Tales of the Valley

How many residents of the Manning Valley have featured on an Australia Post stamp?  Macquarie Island, located between Tasmania and the Antarctic, was the site of the world's most successful rabbit eradication program ever conducted and Gus, the Springer Spaniel, was part of this program.  Narelle Campbell, Team Leader on the island, fell in love with Gus and adopted this amazing dog after a tragic accident.  This is their heart-rendering story.

Gus was an unexpected and unusual returnee from Antarcticaand he made the Mannig Valley his home

The Manning Valley has produced some amazing people and stories. Today, we hear of a life very well lived! From early wartime memories of plane-spotting through to living in the bush for months at a time as a 14 year old, Brian Crisp recounts his personal, life-long journey with our region. A working life that only slowed when he got to 82 years of age. The Manning Valley is a region he knows in some detail as he went on to become the surveyor of many of our coastal villages, such as Wallabi Point. Brian's story starts at a pretty logical beginning – when he was born.

Paralympian runner James Turner is the best in the world. He's hoping to repeat his world beating performances in the T36 category of the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. James tells us that he's always been active despite living with cerebral palsy. He took up ballet, Tai Kwon Do and even football as a child but now running is what he excels at. And his able-bodied, athlete twin sister Hayley has always kept him competitive!

The Manning River means different things to all of us - the natural beauty for some, or for others it is a playground for sailing, rowing and other aquatic activities. To the Saunders family it represents an historical connection that goes back thousands of years and continues today. In this episode filmmaker Grant Saunders explains that connection and how he has used the river as a scene for telling stories.

There are some really well known 'main street' families from Taree. One of them is the Dahdah family which had a high profile connection to Victoria Street for generations. Peter Dahdah worked in the clothing retailer for many years and has contributed to the local community through his extensive service club work and connections. We asked Peter to recall his recollections of the family's early days in Taree, the changes to the business and how the Manning Valley has changed in his lifetime.

It can take courage, skill and sometimes a bit of luck to follow paths that are offered to us in life. Di Morrissey has found herself on many 'paths' . She's worked as a journalist, lived in many interesting places overseas, worked as a high profile TV presenter and mixed in diplomatic circles. Her journey has now come full circle with a return to the Manning Valley. She is perhaps best known for her prolific and best selling novels and she has become one of Australia's highest selling and popular author. Di Morrissey's new release is called Before The Storm and was published on 27 October 2020 - further details here

Travel in our younger years can expand the mind and our ideas. Then many of us settle down to our regular life back at home. For Brian Wallace his earlier adventures have led him on a path to living and working in China for around 30 years where he is the Founder and Director of the Red Gate Gallery. The gallery is famous for the forstering, development and showcasing of contemporary Chinese art and artists. Brian has lived through the massive social and cultural changes and challenges the world's most populous nation of the last three decades. He was back in his home town Taree and on an extended visit due to COVID 19 preventing his return to his other home, Beijing.

A life in the bush and in farming can be an education. But some skills and knowledge are learned. Others are just a 'gift'. Arthur Vinnicombe is a water diviner, helping farmers and rural landholders find precious water sources deep within the earth. He uses a piece of wire and his natural 'gift''. He's also pretty good at finding buried electrical and telephone lines! His connection to earth doesn't stop there. He's an avid bush seed collector and hopes to establish native gardens to preserve local plant species.

The Cochlear implant has changed the lives of many - both young and old. One of the men responsible for surgeries that have brough hearing to so many is Professor William Gibson who has a close connection to the Manning Valley. Listeners may want to check out the group Cicada for more information and connections

Continuing our series on bushfire stories. Today we hear from Bernard and Leah Hunt who run Parkland Wholesale Nursery business at Tinonee. They had battled drought for months and thought they were prepared for the fire season. In the aftermath, they've been been impressed by their community's response and resilience.

Who could forget the summer of 2019/20? The horrendous fire season destroyed lives, property and wildlife. For many it will be a life changing season, where communities fought the fires together, looked out for each other and hope to rebuild again in recovery. Bushfires surrounded the coastal village of Wallabi Point. Kirby shares her story of preparation, evacuation with her three small children and then the start of the recovery process. Despite the odds, her village didn't lose a single house, but it was oh so close and very scary!

Before we get underway with more great tales from extraordinary people with connections to the Manning Valley, we'd like to first thank the composer and performer behind our evocative theme music which we use in every episode. After discovering a love and talent for guitar as a teenager, Ged Corben has gone on to tour, play with and supported many of the world't top rock and roll musicians. Most notably he recorded a number of albums as lead guitarist with Lime Spiders. He continues to play in a number of Sydney based rock and folk bands, and with a new lineup ( now Green Spiders) that includes his equally talented son Tom on drums. As a guitar teacher he's taught and inspired hundreds of children through his Inner West Guitar teaching. Ged has very kindly donated this original composition and performance of 'Waiting For You To Come Along" for use in this podcast (which is, coincidentally, produced by his younger brother Martin). He's another terrific example of the tremendous talent that the Manning Valley gives to the world! We thought you'd like to hear the full version!

We have finished the first season of Tales of the Valley and we hope you have enjoyed hearing and learning from some fascinating people from the Manning Valley. As we prepare for Season II, we'd like you to have the opportunity to hear one of our guests perform. Tracey Yarad's musical journey was an extraordinary episode, and Tracey has kindly provided us with this song, "Call Me", for your listening pleasure!

Our guest today is a man with deep local connections and commitment to the Manning Valley, and who has literally left his mark! He’s the man who first installed the Christmas lights on the pine tree at the Manning Base Hospital. John Ritchie grew up here on the Manning, and he’ll be recounting his early days of life in Taree, where there were not only weekly dances, but also shotguns on the street! John recount his early days, career opportunities and of course climbing to the top of that tree at the hospital!

Narelle Campbell's dreams of going to the Antarctic began when she was a 16 year old. She didn't not get to realise that goal until she had achieved success in her business career. Now she has been a team leader at four Australian Antarctic bases. In this episode she shares the story of her journey from Wingham High School to one of the world's final frontiers. Its fascinating and inspiring!

Tracey Yarad is from the well-known business family in Taree. Instead of following the tradition of being in local clothing business, her decision to chase a musical career brought with it both adventure and heartache. We’ll hear how music is something she simply HAS to do. She speaks about her late, legendary father, John Yarad, her beginnings in music and her current life in the Big Apple, New York City!

Wendy Machin rose quickly through political ranks to be a local member, speaker of the NSW Parliament and then a leader in a billion-dollar company. From humble days at Wingham with sawmilling family, she, like so many others from this small country town in the Manning Valley, has made her mark in the world. Today we’ll hear how her parents and her disabled older sister have had an enormous impact not only on the family, but on her view of our community and the world.

Today we meet an Oscar winning member of our community! He’s an incredibly talented and patient cinematographer who has traveled the world to bring us images of  the wildlife we love to see in documentaries hosted by the likes of Sir David Attenborough! He’s also very concerned about the destruction - and protection -  of the environment. And he's a resident of our beautiful valley.

"We know more about outer space than we do about soil life". This week's guest Lee Fieldhouse is excited about microbes, earthworms and soil health. We might all be learning about where our food comes from, but ultimately is comes from the soil, and we hear Lee's philosophy and practice are about caring for our land. You can find more information here about Lee's products and services. He is based on Oxley Island in the Manning Valley

It's takes a wonderfully creative mind and a lot of talent to produce books for children. In our own Manning Valley we have such author and illustrator known the world over for his delightful and touching stories. Many of the topics he covers for children - and their adults - resonate with his own life and upbringing that encouraged creative thinking, play and discovery. Isn't that the ideal childhood? Stephen Michael King allowed us to explore both his fascinating personal story and his creative process when we visited him in his Mitchell's Island studio.

Our region has some really terrific signature events such as Taree's EnviroFair and the upcoming Festival of the Sun at Port Macquarie. But remember, events don't just happen - they start as ideas, and then need to be built, managed and maintained! There are volunteers to be mustered and money to raised, bands to be booked and the food tents locked in. In this episode of Tales of the Valley you'll meet Rosíe Smith, a real driving force behind the development of our vibrant annual event calendar. Her work takes her around the country, away from her family but her heart is both in her event management work as well as here in the Manning Valley.

Artist Rex Winston Walford started painting when his partying days were over. His new 'hobby' is now his livelihood. His collections take traditional Indigenous art ideas and transform them with a contemporary ideas, some of which are created into stunning 'usable' and commercial art that has helped him establish a successful art business in the Manning Valley. Rex belongs to the Gamilaroi language group.. In 2012 Winston was awarded the People Choice Award in the Wollotuka Acquisitive Art Prize and has been a finalist on numerous occasions in the Parliament of NSW Aboriginal Art Prize and was commended in 2010.

It takes a lot of courage to establish something brand new. To take a risk, trust yourself and your colleagues, and to keep going when the going gets tough. Donna Ballard has done just that. She is a driver behind the Akoostik Music Festival in Wingham NSW which is a now a premier 3-day music event. She is the first in our series called "Tales of the Valley".