In the hot, dry climate of outback New South Wales, Carolyn Humphreys has created a garden just like her – full of energy, flair and vitality.
Story By Trisha Dixon
“I reckon you’d be better off going out and buying yourself a thoroughbred,” the voice at the other end of the phone told Carolyn Humphreys. Trying to negotiate some way of bringing a magnificent marble composite horse sculpture from Sydney to beyond Moree in northern New South Wales was proving quite a challenge.
With an innate eye for design and style, Carolyn had seen the sculpture on a trip to Sydney and thought how perfect and how fitting it would be for her country garden. Later, back at “South Mungie Bundie” (pronounced “Mucka Bundeye”) and having tried numerous carriers, she rang a removalist in Tamworth who listened very intently before making his suggestion.
“It was very, very heavy,” Carolyn laughs as she tells of the horse finally arriving and the fun of placing it in the garden, moving it not once or twice but three times (cranes, slings, the whole catastrophe) before being happy with its position.
The three round balls placed at the foot of an elegant seat in one of her many pergolas proved an easier installation. Walking into a Moree nursery, Carolyn spotted the balls, which had just arrived that day. “They had literally just been unwrapped by the owners, with a man saying who on earth is going to buy balls for the garden! Five minutes later I walked out with three and they are so effective, creating just that touch of asymmetry in this area of the garden.”
This story excerpt is from Issue #61
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2008
