Posts in feature
Potent with Innovation

“It is our intention to take our national and international clients through a personal and professional transformational program whilst showcasing the best businesses, artisans, and alchemistic experiences this area has to offer.” 

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Unique extraordinary spaces

“One of the really unique things about the region is that every bush track, you go down, there's another abandoned church or school hall, or little village and I suppose as a music promoter, I'm sort of peering into these beautiful LED light windows and thinking, imagine if we did an intimate show with some of these acts that we've worked with.” 

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An Ode to Nourishment

“It's not only the nourishment of the nutrients in the food that's important that nourishment of the time that we pay for eating, and taking notice of the texture, flavours and the environment that you're sitting; perhaps in a beautiful garden or in a room with a beautiful flower arrangement or the way that light might be falling through the window and leaving shadows in the room.”

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The Place I Dream Of

Eventually, Tammi began working with a regional butcher in Ballan named Salvatore Fusca to learn the craft of butchering a pig. But the essence of what Jonai Farms was embarking on was about how we should be living, “the research is really clear that peasants and Indigenous peoples are the best custodians of biodiversity and maintaining a sustainable resource base, and they've done it for millennia. And industrial society is so separated from that, that they really need to look back to the small holders and the Indigenous peoples for guidance.”

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A Ripple in Motion

It was the first pebble that sunk into what Brett describes as the imaginary pond, “and the ripples started.” The stories are kept secret, within the circle, “But I can tell you about my feelings. Something magical was happening. I thought, something really needed is happening here. And, and we've just begun it.”

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The Fire Within

Mark creates poetry from physical exercise. From behind long locks and a bushranger’s beard, his part-guru part-footy coach persona is a melting pot of an original larrikin spirit.

He writes, “I share my excitement for life with seekers, with my retreats and one-day events, I aim to inspire you to be your true authentic self, wear your heart on your sleeve and help you light a fire within.”

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A Brush with History

The Haymes business model only deals with other family businesses; 15,000 professional family trade businesses, independent paint specialists and independent hardware stores. “That whole idea of familyness leads to community, which leads to Australian, which leads to care for the environment. These are the cornerstones of what we’re creating,” asserts Matt. “We’re a family business because of the 300 families not because of our family. We always say, blood is thicker than paint. Sounds corny, but it is.”

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Part of Something

The Ulysses Club is a social club for motorcyclists over the age of 40 years. “And I started my passion for riding about 40 years ago, on a farm, riding bikes with my brothers,” quipps Macedon Ranges' first female club president, Sylvia Behan.

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A Real Plan

Teagan’s work, as photographer and filmmaker with a social conscience and international agenda, has in many ways become an empowering testament to young country-town creatives across Victoria. Armed with her mum’s advice, she embraced the unknown and her dreams came true.

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Change the World

Winding down a path littered with fresh Feijoas, we discover Melliodora; a 2 1/4 acre property nestled on the edge of Hepburn Springs. However, it’s the integrity and significance of the philosophical landscape that startles the imagination.

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A Full Mind & Heart

Mara’s work is a holistic project titled Village Dreaming. It thrives on reviving the displaced community of her Italian heritage through the things that made her grandmother's hometown so special; hosting, cooking, baking, preserving, and foraging workshops.

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Enriched By Minerals

Hepburn Springs' only historic bathhouse, has been providing traditional social bathing since 1895. “It makes us a pivotal part of this community,” explains Robbie, our guide to the Bathhouse. “We have our Spring Creek running next to the facility. And in Summer, this means it’s slightly greener. We get lovely wildlife; kookaburras raising their young next to our creekside deck.”

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Rainbow Brick Road

ChillOut Festival is more than a fabulous celebration of expression, dance and drink - it has become the the bedrock of Daylesford’s LGBTIQ+ community. ChillOut is recognised as a culturally important LGBTIQ+ pride event, supporting and representing queer pride for all regional people.

Early organisers wanted to emphasise the country feel of Daylesford. The event was also an important way of profile-raising for the gay and lesbian community in Daylesford as well as the wider Hepburn Shire region. From humble beginnings at a picnic in the mid 90s, ChillOut has flowered into Australia’s largest queer country pride festival.

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The Concert of Memory

Lavandula, or lavender as it is commonly known, means to wash in Latin - referring to the use of infusions of the plants. Behind the golden hills of Shepherds Flat, Lavandula Swiss-Italian Farm cherishes our mysterious relationship to the flower of the Old World.

“I love renovating and restoring old buildings. I would travel to Europe every year because my brother lived in Italy, he was working as an artist,” explains Carol, as she walks us through the curated gardens, “My brother and I went to the south of France and I saw these little patches of lavender, around Provence.”

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Behind The Lens

On the subject of photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson writes, “To take photographs is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality.” The current climate is testament to a different kind of fleeing reality; the decay of our natural environment. Marnie Hawson’s photography converges storytelling with social responsibility.

“As a former environmental scientist, I'm hardwired to tread lightly in everything I do,” says Marnie. She was raised on acreage and was quickly absorbed by the romance of the Australian bush. “I was rarely allowed to watch TV and instead spent hours outdoors making cubbies out of branches, exploring gorges down the back of our property and hunting for yabbies in the dams.”

As Marnie explored the natural landscape, she developed a curious eye for detail while fine tuning a purpose-driven philosophy. At the beginning of her photography career, Marnie captured “an honest trade,” a series of portraits highlighting twenty trades. “They are all what I considered honest trades.” She explains, “Honest trades involve manual labour and hard work. To me, there is far more value in something that has had love and sweat poured into the production of it.” In a striking set of portraits titled Farrier, the blacksmith’s face disappears in a cloud of smoke as heats the horseshoe.

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St. Mike

A spinning Curtin Mayfield record booms in the foyer, as Michael Lelliot dawdles between portraits of Hells Angel bikers, religious icons and bottles of rum. Mike, as his mates know him, has a way of making chaos feel natural. 

“Should we take the Rolls Royce out drifting?” smiles Mike. A contagious larrikin, Mike has the figure of an NBA star, wears stick-n-poke tattoos and maintains a bushranger’s swagger. 

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It Takes Two

Synergy. If there is one word to describe the partnership between Tony De Marco and Theresa Albiloi it is synergy. Business and life partners, this dynamic couple met later in life, yet together they have already accomplished more than many would in a long lifetime. We meet them at The Oxford, a large former guest house they recently refurbished and added to their portfolio of luxury accommodation properties, The Houses Daylesford. The Oxford is massive and sleeps 24. The walls are lined with over 90 original charcoal drawings by artist Derek Erskine. The main room is dominated by an impressive non-sectional double-sided upholstered banquette. "It was made for a house in Caulfield," says Theresa. "It cost them tens of thousands of dollars." Tony jumps in, "we paid a lot less than that," he says with a laugh. "It took a lot of work to reassemble when it arrived."

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