Country Style October 2021

Never has it been more important to take time for yourself and turn everyday, often mundane occurrences into special moments. It’s why we shot this cover: “away from it all”. With NSW, the ACT, Victoria and our friends in New Zealand in lockdown as I write this, it’s hard to tell the days apart, but making a bit of effort to turn your afternoon cup of tea into something special definitely lifts the mood. Get out the good teapot, set the table with a tablecloth and linen napkins, and treat yourself to a generous slice of cake. If you have an outdoor seating area, even better. I can thoroughly recommend it as a lockdown mood-lifter – try it for yourself. Dreaming of the day when we can travel again also helps. There’s…

NICKI DOBRZYNSKI The photographer and interior designer is a new resident of Wanaka, New Zealand, and shot Wanaka Haven on page 108. After 10 years living in the NSW Southern Highlands, Nicki, 41, loves her new home of Wanaka: “We’re excited to be starting life in a small community surrounded by mountains, rivers, lakes and farmland.” With husband Chris, daughter Eva, eight, and son Jake, four, Nicki’s currently renovating their new home. Born in Sydney, as a child she spent plenty of time in Walcha, where her cousins are still merino producers. “My aunt, Angela Wales, wrote a book called Barefoot in the Bindies about their upbringing in Walcha,” she says. “Being exposed to rural life helped me form a strong connection to the land and country life.” SAMUEL SHELLEY A Hobart local, Sam…

INSPIRED CHOICES My Country Style always arrives on a day I need it most – it reminds me to sit in peace, drink a hot cup of tea and devour all the delights the magazine has to offer. As an avid op-shopper, I’m always prowling the pages for cost-effective ways to use odd bits to make our house into a home. As I close the last page, I feel content. My creative cup is full and I can return to the chaos of life, knowing that next month’s issue will bring me the same joy. Thank you. Brianna Jones, Port Franklin, Vic COUNTRY IN THE CITY We recently bought a bespoke home with country charm in metropolitan Melbourne, and with it came the gift of a Country Style subscription from my daughter. While our home may…

SA Yankalilla Show, Oct 2 Head to the Fleurieu Peninsula over the long weekend to visit a classic country town show. And they’ve got it down pat in Yankalilla, because they’ve been running it for 139 years. Enjoy shearing demonstrations, showjumping, main stage entertainment, market stalls and much more. yankshow.com NSW Bathurst Spring Spectacular, Oct 30-31 Follow the trail to see beautiful, cool-climate gardens in and around Bathurst – some have sculptures, some have other artworks, and all have inspirational plantings and layouts to inspire your own garden. There’s also a Plant and Garden Expo in Bathurst’s Berry Park with live music, market stalls and displays. bathurstgardenclub.org. au/bathurst-spring-spectacular TAS Tasmanian Craft Fair, Oct 29-Nov 1 The pretty town of Deloraine hosts this fair, where artists, printmakers, woodworkers, knitters, silversmiths, dressmakers, ceramicists, leatherworkers and more will…

THIS YEAR, THE YEAR OF THE EMPTY NEST, I find myself collecting the messages my son sends as if they were precious shells washed up on the beach. He’s working in Far North Queensland on a cattle station where the mobile reception is sparse, the internet dodgy and the exhaustion levels high at the end of the day, so I understand a phone call from the landline in the manager’s office is not high on his priority list. Every three weeks or so, if he has a Sunday off, he will ring and The Farmer and I will jostle for time on the phone, but mostly all I get are rare messages, like thin smoke signals, saying all is well. In a normal year, we would make the long trip up…

PIONEER TREE-CHANGERS Zeta and Marc Grealy had never imagined growing coffee in the NSW Tweed hinterland – until they did. In 1993, Qantas pilot Marc bought 22 hectares overlooking green velvet that segues to Gold Coast blue. But farming wasn’t in the newlyweds’ blood when they arrived in the little town of Carool. “We were 39 then, so we were quite old,” Zeta recalls with a laugh. Formerly a nurse and then a marketing executive in Brisbane, she was keen to swap the city for the open skies of the Northern Rivers. The couple took to their new life with gusto and planted the first of 5000 coffee trees. Cultivating a quality, hand-picked, single-origin coffee on Wirui Estate was her dream. And creating new things became a habit: baby Meg arrived…