Some of our favourite locals reveal how they plan to spend their precious summer break.
Jump into January with this expertly curated list to inspire your best summer holiday yet.
Richard Roxburgh One of Australia’s best-loved actors, Richard recently wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Artie and the Grime Wave. Favourite childhood memories of
Holidays stretching on summer? to infinity. Huge sweet peaches.
Trips to the Hume Weir [in Albury, NSW]. Jumping into the Murray, icy from snow-melt, on a baking day, emerging yowling and purple with cold. A self-devised drink, The Bananarama: fresh orange and pineapple juices, lemonade and a banana blitzed into a frothy spectacular. Rites of summer you’d like your sons The feeling of freedom to experience? that only a bike can give. Learning the fine art of building a teepee-formation barbecue. The ozone smell of the surf in the afternoon. Singeing a layer or two of the outer dermis on the seat of the car after parking at the beach.
Pasta con vongole, Quintessential meal? my wife’s [TV chef Silvia Colloca] clam pasta. Clams and their liquor, garlic, a splash of white wine, chilli and parsley: Italian simplicity at its best. Sunset tipple? Campari and soda. Summer sounds? Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Beach House, Django Reinhardt. All the Light Books on your reading list? You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ($14.95, Fourth Estate) and Scandi noir. Mucking Favourite way to unwind? around in the water with my boys, reading, lunch with friends. When can we expect [ Rake’s] Cleaver
With Greene on our screens again? some cross-bench support, we might see Senator Greene back in early 2018.
Maggie Beer Cook, author, providore, champion of Barossa Valley produce and host of upcoming TV show
Maggie in Japan on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Food channel. Always busy for those Summer is… on the land.
Stone fruits that Favourite flavours? ripen during summer are quintessential flavours of the season for me – apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums.
VineQuintessential summer meal? ripened tomatoes, just picked and still fragrant with the warmth of the sun, with basil from the garden drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, vino cotto, salt and pepper. I can add to this, or eat it as a meal on its own. When the produce is at its peak, nothing else is needed. Favourite summer cooking pastime? With our orchard in full swing in summer, we are busy picking, cutting, drying and packing our fruit. I love seeing the trays of jewel-like apricots drying in the sunshine – it tells me summer is definitely here.
I’ve loved What’s on your reading list? the [four-part Neopolitan Novels] series by Elena Ferrante. I have the final book of hers to read. And there’s an endless pile of cookbooks that I read like novels. Favourite soundtrack for summer? I love jazz, particularly Ella Fitzgerald, but I also love contemporary singers. One of my favourites is Michelle Nicolle, who grew up in the Barossa. Blood Your favourite sunset drink? orange juice mixed with sparkling ruby cabernet and lots of ice. Local Plenty summerof fishing festivitiesand crabbing, planned? and of course, sharing home-cooked dinners with friends and family.
Restaurants you want to try? Hentley Farm Restaurant in Seppeltsfield and and St Hugo restaurant in Rowland Flat, both in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. How do you get away from it all? Spending time in my garden. No matter how hectic my work/life gets, I always feel a shift in my state of mind after my hands have been in the soil. Di Morrissey Australia’s biggest-selling women’s fiction author has just released her 24th novel, A Distant Journey.
She lives on the Mid-North Coast of NSW.
Slowing down, dreaming Summer is… under a hat, swimming with my grandchildren, lingering twilight dinners outdoors.
Swimming Favourite summer pastime? and sitting by the pool with friends, family and food. Are you travelling or staying home over summer? Home! My son Nick, his wife Mimi and their kids, Ula, three, and Bo, five, are visiting from the US for six weeks.
A collection What will you be reading? of short autobiographical stories by John Le Carré titled The Pigeon Tunnel and Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Favourite place for summer reading? Anywhere! The doctor’s, the hairdresser, the car... I never move without a book in my handbag. But the best place is the sofa in my pavilion that overlooks my garden and the Manning River.
Cooking Favourite summer indulgence? outdoors and long conversations accompanied by a crisp sauv blanc.
< Rustling Soundtrack leaves, of kookaburras,your summer? magpies and the dog getting excited when one of our local koalas strolls into the garden.
Preferred sunset tipple? Occasionally a good gin and tonic with a twist of lime. Or a sauvignon blanc from the Adelaide Hills. Is there a restaurant you’re keen to try? Tetsuya’s (Sydney).
How do you unwind? Reading a great book. It takes me away to another world. Does summer affect your writing
I start very early practice in any way? in the morning, stop for lunch, a swim and a nap, then write until the sunset drinks are poured.
Luke Nguyen
Chef, restaurateur, author and presenter of Street
Food Asia on SBS TV. Live music Summer is... in a vineyard, drinking sparkling wine with cheese, and a picnic basket.
Eating Favourite summer pastime? outside. Fresh prawns, salmon sashimi, crab, and oysters on the beach. Bliss. I love A quintessential summer meal? making my own fresh wraps with loads of fresh herbs like mint, coriander, Vietnamese mint, perilla leaves, fresh lettuce, banana blossom, pomelo, star fruit. I wrap it all up in rice paper with some of that great fresh seafood. Favourite summer soundtrack? Blackbird by Fat Freddy’s Drop always reminds me of summer. It definitely comes out when the sun is shining. Aperol spritz. Favourite sunset tipple? With an extra nip of Aperol, of course! I’ll be reading What will you be reading? children’s books to my one-year-old twin boys, Kian and Kohl. The beach. Favourite way to unwind? Just relaxing in the sand. Will you be travelling or staying home
I’ll be travelling. I’m this summer? opening a restaurant, Moi Moi, in Hong Kong, so will be spending time there. Restaurants you’re keen to try? In Melbourne, Atlas in South Yarra. And in Sydney, Sixpenny (Stanmore) and Cirrus (Barangaroo).
Myles Baldwin
Landscape designer, horticulturist, author, director of Myles Baldwin Design.
Lazy days on the boat, Summer is… enjoying the company of friends and pottering in my garden.
I can’t go past Favourite summer flower? frangipani. At Bronte House I cultivated a collection of frangipani with [former Bronte House tenant] Leo Schofield. We had varieties in more than 60 different colours. Travelling or staying at home? This year, I’m heading to Noosa to stay with friends. It’s the place where I met my wife and enjoyed all our family holidays growing up.