Duneira Mt Macedon...a place of timeless elegance

Duneira is an 1875 historic Victorian homestead in Mount Macedon. Mt Macedon is less than an hour's drive from Melbourne and there are some exceptional properties to see on the way.  Duneira is a property I am particularly fond of and the phrase, timeless elegance certainly describes Duneria which is well worth the trip...visit their website for all the events, etc...here

Guided House Tour

Tours of the home explain the past and present activities.  The house features an extensive library, artwork collection, Persian rugs, grand pianos and interesting period furniture.  The one-hour tour starts in the lounge room with morning tea...details

The Heritage Garden

The stunning heritage garden is open to the public at various times of the year...2nd and 4th May the next tours... and includes a guided tour of the house...here.. The architecture, size and array of plants are a great tribute to Duneria's colonial past and to the unusual climate at Mt Macedon.

Stuart Stoneman was the seventh owner of  Duneira and his vision was to maintain and preserve Duneira and open it to the public and for it to continue to be a place where people have the opportunity to learn and relax; to enable interested individuals and groups to have access to the property; and in certain instances to enjoy suitable social and other functions... here

As an example of what's on..

A guided house tour on 2nd and 4th May...further details here..

Lectures & courses....'Games composers play'...

'Violin playing & the art of fencing'...Joe Chindamo, piano & Zoe Black, violin...

'Arcadia, baroque chamber ensemble'....

 ...and of course, they cater for private functions, weddings, private tours of the house, garden or art collection...visit the website for all details...here

Enjoy a trip to Mt Macedon and the splendid 'Duneira'...Wendy

Images - Duneria 

Autumn and the need for a good book.....have you read...

Now that we are in autumn and the weather has turned a little chilly, there will be many days ahead when a good book is definitely in need.  With the colder weather, brings mice to some country properties, and as I was recently at a country property, I had the unwanted "pleasure" of seeing evidence of mice around the property.

That brought me to thinking about a wonderful autobiography written by Australia's famous Nancy Wake also known as "the white mouse".   Yes, a rather weird way to be reminded of this excellent book, however, I am glad I thought about it again, because it is well worth a re-read.

For those of you who do not know, Nancy Wake was an Australian, albeit born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia when she was a babe, who left Australia in her twenties and went to live in London and France.  There she met and married a wealthy Frenchman and her life, as she thought, was very full until the outbreak of war and the invasion by Germany into France.

Image - ABC Shop

This is the story of one woman who was a spy during World War II. The autobiography is a candid story about the Americans, the British and of course the French.  Nancy was trained in England to fight in the French Resistance; she became a courier for the French Resistance and later joined the escape network.

Nancy Wake was called "the white mouse" by the Gestapo because of her ability to elude capture.  The Resistance had to be very careful with her missions; her life was in constant danger, with the Gestapo tapping her phone and intercepting her mail.  The death of her husband at the hands of the Nazis is so sad ... he was tortured to death because he would not reveal where his wife was.

Nancy is straight forward in her autobiography and quite humble ... there is humour, as she does seem to have a wicked sense of humour ...  I particularly like the story about drinking tequila, with a deceitful reporter, and she drinking him under the table when she was 60!  It really lifts your spirits in a book where her stories will leave the reader aghast with her courage and the adventures she undertook.

Her duties included allocating arms and equipment that were parachuted in and minding the group's finances. Nancy Wake became instrumental in recruiting more members and making the Maquis groups into a formidable force, roughly 7,500 strong.  She also led attacks on German installations and the local Gestapo headquarters in  Montlucon, France.  Nancy was award many awards for courage including:

                               Companion of the Order of Australia

George Medal

Officier de la Légion d'Honneur

Croix de guerre (France)

Medal of Freedom (United States)

RSA Badge in Gold (New Zealand)

Nancy returned to Australia and lived here for many years before returning to France in her latter years. Nancy died at the age of 98 in 2011 in France.  This autobiography is a little hard to find, however, it's well worth the effort...here

I am sure you will enjoy this courageous woman's story ... Wendy