Country Style August 2021

Rugged. Pristine. Beautiful. Unique. Wild. These are all words I commonly hear used to describe Tasmania. I am no expert on the Apple Isle, having only spent around 24 hours there, but it did get under my skin and I long to return. I want to walk the Three Capes Track, eat at The Agrarian Kitchen, take the ferry to MONA, stay at Pumphouse Point, buy Bruny Baker bread from an old fridge/ honesty box, warm up in the Floating Sauna and then jump into Lake Derby, and spot wildlife on Maria Island. Having put this issue together there are now many other things I’d like to add to my itinerary. I’d love to go and help out columnist Maggie Mackellar and The Farmer when they are tree hooking on their property,…

ALIX DAVIS With almost 30 years of journalism under her belt, Alix is a veteran writer. This issue, she tells the story of Bellevue House, near her Hobart home, on page 80. A renovated farmhouse on 1.2 hectares just outside Hobart is home to journalist Alix, 49, and husband JD – plus Chutney the cat and chickens Thelma, Madge and Doris. “Our house was the original farmhouse for the dairy farm that used to be here,” says Alix. “I love having the space for a vegie patch and chickens, as well as the breathing space.” It’s important for her to get out and about, too: “We have a track at the bottom of our drive that winds along the cliffs and down to the beach – I walk it almost every day…

RIGHT TO WRITE The article in your June issue about Connected Au resonated strongly with me. The connection experienced with a handwritten letter is very special. As a young teenager I established a long-term pen pal bond with another teen from Minnesota, USA. I still have several boxes of our handwritten letters although we have evolved over time to send emails also. Over the years we have shared many milestones, our highs and lows and every kind of life experience you can imagine. A true highlight for both of us was meeting in real life on my 50th-birthday trip across various states in the US. We stayed with her for a few days and had such a wonderful time together. I commend the work Mea has done to establish such a wonderful, wide-reaching…

to Margaret Arnott who has won a beautiful Saltbush Stripe jumper from Iris & Wool. Made from 100 per cent certified Australian merino wool, it is extremely soft and warm. The prize is valued at $229, plus postage. For more information, visit irisandwool.com Share your thoughts and experiences with us by writing to Country Style, PO Box 4088, Sydney, NSW, 1028, or emailing austcountrystyle@aremedia.com.au. Please include your address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space and clarity.…

NT Darwin Festival, Aug 5-22 The country’s top talent is flocking to the Top End this August for the annual Darwin Festival. Musical performances range from Opera Australia to the Darwin Symphony Orchestra to a celebration of Gurrumul’s work, along with the National Indigenous Music Awards. Dance fans will love the Sydney Dance Company and Marrugeku. Comedy and theatre lovers will be happy to catch Hannah Gadsby and the Ilbijerri Theatre Company. The festival also incorporates the National Indigenous Fashion Awards and the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. For more, visit darwinfestival.org.au VICTORIA Mallee Almond Blossom Festival, Aug 15 Along with the first inklings of spring comes the almond blossom. The Mallee region is rich in almond farms, and so blossom season here means the orchards are frothing with snowy…

IN THE SECOND WINTER of my widowhood I split wood. I had moved back to the family farm bringing with me a distressed seven-year-old, an out-of-control toddler and an ancient Jack Russell. My mother was dead. My husband was dead and practically everything in my life felt impossible. But in the midst of the impossibility I was lucky. I had the chance to take a breath. I moved into the small flat on the edge of the garden where my aunt and uncle lived. It was the farm my mother and her siblings were raised on and where I had come since I was a baby. It was home. It was also freezing. The only heating in the little flat was a wood heater. My uncle, grasping the situation, said he’d…