Well here I am penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…
This time I’ll be focusing on exotic trees (and one rare shrub) with spring blossoms that are part of the botanical family rosaceae and include the genera of exochorda (pearl bush), malus (flowering apple), prunus (flowering cherry), pseudocydonia (quince) and pyrus (pear).
However I would like to pay tribute to another group of potential spring flowering candidates biting at my heals that include (in alphabetical order): amelanchier (service berry), azara (azara), camellia (camellia), Cchoisya (mexican orange), daphne (daphne), enkianthus (enkianthus), laurus (bay tree), magnolia (magnolia), osmanthus (sweet holly), pieris (lily of the valley bush), rhododendron (rhododendron), stachyurus (spiketail) and viburnum (viburnum).

So here we go.

1. Exochorda serratifolia Snow White (pearl bush – see image) is a deciduous rare medium sized shrub to 2m high which features clear white flowers with prominent anthers that are tightly wrapped in a bud looking like a green and red striped tennis ball. The species is originally from Asia-temperate (China Manchuria and North-Central) and Korea (both North and South) but the cultivar Snow White is what we see here in cultivation. I planted a specimen at home a few years ago and cut it back by half after its first flowering and now it looks great, laden with buds.

2. Malus ioensis plena (betchel crab – see image) is yet to come into flower here in the Central Highlands but is well worth the wait as this smallish deciduous tree to 7m or so kicks goals in the latter part of October with blossoms pink in bud opening to a flurry of truly double pinkish-tinged, white flowers that (in good years) smother the whole plant. Tiny little crabapples may follow but are not edible for humans. This tree is being used as street plantings in Kyneton and there is a lovely specimen you can see from the road growing in the Convent Gallery in Daylesford.

3. Prunus Sato-zakura group Tai Haku (weeping Japanese flowering cherry) has been planted by me in our back garden in Hepburn and right now is at its glorious best. The graft is set at just over 2m and after judicious pruning we can now sit in a chair under its spreading canopy. And here’s a little tip, watch out for vertiginous shoots that can appear from under the graft and head skywards at an alarming rate – these need to be cut off.

4. Pseudocydonia sinensis (Chinese quince – see image) is strongly related to chaenomeles (japonica or flowering quince) and is sometimes included as a species of it. This unusual species has many attributes that not only include its spring blossoms that initially open into a tulip-like flower and later produce a large fruit that can be treated the same culinary way as the common quince (cydonia oblonga), but has extra bonuses such as mottled peeling bark and an array of fine autumnal coloured foliage. Under the right conditions this deciduous, semi-evergreen Chinese tree may reach 10m but can produce suckers so best to keep on top of it and nurture a single main trunk.

5. Pyrus salicifolia (willow-leaved pear) has been noted as being one of the most ornamental of pears as it has beautiful emerging silver-grey leaves – they do eventually green up – that can be seen among the clusters of blossoms. This species (native to Asia-temperate (Iran, Russia (Caucasus) and Turkey) may become a tree of around 7m and would go well planted alongside purple-leaved plants such as corylus avellana Purpurea (purple-leaved hazelnut), deep-green foliaged, evergreen plants such as luma apiculata (Chilean myrtle) and one of my faves, pseudolarix amabilis (golden larch), a deciduous conifer from China with emerging feathery golden green foliage that later turn to yellowy-bronze in autumn.
And so there you have it dear reader, a snapshot (I told you I liked using that word) of spring flowering plants that give us locals joy after emerging from our (seemingly) long winter. Happy plant hunting & remember you’re only as good as your soil.
– Cheers JB (Trees in Australia)
Next time: Broad-leaved Plants for the garden
Scan the QR code to see JB’s Instagram post

As the great man Douglas Adams once said: “So long and thanks for all the fish”. This is the bloke who wrote the fourth instalment in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
According to NASA, Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known object from outside our solar system to be discovered passing through our celestial neighbourhood. When the orbit of 3I/ATLAS is traced into the past, the comet clearly originates from outside our solar system.
But Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away. The closest it will approach our planet is about 270 million kilometres. The comet will reach its closest point to the sun around October 30, 2025, at a distance of about 210 million kilometres, just inside the orbit of Mars. The interstellar comet’s size and physical properties are being investigated by astronomers around the world. It should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September 2025, after which it will pass too close to the sun to observe. It will reappear on the other side of the sun by early December 2025, allowing for renewed observations.
Meanwhile the conspiracists are puzzling on how its trajectory is so spot-on that it can skim over the top of our solar system and how when it gets here it will be hiding on the other side of the sun for a month or so – the chance of this occurring is less than one in two hundred million. Then there is the fact there is no tail to this comet, which actually doesn’t make sense. There is also some sort of glow on its bow, which some are referring to as headlights. Some in the astronomy game have even sided with the aluminium-lid lovers club to concur that we might have a mothership on our hands. And it must be true because I have seen it for myself on YouTube.
I am hoping that if we are expecting an otherworldly visit, it’s just to pick up that amazing bloke who has stopped seven wars and is now in charge of the Gaza Strip. Donny, an all-round nice guy according to himself, a bloke that has been screaming from the rooftops to whoever will listen that he is the new messiah.
Well, maybe the little green men have been listening and just maybe they need him up there in their world to save their galaxy, far, far away. Maybe this bloke really is the messiah, a great negotiator and all-round fixer upper of world problems and the “Nano-Nano” men from Planet Ork want to give him a crack saving their galaxy. Perhaps they feel his talents are misplaced down here and want to give him a chance on the universal stage. I mean, he’s already saved the world, according to MAGA.
Anyway, my message to you all is don’t pay your taxes until Christmas. Let’s see how this whole thing plays out, and if we have to send our great white hope up to Planet Fukoffski for a while so be it.
Good luck rant over…
(Ed’s note: The Local does not endorse not paying tax bills…)

Sipping shiraz

Winter arrived with a vengeance
Lashed out its forked tongue
Laced with ice and snow
Laid its wet blanket
Over a parched landscape
Desperate for a taste of moisture

Kangaroos leave the safety
Of the forest
For grass that lines the highways
Oblivious to the danger
Of speeding traffic

Their dead bodies are everywhere
Topped by black crows
Who scatter with the buffeting wind
Of passing trucks

I have felt the harshness
Of this winter
It seems determined to enter my bones
Remain a stubborn visitor

In six weeks it will step aside
Allow spring to spread its wings
Let the sun burst through
Lay a pink tinge
Over a frozen ground

Already buds are pushing
Their earth blanket aside
Anxious to show their resilient faces
Not to be beaten by a determined foe

Eventually the sun will arrive
Like a fiery ember
Over the horizon to spawn its warmth
Like a blast from a furnace

In the meantime
We huddle around the fire
Sipping shiraz

Kevin Mutton

Kevin is a Trentham poet who has been writing poetry for fifty years. He is always inspired by what happens around him.

Hi there, I am Halloumi, a young and sweet two-year old boy with a gentle soul.

I am a bit shy but will warm up quickly, especially if you’re offering a gentle scratch behind my ears.
My favourite pastimes include cuddling in cosy corners and quietly observing my surroundings. I am the perfect companion for someone looking for a calm and loving friend to share quiet moments with.
Microchip no. 956000018368612
Come and meet me at MAAWs in Castlemaine. Just call first on 5472 5277 to make sure I haven’t been snapped up.

Lots of things happening around our shire this edition.
First up, some people were not happy with Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas having his say in the last edition.
Basically Mr Thomas said that council staff were being given a hard time by ratepayers and the harassment needed to stop.
Now some people wrote on social media that he had gone whining to his mates at The Local for the “puff piece”.
Just not true. I had been watching Facebook posts and was pretty horrified at some of them so asked if someone at council wanted to address them. So not initiated by Mr Thomas and I don’t think a puff piece. Although I am open to bribes for good news. Jokes. Maybe.
Also, are we friends with the council? I think we have a professional relationship but we don’t hang out together. And I reckon we’ve done a few columns that the council has read and thought were not that nice. All’s fair and all that.
Anyway, two people in the planning game had their say in this edition and I get where they are coming from. When your life is about getting planning applications happening for clients, and they are not happening, life is not great.
Absolutely keep it polite but when your clients are threatening to sue you because they are not happening, then life is getting pretty bad. We had one planning issue – a simple subdivision – that took three years and I was close to exploding any time we could get anyone on the phone. So times that by 100 and you get the picture.
But if you read the story, things may be looking up. Perhaps.
Another council story which I noticed in the minutes from the last meeting was that unintended traffic impacts since the opening of the Djuwang Baring all-abilities 60-kilometre mountain bike trail network in Creswick, will see Hepburn Shire Council spend at least another $300,000 on the almost $9 million project.
Is it just me, or would you think that part of the project’s early days would have included a traffic management plan. Did no-one think: “World class bike track – more traffic, dust from unmade roads, parking congestion.”
It’s so Utopia. And I love that the report’s conclusion is that “while Djuwang Baring presented a fantastic opportunity for regional tourism, local business and supporting participation and active recreation, council acknowledges that it is essential to balance patronage with residential amenity and safety”. I don’t even know if it is a balance, surely amenity and safety come first? Followed by patronage. And maybe at the start of all that a decent traffic assessment? Sigh.
Then there was a little media release sent out from the state education department. I think it was them. Maybe it was Mary-Anne Thomas’s people. Hard to keep up.
If you read the Just Briefly section, you will have seen that Daylesford Primary School is one of 30 schools to share in over $16 million to undertake 31 maintenance projects between them.
That’s great news and then you read the school was allocated $545,783 to rebuild five ramps across the school. That’s $109,156 per ramp. Now I don’t know what sort of ramps these are – I imagine for mobility – but it seems a lot. I guess it’s right.
When we had old dogs we built a ramp to the deck. Two bits of wood for sides and two bits for the ramp. Just one dog wide. And that is where we came undone. We imagined the dogs would look before they ramped, and if one dog was already on the ramp, they would wait. Yes, we are quite stupid. Just sayin’…

Songstress Anna Smyrk, who is releasing a new song Garden-Variety Grief, and heading on a pop-up garden tour, is performing free all-ages shows in community gardens across Victoria before heading to Europe and the US.

Anna is kicking off the tour with a show at Newstead Community Garden on Saturday, October 18 at 2pm.
“For me, the things that really help in dark times are music, community and nature. I wanted to bring all those things together on this tour and create some moments of connection outside of the usual places you go to hear live music,” Anna says.
Pack a picnic rug or folding chair, a picnic to enjoy and books for the book swap. Garden-Variety Grief is at www.annasmyrk.lnk.to/Garden-VarietyGrief

Image: Michelle Gunder

Hepburn Shire Council is being offered a chance to make a serious investment in arts and culture, with no cost to ratepayers or its budget.

Hepburn Shire Council is being offered a chance to make a serious investment in arts and culture, with no cost to ratepayers or its budget.
The Phoenix@The Rex Cinema Group says following the sale of The Rex, the council set aside $2.1 million, specifying that it is to be used for community facilities that would have been housed in The Rex Hub under council ownership.
The group says the council could now allocate the $50,000 requested by them from this reserve fund. This money would help in purchase of equipment without any impact on ratepayers or the budget.
The allocation sought from the council is for group-owned equipment, not for the Rex building. The state-of-the-art projection and sound equipment needed will cost $140,000, including installation and freight.
If the council allocated $50,000 to the cinema, a third of the cost of this equipment would be met. The rest would come from continued fundraising, sponsorship and possibly an interim leasing arrangement. Operating costs will be kept low by the group’s commitment to a volunteer-run, community, not-for-profit organisation.
Group vice president Professor Linda Hancock said fundraising had raised $70,000 in six months to get the cinema to the point where The Block was able to come in and create an exciting and attractive interior décor for the cinema and bar/café area. “But it’s like a pub with no beer – we have a beautiful cinema but cannot operate without equipment.
“We are grateful for the generous community support. In one evening, at the showing of The Block’s depiction of its work on the Rex, nine people bought nameplates for the backs of seats at $350 each for three years. Another 21 have been sold. What we seek at this final stage is council support so that it seizes the chance to forge a positive relationship with the group, grounded in a shared purpose and community pride.”
Professor Hancock said such a step needed an open vote by the council. “Our Group hopes that this will happen in the interest of transparency and helping restore community confidence. We trust that councillors will demonstrate a positive commitment to the cinema and agree to allocate the $50,000 requested.”

Budburst is back for another fabulous weekend.
Taking place on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16, this is a once-a-year opportunity to go beyond the cellar door, sip rare wines not found anywhere else, and meet the passionate people who craft some of Australia’s most exciting cool-climate wines.
Over two festival days, more than 20 winemakers across 15+ Budburst venues will open their doors, to offer wine tastings, varied food and entertainment offerings, while sharing their stories. From established icons to hidden gems, Budburst is all about connection – between the makers, the wines, and wine lovers.

Budburst is a must for wine enthusiasts, culture seekers and weekend wanderers Victoria wide and beyond to get lost in the wine, the produce and the magic of Macedon Ranges.
Festival hours run from 10am to 5pm each day, with tastings, curated food menus, and the chance to chat directly with the winemakers at every stop.
Participating wineries include: Attwoods Wines (Mount Monument); Cleveland Estate (Mount Monument): Cold Acre (Hanging Rock); Double Oaks Estate; Granite Hills; Hanging Rock Winery; Hesket Estate; Hunter-Gatherer Winery; Kyneton Ridge; Lane’s End (Wilimee); Lord Malmsbury Vineyard (Paramoor); Lyons Will Estate; Metcalfe Valley (Kyneton Ridge); Midhill Vineyard; Mount Monument Winery; Mount Towrong; North Wines (Hunter Gatherer); Paramoor Parkside Winery and Farm; Passing Clouds (Paramoor); Red Poppy Estate and Wilimee.
With so many wineries to choose from there is a wide range of food, music and art offerings to serve as perfect enhancements to the discovery of the Ranges. From local vendors to winery and estate grown produce, discover quality bites and musical delights, getting lost in a magical weekend in the vines.
Festival passes start from $39 and weekend passes are only $52.
Designated drivers and children under 18 are invited to join the festival for free. Also, checkout the hop-on/hop-off Budburst weekend bus routes.

Link: www.budburst.com

The morning sun spills gently over Bremner Avenue as the Lyonville Hall begins to stir. By 9am, the quiet country air is buzzing with excitement – cars pull up, arms cradle cake boxes, and the hall doors swing open to welcome a flurry of bakers and volunteers.
Inside, the scent of cinnamon, chocolate, and buttery pastry begins to mingle with freshly brewed coffee, setting the tone for a day that’s as warm and inviting as the community itself.
Entries arrive in waves each lovingly placed on display tables by volunteers who move with practised precision.
These unsung heroes have spent days baking behind the scenes, preparing savoury and sweet delights for the cake stall, and now they’re busy as bees ensuring everyone is well fed and caffeinated.
Spectators begin to flow through the hall, admiring the artistry and imagination on display. Outside, the spring sunshine beckons. Families gather under the trees, sipping tea and nibbling on slices of cake, while children play nearby.
As the judges make their rounds, tasting and deliberating, a hush falls over the crowd. The suspense builds – who will win? The day winds down with full bellies, happy hearts, and a renewed appreciation for the community that makes it all possible. The 2025 Lyonville Bake Off is on Sunday, October 26 from 10.30am.

Above, judge Dot Fuller, with a helper, checks out a cake at last year’s event

Words & image: Contributed

Glenlyon CFA volunteer Shaun Gedge is walking the walk, literally, to raise money for his brigade.

The former Englishman is taking on a just over 240km solo hike raising money for his brigade to help pay for breathing apparatus and a 4×4 ultralight tanker.
“The breathing apparatus will enable us to safely fight a car/house fire without the risk of breathing in toxic gases and smoke. The ultralight will enable us to navigate harsh terrain that our much larger tankers would not be able to do.”
Shaun has already raised $3098 on his CFA-authorised GoFundMe page but hopes to reach $5000, or more. His walk will take him around the response areas of the eight brigades that make up Glenlyon Group, part of District 15, over eight days, walking about 28kms a day, depending on the terrain.
“Glenlyon Rural Fire Brigade is a small brigade and as a team we are committed to protecting lives and property, supporting our communities and working as one with our emergency service partners. We respond to a wide range of calls within our area including bushfires, hazardous material incidents and vehicle accidents. As a brigade we rely on funding and donations to be able to keep our station running.”
Shaun, who joined the Glenlyon CFA about a year ago, was ready to do a reconnaissance drive last Saturday for his walk. “It’s as far up north as Franklinford, as west as Daylesford and Leonards Hill, and takes in Trentham as well. It’s bush tracks. It’s solo camping but there’s a couple of people who say they might want to come and pitch a tent with me.”
Shaun said he has only just realised how big a deal the walk is, and he is not new to the distance, but perhaps the wildlife. “I did a 160-kilometre walk in the UK, again a charity walk, for the Air Ambulance. I thought why not do one here. We do have snakes, they’re just not quite as deadly as the ones over here.”
The 21-year-old arrived in June last year after meeting his girlfriend, from Glenlyon, in the UK. “I decided that after college Australia was a very nice place, and I wanted to move over here for good.”
Shaun heads off on Saturday, October 18. To donate, head to his GoFundMe page or scan the QR code.

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

Koos Hulst is on the move, to the Netherlands to be precise, where he met his ex-wife Carol in 2002. The couple fell in love, moved in together and with Carol an Australian ex-pat working for Shell, they talked about the future. Stay in the Netherlands or move to Australia? The latter won. In 2006 they moved to Australia and chose Daylesford for their home because they had bought a property, Sault Estate, and had plans to develop that into a well-being centre. Koos chatted with Kyle Barnes.

Kyle: Are you still involved with Sault?
Koos: Our plans for development of Sault into a well-being centre, planning-wise all went very, very swiftly and efficiently, but as soon we had our planning permits and architectural plans, we pretty much ran out of money. We hoped that we could get some third-party capital, co-investors, but that coincided with the global financial crisis. Everybody was tight-fisted and we couldn’t get any investors so in 2007 we had the planning permit and in 2009 we split up and each went our own way. The property has been sold and after that I started initially doing property maintenance, cutting grass, trimming trees… Gradually I moved into inspection and maintenance of wastewater treatment systems. And that grew from one customer in 2012 and now I have over 200.

Kyle: You have been quite involved in the community.
Koos: At the advice of my ex-wife I joined CFA in 2007. And I’m still a member, but I moved from the Daylesford CFA to Leonards Hill, because we moved to Sailors Falls. That’s still taking a chunk of my time. I’m the secretary and treasurer of the brigade, and that’s quite enjoyable. Later on, I became a founding member and member of the board of Hepburn Wind. As most people know, Hepburn Wind established Australia’s first community-owned wind farm in Leonards Hill. And I did that for four or five years.
Concurrently, I also joined the steering committee for the establishment of the community bank in Daylesford, part of the Bendigo Bank organisation. That was very satisfying to see that both the wind farm and the community bank came to fruition.
More recently, I joined the Rotary Club of Daylesford, where I’m acting as the secretary, which is very nice, because that creates a bit of fellowship and friendship amongst the members.

Kyle: So where are you off to and why? Will we see you again?
Koos: I’m heading back to the Netherlands. And initially, I’ll move in with my sister, which gives me the opportunity to find my own accommodation, or I’m probably looking for something to rent. There’s nothing I don’t like about being in Australia. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here still after almost 20 years. It’s more that the attraction of going back to the Netherlands, being able to spend more time with my family and friends, that is drawing me back. After long years of nagging by both my family and my friends to return to the Netherlands, they finally succeeded to sway me in that direction. Will I be back? Never say never, finance permitting. I’ll come and check on the friends that I’ve made here in Australia, and in particular in the Daylesford area.

Kyle: Anything else to add?
Koos: The last years of my life in Australia have been revolving very much around work. I have no family here so if I want to do some work on a Sunday, who’s going to stop me? I’ve been working quite hard and I’m looking forward to winding down a little bit. I hope I’ll find some work in the Netherlands but not as crazy as here.

Kyle: Finally, did you know the Netherlands was just rated number one place to retire?
Koos: Is it? I didn’t know that!

Patricia Ilhan’s daughter was severely allergic to tree nuts. Patricia and her late husband John (of the Crazy John’s mobile phone business) found out when their daughter was just one. John ate a jar of peanuts and kissed her on the face.
“She was unrecognisable. She looked like an alien. We called the doctor and he told us ‘just don’t give her any peanuts’.”

Patricia and John felt that was not good enough. “There was nothing being done in the marketplace, there was no education at schools and there were no doctors who really understood the problem. We felt that we were given this child for a reason and we were lucky enough to be in a position to make change so we started the Australian Food Allergy Foundation. And to be honest today Victoria is still the safest state to raise a child with a food allergy.” Her daughter is now a healthy 24-year-old.
Patricia, who more recently co-founded the Centre for Paediatric Allergies at the Epworth Hospital in Richmond, said this has become her life’s work and the couple’s legacy.
Every year she raises money, around $200,000, to pay for a fellowship at the centre to train up a doctor to be an allergy specialist.
“They go off after the 12 months and treat children specifically who have severe food allergies – this year is the seventh one we’ve done so there’s six other doctors running around there who can see children. Australia is not a third world country and kids shouldn’t have to wait 18 months to see a specialist.”
Money is raised every year at a different event and this year Patricia will hold a private dinner at her home, Lyonbank Estate in Glenlyon. She had also hoped to hold an Open Garden Day and Prestige Car Show but that has been postponed due to some planning issues.
The dinner, black tie, will be held in November in an event with emcee Mike Snell, who does many events for the Epworth Hospital at Crown Casino, and with about 150 invited guests.
Patricia says once that is done and dusted, she will get back to planning the open day at her home, which she bought three years ago.
She finishes chatting with a story about a builder she employed to do some renovations on that property.
“I had a fabulous builder do some renovations when we first bought it and his wife was expecting a baby. So she had this beautiful baby boy Fraser and the father was making eggs one morning and Fraser was in his high chair, and yes, it just went from bad to worse very quickly. He was allergic to eggs. The father was so distraught that he couldn’t get into the ambulance with his son so the wife had to go – and I sent them straight to the Epworth. They now have a 12-month plan to help desensitize him.
“It’s always the parents who try to mistakenly poison their children and their babies. And they feel so guilty but it is not their fault. They just need to take action, hopefully it is OK, and they get the help and plans they need for the future.”

Links: www.facebook.com/FoodAllergyAU/ | www.instagram.com/p/DPKwn3FkuTK/
Donations: emf.org.au/your-impact/research/paediatric-allergies

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

Erik Horvat grew up in Daylesford, has always been creative, and at just 25 already has his first book on sale, The Sleep Walking Game, at Paradise Books, along with various online booksellers. The Sailors Falls resident chatted with Donna Kelly

Donna: How did you get into words?
Erik: I moved here when I was eight and I’ve always been very creative. I always liked reading and I also do a lot of painting and sculptures. All sort of things. This is the first book I’ve written – and like a lot of creative people I was always too scared to try to make anything of it because there’s too much competition out there. And perhaps I’m not as good as I think I am.
There are two quotes from authors who got me going. One is the comic book artist Alan Moore who said ‘As a prospective writer, I would urge you to not only read good books. Read terrible books as well, because they can be more inspiring than the good books. If you are inspired by a good book, there’s always the danger of plagiarism, of doing something that is too much like that good book. Whereas, a genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of work that you’re reading is, ‘Jesus Christ, I could write this shit!’.
The other one was Ernest Hemingway who said the first draft is always shit. And that’s when I started to write. Overnight. And this is that book.

Donna: No spoilers but what’s the book about?
Erik: It’s cosmic horror. Cosmic horror was invented by H.P. Lovecraft and it’s incomprehensible creatures, things from other dimensions…not to do with space necessarily but it’s more that the world doesn’t work how we think it does. And that is terrifying. The Netflix series Stranger Things is cosmic horror.

Donna: Hmmm. Don’t you get nightmares with all this on your mind?
Erik: I’m really drawn to horror but I am also a very paranoid, fear filled-person. I suppose writing horror gives me power over it.

Donna: What is your writing style?
Erik: I wake up first thing in the morning and I start writing and I won’t stop until about 2pm when I then have to go to my night shift at Cellarbrations. I do it seven days a week, just almost obsessively. I’ll just write until I can’t anymore.

Donna: Who is publishing your book?
Erik: That is a bizarre story within itself. I submitted to a bunch of publishers and there was a small independent publisher in Melbourne who picked it up. It was run by one guy who was also an established writer. They were about to start printing when all of sudden the man died.
All operations had to cease because it was all tied up in his will and some legal issues. So at the risk of waiting another couple of years for that to resolve, one of the senior editors said the book was finished, ready to go and I had still retained all the rights. So I self-published it but I did have a contract.

Donna: Do you have another book ready to go?
Erik: I do. I’ve written several books. I have another one that I’m polishing up just a little bit more and then I’m going to look for a literary agent in the United States.

Donna: Do you hope to be a full-time writer?
Erik: That’s the dream. But dare I dream that? It is terrifying having a book out. Even though I have many, many friends, I am an intensely private person and getting everyone to read something I wrote…I would love them to be made into movies. My partner said what if they make it into a movie and butcher it.
But I would take that paycheck. That would be cool. And outside our store is a basket of The Local – it would funny to flick through it and see myself in it. That would be fantastic.

The Sleep Walking Game is available online at booktopia, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Image: Kiara Clifton

The arrival of spring in Victoria is identified by the flowering of the many species of wattles and the sound of baby birds crying out to be fed.
There are three distinct stages of growth for baby birds: the nestling, which is the very young bird that has not been out of the shell for long and is too young to leave the nest; the branchling, which is a bird that may leave the nest to explore nearby branches but is unable to fly; and the fledgling, which is the bird that has left the nest and is learning to forage and fly.

In all three stages the baby bird is still dependent on its parents for food and protection. Each species of bird has different requirements and birds will often stay with their parents for up to a year learning hunting and survival skills.
Just because a bird can fly doesn’t mean it is an independent animal – we have all seen the baby magpies calling out for food as they fly from place to place.
It is not normal for baby birds to be running around on the ground (except for ducks). So, if you find a baby bird on the ground the chances are that something has happened and if it has fallen out of a tree it may have damage or bruising that is not apparent and may be life threatening if not addressed. We may think we are doing the right thing by putting a baby bird in a temporary nest we have created.
Gayle from the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter tells me that the problem with this is that then the parents must divide their time between two different nest sites and often these chicks will die from exposure or starvation.
The baby magpie at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter was found by the roadside. In present times unless you are in a rainforest, much of our forests lack a dense shrubby layer. So, when a baby bird falls from the tree they have no way of climbing back up. In times gone by the bird would have been able to access the tree via the tall shrubby layer of plants in the forest.
Gayle stresses the importance of not feeding baby birds, as people generally will not understand their nutritional requirements. Baby birds have very fast growth rates and can sustain feather damage in 12 hours of not receiving adequate nutrition. For this reason if you find a baby bird on the ground it is best to avoid taking it to a vet because it may not be fed as quickly or as often as it needs. It is best to call a wildlife shelter for advice.
So in this spring season, if you find a baby bird on the ground, call the wildlife shelter for advice.
The Hepburn Wildlife Shelter phone number is 0409 380 327 and the Wildlife Emergency Helpline: is 8400 7300. Pop them in your phone.

Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org

They came in their hundreds, ignoring sputtering rain, with children in tow, phone cameras poised and verdicts ready.
After two and a half years of planning, plotting and producing, the famous five houses of The Block went on public show in what organisers say was a “thank you” day. And so the mayor and other well-known locals joined the folk from nearby Cliffy’s, tradies and other eyeballers for the best free show in town.
After having images of the houses, their builders and the show’s contestants beamed into their homes for months, there was little doubting the keenness of the 600 who lined up to have their names ticked off before getting past the obscuring fence and heading for House No.1.
Groups played Pick Your Favourite, peeked into wardrobes, gazed at the giant skylights, and some enormous barbeques. The sheer size of the houses caused a stream of comments, while some of the contestants happily chatted to the visitors.
Another observation, about a bedroom, was more to the point: “Perfect to get away from the kids!”
Said another local: “They certainly ring all the bells and whistles.”
Nearby a young visitor called proudly: “We’ve got one of those.” The abundance of features made it unclear as to what she was referring.
The visitors had to either take off their shoes or to slip on blue plastic covers. Signs warned them not to use the lavatories.
One sightseer ignored a Keep Off the Grass sign to tweak an ear of a large sculpture of a lounging kangaroo, another goggled at a pickleball court, an outdoor spa and a below-ground wine cellar.
“It’s House One,” cried one enthusiastic visitor, on completing her tour. “I called it from the day the contestants walked in.”
All of this is not to deny that naturally there was some criticism as some sightseers closely inspected the finishes.
This was the only day the houses were open to the public. Other bumper tours are to follow, including a VIP night, sponsors’ day inspection and a real estate event. All of this leads up to THE big day, the auction of the houses on Saturday, October 25.
The day after the 600 made their visits, some people who must have missed out were at the locked gates, peering in at the five houses of Daylesford seen around the world.
Words & images: Kevin Childs