[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] H[/dropcap]aving blown winter right out the door with the dachshund dash, art exhibitions and great music, the Port Fairy Winter Weekends Festival is gearing up for its second instalment with a focus on fabulous local food and wine.

The second weekend runs across July 4-5, during which many of the gourmet food and wine producers around the Port Fairy area (Gourmet Port Fairy) will be opening their doors, together with some of the top restaurants and eateries around town.

The feature event is a six-course gourmet lunch prepared by Penshurst-born chef Matt Dempsey from the two-hat Inverleigh restaurant Gladioli, to be served at the historic Royal Oak Hotel, Port Fairy, on the Saturday. Matt will be using delicious locally sourced produce including crayfish, Skipton eel and buffalo cheeses from Shaw River Buffalo at Yambuk.

The lunch also includes an opportunity to try some delicious small-vineyard wines from Basalt, at Killarney, Napa Merri, at Woodford, and the new, Suffoir winery at Macarthur.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T[/dropcap]he couple behind Suffoir, Michelle and Pieter Badenhorst, are originally from South Africa but have recently made south-west Victoria their new home.

As Michelle explained via email, the boutique winery has just launched its first vintage of Pinot Noir which is not only available for tasting at their cellar door, which is just 7km from Mt Eccles National Park, but will be among the wines on offer at the winter weekend’s luncheon.

“We are very pleased with our first vintage,” she said.

“Our Pinot Noir grows on two distinct soil types, which creates a remarkable difference in the taste profiles of the wines.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] W[/dropcap]hile the name Suffoir has a distinct Frenchness to it – and the Badenhorsts have just returned from a trip to the French wine growing regions – the name is actually a blend of two interests: the Suffolk sheep and Pinot Noir vines on their property.

“We tried to capture local elements and incorporate these when we were designing the wine labels,” Michelle explained.

“One label features one of our Suffolk sheep and for the other label, we worked with a well-known artist, Portchie, to capture some of the region’s iconic elements such as the Macarthur windfarm nearby.”

Pieter has a background in biochemistry and plant breeding and has applied these skills to his new profession of winemaking.

“We only have 2.5 acres to work with, but hope to offer more varieties in the future when we are more established,” Michelle said.

The Port Fairy Winter Weekend will also include high tea on Saturday and Sunday at The Pantry Door, which sits alongside the Basalt Winery at Killarney.

Pastry chef Andrew Hall, who has worked at two Michelin-starred restaurants during his career, has recently introduced the sumptuous high teas as part of an expanding repertoire at the popular cafe.

[box]You can follow updates on the Port Fairy Winter Weekends program via its website and Facebook page. Click here for further details and bookings for the Matt Dempsey lunch.[/box]

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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”]O[/dropcap]nce known as the domain of retired potato farmers, onion growers and devout Catholics, the south-west hamlet of Koroit is becoming cool – very cool.

The signs of a town in transformation are all there: a Thai restaurant, a retro bookstore (The Bookworm), a revived Country Women’s Association bursting with members aged under 45, and a steady stream of young artists and thinkers choosing Koroit as the place to buy their first home.

And if that isn’t enough to convince you, then the recent arrival of the spiritual shop, Sacred Stones, the expansion of the local IGA supermarket, the success of the monthly food swap*, and the popularity of local meditation classes, poetry slam and yoga nights should do it.

Seabreeze coffee roaster and barista Tim Mellor has been watching the transition a little more closely than others.

He reversed a trend 18 months ago by moving out of Port Fairy to Koroit, because of its affordability. Koroit offered all of the same rich history and country town charm, but without the over-blown house prices (the average is around $280,000, but rising).

“Port Fairy has become very, very expensive, so younger families are now looking elsewhere,” Tim says.

“What we have is an evolving community that is moving from footy and cricket into a place that still loves its footy and cricket, but is also developing other interests,” Tim says.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”]T[/dropcap]im dug around into the statistics that confirmed a much younger demographic was moving into Koroit, compared to Port Fairy, and this sealed the deal for his decision to open an espresso coffee shop in the middle of town.

The former fish and chip shop on Commercial Road has been scraped back, repainted, redecorated, refurnished and officially open for business as of this weekend, with barista Kerry Hughson, formerly of The Farmer’s Wife, in Port Fairy, behind the espresso machine.

“Even though we have still been setting up, the women from local exercise class have already made us their coffee stop…and the bike riding guys turned up the other day,” Tim says, smiling.

Figures from the 2011 Census, and available on the Moyne Shire Council website, reveal that Koroit is indeed a nimble little town: only 17.9% of people living in Koroit are aged 60 or over, compared to 32.9% in Port Fairy.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”]I[/dropcap]n the same vein, 22.3% of Koroit folk are homebuilders, compared to only 16.7% in Port Fairy, and 27.2% of the Koroit population is aged under 17, compared to 20.9% in Port Fairy.

Artist Clare Fennessy (aka Claybody) is among the new arrivals, having bought her first home in the main street of Koroit about 12 months ago.

The historic former fruit and sweet shop is full of the character that people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for in Melbourne and sits on a block that is large enough to contain a house, a courtyard, a garage, a studio, a workshop, a fernery and a cosy room at the front that Clare intends to use as a small gallery.

“I love Koroit. It is a very cute town and everyone in the shops knows you by your first name,” she says, laughing.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”]S[/dropcap]ince Clare, 33, moved into her house, locals have been keen to help her uncover its history, with suggestions that its location on Spring St gave the street its name: apparently there was a natural spring in the yard and people would come to collect spring water.

“We think it might be there,” Clare says, pointing to a cement slab that looks suspiciously like it might be covering a well.

It is one of the many charming stories she has already collected and intends to investigate further.

When she is not working on her ceramics (or home renovations!), Clare works at the only childcare centre in town which is exactly 90 steps – yes, 90 steps – from her front door. It is so close, it can barely be called a commute.

“There is really no excuse to be late for work,” she laughs.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”]N[/dropcap]ot far from Clare’s property is that owned by Bess Krause, 29, who three years ago bought a 100-year-old miner’s cottage earmarked for demolition and, with the help of family and friends, has completely restored it to life.

The blue-and-white cottage has since become one of the most distinctive houses in the street and is within walking distance of what is considered downtown Koroit.

“You think Koroit is tiny, but it has all the necessities, but sometimes you don’t realise they are there until you live here,” Bess says.

“I can walk down to the bakery, go and have a coffee…head up to the rail trail, which I really love.”

Again, affordability was a big attraction and while Bess works in Warrnambool, she finds the 15-minute – or three-song – commute enjoyable.

“It gives you time to decompress from the day; you can play a couple of songs on the cd player and just unwind,” she says.

[box]*The Koroit Food Swap is held at 10am on the third Saturday of each month at Healing House, next to Sacred Stones, 123 Commercial Rd. The next swap is May 16. Contact Loretta on 0425 022 447 for more information.[/box]

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Read earlier stories on Koroit here…

A spiritual home in the heart of Koroit: Sacred Stones

Books pave new way for Melbourne: The Bookworm

You’ve come a long way, Koroit CWA

Bluestone columnist and architect CLINTON KRAUSE previously worked in Daylesford before relocating his business to Warrnambool. Clinton explores the mid-century architecture that gives our region so much character, but about which most of us know very little.

Port Fairy is renowned for its charming nineteenth century architecture, but just a street away from the town’s historic centre is a  ‘rediscovered’ retro home that is drawing the limelight away from its older siblings.

For its time, 43 James Street, the house designed by Tag Walter in 1960 for Colin and Maureen Leishmann,  brought a host of revolutionary new design ideas to the sleepy seaside hamlet.

Removal of many large and overgrown trees has revealed, once again, the wonderfully proportioned  facades of the house on the corner of Cox and James streets, with many a passerby declaring that they had never noticed the house before.

Current residents Liam and Jo Murphy, along with their young family, are only the third owners of a property which remains largely intact and true to Tag’s original plan and design.

Purchased in 2012, the house had suffered more from neglect than the  ‘vandalism’ of successive  ‘improvements’ and the Murphys were faced with extensive water damage to interior walls and floors caused by blocked gutters and deterioration of the almost dead flat metal roof and its poorly fitted skylights.

Carpets were sodden petri dishes of mould and the glass diffusers on ceiling lights were filled to the brim with rainwater.

As enthusiasts of all things retro, Liam and Jo threw themselves into the herculean task of the restoration with gusto, approaching the work with almost reverential attention to detail. Liam, in particular, is meticulous in preserving the period details and interior finishes of  the home.

Setbacks encountered along the way were faced with stoic fortitude: when baby Charlie decided to pick off a large section of the original wallpaper in the nursery, Liam set about carefully reinstating the multitude of tiny scraps and slivers with forensic diligence and considerable success.

The Murphys are also lucky to be in possession of a set of the original plans prepared by Tag which contain detailed drawings for signature installations within the house.

These include a quirky entry planter box – complete with pelmet lighting, an abstract metal privacy screen and ‘stick legs – and a suspended glass display cabinet in the kitchen: a lost feature that will be reinstated sometime in the future.

Indeed you could say this house has just about every mid century design trick in the book! Here are just a few:

• Flat rooves with wide overhanging eaves and thin fascias evoke a floating weightless effect;
• A cantilevered porch roof along with crazy paved steps and a ‘breezeblock’ screen wall make a dramatic entry statement;
• Individual bricks in walls are stepped out to create a shadow pattern effect;
• Windows of fixed and opening lime green coloured glass are laid out  in visually pleasing geometrical arrangements;
• Varying roof heights correspond with interior ceiling heights to differentiate living/entertaining areas and private sleeping zones.

With its expanses of north facing glass – in some rooms wall to wall and floor to ceiling – the house is light, warm and airy and provides a comfortable family friendly home for the Murphys and their three children.

The work undertaken by Liam and Jo demonstrates a sympathetic understanding and love of this fantastic house and it is reassuring to know that another outstanding example of mid-century design in our region is in good hands.

Note: You can read more about the legacy of Tag Walter in my November column here.

When we return in January: Googie 101

Words and photos by Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”color: #dc943c;”] T [/dropcap]he most commonly told story about Port Fairy editor and author Jock Serong is that he was a lawyer who became a writer, but in fact it is the other way around: he was a writer who fell into law.

“English and English Lit were always my favourite subjects at school, but when I told my career counsellor that I wanted to be a writer, they suggested I do a law degree, because ‘there’s plenty of words there’,” he says with a wry grin.

But what every writer knows-  and what career counsellors never quite understand – is that there are words, and then there is writing: storytelling, building a narrative, creating a scene, turning words into living, breathing objects.

Worse, once you know that you love to write, the bug never leaves you.

All of the teenagers who kept journals and wrote short stories and loved English – and then grew up to become anything but a writer – still have a writer’s heart. Some listen to that nagging voice, most don’t.

Jock listened.

“I started writing professionally as a freelancer about six or seven years ago and had, if you like, three jobs: as a parent, my legal career and my writing, and the pressure to keep those three going all at once was increasing,” he says.

[dropcap style=”color: #dc943c;”] H [/dropcap]aving relocated from Melbourne to Port Fairy 10 years ago, Jock had already chosen between lifestyle and a more traditional career path.

He was a barrister in Melbourne, but came to Port Fairy to work as a solicitor after he and his wife Lilly, a nurse, decided it would be a better place to raise their children (they now have four, aged from 3 to 10.)

And besides, the surf was excellent.

Jock, a surfer, began writing for two or three different surf publications, while also working at Maddens Lawyers. It was his surfing connections, however, that eventually opened the door to a life submerged entirely in writing.

“Early last year, Mick (Sowry) and Mark (Willett) were nursing this idea of a high-quality magazine built around ideas of the ocean and they asked me if I would like to edit it,” Jock explains.

Like a cliff diver in Acapulco, Jock stepped to the ledge and took the plunge.

Great Ocean Quarterly was developed over the next six months and, like Bluestone, has just marked its first birthday. Also like Bluestone, GOQ is edited in the front room of a house, Jock’s house, which is where he does most of his writing.

“The last 12 months have been exhilarating, in that usually at this stage in your life, you have a sense of where things are going and you are consolidating. I feel like I am back in that period of your 20s, where you throw it all up into the air,” Jock laughs.

[dropcap style=”color: #dc943c;”] A [/dropcap]longside GOQ, Jock has recently published his first novel, Quota (Text Publishing), a crime novel based in a remote town in south-west Victoria.

Just in case you thought – like me – that Jock might never sleep, the novel was developed over several years and involved several major re-writes before that magical moment of being accepted by a publisher.

“All writing has that edge of hard grind under it, the hard work, but I was happy to keep going and to keep at it; I find the process fascinating,” he says.

Quota has been well-received by readers and reviewers and has been optioned for a television production by Madman, in Melbourne. Jock will write the adaptation.

As Jock wanders down Sackville St on a perfect spring day in Port Fairy, saying hello to everybody who has already said hello to him first, there is a sense that his life has turned out exactly as it was meant to be.

When asked if he misses law, he gives a writer’s answer: “I miss the characters and their stories”.

“But no, no regrets. The alternative was to spend the next 20 years not ever knowing if I could have done this.”

[box]Jock Serong will join authors Regina Lane and Clint Greagan for the Warrnambool Books Bookwiz Trivia Night this Thursday, Sept 18, at The Last Coach, in support of the Leila Rose Foundation. Click here for full details. [/box]

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[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] B [/dropcap]y the time you read this, Trish Naug Szollosi (pronounced Narg Sir-Lur-She) will have been living in Warrnambool for only three months, but already she is building a following for the culinary skills she has brought with her.

Since relocating from the steamy and busy climes of suburban Brisbane, Trish has wasted no time in establishing a small market stall that specialises in gluten-free foods “and all things tempting”, together with her own blend of chai tea.

It is downsized and mobile version of the cafe that she ran successfully in Brisbane’s Red Cliff for seven years which was “off the tourist map” and once a “hot chips, dim sims and hamburgers kind of place”, but which was ready for something a little more exotic.

Trish hopes Warrnambool will prove to be the same.

[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] T [/dropcap]rish’s father was a tea-grower in Assam, India, so she grew up learning the finer points of tea picking, packing and blending.

And while some older locals have been reluctant to even try her chai tea – free tastings are provided via a boiling urn – others have quickly switched on to the health benefits of the Indian tea, made the traditional, non-commercial and organic way.

Word is spreading even more quickly about her range of gluten-free cakes, savouries, slices, pasties and tarts that are created in her home kitchen.

“Being a coeliac myself, I know how hard it can be to find tasty and interesting gluten-free foods, although Warrnambool seems to have more available than some other country towns,” Trish says.

Although her “advertising” is purely word of mouth, Trish was greeting both new and returning customers when Bluestone (having heard about her through word-of-mouth) visited the Warrnambool Undercover Market at the showgrounds.

Her colourful stall, called Chai Temptations, appeared positively exotic among the more conventional line-ups of second hand books, trinkets, ornaments, model cars and vintage tools.

[dropcap style=”color: #8f9f59;”] T [/dropcap]rish and her Hungarian husband, Jozsef – who sells and repairs commercial and domestic coffee machines – decided to move to Warrnambool in search of a quieter lifestyle and, wait for it, the weather.

“I grew up in Melbourne and we used to come down and camp at Jubilee Park (near Allansford), so I knew it was a very beautiful place,” Trish says.

The pair was tired of the heat and traffic of Brisbane so, having decided to visit Warrnambool to see if it could be their new home, they wound up buying a house that same weekend.

“We love it, and I really love what I am doing,” Trish says.

“It is hard work, but I would much rather be working hard for myself every day, than for someone else.”

[box] Trish and Chai Temptations can be found at the Warrnambool Undercover Markets each Sunday, the Port Fairy Farmer’s Market and also at the markets in Terang and Camperdown. You can visit her brand new Facebook page here.[/box]

[button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”heart” newwindow=”yes”] Did you enjoy this story? Please subscribe here to help Bluestone thrive.[/button]

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