Maxs Blog

A Marriage of Two Sheds

Life is a collection of indelible moments and the people we meet along the way.

What is the most exciting, unordinary and memorable Christmas function you attended last year?

How about lunch in a woolshed? Interesting concept?

The seemingly never-ending strip of bitumen from Melbourne to Wycheproof, followed by kilometres of winding, dusty, gravel road was an energy sapping drive. Almost 4 hours start to finish. A long, long way to drive for lunch. Destination was Kulwin Park.

Orange dust and a vivid blue sky framed a rusty old corrugated woolshed at the end of our journey. An interesting venue indeed. The capacity to house 1,000 sheep below the well-trodden floor-boards come shearing time indicated significant scale and was an interesting fact to discover early in our visit.

Logistically it consumes a day and a half of frenetic, perspiring, stooped and back-breaking activity to complete the task of shearing every sheep in the shed… A scene captured so engagingly on canvas by the emotive Tom Roberts masterpiece of 1894 (The Golden Fleece, on display at the NGV)

 

If you get the opportunity to stand in front of this iconic painting in Melbourne you’ll understand exactly what I am describing.

As is the norm in a rural farming community, the hospitality was outstanding. Within minutes my wife, Kerry, and two daughters were shaking large, strong weather-beaten hands and facing broad beaming smiles.

Catering was completed a-la-Masterchef – ‘pressure test’ – the night before, by a wonderful family. Obviously a second occupation beyond the farming demands from dawn to sundown! Denna Pellegrino, Chef Extraordinaire – take a bow! So too everyone who made the day so enjoyable!

“Ok, tell me about this memorable lunch”, you say.

Natural, filtered, moody light washed the room used to serve up the Christmas feast. Lead-light windows punctuated the unlined metal walls. The Christmas tree was creatively constructed using several pieces of rough-sawn off-cuts. A vertical post supporting a triangulation of branches and stud braces, hammered together with flat-head nails. Like an unpainted timber stop sign, decorated with white tinsel. So low-tech but a real eye-catcher within the space. Our hosts were dear friends Murray and Joy Stapleton.

Murray welcomed everyone involved in this close-knit, supportive rural gathering. He used beautiful word pictures together with a wonderful generosity of spirit in describing his ‘thank you’s’. A privilege to be part of this unusual occasion.

Maybe it was my over-stimulated imagination, but I sensed the unmistakable aroma of stale sheep droppings gently wafting from the adjacent workroom… a natural extension to the shearing shed environment.

The walls enclosed an authentic Australian outback ‘spiritual’ feel. The red and coloured glass in the transplanted lead light windows positioned in the end wall, delivered ‘surreal’ fingers of light and focus.

Murray smiled, larger than Luna Park (now celebrating its own centenary in December 2012) as he introduced my family. Full of mischief he suggested it would not be polite if his mate “Maxie” didn’t get the opportunity to share a few stories.

So there I was … up the hill into the breeze on well trodden set of ageing floorboards with an old ball and not a microphone in sight. Might be a challenge?

Several “Tangles” stories later and I was offering the floor back to Murray, a cranial-facial surgeon of incredible skill. He is also one of those people who possesses a rare talent to tell compelling stories.

I first met Murray through our mutual association with ROMAC (Rotary Overseas Medical Aid for Children) almost 30 years ago. He is one of the miracle-makers who unconditionally gives his time and expertise to a cause, which continually changes the lives of young children from various parts of the world. These youngsters cannot access the sort of medical services that we, in Australia, take for granted. Murray’s signature is his surgeon’s knife, an empathy for mankind and the stories he shares.

It has been a wonderful, yet at times emotional, journey of learning and a great friendship has developed. Murray is also a master photographer … but this subject deserves much, much more time. It requires many examples and conversations of how, when, where and why? Maybe I will interview Murray about this, another of our common passions.

Because of the sheer magnitude of time that must be committed to the land … the opportunity to be exposed to the captivating talents of another guest on Murray’s table is most likely minimal.

Next, a diminutive Chinese woman, Shu-Cheen Yu, with the voice of an angel, dressed in silk, stepped forward.

How incongruous, this unique outback theatre! No acoustic design, no microphone, in a shed clad in decades-old rusty corrugated iron. The air-conditioning was the simple process of opening wide sliding clapboard doors. This merely changed the direction of the breeze, if it existed at all. The day was warm, pushing towards 30 degrees.

What followed was extraordinary! Unique! Unforgettable!

This tiny, world-renowned, opera singer who only two days earlier had flown in from Shanghai, literally ‘lifted’ this remarkable farm shed roof with renditions in four different languages …Ave Maria, Silent Night and others … In between, a babe in arms cried herself to sleep. How inclusive.

Shu-Cheen performs to sell-out audiences six months of the year in China. The other half is dedicated to Australian crowds. The Chinese ‘cowgirl’ song she playfully shared was appropriate to the venue and occasion. It made us all smile… hopefully it sowed the seeds for good crops down under.

This was a spontaneous cultural bridge Shu-Cheen Yu built, linking a rural landscape to the hyper fast mega cities of the world and their jaw-dropping majestic theatres with cutting edge acoustics and expensive décor. To actually hear the sopranos incredible voice… www.shucheenyu.com.au

After demolishing sweets, a photographic opportunity ‘hugging’ the unique Christmas tree with Shu-Cheen was in order. More handshakes, photographs, autographs and fabulous stories from new-found friends. Many thanks.

What a lunch. What a shed. What a venue for something out of the ordinary! Maybe even a wedding? It would be memorable to tie the knot inside a structure born out of the marriage of two barn sheds, each a century old, knitted together with craftsmanship and love which will now stand in embrace for the next 100 years!

It should be noted that one shed travelled in a dismantled state, via semi-trailer, for more than 100km to be together with the other. As in all marriages, from two they become one.

A huge “thank you” to Murray and Joy and their wonderful circle of friends. Happy New Year!

Photographs are by my daughter Alexandra, to see more of her work please visit http://www.behance.net/alexwalker …