Previous Work
Review: Centara Grand Resort and Villas, Hua Hin
Published in: The International Traveller
Susan Murphy lives it up at the grande dame of Hua Hin, a beautiful hotel from a bygone era.
Read full article here.
Troublemakers not welcome
Published in: The Weekend Australian
"The Atlanta Hotel has managed to hold out against the tide of change lapping at its door and is a time capsule worth visiting before it disappears."
Read full article here.
Secret Rivers
Published in: Gippsland The Lifestyle Magazine
"A pair of New Hampshire chairs sit side by side next to a newly planted gum tree, the perfect spot for the new owners to sit, take in the view and dream about their plans for a new house."
Read full article here.
Gippsland Gourmet
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
"My grandmother’s most precious possessions were her Fowlers preserving jars smiles Tanya Bertino. In times of plenty you preserve it and use it throughout the year. It’s a nice way to live."
Read full article here.
From celebrities to refugees, human element makes migration work rewarding
Published in: The Age
"The human element of this work is what I like," says Cathrine Burnett-Wake, principal migration agent at Harris Wake, a legal and immigration firm. "You get to meet all sorts of people from tradespeople to CEOs of multinational companies, from celebrities to refugees. I love helping people."
Read full article here.
Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey's Hotel
Published in: The Australian
The Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey's Hotel sits grandly overlooking Apia Harbour as it has done, in one form or another, since 1933.
Read full article here.
Onsen Retreat and Spa, Dinner Plain
Published in: Australian Traveller
Susan Murphy shuns the cold in Victoria’s High Country for a cosy Japanese-inspired experience at Onsen Retreat and Spa, Dinner Plain.
Read full article here.
A little piece of Tarradise
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
After making a tree change, Jane and Richard Florey have spent a decade creating a beautiful Gippsland garden. Susan Murphy enjoys a stroll through their handiwork.
"It is a work in progress," laughs Jane Florey as she and her husband Richard lead me through Tarradise, their garden in the tiny town of Balook, high in the Strzelecki Ranges....
Read full article here.
Curious Commerce
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
Buy, sell, swap, meet - a group of traders in East Gippsland have found a unique venue to indulge their many and varied passions.
Cards studded with boil-proof buttons, pretty thimbles and hexagonal blanket-stitched sewing baskets sit in a cluster beside a rack of pastel babies' dresses, smocked and hand-embroidered with rosebuds.
View full article here.
The River Queen
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
Susan Murphy enjoys a fascinating cruise aboard Sale's historic riverboat the Rubeena.
"I enjoy going up and down the river," said skipper Alan Lewis, his voice resonating over the gentle putt-putt of the Rubeena's engine….
Download full article here.
From paddock to plate and back again
Published on: The Age - October 17, 2015
When things did not work out for Andrew Bulmer as a chef in Melbourne, he returned to the family farm. Now he's at the forefront of the vegetable-growing industry.
Andrew Bulmer began his career cooking food rather than growing it, as a pre-apprentice chef under the guidance of MasterChef's Gary Mehigan. But the cost of living in Melbourne and a lack of family support in the city meant Bulmer wound up back on the family farm in the tiny hamlet of Lindenow, in East Gippsland.
View full article here.
Tim in adventure training
Published in: Lakes Post, October 7, 2015
“I’ve got a few things coming up I need to get into shape for,” chuckled Tim Bull as he started to think about training for the five-kilometre run in the inaugural Australian Adventure Festival to be held in East Gippsland from October 23 to 25.
The Member for Gippsland East and his son Lachie completed the Kokoda Track a couple of months ago.
“It was a fantastic experience,” said Tim, “but I haven’t done too much since then.” Tim is no stranger to fun runs and events held around the state.
Read full article here.
Shearer's Story: Around the world with wool clippers
Published on: The Age - September 19, 2015
Joel Barton knew shearing was something he wanted to conquer, at the age of 17, following a student exchange from Britain to New Zealand.
"I like the challenging aspect of it," says Barton. "It doesn't get much harder than this."
Barton returned to New Zealand after completing an agricultural degree in his home county of Sussex, where he joined Hadfield Smith, who is now on New Zealand's wool board, and his team
View full article here.
Protecting Land All Part of the Job
Published on: The Age September 5, 2015
Getting back to nature helps some people really connect with their jobs. Take David Miralles, for example.
"I like being in the natural world," he says. "I enjoy the complexity of it, our work is about protecting and preserving Victoria's cultural, ecological, agricultural and recreational assets."
Miralles is pests and weeds co-ordinator for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Gippsland Region. The region stretches from Westernport Bay to far East Gippsland and the border with NSW, to south of the Great Dividing Range in the north, spanning coastal wetlands, mountain country and native forest.
View full article here.
No room at the uni: the tricky task of making the city home
Published on: The Age, March 2014
Excitement tinged with nerves is the consensus for Lachlan Buck, Jirra Moffat and Tom Murphy as they say goodbye to the familiar rhythms of their respective country towns to begin university in Melbourne. Like thousands of country students across the state, the three friends mark the beginning of their tertiary studies with the upheaval of leaving home.
View full article here.
One Good Turn
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
Take a detour off the Princess Highway and soak up the beauty and history of Lindenow.
"It is very satisfying to know we did it ourselves," says Robyn Dunkley as she plumps the yellow cushions at Altar Ego, a tiny weatherboard church turned bed and breakfast in Lindenow. Robyn and her husband jumped at the chance to buy the church, located close to their home, as soon as they heard it was for sale. Built in 1898, "the walls were filled with rat's droppings, birds' nests and newspapers, " said Robyn. The couple, helped by family and friends, worked on weekends to transform the property...
Download full article here.
Page closes on Gippsland educational history
Published on: The Age
At the stroke of midnight on April 30, the higher education provider Advance TAFE ceased to exist. Although the institution, which covers the south-eastern region of Victoria, has merged with its central Gippsland neighbour GippsTAFE to form Federation Training, hundreds of rural employees fear for their jobs.
Read full article here.
Creative Milliner
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
The personality and style of her clients informs this creative milliner to sculpt individual and beautiful hats.
"Make every hat as beautiful as if it was your own." says Meaghan Campbell as she trawls through a large jar of vintage buttons: she knows exactly which one she is looking for.
View full article here.
The Practical Painter
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
Rhona Gray takes great pleasure in sharing her experience and passion.
"I was thirteen years old when I sold my first painting for $30." laughed Rhonda Gray. She has been painting in one form or another ever since. Her newly renovated cottage in the heart of Bairnsdale looks more art gallery than house. It is the perfect backdrop for her favourite pieces and a place to share her artistic passions.
View full article here.
Recuperation by the river
Published in: The Weekend Australian, March 28-29, 2015
Miss Noy welcomes us to the Riverside Boutique Resort as though she’s been waiting eagerly for us to arrive and is delighted to see us.
Perched on the banks of the Nam Song River in the town of Vang Vieng in central Laos, the hotel is four to five hours by road from Vientiane in the south, from where we have come, and four to six hours from Luang Prabang in the north, in the direction we will be heading.
Read full article here.
Once Were Warriors
Published in: International Traveller Magazine
Susan Murphy sends her husband and son into battle.
Ulfragar, Son of Wolf, greets us at the entrance to the Gladiator School of Rome dressed in a maroon tunic, cinched at the waist with a wide leather belt, and a pair of lace-up boots. He looks as though he lifts weights to keep up his gladiatorial shape: wide shoulders, muscular legs and arms the shape of large hams. I'm impressed already, not by his physique but by his stamina; it is six degrees celcius and far too cold to be wearing a dress.
View full article here.
Fit To Bust
Published in: Sunday Life Magazine - Well-being
Well-endowed Susan Murphy has been waiting for bigger breasts to be back in vogue.
…I'm preparing to embrace the "return of the bosom - the big bouncy bodacious sort", according to Violet Henderson of British Vogue.
View full article here.
Education cuts hurt fringe students in rural areas
Published on: The Age
Michele Grumley has helped students who have been given their marching orders from local secondary schools after angry explosions and violence. She's dealt with students who've struggled through primary and secondary schools with a disabilty and she has welcomed young people whose lives have been unsettled and disrupted almost since birth...
View full article here.
Riversleigh Revival
Published in: Gippsland Country Life Magazine
Rachel Bromage with a little help from her family has taken over the magnificent Riversleigh Hotel and has restored it to its former glory.
"I've always had a connection with this place," said Rachel, the new owner of the Riversleigh Hotel, as she indicates our grand surroundings with the sweep of an arm….
Download full article here.
Smells like TEEN SPIRIT
Published in: International Traveller
From anti-social sleeping patterns to technology overload, travelling with teens can be a challenging proposition...
Download full article here.
Next Gen
Published in: Green Magazine
Taking over the family property in country Victoria, which included an established English-style garden, one couple decided they no longer wanted "to be slaves to the hose" - it was time for a sustainable re-design, from the ground up.
Download full article here.
Garry Ainsworth is a WWOOFER
Published on: Dumbo Feather - Conversations
Garry Ainsworth runs WWOOF Australia from the Far East hills of East Gippsland. His office is a mud-brick house perched on the edge of a forest, surrounded by kangaroos, wombats and the occasional goanna. It is a fitting setting for an organisation that promotes organic farming, sustainability, caring for the environment and cross-cultural relationships.
View full article here.
Should you buy alcohol for your teens?
Published on: Daily Life - September 17, 2013
Last week, a new parliamentary inquiry found there should be stricter rules around parents and other adults supplying alcohol to under-18s at home or at parties.
It’s a tough topic to tackle. And one that has always been a no-win situation for parents with teens. Should you impose a zero tolerance policy at home? Or is it more realistic to take the ‘lesser of the two evils’ approach and teach your kids how to drink responsibly by, ironically, relaxing the alcohol ban under your own roof?
View full article here.
I'll take my tea in London
Published in: International Traveller - 2013
Cucumber sandwiches sit somewhere on the edges of my childhood imagination along with lacrosse sticks and walks on the moors; ordinary to those who were surrounded by them but mysterious to a young book-worm from the other side of the world...
View full article here.
The horrible racism that adopted children endure
Published in: www.dailylife.com.au 2013
Changing a nappy on a plane isn’t easy and it didn’t help to know we were being watched. The eyes of our fellow passengers bored into the backs of our heads - the novice moves of new parents; alternative entertainment to the in-flight film. Our newly adopted son looked over my shoulder, and through eyes that might have been painted on with two strokes of black ink and a calligraphy brush, he watched them back….
View full article here.
Below the Salt
Published in: Great Walks 2013
The little-known condition of exercise-induced hyponatraemia nearly cost a Kokoda Track hiker her life.
The village of Alola is perched 1800m above sea level in steep jungle terrain and marks day two of the Kokoda Track for the six trekking groups who have set up camp here tonight. The cloud hovers thick and low over thatched huts dotted amongst the trees….
View full article here.
Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust Community Day
Published in: Bairnsdale Advertiser - 2013
The weather turned on its best last Friday, to highlight the beauty of the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust (LTAT), when 200 people gathered for a fishing competition and community day.….
View full article here.
Splendid isolation of a Solomons hideaway
Published in: The Weekend Australian - 2012
Room at the inn
FIRST in, first served, says the man behind the battered counter as he beckons for us to check in our luggage. He has bumped us to the top of the paperwork queue, ahead of people who've been waiting for four days….
View full article here.
Group Departures
Published in: The Weekend Australian - 2012
Competition kicks off early - three couples, eight days, Beijing. My tired suitcase is lined up at the airline check-in counter beside my friends' lime-green and orange capsules on swivelling wheels.
They are smug in the knowledge I will lose the luggage weigh-in challenge; the scales confirm it and a heavy tag is attached to my case. I have guide books, novels and a pair of shoes for every contingency. The others have iPads and Kindles and each wears their only pair of all-purpose shoes…
View full article here.
A night to remember
Published in: Melbourne's/Sydney's Child - 2009
Susan Murphy recalls giving birth to her stillborn daughter.
"Is it dead?" I asked, the clear, even tone of my voice hanging in the silence. The reply came, slowly, sadly, "I'm afraid that's the case". He was dressed in green theatre garb, and usually wore a bow tie in the pretentious way that obstetricians do….
View full article here.