Fleurieu Living Magazine Spring 2014 by Fleurieu Living Pty Ltd

CHITON RETIREMENT LIVING

FLEURIEU LIVING T H E B E S T O F S O U T H A U S T R A L I A’ S F L E U R I E U P E N I N S U L A A N D K A N G A R O O I S L A N D

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McLaren Vale Region · Goolwa · Victor Harbor · Yankalilla · Kangaroo Island

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Key Personnel Petra de Mooy Petra is a publisher, an interior designer, a furniture maker and a devotee of good food, good design and good stories. After two years of producing FLM, Petra is grateful to everyone who has helped make the publication a part of the community. Jason Porter Jason has worked as a graphic designer and creative director both locally and overseas for more than twenty five years. When not in the office, he can usually be found in the garage tweaking some kind of rare hi-fi component. Leonie Porter-Nocella Ever the fantasist, Leonie sees her mission here as akin to ‘the Cleaner’ (the person summoned to clean a crime scene before the detectives arrive) ... leaving no trace of any (grammatical or stylistic) crime. She is also Oma Leonie (Monie) to Lucy! Perscia Maung After years of moonlighting as a blues singer and keeping rather anti-social hours, Perscia now enjoys her day job at FLM. This allows her to not only walk her Great Dane on the beach, but to properly take in the region she so adores.

Featured Contributors Esther Thorn Esther Thorn is a passionate storyteller, writer and mother to two very little and very energetic girls. After 14 years reporting for the ABC and Network Ten, Esther recently swapped her microphone for a pen and now works as a freelance journalist on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Esther loves discovering the many delights her ‘spiritual homeland’ has to offer and meeting the eclectic bunch of people who call the region home. When she’s not changing nappies and playing tea-parties, Esther can usually be found digging in her veggie patch, shopping at the Willunga Farmers’ Market or walking along Silver Sands beach.

Heather Millar Heather Millar is a freelance writer and editor. She lives in the beautiful Aldinga scrub, where she settled by way of Hobart where she grew up, Melbourne where she escaped to, and London where she lost and found herself. Or something like that. She runs her own editorial consultancy, Zest Communications. Prior to starting Zest, she worked as managing editor at Hardie Grant Publishing in Melbourne, and John Brown Publishing in London. At Zest, her works runs the gamut from editing corporate magazines and annual reports to writing brochures and websites, and features for magazines like Fleurieu Living. She also blogs at theblissfiles.com and wild-woman.com.

Publisher Information Quentin Chester A freelance writer, outdoor guide and photographer, Quentin Chester has been a regular contributor to Australian Geographic since 1986 and Wild Magazine since 1981.

PUBLISHER Fleurieu Living Magazine is published four times a year by Fleurieu Living Pty Ltd. ISSN 2200-4033 PUBLISHING EDITOR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR Petra de Mooy petra@fleurieuliving.com.au

As well as his journalism he’s co-authored two acclaimed pictorial books – The Kimberley: Horizons of Stone and Australia’s Wild Islands.

EDITOR Leonie Porter-Nocella leonie@fleurieuliving.com.au

Childhood adventures on the Fleurieu and in Encounter Bay gave Quentin a taste for wild shores and rugged terrain. That fascination has taken him to all corners of Australia. And it lured him Kangaroo Island, where he’s lived near Antechamber Bay since 2009. This move sparked a renewed passion for photography and his award-winning images regularly feature in exhibitions both on the island and the mainland.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Cathy Phillips

Other contributing writers and photographers Grant Beed, Neil Charter, Holly Dauk, Pip Forrester, Robert Geh, Emily Grundy, Brendan Homan, James Howe, Heidi Linehan, Tony Parkinson, James Potter, Merenia Vince and Eve Walsh.

ADVERTISING SALES Perscia Maung perscia@fleurieuliving.com.au

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION Jason Porter jason@fleurieuliving.com.au PRINTER Graphic Print Group DISTRIBUTION Integrated Publication Solutions SUBSCRIPTIONS www.isubscribe.com.au ALL ENQUIRIES Petra de Mooy petra@fleurieuliving.com.au POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 111, Aldinga, South Australia 5173. ONLINE fleurieuliving.com.au facebook.com/FleurieuLivingMagazine twitter.com/FleurieuLiving COPYRIGHT All content copyright Fleurieu Living Magazine Pty Ltd unless otherwise stated. While Fleurieu Living Magazine takes every care to ensure the accuracy of information in this publication, the publisher accepts no liability for errors in editorial or advertising copy. The views of the contributors are not necessarily endorsed by Fleurieu Living Magazine. Printed on paper from well managed forests using environmentally friendly vegetable-based inks.

Contents

32 FEATURED VENUE: Salopian Inn – Destination Gin. FRONT COVER PHOTO: Outside the Salopian Inn overlooking the vineyards and the hills. Photo by Robert Geh.

22 FEATURED DESIGN: Dairy love – Jimmy Smith’s Dairy that has been transformed into a high end B&B at Port Elliot.

FOOD AND WINE

MARKETS & EVENTS

HISTORY

50 A very cool HarBar.

10 Diary Dates and Events to keep you busy this spring.

40 Time & Tide – Sellicks Beach Motor Races – 1913 to 1953. 74 Dorrit Black – Adelaide’s godmother of modern art (with a passion for painting the Fleurieu).

LIVING GREEN

SUSTAINABILITY

14 The Dirt – James takes a stroll through our local Fleurieu nurseries.

62 UNESCO – Mount Lofty Ranges World Heritage Bid.

78 Lloyd Brothers – Delectable and wholesome. 48 Taste the Season – Artichokes, the edible thistle. 32 Salopian Inn – Destination Gin. 66 Villeré Coffee – Why the Fleurieu ... and why coffee? 82 Cooks & Chefs – Chefs Brett and Glenn Worrall of the Victory Hotel and Juliet Michell of the Australasian.

28 FEATURED ARTIST: Shore Fired – The spectacular photographic work of KI’s Quentin Chester.

14 FEATURE: The Dirt – James takes a stroll through our local Fleurieu Nurseries.

78 FEATURED FOOD & WINE: Lloyd Brothers – Delectable and wholesome.

BOOKS

PENINSULA PEOPLE

BEING SOCIAL

54 Spring selections – read and reviewed by Mike Lucas. 60 ‘Out of the Pen’ – Easy play ideas for a fun time.

68 Amanda Jane Pritchard – Thinking BIG. 96 Barry Clarke – The man behind the milk.

WEDDINGS

GROWERS & PRODUCERS

88 Jason and Rebecca Given, married 18 January 2014.

56 Wakefield Grange – free range meat never tasted so good. 70 Flying Fleurieu Farmers – otherwise known as bees. 46 KI Spirits – KI’s boutique distillery.

90 FLM gets out to see who was at the events: · High Street Trading Co. Grand Opening · Sea & Vines Weekend at Gemtree · Sea & Vines Weekend at Kay Brothers · FLM 2nd Anniversary Party at Leonard’s Mill · The Bromley Wing @ Factory 9 · SALA Event: The Pleasure of All Things at Hardy’s Tintara · Angove Organic Immersion.

ACKNOWLEDGES

A special thanks to the advertising partners that have made a long term commitment to FLM. GOLD PARTNERS

THE BLUFF SOUTH COAST

R E S OR T APAR T ME N TS

SILVER PARTNERS

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Fleurieu Renewables COMMERCIAL AND DOMESTIC SOLAR SPECIALISTS

Welcome to FLM Welcome to issue 10! As the magazine evolves and grows one thing remains the same and that is our never ending quest to uncover all of the richness of the region. People ask us if we find it dificult to find content for each issue and we are happy to report that it’s just the opposite – and that we can hardly keep up. Occasionally we get letters suggesting stories, and one request was to expose a little bit more of the magnificent physical beauty of the region. Quentin Chester has spent years documenting the wild coast of Kangaroo Island and you will find a selection of this beautiful part of the world on page 28. We also have History (Motor racing at Sellicks Beach); Food (The Worrall Brothers at The Victory providing us with an entrée and a main, with Juliet Michell of The Australasian coming up with a divine dessert.) We have wine and oil and other delights from Lloyd Brothers, a story on the resurrection of Dorrit Black (her art, that is); we have spirit (Kangaroo Island Spirit) we get the low-down on bees; and what is all this about, the Gin at the Inn? Our Taste of the season is the Artichoke (the humble, yet edible thistle); The Dirt sums up some local nurseries; we have a local bakery roasting its own (Villere) coffee; what do you do with an old, unloved and dilapidated dairy ... and what on Earth is a HarBar? For more on all this, along with our many other features, you’ll just have to keep on reading! The FLM Team

Letters to the Editor Hello, I just wanted to say a sincere THANK YOU for the amazing event you put on for the FLM birthday and launch. We had the BEST time, and the venue, food and atmosphere at Leonard’s Mill was amazing. What a great place. Also, from planning events of my own, I can see all of the details that went into every little perfect touch and the overall effect was absolutely incredible. Thank you, Dee x Hi there Petra and Jake, firstly congratulations on FLM’s second birthday. I recall my words at the launch of the first edition two years ago and they stand true today ... and then some! You have created a publication that in itself is a thing of beauty that is fresh, local and relevant. As an artefact for posterity you are chronicling the emergence of a regional cultural identity – or rather cultural identities plural. The Fleurieu Peninsula is home to many stories, many people, great artists and designer makers, incredible landscapes – and many roads less travelled. It is also home to an expanse of southern metropolitan suburbs – many of which have buried the agrarian landscapes of my own childhood when the ‘southern vales’ included vineyards dotted with townships like Happy Valley, Reynella, Morphett Vale, Christies Beach, Port Noarlunga and O’Sullivan’s Beach. Such is the nature of ‘progress’. In fact – it would be great to source some images from 50-70 years ago – when modernity was only just beginning its encroachment on the agrarian landscapes of the Fleurieu. Congratulations again. Like all things worthy in culture, I am sure that FLM presents its challenges for you both – I admire and respect your creation and I hope that it continues to provide you with satisfaction and pride. Avanti! Greg Dear Petra, I first read the FLM in Autumn 2013 and was most impressed. I did wonder however if the very high standard could be maintained. To my surprise and delight each issue since only gets better! FLM is the most enjoyable and readable magazine about. Keep up the good work. John T. Myrtle Bank

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MARKETS & EVENTS

Diary Dates Markets, Festivals and Events.

Markets: Willunga Farmers’ Market In the Willunga Town Square every Saturday from 8 – 12.30. The Farmers’ Market has a real buzz, is wonderful for regional produce — and you just know that all the diehards will be there each week, come rain or shine. Willunga Artisans’ Market In the Willunga Show Hall (opposite the Willunga Farmers’ Market) on the second Saturday of each month. Local art and craft, with a little bit of something for everyone. Victor Farmers’ Market At the Grosvenor Gardens, Victor Harbor every Saturday morning from 8 – 2.30. Over 32 stalls, with locally caught seafood, organic vegetables, seasonal fruit, local honey, mushrooms, fresh flowers, Fleurieu regional wines and much more. Well worth the visit. Goolwa Wharf Market Every first and third Sunday of the month from 9 – 3.30. With around 80 stalls there is a myriad of goods on offer. Bric-a-brac, collectibles, plants, books both new and old, and hand-crafted goods. Kangaroo Island Community Markets Lloyd Collins Reserve by the beach at Penneshaw – first Sunday of the month from 9.30 – 1.00. Features Kangaroo Island’s top food producers selling a range of fresh local produce in a great village atmosphere. Meadows Country Market Meadows Community Hall on the second Sunday of the month from 9.00 - 3.00. Local produce, crafts, collectibles, plants and bric-abrac. A true country market. Strathalbyn Market In Lions Park, South Terrace, Strathalbyn. On the third Sunday of the month from 8 - 2. Bric-a-brac, produce, coffee, pies, apples, plants, soaps, jewellery and much more in wonderfully historic Strathalbyn. Yankalilla Market In the Agricultural Hall, Main South Road, Yankalilla on the third Saturday of each month. Craft and Produce Market featuring goods from the local area. You’ll be surprised at what you may find! Willunga Quarry Market Adjacent to the Willunga Oval, every second Saturday of each month, rain or shine! A real gem, from fantastic coffee, tarot readings to that hard to find plant and local produce — it’s not to be missed. Port Elliot Market At Lakala Reserve Port Elliot, on the first and third Saturday of each month. A typical country market with plenty of fresh local produce

Above: Bluegrass band ‘Coolgrass’ will be performing at the 2014 Wirrina Bluegrass & Acoustic Roots Festival from September 5 – 7.

on offer as well as a good mix of other goods such as bric-a-brac, books, fishing gear — even a $2 stall! There is sure to be something here for everyone. Aldinga Bay Art, Craft and Produce Market 8 – 1 on the fourth Sunday of every month at the corner of Aldinga Institute Show Hall. Arts and crafts from local artisans as well as fresh local produce. Myponga Markets In the old Myponga Cheese Factory every Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday from 10 – 4. Enjoy browsing over 100 stalls offering produce, books, toys, Balinese imports, musical instruments, vintage collectibles and much more. Market of Earthly Delights Held at the Encounter Centre in Victor Harbor on the first Sunday of each month from 1 – 4. Bring and swap your surplus produce with other like-minded growers. Think home-grown fruit, vegetables, seedlings, flowers, honey, sauces, recipes, kindling, compost and lots more!

Festivals and Events: Wirrina Bluegrass Festival Bluegrass and acoustic music lovers will converge on the picturesque Wirrina Resort for the third annual Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival. Bring your instruments and voices, warm your soul with great music and share with the community the virtuosity this type of music can produce. Where: Wirrina Resort and Conference Centre, Wirrina Cove When: 5 – 7 September 2014 Festival begins at 4 on Friday, concludes 4 Sunday Cost: Adult weekend pass – $75 Youth (under 18) – $35 wirrinabluegrass.com Child (under 12) – FREE Rock ’n’ Roll Festival The Rock ’n’ Roll Festival brings together a range of local rock ’n’ roll bands and a large display of classic cars organised by the Historic Motor Vehicles Club of Victor Harbor. Check out the cars, enjoy the good vibes and a dance or two and feel free to bring the kids. Where: Warland Reserve, Victor Harbor When: 20 and 21 September Cost: Free! Langhorne Creek Writers’ Workshop Come along to hear some great guest-speakers talk about various styles and topics. Includes Barbara Santich, Jude Aquilina and Katy McDevitt Where: The Winehouse, Langhorne Creek When: September 20 Time: 10 – 4

Cost: $60 (includes lunch and wine tasting). Bookings essential. Inquiries: writing@langhornecreekwritersfestival.com Goolwa Alive Goolwa traders shut their doors and close their main street for the annual street festival showcasing local produce, businesses and talent. Bring the family and enjoy a day of food and wine, live music, pony rides, face painting and much more. Where: Main Street, Goolwa When: October 5 Cost: Free Fleurieu Folk Festival The Fleurieu Folk festival in historic Willunga presents a weekend of music concerts and sessions, dance, workshops, bush poets, children’s entertainment, stalls and more. Discover your own talent at one of the many workshops, or just relax and enjoy the various local and interstate performers. Where: Willunga When: 24 – 26 October Cost: $60 for the entire weekend (children free) Langhorne Creek Out of the Barrel Be the first to try some of the region’s newest releases, take a sneak peek of pre-release wines, or even try wines straight from the barrel! Broaden your wine knowledge with some other Out of the Barrel experiences on offer over the weekend. Where: Cellar doors throughout Langhorne Creek When: Saturday November 8 and Sunday November 9 from 10 am. Cost: Free entry Website: www.langhornecreek.com for more information

MARKETS & EVENTS

Festivals and Events continued: Gorgeous Festival Gorgeous Festival consists of boutique music, food and wine to celebrate the flavours and creativity of our beautiful region. Where: Serafino Winery, McLaren Vale When: Friday November 28 and Saturday November 29 Cost: check website for details: www.gorgeousfestival.com.au Kangaroo Island Art Feast Here is a wonderful opportunity to experience the best of Kangaroo Island’s art and cuisine, as well as enjoying some great local music. Over 25 venues across the Island will be exhibiting art of every kind, and selling local food, wine, ciders and spirits. Kangaroo Island comes truly alive for the October long weekend. It’s certainly the best time to visit! More info: kangarooislandartfeast.org.au Where: at over 25 venues across the Island When: Thursday 2 to Monday 6 October Free entry.

When: Sunday 21 September 2014 Time: 10 – 4.30 Tickets available from South Seas Books & Trading, 53 North Terrace, Port Elliott Cost: $15 Youth Hostel Australia is turning 75 this year Port Elliott Beach House YHA is celebrating with High Tea. They will be opening up the hostel to all visitors and serving delicious High Tea with a glass of bubbly and live music. They have not met many locals and are hoping this will be a great opportunity for you all to see the fabulous facility, to have some fun and get to know them and their friendly staff. There will be raffles with funds going to a local charity, so go and party. Where: The Strand, Port Elliott When: 21 October Time: 5 – 7 Free entry.

Langhorne Creek Vignerons’ Race Day One of the most popular Sunday race days on the South Australian calendar, the Langhorne Creek Vignerons’ Day is more than just a horse race. Celebrating the best that the local region has to offer in food and wine, the day is a perfect chance for all the family to enjoy the atmosphere and grounds of the picturesque Strathalbyn Racecourse. Where: Strathalbyn Racecourse When: Sunday 23 November Gates open 9:30 am Admission $20, with other packages available Decant The new monthly social event of the South! Each month Decant will feature a McLaren Vale winery, Fleurieu beer and fresh regional food. Come to enjoy a few after-work drinks and wind down for the week. Where: McLaren Vale Visitor Information Centre When: Last Friday of every month Time: 5 – 8 Cost: varies. Open Gardens Port Elliott The Open Gardens day at Pt Elliot offers a rare opportunity to explore four interesting and diverse gardens all located within the picturesque seaside township. There are two ‘artist’s gardens’, a native garden and one classified as ‘historical in nature’. The gardens are all in walking distance from one another; Chris De Rosa and Gerry Wedd, 51 North Terrace, Port Elliot. Will Hendricks, 11 Charteris Street, Port Elliot. Rod and Tricia Crockford, 17 Murray Terrace, Port Elliot. Gillian and John Muller, 35 Blackfriars Road, Port Elliot.

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Top: Cobber the dog ready to help out at Ibis Siding. Below left and right: Plants, sculptures, pots, and more at Ibis Siding in Goolwa.

The Dirt

James Potter moseys around a few of the many Fleurieu nurseries. Photographs by Holly Dauk. Ibis Siding Garden Centre I was greeted at Ibis Siding Garden Centre by Cobber the dog and the impossibly modest Kym Gilbert. Kym and I strolled as he shared a small portion of his encyclopaedic knowledge of the plants and creatures around us. Kym holds this knowledge as a matter of necessity, as Ibis Siding is the garden centre equivalent of the Tardis – containing a veritable menagerie and every plant named by Linnaeus. Kym and his co-owner brothers also own the Honey Shop at Adelaide Central Market so a great selection of honey and apiary gear is available here too. Coastal gardeners will find plenty of native and exotic specimens here to bolster their gardening stocks and Kym and co are more than happy to guide you with your choices. The water features at Ibis Siding were teaming with tadpoles when I visited, and, as the weather warms, those with an aquatic bent can select healthy plant specimens from the frog filled ponds. 14

Above (all): Poolman’s Nursery is full of a great selection of very well cared for plants including natives, non natives, succulents, trees and conifers. Below: The grand rooster at Ibis Siding siring laying hens for all.

We idled past the aviary and bare-rooted fruit trees finding ourselves under a huge buddleia face-to-face with a magnificent rooster, an absolutely stunning specimen. Unlike some of my friends I’m no cock-connoisseur, but it was obvious that this beast could sire an Ingham’s-worth of chooks at the drop of a hat. And he might need to as Kym often keeps around seventy hens for sale. among the vines, Poolmans was started as a family venture a little over 20 years ago and has established a loyal following of regulars. Claire has taken the baton from her late father, the esteemed nurseryman Ron Poolman, and was herself trained at Hampden Hall in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. ‘But I had to learn it all again’, Claire protests, recalling her arrival in Australia: ‘New soils, new climate, new plants.’ She’s certainly mastered these new challenges with her hands-on approach – propagating, potting-on and hand-watering all the plants here on site – a task that can take an onerous four-hours a day in the summer heat. All this has given Claire and Mary intimate knowledge of the plants they sell and zero tolerance for up-start new releases that inundate other nurseries each spring. You could arrive at Poolmans without a green-thumb on either hand and with the Poolman’s careful guidance you can be sure to leave with a boot-load of plants and a guarantee of horticultural success. >

Top: Another beautiful day at Hillside Herbs. Above left and right: Succulents and chillies of almost every known variety at Hillside Herbs.

Hillside Herbs For me, Hillside Herbs has always been the place I go for an indulgent dose of plant-porn. This visit didn’t disappoint, with an awesome display of flowering aloes greeting me even before entering the nursery. I have a euphorbia fetish and those with a similar penchant for striking structural succulents will be equally impressed. Gorgeous displays of mature cacti, succulents and other xerophytes fill the gardens and nursery, with all the stock in rude health. Move through the first part of the nursery (if your wallet is still intact) and you will find the herbs that this nursery is renowned for. Vast arrays of traditional culinary and medicinal herbs stretched out before me on the day I visited. Co-owner Lorraine Thompson assures me that the collection isn’t complete ‘Each year we have more and more requests for herbs and vegetable varieties.’ Lorraine puts this down 16

to not only new waves of migration but also the mainstreaming of culinary sophistication. ‘We have about 65 varieties of chillies, but we keep getting asked for more.’ My own new plant acquisition program has been put on hold – but I still left carrying a bundle of must-haves. Beware, this may happen to you! Fern Forest Nursery Overhearing staff giving excellent advice is one of the best entrées to a nursery you can get. Well at least for a hackneyed former nursery owner like me. When this coincides with a burst of brilliant sunshine it’s no wonder that the owner Lorraine Poole is beaming too. Or it could be the lingering effects of too much sun received in her former career,

Above left: In the bamboo and palm forest at Fern Forest. Above right, middle and bottom: A selection of the palms, bamboo and ferns available at Fern Forest.

From hardy ferns and drought tolerant bromeliads, to more than twenty varieties of palm and fifteen varieties of bamboo, there was no shortage of choice specimens on this visit.

collecting native seeds for mine-site revegetation in northern Australia. Along with conviviality, Lorraine has also brought her love of full-on foliage to Willunga, having taken over the nursery three years ago. I was lucky enough to receive a guided tour of the nursery and also the extensive display gardens as they undergo renovations. Lorraine pointed out some of her favourites – all of which meet her strict criteria for success. From hardy ferns and drought tolerant bromeliads, to more than twenty varieties of palm and fifteen varieties of bamboo, there was no shortage of choice specimens on this visit. I’m a foliage fiend and was chuffed to see some great Alpinias and Macrozamias taking pride of place. ‘We’ve been growing the collection’ Lorraine explains ‘We have acquired more bamboos, cycads and more sun-hardy plants.’ With plans to build on the great array of stock already on display, this place is a must if you are keen on growing a little Eden of your own. > 17

Top: Lavandula. Above left and right: While the Fleurieu Garden Centre is renowned for roses and fruit trees they also stock a wide variety of flowers pots and garden sculpture.

Fleurieu Garden Centre With one year old daughter in tow I’d secured my Myponga essentials, dark ale for me and a Myponga market duck whistle for her. Third stop this day was the sprawling Fleurieu Garden Centre. All the essentials are available and according to my daughter, that now includes an excellent range of kids’ gardening tools and watering cans. It was bare-root season during my visit so I was kept busy searching through the dozens of fruit tree varieties available. Nursery manager Denise arrived to put me straight and to the infinite delight of my daughter we selected a yellow peach to add to the collection.

My own rose collection consists of an ancient dog rose growing on the fence line but I’m often selecting thorny specimens for my clients and with over 10,000 potted roses on site, this nursery is a mecca for rose lovers. Don’t be afraid to hit up the staff here for advice on anything rose-related and keep your eyes peeled for the in-store pruning demos from the experts. The rose pedigree here comes courtesy of certified gardening guru Kim Syrus. Kim owns both the Fleurieu Garden Centre and the long-established wholesale grower, Corporate Roses. Being a full-time celebrity gardener and all-round decent bloke keeps Kim flat-out, but when he is in town he is available to visit your garden and he has promised me he will solve all of your lingering horticultural dilemmas for a modest fee and a decent cuppa.

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The Adelaide Hills, from the Barossa to the Fleurieu, is cherished and enjoyed by South Australians and the thousands who visit each year. Spanning the world-renowned Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Fleurieu Peninsula, the Mount Lofty Ranges Agrarian Landscape is one of Australia’s most distinctive food, wine and tourism regions. Excitement is building as South Australia launches a bid for UNESCO World Heritage listing in an effort to internationally recognise our agricultural landscape as being of ‘outstanding universal value’. The bid is based on the region’s utopian origins as the first place in the world to apply the principles of ‘systematic colonisation’ where development was planned according

to detailed surveys rather than the usual ‘everyman for himself’ approach. World Heritage status will help protect, preserve and promote the region, securing its future. It also has the potential to significantly boost the viability of agriculture and tourism, creating jobs and a wealth of economic opportunities. The bid is supported by six councils in partnership with the University of Adelaide, RDA Barossa and the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association and is underpinned by the state government’s strategic priority of ‘premium food and wine from our clean environment’.

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Dairy love

James Howe learns how bit of love and a lot of hard work saved Jimmy Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dairy from crumbling out of memory.

Previous page: Signage on the new stone wall assures guests they’ve arrived at the right spot. Above: The exterior showing the old bluestone wall cleverly and seamlessly joined by the new building. Photographs by David Byerlee. Below: The lone photo of previous owner Jimmy. Unfortunately Jimmy ‘having leant down to pat a dog at shutter fall, is obscured by his own hat.’

Old Jimmy Smith lived in a room measuring three metres by three and a half. It’s hard to say much about him — he left only a few clues: a kitchen painted canary yellow; some newspapers dated to 1960; a lone black and white photo. In it, he and some mates pose in a row relaxed, cigarettes in hand. But Jimmy, having leant down to pat a dog at the shutter fall, is obscured by his own hat. We know he was a farmer. His dairy, built of bluestone and mongrel paddock rock, testifies to this: he probably kept a handful of cows, selling milk to neighbours in Port Elliot. And that’s just about all we know about old Jimmy Smith. It’s all the more remarkable, therefore, that his legacy is being revived in a way that will see it carried long into the future. Last year, Port Elliot furniture maker Noel Akmens converted Jimmy’s ramshackle dairy into a bed and breakfast — and unlike in the days of its namesake, it’s luxurious. It should be, too — Noel spent much time and money on the reinvention, which has seen a decaying hovel infested with possums become a sleek, beautiful sea-stay.

The dairy, with its surrounding buildings, sits just off Brickyard Road on the northern outskirts of Port Elliot. The area has a curious connection to Noel’s wife, Robyn, who was raised on Mundoo Island in the Coorong. ‘Her mum was born and bred in Port Elliott, and her family owned most of the land from the other side of the road, right up into the hills’, says Noel. Remarkably, Robyn’s grandfather is pictured in the black and white photo with Jimmy Smith. ‘We didn’t realise that at the time, but buying this tied us back into the history of the family’, says Noel. Noel and Robyn first arrived at the property in 1981, drawn by its expansive shearing shed, a perfect home for Noel’s furniture > 23

Top: Sunrise on the front of the building. Photograph by David Byerlee. Above left: One of the well appointed bedrooms. Photograph by Grant Beed. Above right: The kitchen window. Photograph by David Byerlee.

making business. They started off renting the shed from a surfboard maker who had used it as his factory. Later that same year, the surfboard maker decided to sell the property, which included a house, the shearing shed, and, of course, old Jimmy Smith’s dairy. ‘I didn’t care about the house, but I really wanted that shed. So we bought the property, and for the next 30-odd years brought up four boys here’, says Noel. The years went by. The boys grew up, Noel expanded his furniture business into the neighbouring industrial park; then, fed up with the maddening bureaucracy of running a big business, returned to his shearing shed. Meanwhile, the dairy sat in its paddock, accumulating old family keepsakes, boxes of photos and odds and ends. The roof rusted into more holes than iron, and possums moved in. All the while, Noel and Robyn mulled over what they could do to halt the old building’s slide towards annihilation. ‘We’ve talked about it since the early 90s, saying “we’ve got to do something with that one day, one day …’” says Noel.

For decades, Noel has been turning raw timber into superb pieces of furniture: chairs, sideboards, writing bureaus. His items are mostly custom-made for private clients, and while this has always provided a steady stream of business, he lacked a space to showcase his designs and craftsmanship. ‘Having a show room makes a big difference’, explains Noel. ‘It means you can design something, build it and put it in there to get people’s reactions’. Jimmy Smith’s old dairy, crying out for a bit of love and attention, seemed the perfect answer. Noel and Robyn hatched the idea of converting the dairy into a bed and breakfast. Noel would furnish it with his own, handcrafted furniture, and the building would showcase his talent, provide an alternative stream of income, and add value to the property. It was the ideal solution. The only problem is, when Noel and Robyn opened the door to the old dairy, they realised they had some work ahead of them. ‘It was horrible’, says Noel. ‘The possums had made a mess of everything. When you’ve got a spare room on the property, you fill it up with rubbish and look at it 30 years later and just go “oh my gosh …”’

Above left: The new kitchen is all done up in canary yellow – just like Jimmy’s was. Photograph by David Byerlee. Above right: Noel’s handmade furniture adorns every room. Photograph by Grant Beed.

But they managed to clean the old building out, and then it was onto the fun part: working out exactly how they would turn Jimmy Smith’s dairy — which comprised a milking room, living quarters and a separate outhouse — into a luxury bed and breakfast. To do this, they enlisted the help of Robyn’s niece, architect Amy Grundy. ‘I said “you just do what you reckon, and we’ll have a look at it’”, says Noel. ‘She came up with all the nice angles, the tie-in of the outhouse and the main building, and the timber beams … it was a no-brainer once I saw the drawings’. To her credit, Amy — still a student at the time — produced flawless plans. ‘The carpenters were amazed that her drawings were as accurate as any they’d ever seen’, says Noel.

Noel and Robyn hatched the idea of converting the dairy into a bed and breakfast. Noel would furnish it with his own, handcrafted furniture, and the building would showcase his talent, provide an alternative stream of income, and add value to the property. It was the ideal solution.

Even in its reincarnation as a luxury bed and breakfast, the dairy has utilised most elements of the original building. The stone walls — underpinned with tonnes of new concrete — were largely left as they were, and the few sections that needed to be knocked out yielded bluestone which Noel recycled into an interior stone feature wall. He edged this with clay bricks originating from the old Port Elliot brickworks, and used traditional lime mortar to match the existing stonework. >

Top left: Noel Akmens in the workshop close to the dairy. Top right: The generously sized master bathroom is clean, modern and full of natural light. Photographs by Grant Beed. Bottom left (Photograph by Grant Beed) and right (Photograph by David Byerlee): The spare and modern interiors are given character with striking artwork, and splashes of colour.

It was a labour of love. ‘The builder on the dairy renovation, Dylan Gilbert, a bricky by trade, was hesitant about me doing it … but he said ‘have a go, but make sure that if you grab a block, just put it in there — don’t go and select another one if it doesn’t look right!’ ‘Well, that didn’t happen’, says Noel. But despite the hours Noel spent scurrying up and down a ladder carrying rocks, he doesn’t regret the project. ‘It was very rewarding — it looks daunting when you start, but at the end of the day, you can say ‘that’s my wall – I built that!’ 26

It looks beautiful, as does the rest of the place. Noel’s handmade oak, jarrah and blackwood furniture pieces complement the sleek, modern lines of the reinvented dairy. References to the old building are scattered about: clay bricks salvaged from the property pave the outside areas, while inside, the sparkling new kitchen is all done up in bright, canary yellow – just like old Jimmy Smith’s original one.

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Shore Fired ... Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent hours here watching the swell rolling in, sharing the space with gulls and galahs, eagles and seals ... Story and photographs by Quentin Chester.

Previous page: Cape Younghusband. Above: Antechamber Bay. Right: Vivonne Bay.

From above, the southern headland of Cape Willoughby is tucked out of sight. But if you scrabble along the shore from Windmill Bay all is revealed: a bluff of wave-struck granite that dominates Kangaroo Island’s eastern tip. I keep coming back to this spot. Among the terraces and tumbled boulders there’s a small crook of a bay that catches every thudding wave. At the water’s edge the power of the Southern Ocean is inescapable. So too the hulking granite forms, their shadows and knobbled textures. I’ve spent hours here watching the swell rolling in, sharing the space with gulls and galahs, eagles and seals. It’s the place that made me want to be a photographer. All my life I’ve skirted the coast. I can’t resist a headland or a faraway beach. There’s something about sidling along the edge betwixt land and sea. It’s even better if that verge belongs to an island. As fate would have it, these thresholds have become the scene of my most vivid imaginings.

However in winter we’d roam across the island to comb the beaches at Cape Gantheaume, or wander beside the surf and spray at Hanson Bay. Over the years a feeling for the island’s remote boundaries grew. By the time we moved here the coast loomed large. There was never any plan to take photos. Yet carrying a camera became part of the daily jaunts to Cape Willoughby. The discipline of looking through a viewfinder helped me pay attention. As someone who labours with paragraphs for a living I grabbed the chance to be footloose on the coast; the freedom of storytelling without words.

In 2009 my wife Dale and I came to Kangaroo Island for two weeks of work. Five years later we’re still here. As couples go, we have a weakness for an improvised life, plus serious form as islophiles. For seven years our home was a bushy island in the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney.

After a year or so of this snapping I pestered Bill Bachman, a photographer friend and mentor, to sell me one of his old cameras and a tripod. It was proper gear and I liked to imagine it might imbue my efforts with some of Bill’s photographic prowess. (As a nontechnician I needed all the help I could get.) More importantly, Bill encouraged me to view our exile as a creative opportunity, a chance to dig deep into the place.

Returning to Adelaide, we lived in the hills. Over the next decade KI became a favourite escape, a place for us and our two girls to renew our castaway status. We wandered Island Beach and fished and swam. On hot northerly days there were the coves at Pennington Bay to shelter in. It was standard holiday fare.

In truth I needed little urging. Armed with a newfound faith I pivoted from Cape Willoughby to south coast points like Cape Kersaint and Cape Bouguer. Harried by ocean swells, these limestone headlands are stripped bare, leaving polished stubs of granite. In contrast, the island’s northwest corner towers like a fortress. From campsites > 29

Top: Cape Willoughby. Above left: Remarkable Rocks. Above right: Black Point.

and shacks I wandered out early and late, ferreting among the crumbling outcrops at Cape Cassini and King George Beach. Further west, I hung tight to the tripod atop the fearsome cliffs and caverns at Cape Forbin and Cape Torrens. Somehow each new sortie seemed to accentuate how much more there was yet to see. The coast tutored me in the changing moods of weather and light. It revealed an island endlessly renewing, a surprising, magic pudding kind of place. Through a little trial and lots of error I became a photographer. Not in the formal mode but as someone who likes to be on the move and work intuitively with a camera. Thus my images are about responding to place, an act of devotion, a daily joy. As a mark of gratitude as much as anything else I put together Kangaroo Island: Coast to Coast, a book of snapshots from all points of the compass. It showed some stretches of shoreline that many people, including locals, had never seen. That seems remarkable in 30

this day and age. Yet it’s also a measure of KI’s sheer wildness and the fact that we’re still learning what’s out there, still finding ways to know and cherish all that sustains us. This reality is one of the main drivers for what I do, both the stories I write and prints I exhibit. Flicking the pages of Coast to Coast captures some of that feeling of a mystery unfolding, a cycle of discovery. In the end Kangaroo Island is less about individual places than the bullish natural vigour that connects them. You feel this thumping pulse of life right across the island, in flourishing stands of mallee with their mobs of wallabies and roos, in the honking flocks of black swans that gather on lagoons, and all along the coast with its teeming seals and dolphin pods. I still get it every time I’m down at the water’s edge at Cape Willoughby. I can’t help going back there with my camera to watch the birds and the ceaseless ocean swell; this world without end.

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Destination Gin James Howe learns how you turn an old pub into a modern-Australian dining sensation. Photographs by Robert Geh.

Distilled to its core elements, the Salopian Inn exists for three reasons: to rest people, to feed them, and to give them gin. ‘We started out with 40 [gins] — there are 163 now’, says chef and owner Karena Armstrong. We love gin. No kidding. Built in 1851 to replenish travellers on the grinding bullock trail between Adelaide and Victor Harbor, the Salopian Inn still embraces tired vagabonds: and for Karena, there’s no greater satisfaction than seeing a guest really sinking into her inn and watching their muscles slowly relax. In that sense, the soul of the building hasn’t changed. But there’s a key difference (apart from the gin). Today, instead of being a mid-journey tarry, the Salopian Inn is the destination. Opening its doors in May last year, it struck an immediate chord. Critics praised it -- including Simon Wilkinson of The Advertiser and The Australian’s John Lethlean ‘why can’t more restaurants be like this?’ Interstate visitors put it at the top of their must do lists. ‘We had a busy first year’, says Karena, ‘and it seems to get busier all the time’. > The Salopian’s rebirth is the result of Karena and her husband Michael’s dream. They’re the ultimate hospitality power couple: Karena – attractive, dynamic, funny – is a chef with an illustrious

Previous page: The main dining room at the Salopian Inn. This page top: The Gin Bar. Above: Karena Armstrong – chef and co-owner of the Salopian Inn.

Previous page: The chef at work in her busy kitchen. Above left: Sourdough – baked fresh daily. Photograph by emme jade. Above right: View of the adjacent vineyards.

The Salopian Inn has been through many incarnations during its 163-year history. One of the first licensed hotels in the state, it sprang up to service the north/south bullock train. It began its life under the moniker Gumprys Inn, and after a few years the name changed to Salopian, which means a person from Salop, an English county now known as Shropshire. CV, which include stints at Lake House in Daylesford, Icebergs in Bondi and Billy Kwong in Surry Hills. Michael – tall, with a dry sense of humour and killer cowboy boots – is an ex-CEO of a wine-grape sales company. He’s the guy behind all the gin. ‘I spend more time playing with gin now than anything else, really’, he says. A culmination of factors sparked their decision to start the restaurant. ‘Michael had become a corporate refugee – he had a crazy, high-pressure job selling grapes, and he didn’t want to do that anymore’, says Karena. I’d been home with children for seven years so I was ready to come back to the workforce. The dinners at home were getting ridiculous.’ So, they began searching. They looked at the Crafers and Clarendon hotels, but ultimately fell in love with the Salopian, with the beauty of its hefty stone walls, Willunga slate floors and climbing vines as thick as gin bottles. Also, its history, from misty origins as a bullock train stopover, to its more recent role as a gastronomic icon on the Fleurieu. The Salopian first emerged as a serious foodie destination in 1988, when McLaren Vale’s Pip Forrester took it over and quietly, slowly, turned it into an award-winning regional food restaurant. ‘When I bought it, there was just the Hotel McLaren, The Barn, a little restaurant at Clarendon called Prewitt’s, and one in Willunga

called Vanessa’s, says Pip. The difference between what was on the ground then, and what’s on the ground now, is huge.’ Between 1988 and 2004, under Pip and her cast of star chefs including David Swain of Fino, the Salopian made an indelible mark on the Fleurieu food scene. ‘I wanted the Salopian to be like a French auberge, where the locals come out of their wineries and eat really good food in an unpretentious way, she says. I had chefs who understood that regional and seasonal was a point of difference, and we designed our menus around the products we could get; things like lamb and olive oils and cheeses.’ Pip sold the Salopian in 2004, when it ultimately became the Vale Ale headquarters for several years until Michael and Karena leased it in February 2013. Karena hankered to return it to the cradle of warmth and hospitality it had been in times gone by. ‘It’s a bit airy-fairy, but I’ve always felt that the building has that spirit of hospitality’, she says. They knew what they wanted the place to evoke ‘a really relaxed, really chilled-out feel’, says Karena. ‘And then we started designing it, and we realised we were really rubbish at design ...’ Enter stellar interior designer Claire Kneebone, of Udaberri and Press fame. She came up with the concept for the restaurant: the eclectic colour scheme, the communal leather bench seats, the hand > 35

Top: The bar, made by Peter Coombs features reclaimed timber and copious display area for gin. Above left: The weathered exterior of the Salopian Inn is complimented perfectly by the new but rustic looking signage. Above right: Karena and her team hard at work preparing for service.

crafted tables. Finishing touches include antique Persian rugs, light fittings made from Fowlers preserving jars and a glass-topped dining table fashioned from the original front door. Adelaide artist and metal smith Peter Coombs made the bars – which feature tops made from a reclaimed bowling alley – and the copious gin displays.

The menu – an eclectic mix of bar and restaurant food – follows suit. ‘It’s about that spirit of hospitality and making people feel welcome’, says Karena. ‘For some people that means a gin at the bar and a burger, and we do that. Someone else might want duck and a bottle of Barolo, and we do that too.’

Karena takes me down to the wine cellar, a brick Hobbit-hole accessed via a staircase from the main restaurant. ‘We don’t have a red wine list – we encourage people to come down here’, she says. It’s an exciting feeling wandering, stooped over, through the gloomy nooks of the cellar. Which is, of course, the whole point.

‘The bar menu also comes in handy’, says Karena, when they sell out of certain dishes. Which apparently happens quite often, owing to Karena’s fixation with seasonal, local ingredients.

‘Everything here is about taste and discovery’, says Michael. ‘From the gin to the food, to the wine, it’s about finding something new and interesting.’

Her favourite Fleurieu ingredient? ‘Oh my goodness – it’s like choosing from my children’, she laughs. ‘The Willunga Hills beef is mind-blowingly good ... ’ Karena uses Fleurieu company Scoop to source ingredients from local farmers. She also reaps from an acre of garden at home, which

Top: Karena says, ‘We don’t have a red wine list, we encourage people to wander down to the cellar.’ Below left and right: Some of the delicious food on offer at the Salopian. Above food photographs by emme jade.

is tended two days a week by a staff member. ‘We’re just starting to serve stuff that’s wholly ours – it’s my dream,’ says Karena. There have been a lot of realised dreams lately. Seeing their vision become a reality has been enormously satisfying, and a little surreal. ‘I still get surprised when people come in the door’, says Karena. ‘It’s been incredibly hard, but we’ve actually got something that’s working.’

The inn has been a pub, a bed and breakfast and a private home, occupied for some time by the McMurtrie family. ‘We occasionally get people coming in saying ‘Oh, I was born in here,’ says Karena Armstrong.

They are not going to rest on their laurels, though. Karena is ticking an even bigger idea over in her mind: a plan to open a second restaurant, on the coast, sometime in the next twelve months. Something in the vein of Sydney favourites, Kitchen by Mike and Fish Face: ‘Great food served really simply and really, really casual’, she says. Washed down, no doubt, with plenty of gin.

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And Home to Unique Grapple Ciders, Award Winning Two Tribes Shiraz Grenache, Signature Farmers Platter and the Famous Oxenburger!

A: 26/28 Kangarilla Rd Mclaren Vale 5171 T: 8323 0188 E: info@oxenberry.com W: www.oxenberry.com

the court house food · wine · art Quality Plants at Sensible Prices starting from $3.50

Normanville’s best kept secret Open for brunch and lunch 7 days Open for tapas and evening meals Thursday to Sunday 44 Olivers Road, McLaren Vale, SA Open 10am - 4pm 6 days Closed on Tuesdays Ph: 83238155 Find us on Facebook Proudly Grown in South Australia Since 1993

Fabulous food from the Fleurieu

The Court House: 52 Main Street, Normanville, South Australia Phone: (08) 8558 3532 Email: court.house@optusnet.com.au

Discover the fine mix of food, wine, art and ale! Red Poles Restaurant / Cellar Door / Art Gallery / B&B

Delight all your senses and also embrace live music, and an art gallery amongst lawns, gardens and vineyards! The cellar door for Brick Kiln wines and Vale Ale craft beers is set in an ambient courtyard. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 9 to 5 190 McMurtrie Road McLaren Vale Phone: 08 8323 8994 / 0417 814 695 redpoles@redpoles.com.au | www.redpoles.com.au

Time & Tide

Sellicks Beach Motor Races 1913 to 1953 Story by Tony Parkinson

In 1913 motorcycle hill climbing on the impossibly rough, hand-hewn road above the Victory Hotel at Sellicks Hill was banned. It interfered with the flow of traffic on what was then the main arterial coach road from Adelaide to Cape Jervis. Undeterred, the racing fraternity repaired to the long, flat sands of Sellicks Beach, where over the next forty years many of the petrolheaded persuasion exercised competitively on two wheels or four. The course was elementary; up the beach and back around markers or drums at each end of a paperclip-shaped layout. As veteran competitor, 98 year-old Ray Pank recalls that ‘there were hardly any rules. Not everyone had crash hats. Big crowds attended: roads were blocked off. Spectators parked along the beach at the base of the sand-hills. Someone always got bogged.’ Ray, whose racing days go all the way back to 1934, was involved in the Sporting Car Club’s first-ever meeting on the beach. Billed as the Grand Opening Speed Meeting, the line-up on that October Labour Day included the dashing Miss Betty Corbin and giant-killer Ron Uffindel, who in 1938 not only drove his tiny Austin 7 racer to Bathurst for eighth place in the Australian Grand Prix, but also raced motorcycles and sidecars. There were other stars of the era: Ash Moulden; Tony Ohlmeyer; John Dutton; Ron Kennedy; Judy Rackham and Victorian, Cec Warren – whose supercharged MG was the fastest car of its type in Australia. However, most interest was focussed on a twin-engined Essex Special that its owner-driver, Peter Hawker, variously named the Bryant Special, after its builder, or more fondly, the ‘Bungaree Bastard’ after his family’s famed sheep station. As motorcycles actually ‘kick-started’ racing at Sellicks Beach, a call to one of its surviving campaigners, 83 year-old Alan Wallis, seemed appropriate. >

Previous page top: Around the course markers and marshals. c1925. Photograph by Ken Ragless: courtesy the Ron Blum collection. Previous page bottom: Allan Beatty on Imperial c1938. Courtesy Jim Scaysbrook. This page top: Under Starter’s orders. Wally Murphy (megaphone) was the man in charge. c1925. Photograph by Ken Ragless: courtesy the Ron Blum collection. This page middle: Not a safety barrier in sight as spectators gather for bike races at Sellicks Beach c1925. Photograph by Ken Ragless: courtesy the Ron Blum collection. This page bottom: Betty Corbin and Jock Davidson Craig in her Sunbeam 16. Courtesy Sporting Car Club of SA Inc. 41

Above: Rex Tilbrook and Alan Wallis aboard #51 Tilbrook. 26 January 1952. Photograph courtesy Jim Scaysbrook.

Alan was the protégé of Rex Tilbrook. An irrepressible character, Tilbrook had established a motorcycle accessory and sidecar business without parallel, R P Tilbrook at 64 Bridge Street, Kensington, and in secret, decided post-War to build complete Villiers-engined motorcycles. His accomplice in this eponymous venture, a young Wallis was enticed at the end of his day as a toolroom apprentice at Pope Products, to work undercover alongside Tilbrook in the development of the motorcycle project. Teamed with Rex, Alan became a factory rider and still owns the very bike he raced successfully, along with four other Tilbrook examples. Alan raced against his boss. ‘I was two stone lighter than Rex. I didn’t have his business worries and I rode a bike every day. Yes, I was faster.’ On the vagaries of beach racing, Alan recalled riding through a puddle, spray from which shut down the spark plug just as he was about to take the lead from ace rider, Bill Watson. Later, using special petrol-soaked gauze to protect his engine from salt, sand and spray, Alan cleaned up. ‘A lot of riders slid out wide around the turns. I learned to ride around the drums at the end of the course so close-in I could tap them.’ Sellicks Beach attracted international attention for speed recordbreaking. In 1925, American rider, Paul Anderson cracked 125mph over a half-mile on an eight-valve Indian motorcycle. On another occasion, local hero, Wally Woollatt donned combination underwear to reduce weight and drag. To avoid embarrassment, Mrs Woollatt

dyed the garment black. It was a hot day. Wally perspired profusely and the dye ran. As did the newspaper reports. Motorcycles came in many guises: Excelsior, AJS, Velocette, Indian, Douglas, Triumph, Norton, Matchless, Rudge, and Ariel – with riders usually linked to the brand of their choice. Champions Bruce Hector and Clem Foster preferred the Norton marque. Les Diener raced Velocettes and Les Fredericks was Triumph-mounted. One noted Sellicks pairing was Allan Beatty and his much-raced Imperial, whereas Clem Jeffery epitomised the amateur effort aboard his mildly-tuned Velocette. In 1935, record-breaking by cars saw three members of the Adelaide establishment tackle the sands of Sellicks. John Dutton (Vauxhall 30/98) reached 92.34mph, Warren Bonython squeezed 76.49mph out of his diminutive 748cc MG J2 and the infamous ‘Bungaree Bastard’ reached 110mph before a broken piston put paid to Peter Hawker’s record bid. ‘The attempt required a mile of copper wire to connect timing gear at each end of the measured course’, recalled Ray Pank. ‘At that time, my father was with Adelaide Electric Supply Company so I was dispatched to requisition the wire which was duly loaned for the purpose.’ On Easter Monday, 1950, Eldred deBracton Norman, a renowned eccentric, entered his awesome twin Ford V8-engined special, the Double Eight, driven by speedway legend, Harry Neale. Blindingly fast and beyond raucous, the car was well out in front of the pack when Neale lost control.

Above: Warren, John and Kym Bonython preparing for a record run in 1935. Photograph courtesy Sporting Car Club of SA Inc.

Above: Racing paraphernalia including a lorry to lean on. c1925. Photograph by Ken Ragless: courtesy the Ron Blum collection.

As motoring scribe and engineer, Albert Ludgate reported in Cars magazine: ‘Before the crowd realised what was happening, the Ford was out of control and with a mighty splash charged into the sea. Such was the force of the water that the body was ripped off the chassis, leaving Harry sitting on the chassis, unhurt, but very wet.’ Eldred Norman’s can-do, larrikin spirit was evidenced in the way he once retrieved the telephone cables laid out for communication between officials at each end of the Sellicks Beach course. He simply fitted a bare rim to the Double Eight rear axle, put a jack under the beast, fired up the twin V8s and reeled in a mile of line.

Norman also raced a Grand Prix Maserati 6CM and a Singer 1500 production tourer at Sellicks Beach, usually with success. Although start times were programmed, the waters of Gulf St Vincent decided the ultimate order of events. ‘We would arrive in the morning and assess the beach’, remembered Ray. ‘It was pretty flat and hard in those days, but the tide was not always predictable, and sometimes we had to finish early. And the position of the mile-long course was never the same. It all depended on the conditions of the day.’ >

‘On one occasion Granton Harrison took off down the beach with his girlfriend in the family saloon. Too busy to notice the incoming tide,’ Ray mused, ‘they were stranded.’ Sand and sea-spray required vehicles to be hosed down. ‘In those days’, according to Ray, ‘by the time we returned to the city, the rough roads shook a fair bit off!’ For Alan, post-event meant hours of extra work. ‘The bikes had many alloy parts and they corroded quickly. I didn’t just wash the bike down. I took the entire machine apart and cleaned every bit of it.’ Both men agreed. Racing at Sellicks Beach was fun. A wonderful free-spirited picnic atmosphere prevailed and almost every club member participated: either riding, driving or marshalling. ‘They were great days,’ Ray reminisced. ‘Hard to believe we started the Sporting Car Club 80 years ago and our very first speed event was on Sellicks Beach.’ Mixed car and motorcycle programs were run until Willunga Council put an end to beach racing in 1953. A re-enactment staged in 1986 as the Council’s contribution to the State’s sesquicentenary celebrations saw a crowd of 40,000 attend. Many of the entrants were original beach racers. A second re-enactment took place in 1992, and there is a proposal afoot for another nostalgic run on the beach in the foreseeable future. One more turn of the tide?

Top left: Wally Woollatt Douglas-mounted c1925. Bottom left: Pre-race breakfast at Sellicks Beach. 1948. Photo courtesy Jim Scaysbrook. Top right: AMS cover, June 1950: Double 8 at Sellicks. Author’s collection. Bottom right: Clem Jeffery at speed on Velocette c1952. Photo courtesy Brian Jeffery.

Special thanks to: Ray Pank, Alan Wallis, Richard Rake, David Parkinson, Ron Blum, Brian Jeffery, Jim Scaysbrook, Michael Gasking, Ivan Hoffman (Sporting Car Club of SA Inc.)

Fleurieu Peninsula ~to the~

.COM.AU To book your next holiday or to make your holiday home available for rent, contact Harcourts South Coast T: (08) 8552 5744 or visit www.sabeachhouse.com.au

Frontier spirits

Quentin Chester finds that ’... a tasting session here is about the zesty tipples. But it can also feel like you’re joining a campfire, a place of openness and warmth where travellers suddenly find themselves sharing stories, ideas and recipes ...’ What’s the recipe for a terrific boutique distillery? Take a friendly, hardworking, ingenious couple. Plonk them on an island with oodles of local ingredients. Knock together a makeshift cellar door. Bewitch passing travellers with your brews. Add a swig of quirky charm, and voilà you’ve got Kangaroo Island Spirits. In just six short years Jon and Sarah Lark have transformed the backyard shed at their Cygnet River home into a spiritual hub. From humble beginnings – flogging $130 worth of lime-infused hooch at a local farmer’s field day – they now turn out hundreds of litres of luscious liqueurs and some of Australia’s most acclaimed gins. Along the way the Larks keep scooping up small business awards and the kind of swooning reviews that most foodie and bevvy venues can only dream about. There are a lot of ingredients in the mix here. Among the strongest is a twist of surprise. When you bowl up at the cellar door it looks like a knockabout farmhouse: kids bikes, plants spilling out of pots, the odd shipping container, lots of come-in-handy-one-day stuff and a couple of dogs sniffing around. 46

For some of the Island’s swish international clientele it looms like a backwoods bootleg joint. But once you’re tucked inside KIS’s cosy den-like distillery and slurping Wild Gin or Honey and Walnut Liqueur all is forgiven. There’s a disarming range of goodies to tweak the taste buds: smooth vodkas variously perked with chilli, pepper and local samphire; spicy, citrus-infused liqueurs; a wild-fennel fuelled Anisette; and Nocino, their unctuous digestivo concocted from green walnuts. These are seriously fine drops – inventive, handcrafted and imbued with the essence of place. Their quality is globally recognised with more than a dozen medals garnered from international wine and spirit competitions in London, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Yet, as tempting as these tipples are, there’s much more to the KIS tale than what’s in the bottle. It’s a long way from the lush pastures of Kangaroo Island to the heart of the Great Victoria Desert. But it’s out there among the red dunes and spinifex that Jon and Sarah Lark first met in the late 1990s. They were working with the people of Tjuntjuntjara, 680km northwest of Kalgoorlie – one of the most remote human settlements on earth.

For more than a decade Bill Lark’s Hobart distillery had been hugely successful producer of single malt whiskey. After a brief learning stint in Tassie, Jon returned with one of his brother’s old stills and set to work in the shed.

Previous page: : Jon and Sarah Lark showing some of the raw ingredients that go into their range of spirits. Above right: Juniper – foraged on the island and used to create their award winning gin (shown above).

The Larks maintain their connection to this remarkable frontier. And in many subtle ways the KIS experience is flavoured by their regard for bush-style hospitality. All the same, how did a couple of desert dwellers end up on Kangaroo Island driving an eighty litre still? Part of the answer lies in the protean, can-do character of Jon Lark. As well as his thirty year connection with outback Aboriginal communities, he’s also been a zoo keeper; reptile enthusiast (his bush nickname is Snaky); Tasmanian Wilderness campaigner and student of aquaculture. (One of his projects was setting up a barramundi farming centre at Parndana.) In short, versatile thinking has never been a stretch. As he and Sarah contemplated a new beginning together with their two young boys, Kangaroo Island stood out as a future home. ‘Because of our background in the bush we liked the idea of being remote but still close enough to town,’ says Jon. ‘It was also a good place for the boys to be; for us to be together as a family.’ Having a go with spirit making came to the fore after catching up with Jon’s brother at their wedding. For more than a decade Bill Lark’s Hobart distillery had been hugely successful producer of single malt whiskey. After a brief learning stint in Tassie, Jon returned with one of his brother’s old stills and set to work in the shed.

Both as a destination and a source of flavoursome ingredients, Kangaroo Island has been at the heart of their story. As Sarah notes: ‘People are drawn to the place because of the natural attractions and the beginnings of a local food and wine culture. That’s been good for us.’ Though sceptical at first, the locals too have embraced the KIS concept. All sorts of island produce – from mulberries and samphire, to honey and coastal daisy bush – have winkled their way into the Lark’s back-shed wizardry. ‘We still get old blokes pulling up in their utes with a box load of lemons for our Limoncello,’ says Jon with an owlish smile. Though trying to grow a business from a remote island location is a constant challenge, it’s hard to ignore the intuitive, almost seamless cocktail of connections between community, place and product. As Jon says: ‘People appreciate the flavours, where it’s made and how it’s made. They really relate to the locovore quality of what we do.’ This is the thoughtful reality that sets KIS apart. Yes, a tasting session here is about the zesty tipples. But it can also feel like you’re joining a campfire, a place of openness and warmth where travellers suddenly find themselves sharing stories, ideas and recipes. Amid this shed’s giddy swirl of flavours, perhaps the most lasting sensation of all is a simple generosity of spirit.

Over many months he and Sarah tinkered with a melange of botanical ingredients – including native juniper – to power their home-grown version of a drink they both loved. The result was the KIS Wild Gin, a wonderfully floral and distinctive ‘new world’ spirit. It’s been a runaway, multi-medal winning success with a ten-fold increase in sales over just four years. 47

FOOD & WINE

TASTE THE SEASON:

Artichokes – the edible thistle also known as a Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) Story by Leonie Porter-Nocella. Photograph by Karen Waller.

Artichokes at Virgara’s Garden stall at the Willunga Farmers’ Market.

The naturally occurring variant of the artichoke, the cardoon, is native to the Mediterranean, and known to have been eaten by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Varieties of artichoke have been cultivated in Sicily since the time of the ancient Greeks, with the Greeks calling them kaktos. In that period the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, which via means of cultivation were already an improvement on the wild variety. The Romans called the vegetable carduus (hence the name cardoon). Artichoke tea is produced commercially in Vietnam. The flower is put into water and consumed as an herbal tea, which is also used in Mexico as a beverage they call alcachofa. It has a slightly bitter, woody taste. Artichoke is the primary ingredient in the Italian liqueur, Cynar (16.5% alcohol) and is also quite bitter (but yummy if you’re into bitter). The antioxidant capacity of artichoke flower heads is considered to be one of the highest found in vegetables, with the antioxidant component located mainly in the pulp of the leaves. Studies have shown that artichoke aids digestion, liver and gall bladder function, and raises the ratio of HDL to LDL … which of course reduces overall cholesterol levels. Artichoke leaf extract can be helpful for patients with dyspepsia, and may even ameliorate that bane of our modern lifestyle – irritable bowel syndrome. NOTE: The following is a slightly modified version of a recipe from Donnini’s Pasta Book by Tiberio Donnini, 1984.

Pasta con carciofi Pasta with artichokes Our friend Lesa makes this recipe every Spring using the fresh artichokes she grows in her back yard at Port Willunga. She also makes the pasta from scratch – adding to the freshness of this very tasty dish. It is one of those family traditions that everybody loves. (If you use dried pasta just follow the cooking time given on the packet.) 6 artichokes juice of 2 lemons 3 - 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon butter (or to taste) 1 small onion thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon celery, finely chopped salt freshly ground pepper freshly grated parmesan Remove the coarse external leaves from the artichoke and discard them. Cut the artichokes into lengthwise quarters, cover and soak for no less than an hour in cold water, acidulated with the juice of the lemons. Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan and gently brown the onion, garlic and celery taking care that the butter does not burn. Add the artichoke quarters and salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further thirty minutes stirring frequently. Serve with short pasta and plenty of parmesan.

Esther Thorn takes comfort in a

Very cool HarBar Photographs by emme jade.

It took three attempts by three different people to convince Simon and Kirsten Pitman to transform Victor Harbor’s old Chinese restaurant into a coolly sophisticated bar with an uncompromising menu. ‘The first time someone told me we should set up a wine bar I just said no way, Victor isn’t ready for such a venture,’ says Simon. But by the third time, the proposition had taken root in the couple’s imagination and Simon and Kirsten decided to have a proper look at the long-vacant upstairs restaurant on Ocean Street. ‘This space had been empty for as long as we’d been in Victor Harbor and I’d always thought it would make a great bar,’ says Kirsten. Just 12 months on, HarBar is much more than just a great bar. The generous light-filled warehouse-style room now exudes an ambience of cool industrial-style chic. The polished concrete floor and steel grey ‘Tolix’-style stools accent an ocean-inspired palette. A handcrafted recycled timber bar takes centre stage and sets the scene for the Pitman’s unwavering commitment to showcasing the Fleurieu Peninsula. Communal tables were constructed by third-generation Victor Harbor carpenter, Don Rumbelow, while a lively mural adorning the rear wall was painted by Myponga artist and HarBar hostess, Raini Houston-Curtis. But Simon and Kirsten Pitman’s choice to use local talent wherever possible extends far beyond just the aesthetics. Head chef Daniel McLellan grew up in Victor Harbor and on a return trip to the town was so struck by HarBar and the Pitman’s passion for fine dining that he immediately asked if he could work for them. Daniel describes his style as ‘Tapas with a twist’ – flavoursome morsels of food that are best shared. ‘I like to take people on a journey around the world,’ he says. ‘There’ll be Spanish-, Mexican-, French- and Asian-inspired food on the menu. We’ll be throwing it all out there to see what people like; then the sky’s the limit.’

Previous page: Some of the fantastic food on offer at Harbar. This page top: HarBar owners Simon and Kirsten Pitman relaxing at the bar. Above: Chef Daniel McLellan serving up some tasty treats.

The current menu would satisfy even the most discerning gourmand with a choice of sherry-braised chorizo, spiced soft-shell crab with watermelon and sesame dressing or a panko-crumbed quinoa burger. Sweet offerings include a hazelnut and honeycomb parfait and a chocolate and cardamom brulee among other equally delectable options. ‘Whatever we can find locally we will use,’ Daniel says. ‘South Australia is producing some amazing food at the moment.’ HarBar’s wine list is also a lesson in the local, showcasing Mt Billy Wines, Oliver’s Taranga McLaren Vale and William Barrett Wines to name but a few. ‘I love it that the person who makes the wine is the same person who drops it off,’ says Kirsten. > 51

FOOD & WINE

Above left: Patrons enjoying the atmosphere. Above right: A great selection of drinks on offer at the eclectic bar.

Establishing HarBar has been a labour of love for Simon and Kirsten and hasn’t entirely been smooth sailing. The first obstacle to overcome was accessibility; the only entranceway was via a set of stairs. ‘It took four people to get the bar fridge up the stairs,’ laughs Kirsten ruefully. ‘We needed lifting straps and it was so heavy one almost broke.’ The location posed another, more intangible problem. ‘This (venue) had been such a despondent little place for so long that people had forgotten about it,’ Kirsten says. ‘We’ve had to remind people to look up and see that we’re here.’ In many ways the couple is forging new territory in a changing socioeconomic landscape. ‘We’re pioneers,’ says Simon. ‘In the lead-up to buying (HarBar) we started to notice the Victor Harbor demographic was changing and we saw an opening in the market.’ The Pitmans are no strangers to taking on a hospitality challenge. Fifteen years ago, while working as a Coca Cola representative, Simon befriended Victor Harbor identity Nino Solari, the founder of the iconic family restaurant Nino’s. ‘One day Nino jokingly said “you should buy this place”’. The casual remark struck a chord and

he went home and asked Kirsten if she wanted to take over Nino’s. Since then the couple has breathed new life into the restaurant, returning it to its former glory as a place where childhood memories of holiday family-dinners are forged. But for Simon and Kirsten their latest venture is a far more personal experience. ‘Nino’s is the house we bought but HarBar is the house we built,’ smiles Kirsten. ‘When we go to Melbourne or Adelaide we go to wine and tapas bars and we wanted to create the type of venue we love, but in Victor Harbor.’ And slowly but surely HarBar is gaining a loyal following. On Friday and Saturday nights, especially during the summertime, the venue truly comes alive with music by a range of artists playing everything from laid-back Motown rhythms to toe-tapping funk tunes. ‘I’d love for HarBar to be the place people go to for a special occasion or just a place to go for a night out with your partner,’ says Kirsten. ‘Often people come up to try us and then a couple of weeks later return with a big group.’ HarBar is situated upstairs in Harbor Mall at Ocean Street, Victor Harbor. It’s open from Thursday to Saturdays from 5pm until very late and also for lunch on Fridays. For bookings email harbarvictor@gmail.com or ph. 8552 9883.

LIVE THE ADVENTURE! Fleurieu Peninsula, the place to be! Stunning natural scenery of rolling hills and vineyards, broken only by picturesque beaches and rugged coastlines. If your interest is in food, wine, culture, nature and wildlife â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Fleurieu Peninsula has it all. Culture. Adventure. Life.

So much to do, so much to see! Just 45 minutes from Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula offers a tapestry of experiences showcasing the best of South Australia. For more information, please go to www.fleurieupeninsula.com.au

MUSIC & BOOKS

Book Reviews by Mike Lucas.

Books that Changed the World by Andrew Taylor

Published by Quercus ISBN 9781782069423 $19.99

and the legacy left for the next generation of radical thinkers. Whether you agree with the selection or not, there is no denying that books have been, and continue to be, one of the greatest weapons of change that have, ironically, brought us to the point where their own existence is threatened.

From the Bible to Harry Potter, from the Kama Sutra to the Telephone Directory, Andrew Taylor has narrowed the millions of literary and reference titles available down to fifty that could arguably be regarded as the most influential and revolutionary books since humans learned to communicate via the written word. Geography, medicine, mathematics, politics and economy are just some of the fields where foundations have been built upon the page, allowing for great leaps towards the levels of understanding that we have attained today. Shakespeare, Austen, Lawrence and Salinger have all broken trends and taboos, opening and educating minds and lighting the way for others to follow. Many of these have not only been recorders of history, but also creators of it and Andrew Taylor has, for each book, captured the tale behind the tale, the inspiration behind the inspiring

love and sadness. Bo’s adventurous tales of his journeys to Antarctica and Macquarie Island fill Isla with a longing to one day follow in his footsteps. Yet the simple, memorable moments of Isla’s new home life over two summers seem to resonate louder and sink deeper and bring us closer to these two principal characters. Other people remain on the periphery of this story and at times when Bo and Isla meet, their relationship, like the small island where Bo’s ship docks and the two become friends, is felt to exist in moderate isolation from the rest of the world.

When the Night Comes by Favel Parrett

Published by Hachette Australia ISBN 9780733626586 $27.99 Favel Parrett’s first novel, Past the Shallows, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award in 2012. Her stark and honest style that gradually and enticingly colours in the outline of seemingly unremarkable human lives is repeated in her new novel, When the Night Comes. This is the story of Isla, her brother and her mother, who, after a marriage break-up, move from the Tasmanian city of Hobart to a nearby island. Here, Isla’s mother befriends a Danish sailor, Bo, from a visiting ship and it is Isla’s and Bo’s overlapping and contrasting stories that are told with both 54

What Milo Saw by Virginia MacGregor Published by Sphere ISBN 9780751554250 $29.99 Virginia MacGregor’s debut novel touches on a number of serious subjects while maintaining a comfortable level of lightheartedness and humour. Writing about adult themes from a child’s point of view is becoming increasingly popular, and the book skilfully captures nine year-old Milo

Bully on the Bus

Moon’s take on his family’s life in the small town of Slipton. Milo suffers from Retinitis Pigmentosa which narrows his physical view of the world. However, it is this disability that conversely enables him to see more clearly what others cannot. When his Gran is put into care by his loving but selfobsessed mother, Milo notices that things aren’t quite right within the nursing home. With the help of a Syrian refugee, Spiri, and with his pet pig, Hamlet, in tow, Milo sets out to uncover the truth about the Forget Me Not Residential Home. On top of this Milo is coping with the recent break-up of his parents, partly blaming himself for the events which led to it. What you take from this story is the stark fact that life is not always rosy, that perception is just as important as reality and your individual view of life has the power to change it for the better.

The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew by Eli Glasman

Published by Hardie Grant Australia ISBN 9780987507013 $19.99 This is a coming of age tale of a teenage boy facing tough decisions about his sexuality, made even more arduous by his rigid Jewish upbringing. Eli Glasman, being born in the story’s orthodox community of Caulfield, Melbourne, paints a detailed view of some strict Jewish traditions, providing the reader with a fascinating insight into one of the oldest religions in the world. Then there’s seventeen year-old Yossi with a practically impossible dilemma: should he come out to his family, his schoolmates and his community, or should he live the rest of his life as a lie; marry a girl, settle down and raise a family as religious convention dictates? His inner battles with his own interpretation of the Torah and the teachings of the local Rabbis are given an outer voice when he meets Josh, a new student who sees the Jewish faith as more of a chore than a way of life. And when Josh invites

by Kathryn Apel

Published by University of Queensland Press ISBN 9780702253287 $14.95

Yossi to a synagogue in his neighbourhood, Yossi is able to see that he is not alone in his struggles. This book openly discusses the changing face of religion in the modern world and whether there is a need to sacrifice one’s happiness for the reputation and gratification of others.

This is a wonderfully appealing example of the increasingly popular verse novel that adds a new dimension to reading for younger children. Kathryn Apel’s use of descriptive language and dynamic structure provides an ideal platform for children to discuss the mechanics of poetry while enjoying the inspiring tale of Leroy and the Bully on the Bus. Leroy loves school, but the journeys there and back are spoiling every day of the week. The driver is too busy driving and the other children are too scared to say anything. His teacher and his parents have no idea of the misery the bully is causing. When his sister, Ruby, tries to convince Leroy to tell somebody, he is given the chance to change everything for the better. Metaphors and alliteration abound and the verse truly allows the story to run at the right pace, with the right voice and the right intonation. At a time when poetry is playing such a critical part in the modern Australian curriculum, books such as this are an ideal way to introduce children to the genre without having them work too hard analysing and speculating. And on top of this, the story carries a serious message which should not be ignored.

Life on the Grange James Howe discovers there’s more to free range meat business, Wakefield Grange, than its idyllic country setting. Photographs by Holly Dauk. Above: The Wakefields in front of their farm-house near Yankalilla.

For me, the countryside around the Wakefield’s property is powerfully soothing — there’s just something about cows on green hills. Not for Nathen Wakefield though: I imagine he just sees work, multiplied by the number of cows and the steepness of the slope. I discovered plans had changed upon rolling down the Wakefield’s gravel driveway and greeting Sophie Wakefield in her front garden. Apparently Nathen, who had intended to join us, had been called away to handle a breakout of cows. The animals had found a weak point in the fence and walked through it, and were standing on a neighbour’s hobby farm. The breach was threatening to skew local understanding of the term ‘free range’.

surrounding this 400-acre parcel of lush fields tucked between Myponga and Yankalilla. Having come from 180,000 droughtstricken acres in southern NSW, life has changed for the Wakefields. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: meat. ‘Nathen grew up on a farm, so he’s always had the luxury of being able to eat his own meat’, said Sophie. Wakefield Grange, their year-old business, is little more than an extension of this earthy farmhouse philosophy. Meat, in this case produced with respect to animal ethics and organic farming principles, travels directly from paddock to plate via the shortest route possible. It’s a simple and ancient practice, but it strikes a chord with the modern consumer.

‘He’s just gone to stand the fence back up before they eat their yard out’, said Sophie. ‘We like to keep our neighbours happy.’

‘Increasingly, shoppers are demanding sustainably grown meat produced free from maligned processes such as sow stalls’, said Sophie. ‘People are starting to get a lot more interested in where their food is coming from, with a particular focus on animal ethics — if people knew why that steak is only $6.99 on the Coles shelf, there’s no way they would eat it’, she said. ‘Cheap meat is heavilyindustrialised factory farming — it’s animal cruelty on a mass scale.’

Neighbours: they’re a new phenomenon for the Wakefields. As are green hills, shops, sealed roads ... pretty much everything

But free range isn’t just about being nice to animals. ‘It makes the meat taste better’, said Sophie. And, importantly, it sells well. ‘The

demand for free range local pork is so high that chefs in this area are unable to put free range local pork on their menus on a full-time basis’, she said. So how did this salt-of-the-earth family, with a background in broadacre wheat and sheep farming, find themselves at the centre of a very trendy, very hipster food revolution? To find out, it’s necessary to go back to the beginning, when Sophie was a governess, and Nathen was a wild goat wrangler … ‘After finishing my schooling, I just needed a break’, explained Sophie, who grew up in Keith in south-eastern South Australia. ‘Some of my friends were heading off for a gap year overseas, but I couldn’t afford to do that. I wanted a cultural experience, and I thought the next best thing was to go governessing’. She wound up near Ivanhoe, NSW, teaching four girls at a remote outback farmhouse. As fate would have it, Nathen visited the same property, although he was drawn by something very different: feral goats. ‘Feral goats are quite destructive to the land, but they’re also excellent money in the export market’, explained Sophie. A contract feral goat musterer, Nathen sold his goats to Sophie’s boss, who happened to be the local buyer. Introductions were made, and Nathen and Sophie got together. >

‘Increasingly, shoppers are demanding sustainably grown meat produced free from maligned processes such as sow stalls’, said Sophie. ‘People are starting to get a lot more interested in where their food is coming from, with a particular focus on animal ethics — if people knew why that steak is only $6.99 on the Coles shelf, there’s no way they would eat it’, she said. Top: “Baaaaaaaaa.” Above left and right: The Wakefields deliver the full supply chain circle – growing the meat and creating a range of products including high quality charcuterie items.

That’s our ultimate goal here: to breed it all ourselves and own the supply chain from start to finish’, said Sophie.

Above left: The place is teaming with fresh products. Above right: Nathan prepares a fresh roast.

Sometime later they returned to Nathen’s family property, 100km northeast of Mildura. They had originally intended to take the farm over, but it gradually dawned on them that they would have a bleak future if they did so. ‘Nathen’s parents had experienced a lot of devastation through their time farming’, said Sophie. ‘There were bush fires in the 1970s that destroyed over 90 percent of the property, they had floods, they had two droughts ...’ To boot, Sophie and Nathen knew they would have to send their three children to boarding school — at a cost of $450,000 — or go separate ways for a time, with Sophie living in the city and Nathen remaining on the farm. ‘We decided to stick it out for two years, but at the end of those two years we decided it wasn’t working. That was when we sought Nathen’s family’s blessing and sold the family property’, said Sophie.

with glass display cabinets brimming with lamb, steaks and pork chops. The meat comes via the expansive boning room out the back of the shop, home to a full-time butcher who works with Nathen (also a qualified butcher) to dress and hang the Wakefield Grange produce, and the small amount of beef and lamb the business sources from neighbouring farms.

Fortunately, Sophie and Nathen knew exactly where to go next. They had spotted their dream Fleurieu Peninsula property on the market two years earlier, but weren’t at that time ready to make the shift. Remarkably, when they sold the farm the property was still for sale. So they bought it. That was only a year ago, but you wouldn’t guess it stepping onto their farm — they’ve done a lot in that time. There’s a butchers shop 58

The Wakefields currently have a mob of 60 breeding cows and two sows, soon to be expanded to five. It’s not enough though, of course. The Wakefield’s have big plans. They hope to open a poultry slaughterhouse, for example, should they pass the stringent approval process. ‘If it looks like it’s going to be successful, we’ll also apply to slaughter our own beef, lamb and pork. That’s our ultimate goal here: to breed it all ourselves and own the supply chain from start to finish’, said Sophie. That, combined with a planned charcuterie facility that will allow them to use the whole beast nose-to-tail, means there will be very little they’ll have to outsource. It means a lot of work, of course, but they don’t mind. ‘Farm work is a fun family activity!’ said Sophie. Perhaps she’s right. But for my part, I’m happy standing at a distance, just watching those cows on green hills.

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Fleurieu Four Seasons Prize for Landscape Photography capturing the essence of the Western Fleurieu Peninsula

Entries close Friday 14 November $15,000 Main Prize finalists to be revealed in January 2015 and feature in a major exhibition during Festival Fleurieu April 2015. $2,000 People’s Choice Award on-line voting to occur December/January. Prize and Award winners will be announced in April 2015. For more information: http://fleurieufourseasons.com.au/

MUSIC & BOOKS

Eve Walsh asks whether it’ll be

The wrapping paper or the toy? I realise that Fleurieu Living Magazine may not be in the hands of a new, sleep deprived parent right now, but for those of you with the pleasure of flicking through this great magazine, I’d love you to tell your parenting friends about the following article. As a local mum and Social Worker it’s great to be able to share my passion with those I live and rub shoulders with, and from whom I’ve also learnt. As someone who is not naturally a visionary person, I’ve unquestionably seen the evidence of how stepping out of your comfort zone can bring a sense of freedom and achievement beyond your imagination. ‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone’ said Neale Walsch. And that it did! The book, Easy play ideas for a fun time Out of the Pen, was born after I gave birth to my first daughter, Emma. I came to realise that women tend to be launched into a kind of ‘baby vacuum’, giving all of their energy and time to a dependent little life. While it can be deeply satisfying, let’s face it, it can also become mundane, tiring and isolating. We may have gone from being an efficient, flexible person in a satisfying job, to trying to tick the same things off the same ‘todo’ list three days in a row. As a new parent your friends may change and you now find yourself talking for hours about your babies’ habits and new tricks in the solace of your new-found mums’ group. Unfortunately, I experienced Post Natal Depression (PND) which made it extremely difficult for me to enjoy either the caring for, or the connecting with Emma. I’ve discovered that even if you don’t get PND, mums especially have this knack of thinking themselves into feeling inadequate by comparing what we do or don’t do for our child with other apparent ‘wonder mums’. Hence the theme for this book is to encourage new parents to be their best, not someone else’s. Like any new job, it can take time and practice to feel confident in knowing how to care for, connect with and grow this slippery, screaming, inquisitive and precious little life. Out of the Pen is intended to lift parents up rather than make them feel guilty about what they ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ be doing with their baby. We believe that each parent has their own measure of common sense, their own strengths, attributes and style. With this in mind we advocate recognising these things in ourselves and others, and celebrating and valuing them. You may recall family Christmas-scenes with papers strewn all over the living room, and among all the gifts and wrappings, what is the baby playing with? It’s highly likely he or she is revelling in the wrappers or the packaging. So why do we feel guilty or think we’re

Above: Grace enjoying some music time. Photograph by Wendy Rogers.

not doing enough for our baby when we give them paper to explore … or better still, paper stuffed into a box? Out of the Pen aims to empower and equip new parents with practical and easy play ideas for babies under 12 months. The book is unique in that it raises the profile of the humble box and peg to entertainment status. It shows that you can grow and nurture your baby using cheap or free items around the home – without needing an arts degree, and no matter how you were raised, or whether or not you’re feeling down. Brian Tracy say ‘To achieve something you’ve never achieved before, you must become someone you’ve never been before’. Hence, this is where the wonderful character- and life-changing journey into parenthood begins. It has taken a team to spruce this book up, including local Contributor Anita Webster, Editor Heather Millar, Graphic Designer Brooke Walker, and beautifully illustrated with photos of Fleurieu babes by Wendy Rogers of Moments of Essence Photography. Take a sneak peak at www.bebestgroup.com. You can try a chapter before you buy and enjoy the rest of what we have to offer new mums. RRP $24.95

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Above: The gorgeous and verdant viticultural landscape of McLaren Vale. Photograph by Dragan Radocaj.

Could UNESCO listing be a rising tide that lifts all boats? Stephanie Johnston discovers why McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu are taking a lead role in the Mount Lofty Ranges World Heritage bid. ‘UNESCO World Heritage listing will really put McLaren Vale on the world stage’, says Corrina Wright, Winemaker and Director at Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards. Founder of Beach Road wines, and 2003 Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year, Briony Hoare agrees. She believes that the listing is all about preserving the quality, character and life of the region: ‘People beyond the boundaries of McLaren Vale, indeed globally, will recognise the heritage we have.’ Briony followed her passion for Italian varietals to Piedmont in Northern Italy, where UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recently voted to add the vineyard landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato to its elite group of cultural and natural sites. There are only around a dozen agricultural landscapes among the 1,007 sites on UNESCO’s list. Other agricultural listings include Alto Douro in Portugal, the Val d’Orcia in southern Tuscany, Cinque Terre on Italy’s Ligurian Coast, Bordeaux’s Saint Emilion, the Cordilleras rice terraces in the Philippines, Jalisco’s tequila-producing region in Mexico, and the villages and surrounding landscape of Hungary’s Tokaj wine region. Champagne, Burgundy and the Cape Winelands in South Africa are all currently throwing their respective hats in the ring. 62

A consortium of six South Australian councils is leading the bid, which spans the world-renowned Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Fleurieu. The McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association recently decided to get behind them, the first industry body to do so. For association Chair Tom Harvey, it was a no-brainer: ‘If we can use an important brand benchmark like the UNESCO World Heritage list, it helps producers value-add to their product’, he explains. Herdwick sheep breeder and self-confessed ‘super nerd’ on the potential benefits of world heritage listing, James Rebanks recently visited McLaren Vale to speak to a gathering of food, wine and tourism business leaders from all over the Fleurieu. Rebanks was instrumental in getting the British government behind the Lake District’s World Heritage project, and is the author of a seminal study of World Heritage sites and their ability to deliver socioeconomic benefits. ‘World Heritage listing endorses your specialness and gives you a global platform, as it’s endorsed by 190 countries around the world’, he told the audience. ‘If you are prepared, and know what to do with that, you can really use it to push on to do the things that you do really, really well, and to help bring money into the region in a

Above: A working, evolving agricultural landscape is key to the World Heritage Bid. Photo courtesy of McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association.

A consortium of six South Australian councils is leading the bid, which spans the worldrenowned Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Fleurieu. The McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association recently decided to get behind them, the first industry body to do so. For association Chair Tom Harvey, it was a nobrainer: ‘If we can use an important brand benchmark like the UNESCO World Heritage list, it helps producers value-add to their product’, he explains. range of different ways to help sustain what makes you so special in the first place.’ Rebanks’ research revealed that for a growing number of sites, gaining UNESCO status creates a situation whereby a region collectively asks itself the critical question, ‘Why is our place unique, special and globally important?’ ‘A handful of World Heritage sites have, as a result of answering that question, found themselves at the cutting edge of a movement around the world that seeks to focus the economic development of places on their uniqueness, their authenticity, their distinct sense of place, and the depth of their identity and culture’, he explained. ‘They use the added stimulus of UNESCO status to engage with the rest of the world from a position of confidence, selling distinct products and services at added value based upon their provenance.’ Rebanks pointed out that achieving these aspirations is not easy, nor is it achieved on the cheap. Successful places direct significant effort and investment into achieving those aims, but it appears that UNESCO status, with the catalyst and confidence it instigates, can play a significant role in this movement to high quality and distinctiveness. For Professor in Global Food Studies at the University of Adelaide Randy Stringer, it all comes down to answering one question: ‘If we >

Above: A lifestyle worth preserving and promoting. Photo courtesy of McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association.

Top: An old wine press stands proud as part of the heritage of the region. Photo courtesy of McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association. Above left: Barley Fields at Bowering Hill. Photo from the book McLaren Vale: Trott’s View courtesy of Wakefield Press. Above right: A picturesque country road on the range Photography by Leeo Photography.

have a chance, why wouldn’t we want our region to be recognised as part of an exceptional group of agricultural landscapes that include the Loire Valley, Cinque Terra, Alto Douro and Tequila?’ Stringer does understand that many of us are just plain incredulous at the whole notion. A common reaction is to ask how can we possibly be part of such an elite group. For most of us, the Mount Lofty Ranges landscape is merely our backyard. While it is easy for us to see the simple, tangible value of the produce – its wine, apples, cherries, eggs and cheeses – it is often difficult for us to see and recognise the diverse, less tangible values that reflect the utopian origins and wealth of the landscape itself. And it’s even more difficult for us to see the many ways those less tangible values contribute to our sense of place and the ‘liveability’ of our region. According to Stringer, when viewed on our maps, city boundaries and rural landscape are two separate geographies. In our daily lives, no such boundary exists, as we use and depend on our rural landscape the same way we use and depend on our city parks and beaches. ‘We take weekend drives through it, we trek through it, and we ride our bikes through it. We put our visiting rellies in the car to show off those vistas, vineyards, orchards and charming villages.’

Similarly, what we buy at the market and supermarket can influence what is produced in the nearby countryside – shaping and reshaping how the landscape appears. It is important to farmers and landowners that the listing will be for a working, evolving landscape under local planning control. They will still be able to change crops, develop their businesses and build the infrastructure they need. Listing will not freeze the landscape in one moment in time, nor hand over planning control to UNESCO. Justin McNamee at Samuel’s Gorge is constantly reminded of how special his cellar door location is, on its ridge overlooking Onkaparinga Gorge, with views across vineyards to the Gulf of St Vincent: ‘The landscape along the ocean, our relationship with the ocean, and our history and wine culture is very significant’, he says. ‘The first wineries were built in 1837 ... When people visit they truly declare often, that it is one of their most unique discoveries ... in a global sense.’ ‘McLaren Vale is like a microcosm of South Australia’, adds PhD candidate Bill Skinner, whose thesis is around place-making and regional identity in the McLaren Vale wine region.

Experts involved in the bid are mapping the natural and cultural features of the landscape, the Aboriginal stories and sites, as well as the original surveys and layers of settlement. Contemporaneous German and British settlement and an intensity of cultivation over generations of family-owned farms have created distinctive evolving mosaic patterns in the landscape. Top: The Coriole Music Festival. From the book McLaren Vale: Trott’s View courtesy of Wakefield Press. Above: Dine underground at Maxwell Wines. Photo courtesy of McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association.

According to the bid proponents, the local landscape is the tangible product of a radical shift in emigration within an expanding British Empire, from shipments of convicts and poor people to a model of ‘systematic colonisation’ involving the settlement of a free workingand middle-class. We were the first place in the world to apply the principles of systematic colonisation developed by some of the greatest thinkers of the early nineteenth century. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, economist John Stuart Mill, and philosopher Jeremy Bentham were members of the British-based ‘National Colonization Society’, which planned the settlement of South Australia down to the last detail. The surviving rural and township patterns in the contemporary landscape reflect those utopian ideals. Experts involved in the bid are mapping the natural and cultural features of the landscape, the Aboriginal stories and sites, as well as the original surveys and layers of settlement. Contemporaneous German and British settlement and an intensity of cultivation over generations of family-owned farms have created distinctive, evolving mosaic patterns in the landscape. Extensive documentation of the foundation of the South Australian colony will be a key strength of the case for World Heritage nomination, as the region was founded on ‘a set of instructions’ from the South Australian Colonization

Commission to start with. So while the core case for listing of the Mount Lofty Ranges is based on the historic heritage values associated with a 19th century systematic colonisation model, other values, such as aesthetics, ecology, Aboriginal culture and agricultural production help build the case for nomination. The bid team is aiming to use it as a unique development tool, believing the value of pursuing World Heritage listing will be unlocked not only by the designation itself, but through the motivation and coordinated action of numerous landowners and producers, and the integration of systems of governance marshalled to make the bid work. The nomination process puts farming at the centre of planning for the region, aiming to promote the economic, environmental and cultural contributions of agriculture and agricultural landscapes at a time when – for the first time in human history – more people live in urban areas than on the land. For Stringer the question is simple: ‘Do we embrace our unique inheritance, promote it, and celebrate it for our parents, for our children and for the world? Or do we allow our landscape to predictably and monotonously evolve to look like every other place in the world?’

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Above: Creamy Villeré espresso coming through the spout at Home Grain Bakery.

Since Toff and Cara West opened their second Home Grain Bakery at the site of the old general store in the main street of McLaren Flat the locals have beaten a path to their door. In addition to the pies, cakes and pastries for which the original Home Grain Bakery at Aldinga has become famous, the new shop has a distinctive and exquisite difference – a coffee roaster. Not just any old coffee roaster, but a beautiful piece of German machinery roasting beans that have been carefully sourced from the best small producers from around the world by the Villeré team, Jim and Carol Banman. Time and time again, I’m delighted by the talented, interesting and motivated people who have chosen to make the Fleurieu Peninsula their home, and in their own distinctive way have added value to our region. Jim and Carol, originally from the United States, are a perfect example. They have lived in the region for fifteen years and since 2009 have run Villeré Coffee as their ‘retirement business’. 66

Carol had an illustrious career in business and operational management in medical device companies Nellcor and Natus – both start-up businesses which were eventually publically-listed. In retrospect Carol realises that she most enjoyed working at the start-up stage – a perfect footing for establishing another small, hands-on, skills-based business. Jim comes to Villeré from a successful career in sales with world-leading companies such as Xerox, Wang Laboratories and Sun Microsystems. He worked in sales management, ending up managing the Sun Microsystems service-provider business in the Asia Pacific region. He enjoys selling because of the people he meets and relationships he makes – a critical element in the success of Villeré. As Carol says, their sets of skills intersect and are complementary. So why the Fleurieu, and why coffee? The answer to why the Fleurieu is one word – family. Jim’s sister and Australian brotherin-law had already succumbed to the charms of South Australia. During frequent visits Carol and Jim explored the Adelaide hinterland and were drawn to the South by the beaches, the wines and the freshness and variety of the produce. A chance viewing of a block of land at Blewitt Springs sealed their – and our – fate. They fell in love with the place and began to develop plans for a vineyard and a house that brought them to where they are now, firmly ensconced in our community.

Above: Jim and Carol Banman topping up the roaster. Top and bottom right: Fresh roasted and brewed coffee plus some fresh baked treats make for a great partnership at the newish Home Grain Bakery at McLaren Flat.

So why coffee? The Banman story is an example of the strange and fascinating way things evolve in our lives. Their interest in coffee was sparked when a friend started a small coffee equipment company in Seattle, in which they made a small investment. Following the progress of that business was their introduction to the fascinating world of speciality coffee. A visit to a market square in France was the ‘got it’ moment for Jim, because in that market square there was a coffee-roasting machine that would change their lives. After much research into the machines, coffee beans and coffee itself, along with Carol’s stint in training and working with one of Australia’s top coffeeroasters, a machine was imported from Germany, and in 2009 Villeré Coffee was born. Their focus was to seek out the best quality beans from small growers – beans that were distinctive and special. The Villeré business is firmly based on the craftsmanship of roasting and delivering the resultant coffee to their customers in optimal condition. The relationship with their customers and the quality and uniqueness of their coffee is paramount. For the first four years Jim and Carol roasted their coffee at the Blewitt Springs property. Carol took the role of chief roaster and Jim took responsibility for getting the coffee to their customers. It was not long before the distinctive pink and orange packets were seen in all

the best places. Toff and Cara West’s Home Grain Bakery at Aldinga was one of Villeré’s best customers. It is out of that relationship that the next development for Villeré eventuated. The Banmans felt honoured to be invited by the Wests to be part of the new Home Grain project. They understood that the Home Grain business is based on a philosophy that is very community-focused, an approach that Jim and Carol also value. The introduction of roasting into the bakery space gave the customers a genuine understanding of the processes involved in creating good quality coffee, and of course a good coffee and a great bakery go hand in hand. Coffee is roasted in the mornings and you can always go for the Brazil blend – but keep an eye out for the single-estate coffees that change monthly. You can also buy beans or freshly-ground to take away. The township of McLaren Flat now has a new centre. As Jim says, you get a sense of the wide appeal of Home Grain Bakery just by watching the parade of different vehicles parked outside. My advice is, if you want a very good pie, some excellent sourdough bread, a sweet treat or of course a coffee, visit the new heart of McLaren Flat.

PENINSULA PEOPLE

Heather Millar asks Amanda Jane Pritchard how the Adelaide Food & Wine Festival came to be … and how Matt Preston helped her to

Think BIG While still at uni Amanda took a job in ‘promotions’ at Penguin Books, Melbourne; but to her it was just a job: what she really wanted to do was work in the wine industry.

But it was a stepping stone … which a decade later led to her creating South Australia’s first official Adelaide Food and Wine Festival, while promoting the (Penguin) books of high profile foodies such as Jamie Oliver, Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer provided yet another step. But when her father died two years later, Amanda returned home to the north-east of Victoria (close to Brown Brothers wine country) to help her mother on the family farm. Soon after, she took a PR job at Brown Brothers, travelling around the country promoting their wine at events such as the Sydney Good Food Month, and eventually returning to the city to take on a PR contract with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Matt Preston, the creative director of the Festival at the time, taught me to ‘do what you think is impossible. Do the most outlandish things. Don’t expect a person to say no, think they will say yes! He gave me the confidence to ask the very talented and quirky Mirka Mora to paint that year’s program cover. I rang out of the blue … and she said yes.’ As well as Matt, Amanda got to work with George Calombaris, Shannon Bennett, Guy Grossi, Neil Perry … as well as international chefs like Will Goldfarb, Rose Gray, and Jennifer McLagan. Her high profile contacts were building. But once her six-month stint was up, Amanda went to work for Treasury Wine Estates … and it was there she met and fell in love with South Australian winemaker Glenn James. She moved to Adelaide in 2008 and the two settled in McLaren Vale, starting up Ducks in a Row Winemakers – again calling on Mirka Mora, but this time to design their labels. ‘From the moment I wandered around the Willunga Farmer’s Market and went to lunch at Fino I was smitten. When my toes first hit the sand at Port Willunga Beach, my dog splashing about in the ocean, I felt at home. My connection to McLaren Vale comes down to the beauty of the people, the landscape, the beaches, and the produce.’ However, it was after taking a job as communications manager at the Adelaide City Council that she noticed a gap in the market. ‘Adelaide has changed a lot in terms of food and wine, arts and culture. I remember wondering why there was no Adelaide Food and Wine Festival. The two years I spent there were incredibly formative for me in terms of contacts, particularly at the Central Markets.’ Meanwhile, Amanda was also running her own PR consultancy Kooki, along with a friend in Melbourne who worked full-time on the business. 68

Amanda Jane at the Victory Hotel Cellar. Photograph by Brendan Homan.

But then she had a series of blows: her relationship with the winemaker broke down, things went south at the Council, her mother died … and Amanda withdrew from the world, barely leaving the house; instead, throwing herself into her consultancy business while teaching herself how to build websites and social media. By the time she re-emerged, Kooki was scaling great heights. She and wine writer Max Allen created an event, ‘Vermentino and Sardines’, which started at the Adelaide Central Markets, moving to Sydney and Melbourne – Amanda promoting it with her newfound social media skills. From there she created ‘Winemakers without Borders’, combining winemakers with producers – including McLaren Vale’s Battle of Bosworth, Wirra Wirra, The Confessional, and d’Arenberg. Local events included Sunday sessions on the Riverbank and at Fino in Willunga, along with night sessions at the Central Markets; and interstate at the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne and Crave Sydney International Food Festival. Then, with Matt Preston’s never-say-never attitude coming to the fore, she created an Adelaide Food and Wine Festival website and registered the business. ‘I couldn’t believe that the business name was available!’ She wrote a media release, sent it out, was interviewed on Adelaide breakfast radio – then it was game on: ‘the phone did not stop ringing, and I knew I had to do it, or someone else would.’ The first Adelaide Food and Wine Festival was held in 2013, with repeated success in 2014. In addition to events throughout the city, chefs gave demos at the Willunga Markets and a dinner by Duncan Welgemoed (Bistro Dom) was hosted by Max Allen at Fall from Grace, Willunga. A third Adelaide Food and Wine Festival is being arranged for 10 to 19 April 2015. For more information: adelaidefoodandwinefestival.org

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Flying Fleurieu Farmers Neil Charter finds out just why the humble bee is becoming increasingly important to our environmental future. Photography by Neil Charter

Like a squadron of Spitfires, engines roaring; another group of bees track their way back from a nectar-gathering mission among the flowering gums of the Fleurieu woodlands. They fly laden with sweet spoils through the trees and over paddocks before commencing their descent into a sheltered hollow by a cooling creek where their home and hive awaits. This journey will be repeated many times over their short six-week lives as they serve only one purpose ... to keep their hive and queen alive. What happens while achieving that objective is not only one of the greatest gifts to nature, but also to mankind and the farming industry. Leigh Duffield of Mt Compass in the heart of the Fleurieu is a Beekeeper (apiarist) of over thirty five years’ experience. Along with approximately sixty other South Australian Beekeepers, his influence and knowledge is critical to the future of farming and our environment. While his business, Nangkita Apiaries, produces up to 100 tonnes of honey in a good year, it is also critical to orchardists and farmers alike in assisting the necessary pollination of crops and fruit orchards. Some crops, such as almonds and lucerne are 100% dependent on this process, while apples and cherries are about 80% dependent. However, for it to happen successfully, timing,

temperature and conditions all have to be just right ... since it is estimated that up to 65% of Australia’s horticultural and agricultural crops are reliant on bee pollination. Kneeling calmly by a hive with a few thousand bees buzzing, Leigh remarks, ‘To be a good beekeeper you need to think like a bee. You need to know the country, the weather, the seasons and where and when you can use your bees for best effect. That could either be for pollination or for making honey. The Fleurieu’s honey is respected not only nationally, but increasingly internationally as some of the finest honey available. The dry hot summers of the region produce a very dense, rich fragrant straw-coloured honey from local flowering Red, Pink and Blue Gums and a more robust heavily flavoured darker honey is produced in the Autumn from the local Stringy barks and Cup gums.’ Bees spend their short lives gathering nectar and pollen to sustain the Queen bee and the hive. The nectar (carbohydrate) stored in wax honeycombs is their energy source and the pollen (high in protein) is used to feed larvae. A few hours with Leigh as he goes about his work and you start to understand the fascinating but complex world of bees. ‘Bee social structure is incredibly well organised. The males (the Drones) are there purely to mate with the Queen. The Worker bees are all female and can travel up to 10 kilometres from the hive for nectar or up to 20 kilometres for pollen. The Queen can live for up to 2 years and as the first born she will kill off any rival Queens. She is fed special secretion made by the other bees known as Royal Jelly for the first 5 days of her life. Once mature she can lay > Previous page: One of the Fleurieu’s flying farmers. Below left: Bees on the Canola. Photograph by Leigh Duffield. Below right: Leigh Duffield of Nangkita Apiaries.

Top left: Queen Bee. Photograph by Leigh Duffield. Below left: Coming in for some nectar. Above right: Leigh checks the frames one by one.

up to 2000 eggs a day. She lays these into brood cells, which are formed perfectly with 5 cells to an inch and a 6 degree slope to the horizontal so nectar will not run out. The optimum temperature for the brood is 35-37 degrees Celsius, and if things become too cool the bees will huddle together, or if too hot they will spit water out like an evaporation system. In hot weather one hive can use up to a gallon of water a week for cooling.’ But what of the future of our friendly, Fleurieu flying farmers? As he puffed smoke into the hive to settle his charges before inspecting, Leigh commented on how farming practice and clearing of traditional habitat for both feral and introduced bees has greatly increased the importance of the beekeeper. The future of successful pollination for cropping and native flora lies in maintaining healthy stocks of bees and keeping them working across our state. Across the world bees are facing troublesome times, not only with changing 72

farming practice and loss of both habitat and timely feed owing to monoculture cropping, but most particularly through the threat of the Varroa mite. This pest has devastated the bee stocks of Europe and is now in New Zealand … knocking at Australia’s door. The implications are significant. Taking our flying farmers out of the sky will not only seriously impact our bush as we know it, but also our rural industry. Biosecurity and access to new pastures so bee keepers can keep bees fat and healthy should be absolute priority into the future. As I stood absorbed in these fascinating creatures and listening to Leigh’s passion and concern for bees I felt a burning sting on my neck by a Worker bee that had crept under my beekeeping veil. It was if to say we are serious about our future and you and others need to listen. It wouldn’t surprise me if the message had come from the Queen herself.

Taking concreting to the next level specialising in wine industry and residential projects call aaron oliver for a quote on 0407 710 651 based in mclaren flat e: oliverconcrete@bigpond.com facebook.com/OliverConcreteConstruction

Open for coffee and lunch from 11 am Wednesday to Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday Experience our Taste of the Fleurieu menu – a culinary journey.

Bookings: 8598 4184 www.leonardsmill.com.au 7869 Main South Road, Second Valley

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Plants, Water Lilies, Aquatic Plants, Statues, Goldfish and Aquarium Accessories, Stock Feed, Honey, Apiary Gear and Gifts. We are at the Corner of Kessell Rd and Cadell St Goolwa SA. Ph: 08 8555 1311

This is Jimmy. This is his dairy.

Many moons ago, Jimmy Smith ran a herd of dairy cows on that spot above. He slept in his dairy, and woke up before the sun. We’ve given his pride and joy a spit and polish – introducing Jimmy Smith’s Dairy, the Fleurieu’s newest, top-end B&B. We reckon Jimmy would be well chuffed. jimmysmithsdairy.com.au +61 409 690 342 Mentone Road East, Port Elliot SA (via Brickyard Road)

Light breaks through Merenia Vince enlightens us on Dorrit Black, Adelaide’s ‘godmother’ of modern art ... who had a special love of the Fleurieu.

It’s been a long drought: the last major exhibition of Dorrit Black’s work was in 1975 at the same gallery. But at last, over a generation later, we’ve had ‘Unseen Forces’ a brilliantly researched and curated feast of 200 paintings and lino-cuts by this under-appreciated artist. The Fleurieu Peninsula was a special place for Dorrit. As a child she had many holidays at Port Willunga and Port Elliot which initiated a lifelong love of swimming and the sea. When she bought her first car in 1936 she revelled in the freedom of driving to the countryside to paint, visiting the Peninsula regularly to capture its headlands, cliffs, ocean vistas and farmland. Tracey Lock-Weir, curator of Unseen Forces and author of the magnificent monograph associated with the exhibition, says ‘some of her best works were inspired by the geography of the Fleurieu’. Adelaide-born Dorrit Black was one of Australia’s early modernists. After moving to Sydney to study at the Julian Ashton School of Art, she lived and studied for extended periods in London and Paris during the 20s and 30s, returning with avant-garde artistic ideas. Dorrit and companion artists Grace Cowley and Anne Dangar were the first to bring cubism to Australia. The Bridge, a vivid, geometric depiction of Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction is probably the most famous example of her cubist-inspired paintings and 74

linocuts. Her work, like that of many early modernists, was exciting but also radical and challenging and not always understood; she was one of Australia’s modern art pioneers. Although she sold few works in her lifetime, never achieving the recognition she deserved, Dorrit Black’s paintings and lino prints inspired a string of acclaimed Australian artists, notably Jeffrey Smart. Recalling her return from overseas he said: ‘She came to Adelaide like a shot of adrenaline’; and later in his career he paid tribute when stating ‘Dorrit Black was one of the major influences on my painting.’ Ruth Tuck, another of her students, described her impact on the Adelaide art scene: ‘Dorrit came along and revolutionised everything you’d ever thought about and she talked to us a lot about tones and Cubism … which really developed in Jeff Smart’s case into Super-realism.’ Introducing modern art to South Australia was tricky – its strong qualities were confronting to both the art establishment and Adelaide citizens – at one point it was even debated in parliament. But Dorrit, as one of the frontrunners was utterly dedicated to the cause. Intelligent, deep thinking and quietly determined, she was an active member of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts, taught >

classes at the South Australian School of Art, arranged exhibitions, ran sketch clubs and was tremendously supportive of other modern artists. She was renowned for taking fellow artists to and from Sketch-Club outings in her little Hillman. The Fleurieu paintings are mature work. While still entirely modern, the cubist influence is virtually gone and Dorrit is exploring expressionism, her true artistic home where deep feeling is the subtext. Lock-Weir is convinced that the ‘powerful emotional force’ embedded in her work is what gives it the magic. The colours, textures and shapes of the Fleurieu works are strong and expressive. Lock-Weir suggests that Dorrit’s swelling landscapes evoke the human form, and her rocks, sea and hills are inscribed with emotion and intensity. Of ‘Cliffs at Second Valley’ she marvels ‘How do you hang that on your lounge room wall in the 1940’s home? It’s an intense, heavy powerful image; it’s not decorative at all. It’s brutal!’ However she observes that in this painting, as in much of Dorrit’s work: ‘darkness is there, but on the other-hand she always comes up with light.’

Previous spread Left page: Dorrit Black, Australia, 1891 – 1951, The olive plantation, 1946, Magill, Adelaide, oil on canvas, 63.5 × 86.5 cm, Bequest of the artist 1951, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Right page top: Dorrit Black, Australia, 1891-1951, Coast road, 1942, Adelaide, oil on composition board, 45.5 x 55.0 cm, d’Auvergne Boxall, Bequest Fund 1989, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Right page bottom left: Dorrit Black, Australia, 1891 – 1951, Edge of the forest, c.1948, Adelaide, oil on canvas 59.5 × 36.5 cm (sight), Purchased from donations by members and also Hanging Committee in 1978, Adelaide Lyceum Club Right page botton right: Dorrit Black, Australia, 1891 – 1951, Rock face, Port Germein Gorge, 1951, Port Germein, South Australia, or Magill, Adelaide, watercolour and pencil on paper mounted on cardboard, 57.0 × 43.5 cm (image and sheet), Private collection This page Top: Dorrit Black, Australia, 1891-1951, (South coast landscape), c.1935–40, Adelaide, oil on canvas laid on composition board, 27.5 × 42.0 cm, Private collection Above: Portrait of the artist, 27th April 1946. 76

How could such an important artist have been so over-looked and so unknown? Lock-Weir researched this in-depth and suggests several reasons. The Blacks, a well-heeled Scottish family of Methodist background were inherently discreet and restrained. Dorrit’s own personality was also shy and self-effacing. In her adult life she joined the Christian Science religion, fashionable at the time, which also encouraged modesty and humility. Her output (probably around 600 works) was relatively small: she worked slowly and had a fragmented working life due to complex family obligations. She also kept true to herself, never painting to please the public – with her work largely ‘hidden’ in private collections. And finally, hers was an ‘edited’ life. She died unexpectedly in a car-accident at 59, without the chance to review her career or control her record. Although her research discovered diaries, Lock-Weir says ‘the remaining records are sadly and inexplicably incomplete’, leaving Dorrit to be forever an enigma – with only her art to tell her story.

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The Winery Door is about delivering quality wine at an affordable price, directly from our winery door to your front door. We are a ‘new cellar door’ in the old cottage on the Lloyd Brothers property. Open Friday & Saturday 11-4. Or by appointment. 34 Warner’s Road Mclaren Vale buy@thewinerydoor.com.au www.thewinerydoor.com.au 8323 8792

Leonie Porter-Nocella visits Lloyd Brothers Cellar Door, an Aladdinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cave of all things

Delectable and wholesome Photographs by Heidi Linehan.

Previous page: The ‘exit’ from the cellar door: a place to sip in the sun. The sculpture, and in fact all the sculptures in the garden are by neighbours, Rod and Judy Manning. Top left: Some of the Lloyd’s-made delectables available for tasting: Lloyd’s shiraz, their EVOO, plump olives, dukkah and tapenade. Top right: Part of the area available for functions. Bottom left: The entrance to the new cellar door.

The Lloyd Brothers – in this case David and Matthew Lloyd – have 60 acres on which to grow their assorted olives and grapes, which until about six years ago they engaged contract wine-makers to render into wine at either Coriole (owned by yet another Lloyd – Mark) or across the road at the d’Arenberg facility. They eventually decided to reside in London, where they felt that their time and talents were better suited to developing their various other business interests. David and partner Leanne still own the McLaren Vale vineyards, while Matthew’s passion lies more in breeding prized alpaca stud on his cool-climate Adelaide Hills vineyard. Meanwhile, enter Ross Durbridge into the equation. Ross is the General Manager and Winemaker the Lloyds appointed about six years ago to ‘take care of business’ back here. And taking care of the business is exactly what he’s done! The Lloyds have had the

very good sense and business judgement to give Ross complete autonomy and the freedom to do things his way, in a manner that suits his own vision of the winery’s direction into the future. In the process he’s taken the wines to 5-star status in the James Halliday Australian Wine Companion: the wine Bible. Quite an achievement in itself, but in the process bringing the property ever-closer to official organic status. Ross also received a 96/100 for his 2012 Estate Shiraz wine, a score the Lloyd Brothers hadn’t attained for any wine in the past twelve years! The weeds around the rows of vines are no longer sprayed: Ross has a flock of happily compliant sheep on weed-control. A sidebenefit is that they also take care of the fertilising. The wines have minimal sulphur. This is especially noticeable in the whites, since Australian whites tend to be more consistently ‘sulphur dioxide-added’ than the reds. I, for one, am usually unable to drink an Australian white due to this, since SO2 is a ‘no-go’ zone for asthmatics. Ross’s whites are a revelation. They’re supremely drinkable with each having its own unique personality. For example, the Sauvignon Blanc tastes fresh and citrusy: to my > 79

Previous page: The serene view looking out to the pond from the cellar door. Above left: Ross and Claire indulge in a glass in the tasting area around the wood fire. Top right: A large range of delectable and wholesome products. Bottom right: The Winery Door Shiraz Grenache.

untrained palate, a little like an Italian Vermentino. But there was one of the whites that really blew me away. It has yet to be released, so watch this space … Initially it was the colour that was so remarkable: it was the colour of purified water! Then the taste! Then the name: White Shiraz. It sounds like a complete conflict of descriptors. Since when can shiraz be a white wine? In some of Ross’s earlier vintages, the colour of this (white shiraz) has been more rose than white with a taste unlike either the red or the transparent colour, but with its own soft, pleasantly fruity nose and palate: an extremely pleasant and surprising wine. This wine should not be superseded by the yet to be released version, since they each have their own very special qualities and therefore not really comparable: they’re both superb, but so different that it’s difficult to reconcile the fact that they’re both the same variety. Anyhow, enough of the wine: it’s something that you really have to experience for yourself, since we all bring something different to the tasting experience. The cellar door where you can taste this collection of wonderful wines has now moved from the little cottage and into the recently renovated Gazebo, which was formerly used for functions owing to its larger area, ease of parking and its truly amazing views over what surely has to be one of the most striking vistas in the McLaren area. Apart from the lovely, relaxing outdoor nibbles and drinks area that invites you to sit and breathe in the beauty, there’s the dam it overlooks. This lake-like dam is breathtaking in its beauty, with ducks, the odd ibis, pelicans, fish and, unbelievably, turtles (that have probably eaten all the aforementioned fish and have even given some visitors a ‘Jaws’ experience as one of the happily-paddling little ducklings was suddenly jerked down into the depths never to be seen again).

In fact, the entire Lloyd Brothers site has an idyllic air to it. As soon as you turn off Warners Road and into the property (number 34) you can’t help but be impressed by the near-perfect beauty and order of everything. (I say ‘near’, as perfection is an illusion that can be aspired to but never attained … as psychiatrists remind us.) Ross’s partner, Maddie Aird is responsible for all this, since she’s firmly in charge of ‘gardening’. I should also mention that the garden is even further enhanced by metal sculptures placed artistically around the outdoor areas. These are crafted by the immediate next-door neighbours: Rod and Judy Manning. But it’s hard to leave it there, as the cellar door is also an Aladdin’s cave of all things delectable and wholesome. There are Lloydgrown olive oils, plump and delicious olives (but not so plump as to sacrifice flavour) hand-crafted soaps, which Leanne Lloyd, her father Dennis and mother Irene make every couple of months on Leanne’s return visits to Australia. There are oils, lotions (all natural) with the soaps being SO scrumptious that one mandarin-with-spice soap kept beckoning me to take a bite! I had difficulty controlling the urge. The allure of the biscotti, the pasta and chocolate cannot be described, since trying is the only way to really know the extent of their scrumptiousness, but they all look extremely tempting. All these add-ons to the Lloyd-grown olive and wine products are hand-made by local artisans from all-natural ingredients. Given all the attributes of the Lloyd Brothers’ establishment, I would have to say that it would be a wonderful place to hold a wedding or some other special function. Just the photo opportunities alone would place it at the top of my list! Additional info: www.lloydbrothers.com.au

FOOD AND WINE

Three fine chefs give us an entrée, a main and a dessert. For the first two courses Leonie Porter-Nocella talks to Brett and Glenn Worrall – the brothers

Taking the Victory up a notch

Photographs by Brendan Homan.

In this State hotels are generally not celebrated for their scintillating menus or finely executed creations: that is unless a ‘parmie and chips’ is your notion of fine dining. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The Victory Hotel on Sellicks Hill was one of the forerunners in the long and drawn-out movement to bring pubs into the good food category. They’ve been on the list for a while now but the current team, led by brothers Glenn and Brett Worrall, has really taken the Victory to new level. They are unusual in several ways; the first being that they share the Head Chef position. Secondly, that it works! The brothers find that shared leadership in operating a dining room that’s open for lunch and dinner seven days a week means that one of them is always positioned resolutely at the helm. They share the menu-writing, ordering, rostering, management of all things culinary … and in all of the above, they’re on the same page – same line even. But while Brett is a few years older, it was Glenn who started first at the Victory – after stints at Limeburners’, Blues, Star of Greece (all Fleurieu restaurants) and Mesa Lunga in the city. Before joining his younger brother Brett was working his magic at the esteemed Chloe’s and The Lane in Hahndorf. Both chefs were educated and trained in South Australian TAFEs. Their ‘specials’ list is written on a wide roll of butchers’ paper so that the ‘old’ specials can be ripped off to make way for the new. Just a quick glance at this list gives an insight into the direction of these two progressive (and wholesome) young men. Specials always include market fish, oysters when in season, with steak and local garfish featuring regularly and in ever-changing, mouth-watering guises. These are of course accompanied by specials highlighting other creations suitably and seasonally procured. The chefs make it a priority to source as much produce as possible from locals. They buy their meat from Ellis Butchers in McLaren Vale, fruit and veg from Froot Loops at Aldinga, with those hard-to-find comestibles and herbs from Rachel of Scoop. On the subject of herbs, Brett and Glenn marinade all meats to give as much flavour and tenderness as possible and use both herbs and spices liberally – across all courses. This is possibly why their food hits all the high notes on the taste scale. The Victory’s Owner, Doug Govan, is known as a man with an excellent nose for good wine. I’d like to add that he must also have a nose for ensuring that his kitchen can match his cellar! The following entrée and main recipes from Brett and Glenn Worrall should certainly validate my assertion:

Entrée: Jerusalem artichoke veloute with seared scallops, jamon and a pine-nut salad for 4 people 8 scallops 4 thin slices of Spanish jamon … or a nice prosciutto if preferred 500g Jerusalem artichoke 2 brown onions 2 leeks 4 cloves garlic 200g unsalted butter 700ml Fleurieu full cream milk 30g pine-nuts 1 bunch watercress ½ bunch flat leaf parsley To make the veloute, first dice the leek, onion and garlic and sweat off in the butter. Cook on medium-low heat until onions have become jammy and translucent and then add the peeled and roughly chopped artichoke. Sweat for 2-3 mins then add the milk. Simmer for 10-15 mins then puree in a food processor or with a stab blender, and adjust seasoning. Toast pine-nuts and cool them, then mix with picked watercress and parsley leaves and some finely sliced red onion to make a little salad. Dress lightly with olive oil. Heat pan to high with olive oil then sear scallops quickly until golden brown on one side and turn over before removing from heat. Leave to sit in the pan for 1-2 mins, then place on a paper towel to absorb juices while you plate up the veloute. Pour veloute into your bowls, place scallops in the centre, top with pieces of torn jamon and then garnish with salad. Drizzle with olive oil to finish. >

Main: Chargrilled lamb loin with smoked eggplant puree, chickpeas, asparagus and Hindmarsh Valley goats’ curd for 4 people 4 x 160g lamb loin or backstrap 2 bunches of asparagus 3 eggplant 100g Hindmarsh Valley goats’ curd 250g dried chickpeas (soaked overnight and drained) 3 leeks 200g butter 8 cloves of garlic 1 bunch flat leaf parsley 1 bunch chives

For chickpeas: cook in water for 1-1 ½ hours with 4 cloves of whole garlic. In another pot sweat diced leek and remaining garlic in the butter until jammy and translucent. Once chickpeas are soft, drain off retaining the liquid, add chickpeas to butter and leek, then pulseblend them in a food processor until they break up a bit, adding some of the retained liquid to moisten. Adjust seasoning, and then chop up parsley and chives, adding half to chickpeas and reserving other half for eggplant puree. For the smoked eggplant heat BBQ to high. Then halve the eggplant, coat in oil and place on grill, allowing them to get quite dark before turning. Covering them with a metal bowl or BBQ hood will assist smoke flavour to penetrate. Cook until soft, and then cool. Puree eggplant with remaining herbs, and then adjust seasoning. Grill asparagus on BBQ while seasoning and BBQ-ing lamb to your preference. Take lamb off, and while it’s resting place some eggplant and chickpeas into 4 large bowls, slice asparagus on top, then slice your lamb and fan over the top. Finish with a nice scoop of goats’ curd and drizzle with olive oil to finish.

Leonie Porter-Nocella pays Juliet Michell a visit at the

Truly amazing Australasian in Goolwa Dessert: White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake In 2003 when the long-derelict 1858-built Australasian was bought at auction by Juliet Michell rumours in and around Goolwa ran rife. Nobody could conceive that anyone had been crazy enough to pay so much for such an old ruin ... and what on earth were they actually going to do with this pile of rubble? Back then nobody could have imagined the amazing transformation that has eventually taken place. Think of the wonder of a really ugly caterpillar emerging from its chrysalis as the most exquisitely beautiful butterfly imaginable. Then multiply that by several thousand ... and you might come reasonably close to the magnitude of The Australasian’s transformation! Juliet and her partner Deborah Smalley have spared no expense in distributing their flawless good taste throughout all aspects of the renovation. No problem has been too difficult to overcome and no material or furnishing too obscure to obtain. They have been very patient with their renovation, because compromise would have been inconceivable. Juliet’s approach to food comes from that same unwavering attention to detail: her refined sense of balance; innate sense of and texture combination ... but most of all, her uncompromising approach to getting everything just right. The artiste shines through in everything she touches! Perhaps it’s no accident that she initially studied Jewellery and Metal-smithing at UniSA’s School of Design. She was obviously in search of an outlet for her creativity. But after realising that there were other, more personally satisfying outlets, Juliet shifted from Silver-smithing to cooking, then went on to study patisserie – which remains her great passion, even now. And since every study should ideally be a life-long undertaking, Juliet attends a 6-day Master class each year at Melbourne’s Savour Patisserie School, where the latest class saw the crafting of the dessert she’s provided below. Just as Juliet’s love of oriental and particularly Japanese design – demonstrated in the use of eye-catching obi and kimono as décor throughout the hotel – inspired her to study Traditional Japanese Dance ... to which she’s recently returned, taking private classes after a break caused in part by the magnitude of the hotel

project, but also the relocation of her first teacher to New Zealand. This love of the oriental aesthetic is seen not only in the calm, minimalism of the décor, but also in her Asian-influenced cuisine. Both have to be experienced to be really appreciated. However, Juliet has shared the following recipe with us so that we can experience the fruits of her dedicated approach. Do not be daunted: the cheesecake is the main aspect of the recipe. The following recipes are Juliet’s garnishes and accompaniments that may or may not be included in your own reproductions: depending on how closely you wish to follow Juliet’s template. >

Dessert: White chocolate and ginger cheesecake (a 50ml mould will make approx 18 units) 250g cream cheese 120g sour cream 20g sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla paste 20g Green ginger wine 50g ginger juice 80g white Callebaut chocolate, melted 2 egg yolks 2 egg whites 40g extra sugar Blend together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, Green ginger wine and ginger juice. Stir in chocolate, and blend in the egg yolks. Make a soft meringue with the egg whites and extra sugar. Fold this through the mix and scoop into silicon moulds (preferably 50ml size) Bake in a hot water bath at 140°C for approx 60 mins depending on your mould size. Chill before freezing overnight, then unmould and return to freezer until ready to glaze. Toasted coconut garnish Mix desiccated coconut with a little sugar melted in and warm fruit purée of choice to give extra depth of flavour. Toast on a tray at 150°C, stirring occasionally to ensure even colouration. Cool before using. Crunchy bases 300g gingernut biscuits, blended 80g Paillete Feuilletine (Bottega Rotolo) Pinch vanilla salt (Barry Beach Organics) 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, or to taste 40g unsalted butter, melted 170g cocoa butter, crystallised (heat in microwave in short bursts until starting to melt. Stir frequently between heating until it is liquid, but still opaque.) Combine together in blender, then roll out between non-stick baking paper until approx 3mm thick. Freeze to stiffen, then cut disks slightly larger than the size of your moulds. Store in freezer until ready to assemble.

Glaze (for cheesecake) A commercial neutral glaze can be used, mixed with some fruit purée of choice and a pinch of edible gold powder for extra lustre and bling. Alternatively thin some strained fruit jam and use warm. Caramelised pears (for garnish) Dice fresh pears, then add to a caramel that has been deglazed with a little butter, vanilla, a splash of Green ginger wine, a pinch of cardamom, plus vanilla salt and lime juice to taste. Chocolate soil (for garnish) 140g butter 85g sugar 60g egg whites 200g Callebaut cocoa powder 5g salt Cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg whites, cocoa powder and salt to taste. Rest paste in refrigerator, then roll out to 5mm thick. Bake at 180˚C for 10-12 mins until cooked through. Cool then blitz in a food processor. Reserve in sealed container until required. Chocolate sauce (for garnish) 80g cream (35%) 160g water 300g 54% dark chocolate (chopped or callets) 20g unsalted butter pinch vanilla salt Frangelico to taste Heat cream and water. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Pour over hot liquid and stir. Season with vanilla salt (and a splash of Frangelico, if desired). Use a stick blender to create a silky texture, keeping the head below the surface at all times to ensure air bubbles are not created.

Hazelnut praline (for garnish on honeycomb parfait) 200g hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed 25g water 110g sugar 40g glucose Pinch salt 8g coriander seeds, dry roasted and lightly crushed Zest from 1 orange Cook water, sugar and glucose to make caramel. Add warm hazelnuts, salt, zest and coriander seeds. Quickly stir together then pour out onto a silicone mat or paper lined tray. Allow to cool before chopping into pieces. Honeycomb parfait 400g sour cream 200g natural yogurt 128g water 80g sugar 160g glucose 600g cream, whipped salt to taste Boil together the water, glucose and sugar before pouring over the cream and yogurt. Chill before folding through the cream and honeycomb (see recipe below). Pour into a silicon-paper-lined plastic container with a close fitting lid, and freeze until required. Honeycomb 160g caster sugar 25g honey 60g glucose 30g water 7g bi-carb soda Heat sugar, honey, glucose and water together in a high-sided saucepan to 150˚C. Whisk in bi-carb soda and quickly pour onto a silicon-lined tray. Chill in the freezer; then blend to a fine powder.

Fleurieu Weddings Jason and Rebecca Given – 18 January 2014. Photography by Deb Saunders.

Jason and Rebecca met eight years ago at work, shortly after which ‘love blossomed’. They have been through some taxing health obstacles but with the love and support they gave to each other meant they were able to get through these periods. They each became the other’s rock, which served only to strengthen their love. Jason and Rebecca have two beautiful dogs, Hooch and Bailey, and would like to extend their family with children one day. The wedding day itself was a romantic, rustic affair held in the beautiful Coriole Vineyard in McLaren Vale. The ceremony was in the grounds of Coriole Vineyard followed by a reception surrounded by vineyards under the Coriole stars. The event was catered by Dine Catering, and was further enhanced by Coriole fine wines. The 3-tiered wedding cake was made by Simply Sublime Events and layered with white chocolate and berry ripple with lemon cake and lemon curd. White paper lanterns and fairy lights hung above the outside tables, which were also set by Simply Sublime Events and made for a romantic evening; with entertainment by Middleton Events keeping the guests dancing all night.

An old vintage typewriter was used for guests to write a personal message to the Bride and Groom. Each table had little mason jars tied together with bows of twine and filled with flowers, adding to the rustic mood of the wedding. Jason and Rebecca added as many personal touches to the wedding as they could. And that started with the invitations made by Rebecca and Jason’s mother, Louise. The place cards doubled as wooden coasters with each guest’s name stamped on them. Rebecca’s father cut out the coasters and Jason’s mother helped Rebecca stamp them. Each guest also received a small rosemary plant as a memento of the wedding. Their family also dried rose petals from their family homes and placed them into cones to be thrown over the newlyweds. The wedding certificate was signed with a pen that Rebecca’s Grandpa had handcrafted out of wood. Rebecca carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers on which was pinned a photo of each of Rebecca and Jason’s grandparents on their wedding day in mini antique frames. Deb Saunders Photography made the experience even more personal with the photos capturing the joy and happiness of the day. The wedding ended with a ‘sparkler’ arch as the couple departed to a relaxing and beautiful honeymoon on Fitzroy Island, the Great Barrier Reef.

SOCIAL PAGES

Being Social: Sea and Vines Weekend at Gemtree On June 8th an intimate crowd was treated to the beautiful surroundings and fine wine of the Gemtree Sustainable Cellar Door, complemented by the remarkable voice of Miss Renee Simone.

Being Social: Sea and Vines Weekend at Kay Brothers On June 9th a great crowd gathered at Kay Brothers Amery to enjoy Professor Orlandoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Magic Show. The kids packed into the barrel room while the adults socialised on the lawns with a glass of wine.

01: Prue Young and Melissa Brown 02: Matt Day and Miss Renee Simone 03: Catherine Cavouras and Marilyn Burfitt 04: Sarah and Ben Corbett 05: Shelley Young and Tim Wheatley 06: Evatt Brown, Riley Brown, Prue Young, Melissa and Mike Brown, Elliott Brown and Chris Worth. 07: Inger Richardson, Perscia Maung and Cassie Hughes 08: Ben Pain, Lisa Himphreys, Sarah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dwyer, and Samantha & Paul Nicolle 09: Karen Hansen, Scott Robinson, Nikki and David Foureur and Carolyn Brunt 10: Lotta Sydaenmaa, Sails Kivijarvi, Kanerva Koskinen, Janna Isokuorrtti and Ianita Bask 11: Josh Bennett, Gabriella Minchella, Aleesha Fox, Calvin Bach and Jacob Scarpantoni 12: Fil Scarpantoni and Colin Kay. 90

Being Social: FLM Second Anniversary Party On June 14th the weather held up well for a big turnout at the FLM Second Anniversary affair at Leonards Mill. Fantastic food by their chefs was complemented by Gemtree Wines. We thank our hosts Jane and Alan for making it a great day for all.

Being Social: The Bromley Wing @ Factory 9 On June 19th a huge crowd braved the cold for a fantastic turnout at the launch of the Bromley Wing @ Factory 9. This new Port Elliot venue has rustic charm and loads of character. The very generous offerings included food from Cindy’s Classic Gourmet and sweets from Sugar and Spice Cakes.

01: Andrew Thompson, Jarnine Beltsos, Sarah Lloyd and Neil Charter 02: Haydon Manning, Danni McElroy, Marc Kress, Leonie Hick and John Barker 03: Debbie Matson, Louise Dodd, Kristy Bone and Corey Dodd 04: Rachel McMillan and Jenni Connellan 05: Geoff Langhans, Prue Young, Berenice Axisa and Jody Macpherson 06: Sande Bruce, Grant and Toni Stoeckel, Joanne and Steve Kelly 07: Stephen “Rocky’ Harrison and Michael Clauss 08: Cindy Westphalen, Suzanne Williams and Clara Venuti 09: John and Karen Judd with Amanda and Andrew Coulter 10: Allister and Tenney Parker 11: Kylie Baust, Nicki Hyde and Rachel Skurray 12: Megan Evans and Megan Caldersmith.

SOCIAL PAGES

Being Social: Angove Organic Immersion On June 20th a small but select crowd of journalists and wine writers gathered at the Angove McLaren Vale Cellar Door for the launch of their new release organic Wild Olive Shiraz. This very carefully thought out event included a tasting of the full range of Angove Organic Wines, a vineyard tour and a wonderful lunch paired with Angove Wines. Magnificent!

Being Social: Grand Opening: High Street Trading Co. On Thursday the14th of August, High Street Trading Co. (a new interiors and gift store, selling traditional, ethnic and contemporary furniture, decor and gifts) celebrated the grand opening of their store at 13 High Street, Strathalbyn. The evening was attended by local business owners, family, friends & members of the community, who enjoyed a glass of champagne & locally made appetisers. Photos: heidiWHO.

01: Jane Thomson and Rebecca Varidel 02: Will Fuller, Sarah Parker and Caitlin Howlett 03: Domenic Van Der Merwe and Anjela Bignell 04: Richard Angove, Tony Ingle, Victoria Angove and Nick Bakkum 05: Richard Angove, Victoria Angove and John Angove 06: Evatt Brown, Riley Brown, Prue Young, Melissa and Mike Brown, Elliott Brown and Chris Worth. 07: Barry and Liz Graham 08: Cynthia Stephens, Wendy Overton and Deb Coleman 09: Shelley Pearce, Kimberly Edwards, Shane Edwards and Callan Sundberg 10: Courtney Sundberg, Callan Sundberg, Janette Rees and Susan Davis 11: Kayla Richardson, Kirk Richardson, Angela Kluske and Ashlea Richardson 12: Lez and Helen Nutt, Wade Kluske and Callan Sundberg. 92

Being Social: SALA event ‘The Pleasure Of All Things’ Hardy’s Tintara McLaren Vale was alive with creativity, showcasing twelve of South Australia’s award winning, established and emerging artists during the 2014 SALA Festival in August. ‘The Pleasure of All Things’ was curated and promoted by Sarah Wood, Anna Small and Sabine Verhack, three Fleurieu based women passionate about celebrating the arts. Photos: TimeScape Photography and Design.

01: John Perry and Julie Rose Euing 02: Naida Kalderovskis, Morgan Phillips, and Vanessa Kalderovskis 03: Heidi Karo with her paintings 04: Zoe Walker and Adam Byford with kids and (right) Nat Wilson and Dana Kinter 05: Bridget Gardiner, Flynn and Brian O’Malley 06: Anna Small, Anthony Steel, Sarah Wood and Sabine Verhack 07: Jodie Summer with Body Art by Voodoo Body Art 08: Jessica Arhns, Krystal Menzel and Amber-Lee Witt 09: Des Reinboth, Bridget Hains with Alan and Janice Matthews.

Hillside Herbs

43 Sand Rd McLaren Vale, SA 5171. T: 8323 8385. Gorgeous gardens and plants at Hillside Herbs. Specialising in close to 300 varieties of herbs, an amazing array of succulents, cottage plants, chillies and vegetable seedlings.

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At Galilee Catholic School we are committed to high quality teaching and learning, inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. We work in partnership with families to nurture and inspire a love of learning, and the skills and dispositions for success. We foster relationships of care of self, others and the environment. We are committed to developing sustainable communities through living, learning and playing in our natural environment. Corner Quinliven and How Road Aldinga T: 8557 9000 F: 8557 9099 info@galilee.catholic.edu.au www.galilee.catholic.edu.au

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PENINSULA PEOPLE

Dairy career prolongs football passion

Barry Clarke has many reasons to be thankful for being part of the dairy industry. It has given him a profitable career and a job he enjoys – and it’s helped prolong a football career into his 50s.

‘We’ve had inquiries from China, Singapore and Hong Kong, and we’ve taken on another milk supplier so we’re interested in having a look, but I wouldn’t want export to be any more than 20% of our income. There’s still a good domestic market for us. People obviously like the product. The people who buy it like to know where it comes from, that we don’t permeate … and that we treat our calves and cows well.’

Three times this year he’s helped his old team Myponga-Sellicks when they’ve been short on numbers in the B-grade division, making his a remarkable record of more than 550 A-grade games until he was 47, with another 100 B-grade since then.

His working day normally starts with a 2am wake-up and finishes at about 6pm, but Barry still manages to give priority time to his three children.

‘I never got many injuries and I think dairy farming was probably part of that’, Barry said. ‘As I got older I got stiff and sore but you have to get out of bed and milk the cows, walk around, climb up and down steps and carry buckets of milk. I had to move around to get rid of that stiffness and soreness. I’m sure it helped more than sitting around on the couch all day.’ The Fleurieu Milk Company, which Meridee and Barry Clarke formed ten years ago with two other local dairy farming and footy-loving families – the Hutchinsons and the Royans – has been built around a successful domestic market; but is now getting formal accreditation to export. 96

‘Since we started the factory we’ve been able to pay ourselves good money for the milk so the farms are quite profitable now and the factory still makes good money.’ However, the company also gives back to the local community, supporting causes like Little Heroes, local dairy discussion groups along with promoting the Legendairy communication initiative to enhance the industry. Barry sees a bright future for dairy. ‘You want the industry to be buoyant so that young people will to come into it.’ He still enjoys being a dairy farmer and milk producer – and still enjoys his football. ‘I play super rules. You can have a good laugh and joke. We’re past being dead serious at our age.’

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