THE BIG DRY

HOMES

When Katie Murray fell in love, she swapped her city life for drought-ravaged Walgett in NSW.

WHEN KATIE MURRAY first set eyes on Milrea, the family property of her new boyfriend, Jay Murray, in June 2013, she knew there was no turning back. “There was a sign 10 kilometres from Jay’s front driveway at Walgett — about 700 kilometres from Sydney — saying, ‘Welcome to Outback New South Wales,’ and I suddenly thought, ‘Oh dear, what have I done?’ — but it only lasted a second!” Katie says. “I was just really happy to be there and excited to be seeing Jay’s part of the world.”

By the time Katie returned for her second visit to Milrea, they were sleeping on the floor while builders and painters renovated the historic homestead. While the appeal of living in a charming 19th-century farmhouse was a drawcard, Katie says it was the shared life she envisioned with Jay that prompted her to quit her high-flying city job in corporate events management and move to this remote outback community near the junction of the Barwon and Namoi rivers in northern NSW.

Katie, 36, was born and bred in Cootamundra, in the Riverina district in south-western NSW. She first met Jay, also 36, while they were both at boarding school — Katie at Frensham in Mittagong and Jay at The King’s School in Sydney. They were in the same circle of friends, but it wasn’t until April 2013 that a more serious relationship began. A fairytale wedding with 180 guests in the grounds of Milrea homestead followed in March 2016. Today, the couple’s children — Phoebe, four, Major, two, and one-year-old Adelaide — are the sixth generation of Murrays to live at Milrea. Major’s name is actually William, but he’s been given the same nickname as his great-grandfather, who was known locally as Major.

Katie and Jay’s classic three-bedroom weatherboard home with enclosed verandahs and cedar shutters over arched windows was built in the 1880s by Jay’s great-great-grandfather, Gustavus Aird Murray, who migrated from Scotland aged 23. Jay grew up on the neighbouring property, Coonong, which was bought by his grandparents and later handed down with Milrea to Jay’s father.

In 2009, Jay returned home from his meat-trading job in Sydney to live and work on the property. These days, he and his brother, Cam, who lives with his family at Coonong, are both in charge of running the family’s dryland and irrigated cropping operation of cotton, barley, chickpeas and wheat. Their parents, Bill and Annie, still live in the district. >

“When we sit down and discuss what to do if it doesn’t rain, we can’t make a plan because we know we don’t want to be anywhere else.”

However, during the last eight years, the area has been struggling with the relentless drought. The exception was in 2016 when they were fortunate to receive one good harvest.

Luckily, the homestead and garden at Milrea offer welcome respite from the sad reality of bare paddocks, dust storms and dams that have dried up. When it’s not too hot, Katie loves to open up the French doors and shutters on the verandah that lead out to the garden. It’s also the favourite snoozing place for their two beloved labradors, Polly and Dunlop. “It becomes this indoor-outdoor space and it feels so calming and lovely,” Katie says.

The garden at Milrea has a special place in Katie and Jay’s hearts. In the lead-up to their wedding, they extended the area by pulling down fences, reinvigorating lawns and, with the help of Katie’s mum, Dee, planting 100 iceberg roses along the levee bank.

Given the extended drought, the couple value still having a garden. They use water from the nearby Barwon River to keep it alive, switching to bore water when the river runs dry in summer. Katie says the bore water is harsher on her plants, but she knows she can’t complain — she’s lucky to have a garden that has survived the dry conditions. “I think it’s so important mentally to come home to some greenery when you’re surrounded by dust and desert every day for years,” Katie says of living through the relentless dry. “There are so many women around the district who have lost their gardens in the drought. They are experienced gardeners who had beautiful old gardens, and they are losing 20-year-old trees and big lawns. Being a young gardener, I think losing a small plant is the worst thing in the world, so I can’t imagine losing a whole garden.”

Inside the house, original timber floorboards and ceiling architraves have been retained to blend in with a mix of antique furniture and modern pieces. The renovation involved building a new kitchen and open-plan living area, knocking down walls and opening up part of the enclosed verandah to make an alfresco entertaining area with the original fireplace as the centrepiece. Katie placed a large two-metre-high mirror on one side of the fireplace to reflect the beauty of the garden and the Barwon River into the home.

However, not one to ever sit still, Katie now spends most of her time in town during the week running her café and gift shop, Stone’s Throw. It was born out of Katie wondering what she’d do with all her extra time when she first moved out west. Her mum — who used to run clothing stores in Cootamundra and Young, and later a gift shop in Griffith — encouraged the idea, so Katie decided to “risk it” and open a tiny shop in Walgett in 2014. >

Today, when you wander down the main street, you’ll hear laughter and the constant grind of a coffee machine outside Stone’s Throw, which has now been expanded. The jovial atmosphere inside may seem out of place in this drought-stricken community, but Katie has created a friendly gathering place for locals. She says it felt “right” to be opening her business. “Everyone was excited that someone had put trust in the community and they really embraced the business,” she explains.

The café and gift shop gets its name from the Banjo Paterson poem Been There Before about a wily stranger who outwits the Walgett locals when they bet he can’t throw a stone across the river. Katie has created a buzzing industrialstyle space that mirrors her own mass of energy. Greenery hangs from the ceilings and the interior is bursting with goodies sourced from near and far. There are urban-based favourites, such as Love Friday thermo bags and sustainable Huskee coffee cups, as well as books by local Come By Chance author, Cathie Colless. Walgett farmer Sue Evans cooks her famous pink slice for the café, while sourdough is delivered weekly from the Farmer’s Bakehouse in Dubbo.

“It’s also about people realising that even though you are in a small country town, you can still have a space that makes you feel like you are in Byron Bay or Woollahra,” Katie explains. “Inside, it’s always really positive — the staff are always willing to have a chat and a laugh. It takes you away from the bare, dusty paddocks and it allows people to get away from their drought worries.” Stone’s Throw employs about 10 locals as casuals at any one time, Katie adds.

Like everyone in the Walgett community, Katie and Jay are hopeful of better seasons to come. “I don’t really think about the drought too much; you can’t,” Katie admits. “There are no answers. When we sit down and discuss what to do if it doesn’t rain, we can’t make a plan because we know we don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Stone’s Throw, 58 Fox Street, Walgett, NSW, (02) 6828 3359, stonesthrowonline.com.au Follow @stonesthrowwalgett on Instagram. To read Katie’s style tips, see page 122.

Katie Murray with her two-year-old son, Major, on the property, Milrea, where she lives with her husband, Jay, a fifth generation Walgett farmer. FACING PAGE The property dates back to Jay’s great-great-grandfather, Gustavus Aird Murray, who set down roots there in 1865 after migrating from Scotland when he was just 23.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE The back view of one of the older buildings on the property referred to as The Quarters, which is next to the main homestead; standing at the double gates that lead to the homestead are Jay and Katie with a new generation of Murrays: Major, two, Phoebe, four, and one-year-old Adelaide; Major and Phoebe play under a colourful oleander tree near the house; timber shutters cover original arched windows. The house was built in the 1880s; light streams into the formal dining room where an antique dining setting is often used by the Murray family. A fiddle-leaf fig sits in a ceramic planter from Katie’s store, Stone’s Throw. The French doors lead to the enclosed verandah. FACING PAGE The beautiful roll-top desk was purchased by Jay’s parents at an antiques sale, while Katie bought the chair. They occupy a corner of the open-plan family room, which opens onto the verandah. The floorboards are polished cedar from the original homestead.

Curious horses in a neighbour’s paddock up the road from Milrea. FACING PAGE On weekends, the family sometimes enjoy a picnic lunch under the majestic century-old red gums in front of the Barwon River, which is now dry.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE Four-year-old Phoebe and her little brother, Major, two, love wandering around the house barefoot; Katie always greets customers with a big smile at her café and gift shop, Stone’s Throw, where you can buy coffee, local produce and homewares; this dirt track is the driveway in and out of Milrea. Katie says it’s actually a levee bank that surrounds the home in case of floods; the hay on the side of the road near town is testament to the relentless drought; a cosy nook at one of the two large share tables at Katie’s café. FACING PAGE The enclosed verandah, with original cedar floorboards, on the north-eastern corner of the house. Jay’s parents bought the cedar pine table at an auction many years ago, while the bench seats are restored church pews. House plants and greenery collected from the garden add a cooling effect.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE Four-year-old Phoebe looking out the French doors from the main bedroom to the northern verandah and garden; the family strolling out the farm gates to head down to the Barwon River, which now runs dry; an ancient red gum tree offers some shade; six-month-old Polly, a chocolate labrador, waiting for someone to play with; this room, with antique iron single bed, is in the original 1865 building the family calls The Barracks. The dried flowers on the wall is the bouquet of baby’s breath from Katie and Jay’s wedding. FACING PAGE The children’s bedroom on the southern side of the house. Katie’s mum, Dee, bought the dresser for her at a garage sale while she was at university, and Katie has given it a fresh coat of paint. The box on top is an old tin flour canister found in The Barracks. Katie picked the iceberg roses fresh from the garden to be displayed in a crystal vase that belonged to her grandmother. The curtains blowing in the breeze are linen.