Australia's Golden Outback Holiday Planner 2025

The people behind the paddocks

Mary’s Farm Cottages, Kukerin

Passionate local families share the challenges and joys of working the land, welcoming visitors to delight in a genuine farmstay experience. By DANIELLE AUSTIN

W ith the sun rising over fields of flaxen wheat, throwing golden rays over the vast pastureland and lighting up the earth, it’s easy to see what drew Erin and Damien Clark to the Golden Outback. There’s a stillness in the morning air, a buzzy quietude of stirring animals, faint bleats of the flock of sheep in the far distance. The pair are owners of Mather Farm , a hobby farm and farmstay experience in the Wheatbelt’s Kellerberrin. Having grown up on a hobby farm in central Victoria, Erin always knew it was a lifestyle she’d one day return to, but it took falling in love with their 1950s Kellerberrin farmhouse, and the charms of the Wheatbelt region, before she and husband Damien took the plunge to settle in remote Western Australia in late 2022. “We’ve fallen in love with the wide open expanse of the Wheatbelt, and

tours on request. Through their sister agritourism business, Dark Stry , they also offer bespoke, self-guided driving tours between Perth and Kellerberrin, aimed at educating guests on the past, present and future of the land and the many crops being farmed along the way. The pair try to impress on visitors just how innovative the farmers have to be to make flourish in what can be a very harsh landscape. “There’s something really profound about the vast expanse of Australia’s Golden Outback,” says Erin. “Guests tell us that being out in wide open spaces, living life in the slow lane, really helps them appreciate the land that we share. There are so many stories out here — from our first nation’s people, to the region’s farming founders, to what it’s like to live and work in the region today. There’s always something to see if you

want others to do the same. Mather Farm became the place for us to connect with family, friends and the land,” says Erin. Connection to land has become even more important to the duo since their move, and has become something they’re excited to share with visitors to their property. The pair are passionate about sharing an understanding of seasonality with guests, allowing them to soak up what the land has to offer throughout the calendar year. “I’ve learned it’s not until you stay in a single place, and mark the passing of the seasons, that you truly appreciate the Noongar people’s six seasons and its cycles.” Working with a local horticulturist, Erin and Damien have rehabilitated the farm’s gardens with native species, and are happy to take visitors on flora

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