Am I a country girl or a city slicker? It may sound trite, but I admit to having given this quite a bit of thought. I was born in Kyogle, NSW, and grew up in different towns around NSW as my

father was a bank manager with what was then the Rural

Bank, later the State Bank of New South Wales, and we moved every two years.

But we never owned a farm, never grew sugarcane or reared Merino sheep like some of my school and university friends, so am I really ‘country’? During my first year at UNE in Armidale I was told by a friend whose family owned a cattle station that I was a “coastie”, which was probably accurate having spent most of my time up until that point on the Far North Coast of NSW. Stints in London and Singapore, and 15 years (and counting) in Sydney followed.

So in the city vs. country debate, who am I? My conclusion, which I’ve only come to recently, is that it doesn’t matter. Country, city or coastie, what does matter is that we all come together in a time of crisis and upheaval. This year and late 2019 have been far from easy — we’ve faced drought, catastrophic bushfires, flooding and the pandemic, but everyone across Australia came together to help each other out. And that includes some contributors to this magazine. Photographer Marnie Hawson is raising money for wildlife organisations caring for animals injured in the bushfires. See the prints she is selling, with all profits going to charity, on page 18.

One thing that always brings us together — “when we celebrate and commiserate” as the fifth-generation winemaker Andrew Hardy says on page 12 — is food and wine. Whether it’s enjoying a Sunday roast with your family or making a cake to drop off to a neighbour and having a cuppa together. That is why we have packed this issue with recipes and stories from regional producers, many of whom have had to adapt in these tough times, selling direct to customers and delivering their wares, too. See page 100 for a listing of some of our favourites and throw your support behind them by buying from the bush. Keep an eye out for more in your area.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE RIGHT Kylie and her brother, Lee, on the beach at Brunswick Heads, NSW, in 1980; family friend Katie Mitchell showing a five-year-old Kylie a piglet at her farm at Edenville near Kyogle, NSW; at age four enjoying a picnic in the paddock behind their house with her mother, Dianne, and Lee in Henty, NSW.