Nadine Williams

Jones Road

 Jones Road, a delightful route meandering between the pretty villages of Balhannah and Hahndorf may have a bland name, but it captures the essence of the picturesque Adelaide Hills.

 Lush vineyards and green pastures clothe a landscape dotted with dams, magnificent gums and grazing cattle.  Flaxen hills, beautiful in their barrenness, form a striking backdrop to the postcard-perfect scene.  

All this beauty unfolds on a leisurely day trip in the Hills to celebrate our 6^th anniversary and we are taking a road less travelled by tourists. Now we stop the car to photograph a lone ibis splashing himself in a dam as if he were taking a shower. We lean the camera upon a quaint rusty gate attached to two old worn  tree stumps and wonder if it dates back to famous Hahndorf artist, Sir Hans Heysen’s era. We notice brown cows resting among long grass under a sprawling gum and we snap again. 

Four top Adelaide Hills wineries are within cooee  of here and the attractive stone entrances to Nepenthe on the left, Shaw and Smith on the right of Jones Road beckon wine buffs. An avenue of glorious groomed conifer pines along Johnson Road  adds majesty to the scenario.  And Hahndorf Hill winery is a stone’s throw down Pain Road.

However, we drive past them on our way to The Lane Vineyard until we reach a fork where the road takes a sharp right to become Balhannah Road into Hahndorf.  We turn left along Paech Brothers Road which leads to The Lane Vineyard bistro and cellar door on Ravenswood Lane. It is a spectacular destination, sitting high on a hill overlooking a sweeping landscape of vines to the valley below where a dam sparkles in the afternoon sun.

Sommaliere, Alister Robertson is the son of a female friend and with a commanding “leave the wine selection to me’’ we settle in for an afternoon of wine tasting accompanied by tasty dishes prepared by chef James Brinkler.

“The restaurant is here to complement the wines,’’ begins Alister.

He places three wine glasses before us, pouring The Lane’s The Gathering Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, 2008, in one, and a Ravenswood Lane Chardonnay 2007 into another.  “The Gathering is stored in French barrels,’’ says Alister, adding that Wine Business Magazine awarded it 96 points. Read more »

Pampered pandas a star act

It is the cruellest of days to take the grand-children to see Adelaide Zoo’s famous  new residents – the exotic Giant Pandas.  The children have flown here from London for a holiday, the highlight being to meet Wang Wang and Funi and

Funi - photo by Bryan Charlton

they have been hyped up for months about it.   Only the bravest grandma would say “it’s too hot today’’ because tomorrow they leave.

So, here we are on Monday morning walking past the oldest Zoo residents, the magnificent flamingos, as the temperature climbs to 34 degrees – and it’s only 10.40am.  I have not visited the zoo since my own children were small, so the new, sophisticated zoo entry complex is a treat.  The children race ahead through the gloriously cool rain forest approach into a long lineup befitting a pop concert, but these performers are big fluffy balls of pampered fur – the only pandas in the southern hemisphere.

Our three little charges are boys aged eight and six and a two-year-old grand-daughter who fidgets in the pusher, and we are bombarded with questions about the pandas until, mercifully, we are ushered into the beautiful new $8 million enclosures, where even the mountain-like rocks are cooled.

It is a glorious Asian garden approach until a volunteer whispers to us that Funi is shy and we will find her hiding at the top of her salubrious accommodation, behind a pencil pine. “There she is,’’ calls Samuel, for all 50 people gathered here to hear. You would think he had discovered gold. But,  “Lucky Girl’’, which is what Funi means is right at the top of the “mountain’’ and merely peeps shyly down at us all before turning away and nuzzling into some grasses.   She is whiter than white with those big blotches of black fur to define her breed. “No, she is not a walking toy,’’ we explain to Josephine, who clings to her own fluffy “Mr Teddy’’, a slightly ragged toy wearing the ravages of world travel. Read more »

Absolutely French

There’s something delightfully je ne sais quoi, about being French.   It’s their musical language and wonderful accent and the French people’s hedonistic pursuit of life’s pleasures. Their love of fine food, wine and fashion defines them.  They are a stylish people devoted to the cult of appearance, who relish in that sense of joie de vivre and a culture of romance, seduction and sex.   Chic French style is stamped on everything from fashion to the luxury goods industry, and Provincial interior design to l’art de la table.

In many ways the very Catholic French society is the antithesis of Australia’s own practical Protestant work ethic, the yoke under which most war babies and boomers were raised.  So, we can learn much from the French code of romantic behaviour, about sophisticated fine living, about appreciation of art, literature and cuisine, not forgetting seductive French music and the oldest film industry.  And while we adore the glamorous lives of the Parisian bourgeoisie which lures us to visit, the fabric of French society is still an intricate patchwork of small villages in glorious rural France. We Francophiles simply want to tap into this refined, romantic way of life.  I have travelled that road before you and have much to impart in my blog Absolutely  French. It will offer a pot pourri of all things French and I welcome your comments and input.

Women still on a see-saw of inequality

Love her or hate her, 40 years ago, Germaine Greer unleashed a brash new tome, the Female Eunuch, which was to upturn the prescribed world of women and write a new feminist creed. Some writers, such as Louis Nowra in The Monthly, have used the anniversary to vilify Greer about her age, appearance and eccentricity. It is far more constructive to examine what has happened to women’s lives because of her dynamism in a previous chapter of women’s history.  The word “Feminism’’ has faded, but its principals have taken root in society as firmly as the backyard lemon tree and is bearing just as much fruit.
Women’s lives and opportunity have metamorphosed and there has been a profound social revolution in our lifetime. We are now a two-income society which sees 4,900,000 women in paid work compared with 5,800,000 men. Gender is no longer a barrier to success. And Germaine’s generation of feminists  removed centuries of barriers to politics, power and privilege.  A new breed of powerful women are now entrenched in the political landscape with Julia Gillard, as deputy leader of the Labour Party and deputy prime minister,  two female state premiers and in SA, Isobel Redman is Liberal Opposition Leader. Last week was another historic step when the SA Parliament installed its first female Speaker, Whyalla MP Lyn Breuer and the nation’s youngest female parliamentarian, Kelly Vincent, aged 21, took her place as a voice for disabled people.

Nor is it tokenism anymore to have a female governor, because our No. 1 citizen is our impeccably groomed Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, the first woman in the post, who served previously as governor of Queensland.
Women now are leaders in almost all spheres of industry, unions, the arts, the retail sector and defence. Women CEOs are a reality, but they are still absent in Australia’s top 500 companies and the number of women on boards is slipping and has never hit double figure percentages anyway.

Read more »

Law of the Jungle

She is a thoroughly new breed of single, older woman – confident, sophisticated, desirable and sexy – and the cougar woman is absolutely on the prowl according to Valerie Gibson, author of Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men.
In what is shaping up as a relationships phenomenon of our times, many 40-something women have taken heed to Hollywood star Demi Moore’s successful conquest of her now much younger husband, Ashton Kutcher – and followed suit.
They are removing the age barrier for dating and stalking much younger prey – men who are 10, 15, even 20 years younger!
It could be simply driven by supply and demand – the pickings of  men their own age are as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.
Whereas, if they remove the societal age barrier and look backwards, there is a welter of testosterone-charged young bucks, seeking sexual experience.
Or it could be a status thing – women wanting to boost their image with a youthful male as an attractive “handbag’’. It sure beats the lonesome look.
But these predators post a real threat to social sexual balance when it comes to breeding.
Already, there is a shortage of available tertiary-educated males for educated single women in their 30s and this can only be exacerbated when the men who are available are poached by women who are past their prime child-bearing years.
In an article in National Seniors’ 50 Something magazine in February/March, psychologist Amanda Gordon raises many pluses, claiming the Cougar women are not looking to have children with younger men. She surmises they can actually “care for the young men for a few years, until they are ready to make a commitment to a more permanent lasting relationship, with the woman who will mother their children and care for them as they get older’’.

Read more »

Mourning Glory

That last taboo – Death – has become a springboard for Leonor Scherrer, daughter of French couturier Jean-Louis to launch her own “funeral couture’’.

In France one can no longer consider turning up to a funeral draped in drab black… one must be chic, especially if one is the daughter of one of France’s elite fashion designers.

Leonor Scherrer was so stressed at not finding anything appropriate enough for Yves Saint Laurent’s funeral, she decided not to go.

However, in the hunting process, she realised that there was a niche market for stylish funeral fashion – a line of “funeral couture’’ mourning clothes designed in collaboration with one of the greatest of France’s creators, Ricardo Tisci.

And what better medium to display her black fashion thoughts than Vogue Paris magazine. Ricardo Tisci, of whom she is muse, has designed the first line, lavish garments with sensual overtones – backless, strapless, short leather skirts, cropped matching jackets and power-padded shoulder lines.

Nothing is sacred in their death fashion tool kit. Leonor believes death is not an end, but a passage and that one should accept this concept and honor the deceased’s parting with elegant and stylish dressing.  Touches of sensual finery, such as feathers, black French lace, and zips give scope for fashion statements in the midst of sadness.

Her total concept will extend to the whole organisation of a burial – the coffin, the tomb,  flowers, music, ceremony and wake.

“Every burial must be unique, not as it is at present – industrial and dehumanised,’’ she says. “What interests me is not the darkness (of the occasion), but light.’’