One thing many of the people we feature in our pages have in common is that they are often very entrepreneurial and always coming up with

innovative ways of making a living in the country — plus they never seem to give up. Simone and Ben Mathews are a great example of this. The couple moved their young family to the NSW coastal town of Gerringong after Simone found an old farmhouse ripe for renovation — you can see the beautiful result on the cover of this issue. Built in 1880 for the Cooke family, it sounds like the Mathews have the same entrepreneurial spirt as the original owners. “They were the first people in town to own a car and began operating the farmhouse as a boarding house. They would pick up people from the station, take them to the farmhouse and then drive them back to the station a few days later,” explains Simone. Then there’s Tania Robinson and Matt Lousada’s home on page 34, which has been lovingly restored partly as a result of Tania’s talent as a ‘kerb burglar’. “Everything in the house and shed is from the side of the road or has been given to us,” she says with a laugh. Actor Ray Meagher, better known to most of us as Home and Away’s Alf Stewart, is the subject of our My Country Childhood story this month. After his mother died when he was only eight, Ray was sent to boarding school and spent a lot of time with his older brother Col on a property at Dirranbandi in south-west Queensland. Col, who went on to manage the Australian Olympic equestrian team, taught Ray to ride and he would help with stockwork in the school holidays. “I enjoyed the bush and mustering and lamb marking — I was probably cheap labour, although I don’t know how effective or efficient I was,” he told our writer Claire Mactaggart on page 30. You’ll find lots of inspiration for your next holiday in our annual Travel Issue. Of all the bucket-list destinations we visited, my favourite was Australia’s Red Centre, where I was lucky enough to stay at Longitude 131° with its breathtaking views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It really was a magical experience and one I’ll never forget.

Enjoy the issue,