About Lisa Herbert

As the May sun rises, barely lighting the sands of Tathra, several swimmers slip into the sea while a solitary SUP boarder paddles through silvery waters. This morning there’s also a bright gibbous moon shining through the pines. It is 11 degrees, but that doesn’t stop these ocean-going-swimmers. This morning at Tathra there’s a lone swimmer at 6:30 am, then two...

The Bega Valley is in for an absolute treat next week when a new production of the fabulous show ‘The Sapphires’ comes to town. There will be one show only of this multiple award-winning production on the stage of the Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre on Thursday, May 30. Produced by Christine Harris and one of Australia’s premier theatre touring...

Head to Merimbula on May 25 and immerse yourself in a sea of images, films, and information about our beautiful sapphire oceans, at the 10th Annual Marine Science Forum. Presented by Eden's Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre, this year the Forum showcases a 'school' of marine and ocean photographers, filmmakers as well as the technologies that help them capture their...

One of the inspiring speakers at this year's TEDx Sydney will be ex-refugee Hedayat Osyan, who says he acts according to the needs of those around him, a true local leader. At seventeen, an age when most Australian kids are wrestling with about school exams, Hedayat found himself fleeing his home in Ghazni, Afghanistan, overcoming incredible odds to arrive in...

Café Evolve in the main street of Bega, serves coffee and hearty meals, opening up at the cock’s crow most mornings for locals out, about and on the town. Serving Wild Rye’s locally roasted coffee, using Tilba Milk and an abundance of seasonal produce, the busy café spills over into Candelo Books next door and hums and bustles with town...

You're lucky to catch Tenzin Butt and his partner Emily King, they haven't really stopped for a breath since they opened Boneless Vegetarian Café in Bermagui on March 20. Their eatery is a bright and colourful space where the old Corky's stood, high on the main street looking over the beautiful sapphire sea towards Guluga mountain. I couldn't believe my...

Here's an invitation to peregrinate on your infernal device to the altitudinous non-metropolis for ministrations in analogue technologies and petticoats… What is a Steampunk I hear you ask? It is a blend of the Victorian era and technology with a dash of science fiction and fantasy. Think of airships (dirigibles), goggles, jet packs, corsets, top hats, parasols, combined with imagination,...

My heart sank as I scrolled through the comments on a Facebook post recently about the 'welcome refugees' signs in the Bega Valley. I moved here permanently two years ago, having visited the area for over four decades, and always felt the people of the Bega Valley were welcoming and caring. Well, I've felt welcome anyway. But the strength of...

Anyone interested in innovation, sustainability, invention, and design, and how to get communities thriving with ideas should get themselves to the Bega Civic Centre on Monday (April 15) for a one-off opportunity. Innovative design guru Aly Khalifa will enlighten and excite Bega for an hour or so, as he discusses, encourages and inspires us towards, an ‘Inventive Culture’. Aly will...

In the second installment of our April tour of the region, Lisa Herbert uncovers some spectacular scenery and activities, for the whole family and for solitude seekers, not too far from home... Tanja Lagoon Camp Address: 142 Haighs Rd, Tanja Ph: 02 6494 0123 Website/bookings here Tanja Lagoon Camp is a luxurious bush haven deep in the Mimosa Rocks National...

Oscar Wilde said the best way to deal with craving was to yield to it. Some of us crave chocolate and yield constantly, however, there are others amongst us (stronger than me!) who can restrain themselves. We are surrounded by chocolate at Easter time, mostly in the shape of an egg. The Easter egg phenomenon has a mixed history, at...

The About Regional team have put together a list of events, exhibitions and activities for the first weekend of the April school holidays, indoor and outdoor, wet and dry, sporty or not – something to stimulate everyone… Refugees visiting Merimbula and Pambula, Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th April The first of three weekend visits this year by refugee groups to the...

Among the acts shaking the silk-walls of the iconic Victoria Spiegeltent in Canberra this April, will be the unique and high-energy Aboriginal dance group, Djuki Mala. Hailing from North East Arnhem Land, Djuki Mala, or as you might know them - The Chooky Dancers, have been delighting audiences around Australia and internationally with their cross-cultural moves and stories since 2007....

April is the best time to get out and enjoy our region, and while the Easter weekend is busy, a quick holiday or family break either side of it reaps great rewards. Lisa Herbert has been exploring the nature and nurture of South East NSW... Mountain View Farm  Address: 11 Mount Dromedary Trail, Tilba Tilba Ph: 0423 025 686 Website/Bookings...

Alchemy is defined as the discovery of an ‘elixir of life’. One couple 'North of Eden' are close to finding this illusive decoction. Over the bridge in their own little Eden-like paradise a few kilometres out of Bega, lies the secret laboratory of a gin-distilling alchemist. Surrounded by shining copper accoutrements and appurtenances he devises and concocts his potions, following...

She came back. Last March she lived for a few weeks curled around the joists of my deck at home in the Bega Valley. I had no indoor mice or bush rats last winter, which I attribute to her efficient nocturnal hunting. I was sad when I hadn’t seen her around this year, then three days ago she turned up,...