Wednesday Wanderings

Cathryn Hein walks us through a particularly special place in Australia,
once known as the Green Triangle

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One of the old adages with writing is ‘write what you know’. I’ve never been sure about this. I mean, imagine if all those murder ‘n mayhem or thriller authors took that literally. Yikes!

For me, the better saying is write what you love - what you love to read, what you cherish in this life, the issues you’re passionate about, the people and places that touch your heart.

I adore all of Australia - cities, country, and everywhere in between - but I have to admit that there’s one particular place that’s really special: the area encompassing the lower south-east of South Australia and far western Victoria, once known as the Green Triangle.

I’m passionate about this part of the world and not just because it was where I was born and raised. It’s beautiful. Fertile. Slightly wild. The coastline is rugged and spectacular. There are extinct volcanos, lava tubes, limestone caves and ponds hiding underwater wonderlands. There are vineyards and forests, lakes and swamps. Rivers. Produce from land and water like you wouldn’t believe.

I like its relative isolation too. The dusty outback it might not be but it’s a good slog either north-west to Adelaide or east to Melbourne. It’s a place that sings romance in the wind. And there’s plenty of that. Wind, I mean. With not much between the coast and Antarctica other than a few guano-covered islands the area experiences some pretty mean southerlies.

I’ve set the majority of my books in the region, taking inspiration from places I know well. But one of my absolute favourite settings was the one I used for April’s Rainbow. This story is set on a fictional property called Rainbow situated in the far western districts of Victoria, near an also fictional town called Rannoch. The landscape is stunning - gloriously green and with rolling hills and pretty valleys, and agriculturally rich.

It might be made up, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit.

I’ve taken quite a few liberties, but if you want to know what Rainbow looks like, take a drive west along Victoria’s Glenelg Highway. Between Casterton and Coleraine you’ll find a place called Muntham Hill and if you pull over in the parking bay and get out, you’ll see an amazing view like this.

It’s no wonder the explorer Major Mitchell described the western districts as the heart of Australia felix - the heart of fortunate Australia - and I’m sure you can understand why Tristan and April love it so much. It’s gorgeous!

Now here’s the view heading east, down the hill.

Here’s another view of the grazing land a little further west. The trees here are amazing.

Those of you who have read the book will know that a commemorative cairn plays a significant role in the story. I based the one in April’s Rainbow on the one at the top of Muntham Hill. At least I thought I did. As it turns out I’d had a confused moment because the one at the top of the hill isn’t a cairn, more a squat obelisk. Nor is it dedicated to Major Mitchell. This one commemorates Edward Henty, Victoria’s first permanent settler, and a member of the Henty clan who’d arrived in Portland in November 1834 and quickly set about claiming land across the district for themselves.

This is the Muntham memorial…

Not terribly exciting to look at but the Hentys have an amazing history that’s very much worth learning about. There’s a wonderful tale about how, in 1836 having battled his way across Victoria and believing himself to be the first white man in the area, Mitchell came face-to-face with the Hentys already making themselves at home at Portland Bay. Story has it that it was all amicable but I can’t help imagining that Mitchell didn’t have his nose put out of joint just a little. I mean, he’d trekked all that way only to be outdone by a family who’d taken the fast way over from Tasmania!

The reason why this memorial is at the top of Muntham Hill is because the original 77,000 acre pastoral run of Muntham had belonged to Edward Henty, along with other tracts. Like many of the runs in the area, time saw it broken up.

If you leave this memorial and follow the road to Coleraine you’ll not only discover more local history but something more like what I envisioned for April’s Rainbow.

Isn’t it wonderful? This cairn is dedicated to renowned horseman and poet Adam Lindsay Gordon who rode in the Great Western Steeplechase between 1862 and 1866. This is the point where the race crossed the road. Of the race, Gordon wrote:

On the fields of Coleraine there’ll be labor in vain.

Before the Great Western is ended, the nags will have toiled and the silks will have soiled.

And the rails will require to be mended.

Speaking of great horseman, in 1928 my Uncle Clarence, aged sixteen, travelled from Mount Gambier across the Victorian border to Coleraine for a race meeting. When that meet proved unsuccessful, he headed back to Casterton where, the next day, he rode King Sam to victory in the Casterton Cup. Fast forward to 2008 and there’s Clarrie, aged 96, once again at the Casterton Cup, only this time presenting the prize to the winning jockey of the same race he’d won eighty years before.

Driving through this area always lifts my heart and with my Mum in a nursing home here, I have an even stronger personal connection. I hope that one day you’ll have a chance to visit the region as well and share in its great beauty and history.

In the meantime, you can always get a taste by reading April’s Rainbow!

From the spectacular beauty of Victoria’s lush western districts comes this deeply emotional story of grief, courage and love.

When shy farmer Tristan Blake is given free rein to manage iconic local property Rainbow, he soon finds himself living his dream. Even more so once the farm’s dark-haired artist owner April Tremayne arrives. April is mysterious and slightly wild, with an air of tragedy, and Tristan is captivated. The more involved he becomes with April and her eccentric projects, the harder he falls for her. April might believe the price of love is pain, but Tristan vows that is one thing she’ll never experience with him.

But even the sweetest dream can turn dark. April is haunted by the very heartbreak she’d come to Rainbow to heal, and as her demons tighten their grip, Tristan is torn between keeping his promise or betraying the woman he loves. And the risk of either choice is losing her forever.

 

April’s Rainbow is available in eBook and paperback from good retailers.
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Print copies are also available at CathrynHein.com

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