There were so many wonderful stories from our communities during 2024. Take a look back at the stories that made us a smile (or maybe shed a tear or two) – and see if you can guess what was our most popular read.
16. The passion and philosophy driving Tilba Dairy
by Marion Williams
Erica and Nic Dibden have been dairy farming for 24 years. Photo: Supplied.
Tilba Dairy owner-operator Erica Dibden has big plans for the company and believes people should put more thought into food security. “Food is like a love story,” she says. “It is always changing. It moves and flows like the seasons.”
15. When farewelling a legend warrants more than just a little bull
by Sally Hopman
The life of legendary bull rider George Hempenstall of Yass, who died on 11 September, was celebrated last week. Photo: Professional Bull Riders Association, Facebook.
George Hempenstall was described in the best of terms at the celebration of his life, but no word was more apt than brave.
14. Restored 1924 Waratah brings back memories of wizard with engines
by John Thistleton
Peter Seymour on his dad Merv’s Waratah motorcycle about 1969. Its tyres and other parts were missing. They cleaned it up, stripped it down and stowed it in boxes for better times ahead. Photo: Seymour family collection.
A 1924 Waratah motorcycle broken into pieces and stowed in boxes for decades is rebuilt and carries the history of Australia’s longest running motorcycle manufacturer.
13. Posthumous honour for South West Slopes’ longest serving volunteer bush firefighter
by Edwina Mason
The late Tiger Hunter has been posthumously honoured for his 74 years of volunteer service with the Bribbaree Rural Fire Service Brigade. Photo: Tory Davidson.
Maurice “Tiger” Hunter, the longest serving volunteer bush firefighter in the South West Slopes, has been honoured posthumously.
12. A letter from history hidden behind hotel’s mantlepiece
by John Thistleton
A letter found among the charred papers that fell from a smouldering mantlepiece at the Southern Railway Hotel in Goulburn. Photo: John Thistleton.
Over the years the Southern Railway Hotel Goulburn has changed hands, changed names and been refurbished, and all the while a little stash of cards, notes and letters had fallen behind a mantlepiece, long forgotten until now.
11. Doing death differently: Taking burials back to nature and time immemorial
by Marion Williams
Walawaani Way founder Fiona McCuaig (centre) with funeral celebrant Shanna Provost (left) and Lauren Newman of Tree of Life Funerals. Photo: Gillianne Tedder.
Keen to move away from coffins and cremations, a growing number of people want to be buried back into nature. Walawaani Way Conservation Burial founder Fiona McCuaig wants to help them achieve that through her new business, Tree of Life Funerals.
10. Moruya community mourns loss of former principal, renaissance man Brian Passmore
by Marion Williams
Brian Passmore in Jells Park in 2022. The environment was one of his two greatest loves. Photo: Supplied.
Brian Passmore – teacher, singer, actor, published author, philosopher and sportsman, passed away on 22 September, aged 90. He was NSW’s youngest high school principal when, aged 41, he became principal at Bombala in 1977.
9. Backyard relic discovery highlights story of one of Tumut’s overlooked WWI heroes
by Edwina Mason
Patrick Gaut and his son Finley with the bronze war medallion they discovered buried deep in the backyard of their Tumut home at the weekend. Photo: Danielle Gaut.
A chance find in a Tumut backyard at the weekend has illuminated the wartime service of a young farmer from the district 110 years after he enlisted to fight with the Australian Imperial Force in World War I.
8. Revamped nursery in Bodalla a family affair for the Guselis
by Marion Williams
The Guseli family: Guido, Glenda, Ric, Valentino, Ali and Kristen. Photo: Supplied.
The Guseli family regularly make headlines because of 19-year-old snowboarding prodigy Valentino, but the family has done an incredible job revitalising a prominent plant nursery on the Princes Highway at Bodalla.
7. Narooma’s Australia Rock is but a fleeting phenomenon
by Marion Williams
Australia Rock is a very popular tourist attraction in Narooma but the join with the cliff face is much narrower than it was 80 years ago. Photo: Marion Williams.
Tourists to Narooma often flock to Australia Rock, but it looks very different to what it did a few decades ago, and might not be around for much longer.
6. Country charm on show as Tilba’s restored Henkley Farm opens to the public thanks to brotherly love
by Marion Williams
Les and Richard Stokes in the doorway of the recently built chapel at historic Henkley Farm. The doors came from Bermagui’s Anglican church. Photo: Marion Williams.
In the seven years since brothers Richard and Les Stokes bought Henkley, one of the original dairy farms in Tilba, they’ve repaired all the outbuildings, plus had a separate reception, chapel and holiday accommodation built in the same style as the National Trust-listed 1870 homestead.
5. The ‘chance encounter’ that saw a Bungendore dog become best mates with a dingo
by Claire Sams
Brett Ritchie believes this canid is a rare alpine dingo. Photo: Brett Ritchie.
A Bungendore man recently captured incredible footage of what is believed to be an alpine dingo. The canid mostly keeps to himself, but he has made friends with a local German shepherd.
4. Who put the rocking horses on a log? We’re not sure who did it first, but we know someone who keeps doing it
by James Coleman
Surely you’ve seen them before. Photo: Kim Treasure.
Have you seen the rocking horses on fallen trees at the foot of the Clyde Mountain? The first is said to have appeared around October 2020 after the Black Summer bushfires, but no one is sure who put it there or why.
3. Fitting farewell for Narooma’s daredevil of Mad Max fame
by Marion Williams
Gerry Gauslaa was a stuntman in many movies, most famously Mad Max. Photo: Supplied.
Narooma’s Gerry Gauslaa was the man behind some of the death-defying scenes in cult movies Mad Max and Alvin Purple. Supremely confident, he was the ultimate daredevil on and off the movie set.
2. Tallong man forges a new career from an age-old craft
by Sally Hopman
Blacksmith Murray Newman working on his forge at Tallong, near Goulburn, where he plies his trade. Photo: Supplied.
Self-taught blacksmith Murray Newman has always had a thing for snakes. But now, instead of owning them, he makes them – and they’re quite popular.
1. Five South Coast attractions we’ve loved and lost
by Zoe Cartwright
The old Batemans Bay Bridge was opened in 1956. Photo: File.
The South Coast has been a popular holiday spot for at least 100 years and in that time plenty of attractions have come and gone – did you know there was once a hotel on Broulee Island? Here are five of our favourites that are no longer.
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