Diary Dates to keep you cultured this summer

Summer Diary Dates

As we continue to navigate completely uncharted waters in 2020 and beyond, the usual calendar of summertime festivals and events is a little lighter on than in previous years. However, it affords us the perfect opportunity to enjoy the beautiful beaches and abundant nature trails we’re so blessed with in this region and the chance to get out and support small, local businesses. There are plenty of cellar doors to visit, galleries to explore, and goods and produce available to purchase at the usual shopping precincts and markets. All market details can now be found on our website fleurieuliving. com.au. Soak up the sunshine, support local and enjoy all the natural beauty and produce available to us in this spectacular part of the world.

*Please note, due to the unpredictable nature of COVID-19, all events and details listed below are current at the time of printing but are subject to change or cancellation at any time. Please check for any updated information at the time of the event.

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS:

DECEMBER

_this breath is not mine to keep

Signal Point Gallery, Goolwa Wharf Precinct, Goolwa 3 December – 26 January, 10am – 4pm A provocative, cross-disciplinary art experiment about climate crisis, delusions of immortality and the existential joy of life. Showcasing performance, sculptures, art, poetry and bio-art, this collaboration between Jennifer Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell explores the ten stages of grief we face at times of loss. For more information, contact jaw@alexandrina.sa.gov.au

Summer Twilight Markets

Rotary Park, Christies Beach Fortnightly Fridays from 4 December – 26 March, 5pm – 9pm Held in the park on the Esplanade, watch as the sun sets over the ocean while enjoying a family-friendly evening of live bands, food trucks, face painting and the chance to support a collection of small local businesses and creatives. For more information, visit @marketsbytjsevents on Facebook

Willunga Farmers Market on High Street

September 19 and 26 Enjoy a different setting and atmosphere at the Willunga Farmers market when it opens on the High Street for these dates in September. The street will be closed to traffic and High Street traders will join in the festivities with sidewalk sales and street food.

McLaren Vale Community Christmas Parade

Main Road, McLaren Vale Sunday 13 December, 6pm – 8.30pm Get in the festive spirit as you enjoy the colourful floats along the main street from Field Street to Valley View Drive at this popular family-focused community event. With live music, a sausage sizzle, face painting and a special appearance by Father Christmas, there’s fun for all the family! Free event. For more information, see onkaparingacity.com/events

Utopian State Picnic Party

Papershell Farm, 203 Almond Grove Road, Willunga South Sunday 27 December – Tuesday 29 December, 12pm – 10pm An all ages, three-day picnic event boasting an all-local live music and DJ lineup across two stages. Celebrate the Christmas and New Years’ break at this family-friendly event with food trucks, drinks, market stalls and more. Cost: from $22.19 for a one-day pass or $53.84 for a threeday pass, children under 13 free. For more information, see papershellfarm.com

Murray River Splash

Sturt Reserve Foreshore, Sturt Reserve Road, Murray Bridge Thursday 31 December – Tuesday 26 January, 10am – 4pm A little further afield than the Fleurieu, the Murray River Splash Festival is returning to Murray Bridge this summer. A family-friendly New Year’s Eve event will kick start the festivities with daily fun activities culminating on 26 January with Australia Day celebrations. For information, see murraybridge.sa.gov.au/discover

JANUARY

Santos Tour Down Under – Domestic Cycling Festival

January (exact dates to be confirmed) While the international race has been cancelled for 2021, organisers are in the process of finalising a domestic cycling festival program for intrastate and interstate visitors and cycling enthusiasts. The new event will provide the opportunity to showcase young talented riders and will feature some of South Australia’s most beautiful regions. For more information, see tourdownunder.com.au

String Orchestra – Summer: Spirit of Romanticism

Goolwa Centenary Hall – Sunday 24 January, 6pm Willunga Festival Hall – Thursday 26 January, 7pm This spectacular concert will be led from the cello desk by Australian String Quartet cellist, Sharon Grigoryan. It includes compositions by Fauré, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and a magnificent song cycle by Gustav Mahler, sung by mezzo soprano, Elizabeth Campbell. For more information, contact the Alexandrina Visitor Information Centre on 1300 466 592.

Australia Day Breakfasts

Happy Valley, Aldinga, Willunga, Noarlunga Tuesday 26 January, 8am – 11am Join the City of Onkaparinga and the local community to celebrate our collective history and cultural diversity, our past achievements and our exciting future at a free breakfast. Includes children’s activities and live entertainment at each venue. Free event. For more information, see onkaparingacity.com/events

Strathalbyn Cup

Strathalbyn Racecourse Sunday 31 January, 10.30am – 5pm Where glamour and country charm meet, get your best frock on and head to Strathalbyn for a day at the races. Enjoy the excitement of race day in a picturesque setting with something for the whole family to enjoy. For more information, see theracessa.com.au.

FEBRUARY

Chilli Fest Willunga

Willunga Recreation Park 20 – 21 February, 10am – 4pm A red hot weekend celebrating all things chilli – from plants to produce. Enjoy cooking demonstrations and shop for quirky chilli related merchandise. If that’s too spicy for you, chill out at the local artisan market with live music, beer, wine and sangria. Cost: $5, children under 16 free. For more information, see chillifest.com.au

Fleurieu Film Festival Main Screening and Awards Night

Serafino Winery, McLaren Vale Saturday 13 February, 6pm – 11.30pm Returning to Serafino Winery in 2021, the highly popular Fleurieu

Below left: _this breath is not mine to keep: Contested Space. Copyright 2020 Change Media. Photo by Sam Roberts. Film Festival will showcase short films (eight minutes and under) of varying genres by emerging and established filmmakers. The screening and awards will take place alongside good food, great wine and entertainment. Tickets from $30–$35. For more information, see fleurieufilmfestival.com.au

Chamber Choir and Orchestra – Summer: Spirit of Romanticism

Willunga Festival Hall – Saturday 6 February, 6pm Goolwa Centenary Hall – Sunday 14 February, 6pm Adelaide music lovers will recognise the young and brilliantly talented Jonathan Bligh. In February, he will grace the Fleurieu with his talents as a choral conductor, vocal coach and ensemble singer, leading the Chamber Choir to explore 19th century works from the Romantic Era by composers including Bruckner, Mozart, Fauré and Saëns. For more information, contact the Alexandrina Visitor Information Centre on 1300 466 592.

ONGOING

Fall From Grace

206–208 Port Road, Aldinga Open Fridays 5pm – 9pm Looking for something a little more cultured to do on your Friday night? Visit Fall From Grace for a tasting, available between 6pm – 8pm, and sample what’s on offer on the night from a small producer, an interesting grape or a particular region. You can buy a glass or bottle to drink there or take home. A range of exceptional cheeses and smallgoods are also available or order a pizza at The Shack and they’ll deliver it straight to you at this cheerful and relaxed venue. Online sales and deliveries also available.

Below right: Fresh cut sunflowers at the Willunga Farmers’ Market.

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Providing the opportunity to be YOUR BEST SELF

Third time luckiest

Story by Nina Keath. Photography by Robert Geh. Styling by Liza Reynolds.

Left page and above: Combining design, a beautiful site and a supportive client – all set off by an amazing garden. Despite all of the curves and angles it is a beautifully cohesive design.

It’s a sunny spring morning when I ride my bike through the burgeoning back streets of Willunga to visit Tony and Sally French-Kennedy at their new home. As their third ‘owner-build’, it confirms the adage that you need to build three houses before you get it just right. Designed by their son Reuben, the benefits of growing up among house builds are clear: despite being early in his career, this house is close to perfection.

Tony reflects on his son’s work with gratitude and pride saying, ‘because we’d built before, it was tempting to just draw up the plan ourselves, but we trusted Reuben. He asked us to tell him all the things that we liked and didn’t like about our previous homes. He didn’t design anything like we would have done but he met all our needs and did it with such integrity.’

Reuben reflects fondly on the design process too, recalling, ‘it was a real joy to be able to talk so freely about the project, and explore so many different ideas without judgement no matter how outrageous. There was no treading lightly! Going around to my parents’ for dinner inevitably turned into a healthy and robust debate, with plans spread all over the dinner table – eventually becoming the tablecloth.’ Reuben continues, ‘it’s not often you have a client where there is immediate trust and faith in whatever you come up with.’ However, this freedom can come with its own set of challenges. ‘When you have relative free rein, there is a sense of anxiety that you’re given this once in a lifetime opportunity, which you have to make the absolute most of and build the Taj Mahal,’ explains Reuben. ‘Slowly reality starts to permeate; you realise you have the same constraints as any other project and you’ve just got to get on with it.’

Reuben’s happiest moment was when the structural steel went up. Having spent hours mulling over a hypothetical creation on a computer screen or floor plan, watching it become a reality was truly satisfying. ‘Ultimately, I design buildings because I like building >

Left page top: The house nestles sympathetically into the environment. Photo by Jason Porter. Left page bottom: Large expanses of north facing windows with deep eaves ensure great solar gain in winter and shelter in the summer. Above: Architect Reuben French-Kennedy struck upon the idea of incorporating thermal mass into the concrete island bench, and then maximised this further by incorporating the dining table into the end of the bench.

‘What I wanted to achieve was a composition of the required passive building elements as a sculpted, cohesive and unique piece of architecture.’

buildings. I spent many hours just standing on the bare slab under the steel frame. I guess you’d say it was cathartic,’ he muses.

Reuben is yet to experience the catharsis of standing under the finished ceiling, however. He moved to London part way through the build and then the coronavirus hit. In true COVID-era fashion, Reuben’s guidance for the latter part of the build was delivered via Whatsapp, transmitted from the berth of the London canal boat that he renovated and now calls home. When asked what it’s like living in a boat, he replies simply, ‘it’s cold!’

There is nothing cold about his parents’ new home though. Tony enthuses, ‘the climate just stays so stable – in the mornings we never get below eighteen degrees through winter.’ There are many thoughtful design elements, which have contributed to this outcome. Upon arrival, I’m invited by Tony to remove my shoes before we embark on a joyful sock-clad tour of the house in which Tony instructs me to stand in different spots to feel the benefits of underfloor heating. After sampling the warmth of the lounge room floor compared with the toe numbing unheated laundry, I declare myself a convert.

Passive solar and sustainability design principles have been judiciously used throughout. By way of example, Tony explains how the house has been split into three climate zones. This zoning enabled different treatments matched to each zone. So while the living and kitchen area are double glazed, the bedrooms and studio are not. Double glazing the whole house would have been too expensive, but it also wouldn’t have matched the intended use of the bedrooms and studio, where the French-Kennedys often have the windows open. Instead, Reuben’s design incorporated a thermal block between the double-glazed living and kitchen zone, and the bedroom and studio zones. It’s smart, pragmatic and sustainable.

At one of the family’s many ‘dinner design debates,’ Reuben struck upon the idea of incorporating thermal mass into the concrete island bench, and then maximised this further by incorporating the dining table into the end of the bench. Having sampled a slice of Sally’s >

Left page: The bathroom design combines polished concrete warmed up with wood elements and plants. Above: A standout feature of the interior is the wooden ceiling expertly crafted and enhancing the curves and angles.

delicious chocolate cake from the end of said kitchen-bench-cumdining-table, I can confirm the elegance of this design innovation.

Anxious about minimising western heat gain in the master bedroom, they experimented with a green wall along the entire western end of the house. A seamlessly integrated mesh grid is now being colonised by waterfalls of wonga wonga vine, snake vine and even a Kennedia groundcover, which unexpectedly joined the party, deciding that the wall is much more fun than Sally’s lovingly tended rockery below.

Reuben says, ‘the fundamentals of passive design are kind of a no brainer – solar gain, shading in summer, double glazing, cross ventilation, thermal mass, greenery etc. But I find following this recipe can result in a fairly standard character in the architecture. What I wanted to achieve was a composition of the required passive building elements as a sculpted, cohesive and unique piece of architecture.’ comfortable but achieves this via an air conditioner running all day, with tiny windows to minimise heat loss. In fact, ‘joy’ is a word regularly employed by both Tony and Reuben and I think you can feel this in the finished product.

As I stand chatting with Tony in the kitchen, belly full of cake, toes warm against the heated floor, I experience a moment of unexpected expansion as my view is carried seamlessly along the lines of the timber ceiling, through the clerestory windows and upwards to a cloud-filled sky. My heart lifts.

This experience of enclosure, warmth, and comfort, fused with outward expansion, cloudy skies and distant landscapes is something rarely achieved in residential architecture. Certainly, cloud gazing is not something normally possible indoors. After speaking with Reuben, I know that my experience has been carefully cultivated. It’s a gift of good design, and I understand why his Dad feels so grateful for his guidance and vision.