnics. But our native garden dominates most of the outside space.

“I’ve planted over 200 native plants in our front and back yards, ranging from small to medium shrubs, trees and groundcover – a lot of them were purchased from Tamworth Regional Landcare. The aim of a garden like this is to enrich the soil, attract local native wildlife and create a microclimate, all while using minimal water.”

And while this sounds impressive (trust us, it is), there’s more. “We also have a productive garden that follows permaculture principles – think seasonal produce, a beehive, a chicken coop and various composting systems which allow us to put food waste and prunings to good use.”

Moving in during the winter of 2022, Eliza and her family have lived in their new house for two years now.

“My favourite feature of the house has to be the passive solar design – I had heard about it before, but hadn’t seen it in action. That was entirely Eddie. When we first moved in it was mid-winter and we were wearing our summer clothing inside. Passive solar design works to keep the house cool in the hotter months too. It’s made such a difference in how we live, I think this kind of natural heating should be included in all houses.”

With residential buildings responsible for an estimated 24 per cent of overall electricity consumption and more than 10 per cent of carbon emissions in Australia, you can see why passive solar design is an attractive solution. By trapping and storing heat from the sun and using ventilation to release it during the cooler times of the day, passive solar design keeps you comfortable all year round, making it an achievable way to reduce your electricity bill and carbon footprint.

“Our garden has grown so quickly, and in fact it thrived over our recent hot summer. We’ve seen a lot of beautiful things happen here since planting it in 2022 – we have stunning flowering native plants, our insect population has increased, a variety of birds visit our garden on a regular basis and our kids explore the yard every day, already learning about plants and how to grow their own food.

“Dachshund House has exceeded our vision. We use a lot less energy than we used to and live a much more environmentally conscious lifestyle now, which has created a new normal for our family.

“We have a home that suits our needs and will continue to do so. Now, we get to show others how achievable, affordable and beneficial having a sustainable home is. We never thought a house could make us genuinely happy, yet here we are, saying nearly every day how content we are thanks to the space we get to live in.” ››

“We use a lot less energy and live a much more environmentally conscious lifestyle.”

FROM THE ARCHITECT, EDDIE PAGE

“The most efficient way to reduce carbon in the construction industry is to build nothing at all, but we know people will continue to build so I feel our job at Maxwell & Page is to build smaller, but better. We aim to use better materials and create better spaces that take little to no energy to run for the lifetime of that building. And that’s what we’ve done with Dachshund House.”

For Eddie, the hope is that the more people choose to build sustainable housing, the more it will inspire others to do the same.

“The way a building is designed can improve your quality of life. Knowing that in winter you don’t have to wear a lot of clothing to stay warm or that you can have natural light in your house without having direct sunlight on the windows are seemingly small details that make a huge difference.

“It’s important to think about every way you will inhabit a space. Good design is not just about fading out carbon, it’s about helping people live a happier and healthier life.”

For Eliza and Doug, this meant having a lush green lawn for the children to play on and a courtyard for cherished family time. Living in a semi-arid environment that's prone to drought would make this difficult, but not impossible.

“By maximising the roof plane to harvest more rainwater, minimising the lawn to a manageable area and using the design of the house itself to protect the lawn from the western sun, we were able to future-proof the space. We also added in a pond, fountain and a Coral Bark Maple to act as a cool respite from the turfed area.”

But it was the inner courtyard that Eddie found to be both the most challenging and the most rewarding.

“We had to work hard to keep the courtyard in from a building perspective. When you’re selling a house, it’s valued per square metre, so some people might wonder why you would have a courtyard in the middle of what could have been habitable space. But in this case, the courtyard has been a game-changer in how the house works in terms of light and ventilation, and in how the spaces around it have been enriched.”

TALK TO THE EXPERTS

The takeaway? If building a sustainable home is on your agenda, seek out advice from people who know what they’re talking about and don’t be afraid to be different.

Most importantly, if you value something in a house, stand your ground, just like Eliza and Doug. It might take time to find a solution, but there’s no point rushing something you’re going to spend 30 to 40 years living in. *

AWARD-WINNING WAY TO LIVE

At the time of writing this article, Dachshund House had recently won the James Barnet Award and the Residential –Houses (New) Award in the country division. As a result, they have been shortlisted for two Australian Institute of Architects state awards in the categories of New House and Sustainability.

You can learn about Dachshund House by heading to: maxwellpage.com.au/dachshund-house

Considering building a sustainable house like this one? Reach out to the team at Maxwell & Page for advice: maxwellpage.com.au

ATHLETIC PURSUITS

NEGS’ Athlete Development Program adopts a holistic approach to take talented sportspeople to new heights.

WORDS Steph Wanless

Look up the word ‘athlete’ in the dictionary and it’s defined as ‘a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina’.

Sure, that’s true. But we know reaching an elite level of athleticism, no matter your chosen sport, goes well beyond the physical. We’re talking about mental resilience and discipline, competitive spirit, resilience under pressure, consistency, coachability and passion. It’s these core components that NEGS’ senior school Athlete Development Program teaches their thriving athletes, driven by the school’s new Head of Sport, Ella Kenny.

Bringing with her over 18 years of experience in the sports and education sector, Ella joins NEGS from previous roles with Roseville College, Abbotsleigh and PLC Sydney.

She was the Head Coach of NSW U13 and U21 Hockey from 2020 to 2023, was the CIS Hockey Coach from 2020 to 2022 and herself played hockey for England as a member of the U16-U21 (development). Ella also brings passion and coaching experience across other sports including rugby, athletics, football, netball, cricket and gymnastics.

A talented athlete herself, she is well aware that there are a number of things that encompass reaching a professional level – and it goes well beyond talent.

“It takes integrity and discipline, nutrition, strength and conditioning programs and a strong mindset,” says Ella.

“I want our girls to be open to all those things and we’ll bring them all into the one hub under the Athletic

NEGS: BE YOUR BEST

NEGS believes in developing empathetic, fulfilled young people with drive and purpose who know themselves, take ownership, and embrace possibilities to contribute and thrive in a complex and changing world.

Co-educational Pre-K to Year 6 Senior Girls Day and Boarding School 128 years young

13-83 Uralla Road, Armidale negs.nsw.edu.au @negs_armidale (02) 6774 8700

Development Program. Confidence is another big one –and while a lot of these girls have talent, where they fall down is confidence; that’s something I struggled with as a kid too. That’s why I’m a really positive coach, I concentrate on a positive mindset and I eventually want psychologists to come into the program too, to help me get those girls to walk out onto a field feeling confident.”

So far, the Athlete Development Program has seen the school host coaching clinics and panel discussions with the likes of Dan Ferris (NRL Physical Performance Coach), Samantha May (Former Australian Netball Player) and Mark Knowles (Australian Field Hockey Captain).

“These connections are invaluable in that they not only open pathways for our upcoming athletes, but also give them the opportunity to hear their stories, learn from their

experience firsthand and be inspired,” says Lyn O’Neill, NEGS Director of Marketing and Enrolments.

“The program also aligns perfectly with the school’s core values of Excellence, Responsibility, Integrity and Teamwork – crucial elements of elite sportsmanship that are weaved into sessions on strength and conditioning, mindset and also nutrition. It’s about sticking with your training regime, being personable and accountable, and setting your goals – a holistic approach that seeks to support our young women in their athletic passions and pursuits.”

“I have a really good feeling about where we can get to,” adds Ella. “The amount of energy and time that I can put into this program and the sport program in general is really exciting. I can’t wait to watch the girls grow.” *

MY SMALL BIZ & Me

Q&A TIME WITH BUSINESS MINDS FROM A WHOLE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES. DISCOVER HOW THEY GOT THERE, DID IT, BOUGHT THE T-SHIRT.

BEN’S FALLS RETREAT

Found in rugged New England gorge country, just outside of Emmaville on the Severn River, Ben’s Falls Retreat is 2000 acres of adventure just waiting to be discovered. Here, owner Allana Price shares how the story began, the people it’s dedicated to and what she wants you to do most during your stay.

WORDS Steph Wanless

How was the idea for Ben’s Falls Retreat born? My dad always had this vision to create a place for people to come and visit and enjoy the land around us. It started with the Cod Cabin, which my brothers and I helped dad build in 1996. It was a beautiful childhood, one filled with swimming, fishing and everything in between.

We were partway through building the second cabin when Ben took his own life in 2004. Twenty years this year – it’s hard to believe. But every day since we’ve worked to honour his memory and bring joy to those who visit. Dad has since passed away too, 10 years ago in July. I hope he’d be proud of how we’re carrying out his plan, to steer well clear of the dark depression route and instead focus on happy stories people leave here with.

When did the function centre and restaurant join the plan?

That was all dad, back in 2005. At the time we had 2500 acres, but he had his eyes on something more. He came back from the pub one night and said to mum (who he called Freddy): ‘Freddy, you know how we’ve always talked about buying more property? Well, we have. I’m going to build a restaurant and you’re going to cook in it.’

Mum had two key questions.

1. Is it even possible to build a restaurant on that site? Sure, it had incredible views of the waterfall, but it’s on the side of a cliff.

2. I’m not a chef, how will I run a restaurant kitchen?

Dad’s response? ‘You’ll be right, you can do it.’

So we all chipped in and made it happen. My little brother, his mates, my dad, and I cut every single piece of timber, hammered every rock and created that cabin from scratch – our blood, sweat, tears and laughter lie within those walls. That’s how it all started, and Ben’s Falls Retreat has grown every day since.

Tell us about the accommodation options people can enjoy… Firstly, the Cod Cabin is a real haven, a stunning, rustic space on 8km of open river frontage. There are no segregated rooms, just open plan living, sleeping and cooking, complete with four kayaks for river adventures. You won’t see anyone during your stay, except the kangaroos and the wallabies, the deer and the goats. When you do come to visit, you might even recognise it as the backdrop from a few big commercials, including videos for Coopers Beer, Billabong and YETI.

Then there’s the Tiny House, a really romantic studio sitting pretty alongside our dam stocked with trout the size of a plate. There’s a tub on the deck, a fireplace and 2km of private river frontage. Of course, thanks to a loft bedroom it’s actually great for small families or getaways with your mates, too.

And finally, the build for our Family Cabin is about to begin. Soon we’ll be able to offer a beautiful space that sleeps seven. There will be three bedrooms – two queen beds and one room with bunks for the kids.

Then there’s the function centre – a truly dreamy place. Tell us everything. It’s a spectacular venue built on the side of a cliff overlooking the waterfalls on our property. Dad built it out of pure love for Ben – he put all his emotional energy into the place, determined to ‘turn a negative into a positive’ as he used to say. You can still feel that love, which makes it perfect for weddings, birthday parties, reunions, anniversaries, school formals and ‘just because’ events. We have a variety of menus available to suit every occasion and will soon be offering the venue up for conferences, workshops, retreats and teambuilding events too. We’re also working on the house above the restaurant as a potential accommodation venue for bridal parties before the big day. So watch this space!

What are some of the key challenges you face on a daily basis as a small business owner? The hardest part is balancing work and family life. I wear all the hats with the business and I’m also a mum to three amazing kids. So we’re busy, and I’ve become a jack of all trades – there’s always something to do. But we all chip in, something that was instilled in me during my own childhood – we were taught to help, work hard and then enjoy those things we’ve worked hard for. These days we try to make each job an adventure with my own kids, whether that’s heading down to clean the cabin or peeling potatoes in the restaurant. They get to experience the joy of the place while helping the family too. None of this could happen without my husband and our team either, we’re so lucky to have them along for the ride.

And what are the highlights? I really love seeing the joy this place brings to people. Whether it’s a fishing trip or a wedding – where we live is beautiful and sometimes it’s easy to get lost in that. But seeing the expressions on people’s faces, seeing how animated they get, it makes you stop and really appreciate what we have here and you love your own space so much more. I also love how we have the chance to continue to honour Ben and dad daily; that’s what matters most.

DID YOU KNOW…

… that Ben’s Falls Retreat is one of the best (100 per cent catch and release) cod fishing spots in the New England?! Add it to your itinerary when you book your next visit.

bensfallsretreat.com @bensfallsretreat

How do you hope people feel at Ben’s Falls Retreat?

I want you to feel relaxed, revitalised and refreshed. We have poor phone service, so you can’t sit on your phone and scroll. It’s your chance to read a book, go for a bush walk, go fishing, sit in the bathtub and watch the beautiful Milky Way pass by. Those are the things I want you to do. Stop and notice the kangaroos and those small little moments that you can get caught up with and miss. I just want you to slow down. And then I want you to carry that joy back home with you and allow it to evoke stories in your future. Tell other people what happened here, how it made you feel and keep telling that story for years to come.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone considering launching a business in a regional area? Make sure you love your idea. If it’s just something you want to make money from, it won’t last. You need to be driven, deep down inside, because there is so much blood, sweat and tears in between the good days. But if you love it and you’re passionate about it, you’ll do it. *

DREAM SANDWICH

A CELEBRATION OF FOOD AS A STORYTELLER, CULTURAL PECULIARITIES, NOTICING THE UNNOTICED, NOSTALGIA AND LOVE.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE

“A bold adventure awaits. Time to shake the world.”

A tribute to a time before my tiny human when I quit my serious career, moved to Paris with no job, nowhere to live, not knowing a soul and communicating with quite frankly, terrible French. All because a fortune cookie told me to do it.

It’s risky, making major life decisions on a message from a humble fortune cookie, but in this case, that crispy little cookie was spot on.

For me, there’s such nostalgia and child-like excitement attached to a fortune cookie. Growing up in a country town where it seemed there were more Chinese restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the world, we all knew the classics – prawn toast, spring rolls, highlighter pink sweet and sour pork, Mongolian lamb on the sizzle plate and everyone’s favourite, fried ice cream – rounded out nicely with a fortune cookie finisher. Then home to a night of MSG-fuelled after effects.

It’s got me thinking – I should reintroduce the fortune cookie wisdom and spontaneity back into my more responsible mama life.

So here’s to you, crunchy little adventure catalyst. Thank you for my Paris chapter. It was unforgettable. *

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY Jen Drew @adventuresofjen

LUXURIOUS BEACHSIDE RESORT IN COFFS HARBOUR

SPACIOUS ONE AND TWO BEDROOM APARTMENTS

THREE RESORT POOLS AND A NINE-HOLE GOLF COURSE

FRIENDS OF FOUND

Armidale Regional Council armidaleregional.nsw.gov.au @armidaleregionalcouncil

Barnson barnson.com.au @barnson_pty_ltd

Brennan & Smith Optometrists brennanandsmith.com.au @brennanandsmithoptometrists

Central Hospitality Group thechgroup.com.au

Charlesworth Bay Beach Resort charlesworthbaybeachresort.com.au @charlesworthbaybeachresort

Destination Tenterfield visittenterfield.com.au @visittenterfield

Failte Studio failtestudio.com @failte_studio

Forsyths forsyths.com.au @forsythsnsw

BECOME A FRIEND OF FOUND

Happy days! To advertise in our glorious magazine, get in touch with Claudia today to hear all about our whole range of packages, including bespoke opportunities – and thank you from the bottom of our regional lovin’ hearts. claudia@foundregional.com.au 0439 700 280

Motherland Australia motherlandaustralia.com.au @motherlandaustralia

Narrabri Shire Council narrabri.nsw.gov.au

New Annual newannual.com @newannual

NEGS negs.nsw.edu.au @negs_armidale

New England High Country newenglandhighcountry.com.au @nehighcountry

Oxford on Otho oxfordonotho.com.au @oxfordonotho

Planet Fitness Tamworth planetfitness.com.au/gyms/ tamworth-nsw

Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges powerhousetamworth.com.au @powerhousetamworth

Regional Australia Bank regionalaustraliabank.com.au @regionalaustraliabank

Roberts + Morrow rm.net.au @roberts_and_morrow

Tamworth Regional Council tamworth.nsw.gov.au @tamworthregionalcouncil

Tamworth Regional Gallery tamworthregionalgallery.com.au @tamworthregionalgallery

The Australian Hotel @aussiehotelinverell

Welcome Hospitality welcomehospitality.com.au

Wests Entertainment Group, Tamworth wtlc.com.au @tamworthwests

JUST ONE REASON

Just One Reason has become a lifeline for many experiencing suicidal thoughts –offering a simple but effective strategy for finding your ‘why’ and holding onto it. Author Stuart, who has battled dark moments himself, knows how finding the right words or support in those times can feel impossible. That’s where Just One Reason comes in. justonereason.com.au

TALES FROM THE BAR

WITH STUART O’NEILL

DEEPWATER HOTEL – THE TOP PUB, DEEPWATER

@deepwaterhotelthetoppub

I was glowing this morning, from the inside out. An Indian family stayed over at the pub last night – our pub, the Deepwater Hotel, Australia’s first hotel dedicated to mental health. We got chatting over coffee and I asked where they were headed.

“Gatton, Queensland,” they replied.

They went on to tell me about the new home they’d bought near friends, and how they were both registered nurses – one a mental health nurse. Then they said…

“This pub’s vibe feels so different, safe and welcoming from the minute we arrived.”

That’s when they spotted my book, Just One Reason, and we had a fabulous impromptu discussion about life and mental health. With all the negative talk in the media about immigration, here was the most beautiful example of immigration succeeding. What a gift they are to Australia. A great thing about the Deepwater Hotel on the New England Highway is how it has an uncanny habit of bringing people together who were destined to meet. For that, I’m full of pride today. *

I spy with my little eye

THE BEST CARE FOR YOUR CHILD’S VISION

Book with our advanced paediatric qualified optometrist today.