Workaday HERO

Practical makes perfect for country girl and entrepreneur Amanda McPherson, writes motoring expert and WhichCar presenter, Elise Elliott.

- Elise Elliott

As I arrive at this 202-hectare property in central Victoria, I spot a pair of wedge-tailed eagles soaring above. It’s a sign that the farm, called Bunjil after an indigenous creator being that takes the form of an eagle, is aptly named.

Dressed in a maxi dress teamed with YSL boots and rocking an Akubra, owner Amanda McPherson looks every bit the founder of La Face Beauty Clinic she is. But Amanda is equally at home chopping firewood, tagging calves and putting the resident Charolais bull in its place.

Amanda and her husband Duncan live in Melbourne but retreat to Bunjil at weekends. The ‘homestead’, a converted barn, feels warm and inviting despite its utilitarian origins thanks to Amanda’s deft decoration with the guidance of interior designer Jane Charlwood. Earthy textiles, farm relics and handcrafted timber furniture add to the ambience.

But this multi-talented lady has one more surprise in store: she’s a revhead at heart and her tangerine 1977 HX V8 Sandman ute is a prized possession. Part of the Sandman’s charm is that it was a lightbulb moment in car design: it was in this era that Holden began giving its ultrafunctional panel vans and utes a dash of surf-culture character and style, in effect making hard yakka cool.