Real Stories
Secret ingredients for a generation of classroom fun
After introducing thousands of children in northeast Victoria to the language, culture and of course the food of Indonesia, Carmyl Winkler has condensed her most
If our future is going to be fair, you need to stop and look at this iced coffee.
Every seat in the prodigious Tallangatta Bakery was occupied through most of Saturday, as the North East Victorian town’s star attraction gave every cent of
Girl Gang transforms networks in rural community
In a generation, the traditional rules and social circles that took root in rural communities, binding together the community have been broken and new networks
Paradise turns out to be pretty nice
If you follow the long, straight road, there is a special quality of light when you reach Paradise. Just half an hour north of the
Lakeside lifestyle awaits in thriving Colac
It’s a mecca for twitchers, gastronomes and romantics all at once, but the pink-tinged waters of Lake Corangamite still remain a hidden gem for most
Buns to Buses – how Chris and Di look after the good folk of Stawell
Each morning at 3.30am, Chris Anderson drives the three minutes from his house to his bakery business, switches on the lights, and starts proving dough.
A desire named street car
He built his first car as a young man on his family farm near Swan Hill, cutting down a model A Ford into a Hot
Happiness Heading Back to Yack
The bushland behind the Yackandandah house that she rents is about as far from the Eiffel Tower as you can get, but Parisian Cecile Legrand
Alpine region relishes a bright future
It wasn’t long after Bright was named Australia’s best Autumn town that reporters had Alpine Shire Mayor Ron Janas on the phone, quizzing him about
Wimmera’s tourism drawcard
The Silo Art trail has resulted in a tourist boom through towns that were previously little-visited in the Wimmera and it all started with a
Loving peak hour
The school run is exactly 7.5 minutes from home to drop off for Ashley Smirl. After living in Melbourne and then a remote NT
The dream factory
Moving to a dream home in the country remains just that for many – a dream. Craig & Phil from Swanbuild want to change
Stawell proves it’s a town of many gifts
Running a sports shop in a town synonymous with Australia’s premier athletic event seems like a recipe for automatic business success, but ultimately Shane and
Lifting the Vale
“I was a motor mechanic in Melbourne and I worked with a guy who came from Charlton. He said ‘I’ll take you up one weekend,’
Australia’s premier pumpkin patch
Once famous for bushrangers and picturesque pub, the hamlet of Ovens is now becoming famous as Australia’s epicentre of pumpkin seed production. Sharan Rivett’s Slovenian
Victoria’s hottest new destination
Sea Lake is one of those towns with a great name that not many people knew about – until recently when the giant waterbody
Grain and brain boom underpin Birchip’s renaissance
On Tchum Lake, just outside of Birchip, there can be 15 or 20 speedboats plying the waters of the farmer-constructed waterbody, when the Summer sun
Lal Lal’s gift
Despite the torrential rain I get out of the van and splash across the grass to an excessively fenced off ridge line, where you can
Maternity leave leads to a buzzing business
Maternity leave usually comes to an end with a new addition to the family, but Laura Eddington ended hers with a new business as well.
Home delivery
Bel and Jordan found each other in a Ballarat mail sorting room. Bel had grown up in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, studied photography and
Time to escape with Kate
When people think about escaping to the country, they aren’t really just looking for four walls and a roof, according to Kate Ashton. They’re not
Bealiba’s new (quiet) boom
The discovery of yellow metal at the foot of Mt Bealiba in 1856 created a town of 12,000 desperadoes, but when the gold rush left,
Picture this – the man who became mayor
For decades, the cold winds of stasis blew along Clunes’ historic main street. Gold fever had deserted the town in the 1890s, leaving a small
Living the journey from vine to wine
On a rainy Friday night, when you hear the crack of a metal cap and the familiar glug-glug-glug noise of your favourite beverage burbling into
Are these Australia’s best mushrooms?
Nobody knows exactly why the hilltop area around the southern Victorian locality of Caveat has the potential to become Australia’s new gourmet mushroom mecca. The
Welcome pack provides instant ‘family’ in rural community
Small towns are renowned for being friendly, but when representatives of the townsfolk of Tallangatta gathered in the Memorial Hall for a discussion on ways
Cellarbrations for all in Camperdown
When they moved from Sydney to Geelong and then to Camperdown in South West Victoria, Aaron and Michelle Newick’s friends asked if they were
Cultural melting pot forms fresh bonds in the north east.
Lives have been irrevocably changed for the better in a small northeast Victorian town through an innovative program that turns a spotlight onto the cultures
Northern destiny
“I was visiting northeast Victoria for work and when we drove through Tallangatta, I said to the woman driving, I reckon I could live
Thought for Food in Kilcunda
Some stories just beg to be told. Udder & Hoe is an artwork in retail charm, an authentic food and beverage repository carefully crafted within
Flight time
After spending more than 15 years servicing helicopters around Australia and even in Antarctica, Hylke Kijlstra has got to a point where he no longer
Merchant of Mansfield
Five years after moving to Mansfield, Mat Picone and his wife Lee have opened three businesses had two children and bought themselves a beautiful home
Warm welcome guaranteed in Woomelang
You know a community has pulled out every possible stop to try to attract people to their town when they keep a guest book in
Creating new spaces to belong in a town of innovators
If you want to live in a bustling city, then Rupanyup is not the place for you, but if you like the idea of belonging
Thousands of visitors each week can’t be wrong: Why The Mill is booming
He is careful with his words and spends most of the interview trying to avoid taking credit for the success of The Mill, Castlemaine’s hottest
Saving Taradale – how one school grew from two students to 75 in just seven years
Just months after he landed a part-time teaching job at Taradale Primary School, Chris Burgess was handed the job of acting principal, in charge of
The data harvester
A smart farm management system which give farmers the ability to measure soil moisture and precisely calibrate how much irrigation water they use has been
Dreaming without sleeping: how Jasmine lives two lives at once
It’s not easy, being Jasmine Mansbridge. Having an easy, successful life is the one image she wants you to discard. She has made an art form, literally, of not
Australia’s new queen of natural skin care
Most days you see a story that is too good to be true. The bank CEO who only goes to work for the love of
Gunbower Butter Factory
“It was a little bit horrible” Letitia Edwards says. The realestate.com ad for a derelict butter factory in Gunbower, 25 minutes North West of Echuca,
Filmset farm offers million-star retreat
Glamping is the wrong word for what Sharon Maloney offers in a cluster of majestic tents next to a serene mini lake just outside of
Rosedale is wired to boom
A new cable manufacturing facility in Rosedale, in the heart of Gippsland, may be the vanguard of a trend where Australian companies choose to revive
No celluloid required
It was a big transition to move from an inner-Melbourne terrace with a courtyard to a sprawling modern home in the middle of a spectacular
A home amongst the gum trees
When Corinda and Jordan Grant decided the best school for their daughter Rosie was on the other side of town, they had to commit
Daily dose of nature proven to improve moods
The only thing more certain than death, taxes and the inability of anyone to find the size shoes they want in a stocktake sale (how
Building a hometown
He’s paid by the brick, and when you see Mick McLean in action, it’s a pretty impressive sight. Any thoughts of trying to lay bricks
Market puts Violet Town on the map
On the second Saturday each month, between 3000 and 5000 people descend on Violet Town, patrolling the labyrinth of stalls that make up the town’s
Long trail leads to Sale
After four months, Jacqueline Southall asked her four year old, Quinn, if he liked living in Sale and the answer was, ‘Yes, I like Ariyah’
Lifestyle boom in proximity to Prom
For half an hour, you drive through a long swathe of ti tree and gum, interrupted only by the occasional vision of a wayward Winnebago,
Riding high in Korumburra
A man who has made bicycles for the CEO of BHP, the chair of Qantas and numerous world champions seems like an unlikely candidate to
Garlic gurus bring a breath of fresh air to Meeniyan
Eight years ago, David and Kirsten Jones lived busy lives in inner Melbourne, with each appearing externally the epitome of success in their respective careers
Marlo Magic
Overlooking an iconic vista where the Snowy River broadens in an expanse of shallow fingers to meet the sea, Marlo has been attracting visitors for
Finding a new Eden
Working in Washington DC, contributing to the rehabilitation of impoverished communities while his wife contributed to national health initiatives, Jake Lynch could be excused for
Bruthen ready to boom
With a popular brewery and multiple fine food outlets, Bruthen is rapidly earning a place on the itinerary for many East Gippsland visitors – and
The dynamo that every rural town needs
Behind the facade of the sleepy coastal idyll, far from the headlines of rural decline and decay, there are really exciting innovations underway in
Pie king and queen building pies and lives in Yackandandah
Maybe life wasn’t meant to be easy. But it probably wasn’t meant to be this hard either. The only time Sebastian Nedziak becomes serious is
Gippsland hub set to reclaim limelight
The largest town in South Gippsland has just landed funding to build a new secondary school, boasts excellent health care facilities, a thriving retail heart
Apollo Bay’s worst-kept secret
The dream of a seachange doesn’t usually include spending your days in an industrial estate at the back of town. In Apollo Bay, where the
One hour from the CBD and my neighbour is a cow
Animals not only need to sleep, eat and find water each day, but they also have little regard for weekends. Every waking day, the 1000
From home brew to high brow – living the dream at the foot of the Grampians
Adam Atchison had all the classic ingredients of a construction industry champion in his 20’s. In between building sites, dabbling in different potential careers, and
Making the most of Moyston
When Julie-Ann Rose was looking for a place to set up a business, she had never heard of Moyston. It may be the recognised home
The brain trainer
Nigel Kain is the teacher you wish your own kids had. Experienced from a career built in seven schools, articulate and able to teach across
Small business success with no strings attached
Kaniva, on the bustling – Melbourne-Adelaide route, has many attractions, but the one that sets the town apart sits beneath a jaunty red awning on
The life we all want to live
They have views across about 20 miles of hills, no utility bills, paddocks rich with blueberries and vegetables, a human tapestry of visitors from around
Boomtime for lakeside haven
Nagambie has been well and truly discovered. Once known as the town with the lake that you kept on driving through on the road from
Health is at the heart of a town that cares
It’s a town of just over 1000 people that few have heard of and even fewer have visited, but it only takes five minutes in
Ultimate smashed avocado draws crowds to Kyneton
As the perfect flat white slides onto the table, just ahead of a plate of smashed avocado with feta so smooth you’d swear it had
Crafty Haven from the Highway
More than 3,500 vehicles pass the unassuming façade of Lowana Crafts each day, but for the small proportion that stop, a feast for the senses
Is it home time?
Many people who grew up in country Victoria in the last decades of the 20th century have built great careers in the city – but
Job boom in world’s most liveable community
With beaches on two shores, an idyllic heritage-listed streetscape, iconic festivals and multiple awards, it’s pretty obvious why you’d want to visit Port Fairy. But
Tom Roberts would be choking on his paintbrush if only he could see Alexandria King now
Way out in Victoria’s west, headed as far across the plains as one can be before you hit the South Australian border, the little town
Leap from city unlocks new storyline
It’s an enviable plot for a life. Girl meets boy in cozy Irish pub in Melbourne. They quit their comfortable jobs and inner-city lifestyle to
Heroes of the butcher’s backroom
If the average human diner occupies around half a metre of table space, then Brendan Bouchier’s annual ham customers would stretch well over 15 kilometres,
Portland pulls out all the stops
Portland locals are puzzled. There are hundreds of unfilled jobs awaiting families in the coastal community, around four hours west of Melbourne’s CBD and local
Nelson: Little town on the Glenelg
It’s as close to fishing heaven as you could imagine. For the price of a single space car park in Melbourne, you can buy a
Rodeo resurrection for tiny Wimmera community
It’s been a quarter of a century since the tiny Wimmera town of Goroke has seen the stamp of a hoof in anger, but next
Finding home
Felicity Little sweeps the path and then the kitchen floor between questions, makes a coffee while the camera is being set up, then strides off
Waiting to be discovered – some of Australia’s best trades jobs
They could possibly be five of Australia’s best trades jobs – but so far, they remain undiscovered. Attractive pay, diverse range of projects to work
Discover your new home in the country
For years people have tried to convince Victorians it was a good time to move to the country, but as job numbers soar and house
Bright job prospects in rural Vic
There is a common misconception that rural work typically involves driving a tractor or chasing a sheep through a dusty paddock, and while there is
Piece of bitumen or piece of paradise – you choose!
Right now, you can buy a stunning boatshed complete with a vintage 16-foot cray boat in the idyllic hamlet of Nelson, on Victoria’s pristine southwest