Examining the lives and passions of extraordinary people from The Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
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The Scrutineer xxvi

India Mark

The Scrutineer xxv

Mussett Holdings

The Scrutineer xxiv

Louise Frith

The Scrutineer xxiii

Dirty Jane

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Melanie Waugh

“Art is the only thing I was ever good at,” says Melanie Waugh - a statement we accept with a healthy degree of scepticism.  “I was an average student, I wasn’t good at sport, but I could always draw. I never felt like I couldn’t do it.”

The Scrutineer xxi

Pecora Dairy

In their first year of commercial production, Pecora Dairy made about two tonnes of cheese. Today they run around 200 sheep and produce about 10 tonnes of cheese, selling directly to consumers through their Robertson venue Pecora Wine & Cheese and a small number of specialty cheese shops.

The Scrutineer xx

Emily Gordon

Gordon and her husband own a property at Gunning, a small town that lies between Goulburn and Yass, and she began painting landscapes in the area. She remembers looking at one of these works and being satisfied that “it had its own little voice”.

The Scrutineer xix

Steve Hogwood

This edition we visit local blacksmith Steve Hogwood at his forge in Wildes Meadow.

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Julz Beresford

"I'm interested in not just painting what I see – I want to paint how I feel in the landscape too.”

The Scrutineer xvii

Snake Creek Cattle Company

Hugh and Alice relish the hard work required to build their agribusiness that integrates beef production, horsemanship, hospitality and education. “You couldn’t script it,” says Alice. “It has been an evolution, but there aren’t too many surprises to us about where the business is today. “If we can offer something that is ethical, sustainable, high quality and affordable then that is great for our locals.”

The Scrutineer xvi

Ben Waters

When Ben Waters was growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, surfing helped him deal with his adolescent emotions. Today, still living and surfing around Avalon, Waters has discovered that painting provides a similar outlet and peace of mind. "When I come back from my walks around the headlands, I drive my family nuts trying to explain the way I'm feeling. So I paint, because it's the only way to get it out of my system."

The Scrutineer xv

The Reid Brothers

When Stuart Reid was at boarding school in Sydney studying for his Higher School Certificate, he asked the headmaster for permission to go to an interview for an apprenticeship with a furniture maker. The request was declined. “You’re better than that, Reid,” Dr Paterson told him. “Knox boys don’t do trades.” Fortunately, Stuart’s father intervened, he went to the interview and his career as a cabinet maker commenced.

The Scrutineer xiv

Elizabeth Beaumont

Elizabeth Beaumont, who grew up in The Southern Highlands, sold her first art work on the main street of Bowral when she was five years old. She has worked as a lawyer and now practises as a psychologist, but art and creativity have been a constant in her life.

The Scrutineer xiii

The Charlotte Project

Charlotte Atkinson was the author of Australia’s first children’s book, which became a bestseller upon its publication in 1841. Yet her identity as the author was not discovered until 1981 and until 2022 she lay buried anonymously beneath a gravestone in All Saint’s Anglican Church, Sutton Forest.

The Scrutineer xii

Buddhism in Bundanoon

Leaving Thailand and his family at the age of 25 to help establish a Buddhist monastery from scratch in regional Australia was a huge decision for Phra Mana, but he “could see that people wanted to learn and that motivated me”.

The Scrutineer xi

Honey Thief

"Bee keeping is a fast-growing hobby in Australia, including in The Southern Highlands... But I want to encourage kinder bee keeping, which is more about what’s best for the bees and less about what you can take from them." - Deb McLaughlin

The Scrutineer x

David Ball

David Ball’s vast steel sculptures are often described as having a quiet energy - and this description also fits the man behind the monumental works.

The Scrutineer ix

Kate Vella

“Wherever we’d lived before, I didn’t think it was going to be permanent... But I knew straight away the Highlands was home to me."

The Scrutineer viii

The Truffle Couple

When Anna told her partner, Andy, that she dreamed of travelling to Italy to spend a season with an old truffle farmer to learn about these fascinating fungi, he suggested they should just start their own trufferie.

The Scrutineer vii

Wombat Man

John Creighton was born and bred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing up, he loved to explore the surrounding swamps with their alligators, snakes, deer, wild pigs, squirrels, racoons and beautiful birds. After serving in the army, love brought him to Australia and a few decades later, having settled in The Southern Highlands, he has decided to devote his life to caring for the region’s bare-nosed wombats.

The Scrutineer vi

Storybook Alpacas

The Southern Highlands has been at the forefront of Australia’s alpaca industry since it was established in 1988, and today the Williams family believes the future is looking bright as they manage over 1,000 alpacas on their Coolaroo property near Berrima.

The Scrutineer v

Tamara Dean

Tamara Dean, one of Australia’s most acclaimed photo media artists, has taken her focus on the human connection with our environment to a new level by building an underwater studio on her property near Kangaroo Valley.

The Scrutineer iv

John Sharp

John Sharp AM spent 14 years as a Federal politician representing electorates that incorporated The Southern Highlands, and has recently embarked on a major new challenge - thoroughbred racehorses.

The Scrutineer iii

Amanda Mackevicius

Working from a 200 year old barn on the historic Throsby Park in Moss Vale, Amanda Mackevicius is in demand as a writer of the histories of people, families and properties in regional Australia.

The Scrutineer ii

Denise Faulkner

How a move from the city to a remote bush block prompted artist Denise Faulkner to pick up her brush again. Originally published in the Murrurundi Argus.

The Scrutineer i

Joadja Distillery

How did two Spanish immigrants, with no background in alcoholic spirits, end up establishing an award winning distillery nestled in a secluded Southern Highlands valley?

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