In the aftermath of a personal “year from hell”, ABC presenter Heather Ewart re urns to the country to revive and unwind. She takes Wendy Squires on a tour of the back roads of Murchison, her childhood home town.
Talk about a warm country welcome. Wags, the family dog, is a tornado of excitement upon spotting Heather Ewart, bounding towards us as fast as her stumpy legs can carry her, all drool and smile. Suddenly, Heather is at dog level, kneeling in dust, cuddling the ecstatic mutt and savouring being back in her sanctuary, a rambling property in rural Victoria’s Murchison, the place she will always refer to as home.
“It’s always so good to get back here,” Heather, the veteran journalist and host of the ABC’s hit series Back Roads, explains, nuzzling Wags before adding that it has only been a few days since she actually left, having attended a large family party the previous weekend.
“This is where I grew up, where all my early memories were made. In that dam we passed on the way up, I used to hunt yabbies with my brother and sister and cousins, and over there, in the big shed, we used to make cubby houses in the haystacks and I remember rounding up sheep on an old motorcycle with a sidecar. I feel sorry for city kids who don’t get to grow up with that sense of freedom and autonomy. I still know everyone who lives around here and they were all at the party on the weekend. It was a big one.”
Heather admits the party was a joyous occasion, a 60th for her cousin, Gordon, and a welcome change from the last get-togethers the family endured, having lost Heather’s beloved younger sister, Lizzie, and her mother, Honor, within months of each other last year.
“I guess you could say last year was hell, yes,” Heather admits solemnly. “I don’t think it could get worse than that.” But the ebullient 61-year-old is not one to dwell on hard times. In fact, it would be hard to meet someone more upbeat and life-loving. She is a human dynamo of positivity.
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の July 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の July 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
