78 Australian Geographic
and sheep farmer Jeremy Francis has conjured a beguil-
ing English-style multi-roomed garden from the site
of a dormant fl ower farm. Near Olinda, Kenloch’s new
owner, Tim Orpin, is reinvigorating one of the district’s
most acclaimed woodland gardens. Meanwhile, stone-
mason John Champion has taken on the renewal of
Mawarra Manor’s gardens, arguably famed Australian
garden designer Edna Walling’s fi nest intact creation.
This nurturing spirit has always drawn recluses
and dreamers to the hills, as well as some of the
biggest names in Australian art. Tom Roberts, Arthur
Streeton and Fred Williams all lived and worked for
a time in the Dandenongs. Perhaps the most enduring
image of the area is Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges,
painted by 19th-century German-born artist Eugene
von Guérard. An intricate portrait of a sheltered vale
depicting lyrebirds dwarfed by an arbour of tree ferns,
it’s a tantalising glimpse of cool, serene seclusion that
fi rst captured the Australian public’s imagination more
than 150 years ago.
It was fi rst shown in 1857 and within a few years
tourists were making outings from Melbourne to
experience the luxuriant realm of the Dandenongs’
gullies fi rsthand. By 1889 the railway line from the city
had reached Upper Ferntree Gully, now an outer sub-
urb of Melbourne. Eleven years later a narrow-gauge
railway extended 29km further east to Gembrook.
When the government decided to close this service in
1954, a committed volunteer group of train buffs
banded together to keep the line operational.
This is the cherished Puffi ng Billy Railway. Since
reopening in 1962, it has carried more than 10
million passengers on a rattling journey through
tall forest. Today it ranks as one of the world’s best
historic railways. Powered by the romance of steam
and infectious glee of 850 volunteers, it realises child-
hood dreams every time Puffi ng Billy’s whistle blows.D
ESPITE ITS REAL estate attraction for the
wealthy and elite, the Dandenongs have never
been the preserve of a select few. Proximity
to the big smoke has meant their swathes of forest
have remained a beloved egalitarian space. Every year
more than 1 million visitors make the excursion to
the national park alone. For Matt Hoogland this
popularity is a welcome problem. “It’s a breathtakingly
beautiful place and I love to see people reconnecting,”
he says. “In the forest there’s this overwhelming sense
of belonging in nature. And it’s the simple, sponta-
neous things that are really important.”
You hear variations on this sentiment everywhere
you go – from gardeners, bushwalkers, chefs, artists,
train drivers, B & B hosts and rangers. For all the com-
manding grandeur of the trees, it’s the forest’s intimacy
and nourishing spirit that lingers longest. One local
artist, Jacqueline Grace, has found a way to capture a
sense of this experience by laying leaves on fabric and
rolling them into tight bundles. These bubble away
on her stove overnight so that the colours and patterns
of the leaves steep into the fabric.
For Jacqueline this process is always exciting and
unpredictable. “What I love is that I don’t have to be
in control. I put the leaves in and let them speak,” she
says. The outcome is art that’s wearable, allowing her
patrons to don an indelible memory of the forest. “I
like that it’s like a skin,” Jacqueline says. “I’m gifting
them something of the environment so they feel the
signifi cance of wearing their place on their body.”AGImmersing artist. In her home kitchen
Jacqueline Grace unfurls her latest
colourful collaboration with the forest
debris of the Dandenongs.“In the forest there’s
this overwhelming sense
of belonging in nature.”
Herb heaven.
Burnham Beeches
head gardener,
Rob Proudlock,
with herbs destined
for chef Shannon
Bennett’s seven
Melbourne venues,
including the famed
Vue de Monde.Use the free viewa
app to scan this
page and watch
a video about the
Dandenongs.