Isabel Chasney thought a podiatry job in the outer suburbs of Melbourne would be the change she and husband Gary were looking for when they emigrated from the UK 22 years ago. Little did they know, Australia’s map is quite a different scale to the one back home. The job was actually in Nhill, a small town in western Victoria, 375 kilometres from Melbourne.
Moving around over the coming years, they had a short stint in Swan Hill along The Murray before settling in Tasmania to open their own podiatry practice. The pair also had two kids along the way.
When visiting a friend back in the region, they spotted a parcel of land for sale and it was an immediate yes before heading home to Tasmania. Twelve months on, they snapped up the olive grove next door and, with two caravans to live in while they built a house, they started a new life as olive farmers.
This lack of olive farming knowledge was a small glitch in their plans, though the resulting mistakes have made for entertaining anecdotes to share with visitors.
After tossing away endless batches of their first harvest — “[the olives go through] a lactic acid bacterial fermentation and they get scum on the top. We thought they were off, so we were throwing them away” — Gary and Isabel attended an olive-processing course. They soon realised the biofilm on the surface of the barrels was a natural part of the process and they’d been discarding perfectly good product.
The following year, a windy season during the trees’ flowering period meant no pollination and no fruit was produced.
Now known as Chasney Estate, Gary and Isabel have found success with numerous agritourism projects on the 14-acre olive grove and lavender farm. The farm shop is stocked with the fruits of their varied labour from olives, olive oils and other condiments, to lavender body products and ice cream. They run tours and experiences from soap-making with excess olive oil to seasonal sunflower fields, and welcome visitors to stay in tiny off-grid houses.
Every weekend, Gary makes the 320-kilometre trek to Melbourne, attending suburban farmers’ markets across the city on both Saturdays and Sundays.
The ventures have also allowed them to involve the local community as they value-add to their farm produce.
“We spoke with Steven at Fossey’s in Mildura, a local gin distiller…we're super happy with [the lavender gin] they've produced for us… Jilarty [Gelato Bar & Café] in Swan Hill, we provide them with our English culinary lavender, honey from the beehives, and our extra virgin olive oil, and they make our gelato for us. We kind of see it as it's our way of helping other small businesses in town, which is crucial…it's such a small community here and we try to make sure that we involve as many people as we can."
Giving back to the community is their way of saying thank you for the support they’ve received over the years, including advice from a larger regional olive grower.
While the people of The Murray hold a special place for Gary and Isabel, there are also plenty of great memories from time spent here.
When it comes to welcoming visitors into the region, they see plenty of city folk who’ve been glued to technology be able to switch off and relax.
“They stay for two, three, four nights, you find them just lounging out with their flip flops, a glass of wine…they've had a nice relaxing time, they've enjoyed themselves, they've seen the local sights [like] the Catalina Flying Boat Museum on Lake Boga. They go out to Lake Tyrrell to watch the sunset, Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill .”
Giving back to the community is their way of saying thank you for the support they’ve received over the years, including advice from a larger regional olive grower.
While the people of The Murray hold a special place for Gary and Isabel, there are also plenty of great memories from time spent here.
When it comes to welcoming visitors into the region, they see plenty of city folk who’ve been glued to technology be able to switch off and relax.
“They stay for two, three, four nights, you find them just lounging out with their flip flops, a glass of wine…they've had a nice relaxing time, they've enjoyed themselves, they've seen the local sights [like] the Catalina Flying Boat Museum on Lake Boga. They go out to Lake Tyrrell to watch the sunset, Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill .”
This is the final blog in our Mates of The Murray series, and we hope you’ve enjoyed meeting our mates over the past few weeks.
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