ECHO Festival felt like going for a camp out at your best friends place; if your friend had other friends who were connoisseurs and master chefs and amazing musicians. And lived on a river. There could not be a more picturesque venue than Gala Estate

The afternoon started gently and quietly with tastings and talks of gin, whiskey, wine. Gentle music caressed the air behind the conversations and the aroma from the preparation of the feast tantalised your senses. As the sun receded into the sky, a soul nourishing Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony made us each feel as though we were truly home, and a part of something very special.

The music continued, listening Christopher Coleman’s acoustic solo set was definite highlight for me. The man is a wordsmith, his melodies delight and his voice is silk. And then it was time to begin the feast.

While we dug in with relish, the team from Piermont Retreat had prepared and exceptional banquet, the storytellers began their tales taking the pressure of us to converse while we ate and listened, enraptured by tales of growing up in a different world, with a different life – experiences we would never understand but were privileged to hear. We laughed, we might have cried a little, we all exhaled.

Sated, with bellies and hearts full, it was time for more music. Jacuzzi Masterpiece helped us dance the night away until slowly, we all found our way to our what ever was making do as our beds for the night.

Rising slowly the following morning, everything we needed was on hand. Breakfast, really good (and very essential) coffee and the incredibly delectable Emily Sanzaro on her harp, and while the numbers had dwindled a little – the laughter was intact as we stomped grapes, recounted our experiences of the night before, took a swim in the river and eventually started to make our way home, completely exhausted and utterly fulfilled.

Photography Notes:

ECHO Festival took place on a warm and sunny day, the location was rich with history and story and the light was superb, even better as it started to get lower in the sky. Inside the Mill and the “Bar” (Whale and Swan) was quite dark so I was grateful for my little low light monster. I was incredibly honoured to be shooting on the day with Rob Harrison and Sarah Rhodes who were attending on behalf of Tourism Tasmania. When sun went down, Rob was incredibly gracious on more than one occasion and allowed me to “dink” off his video light. He would shoot his video, I would take a still. Sarah soothed my nerves about an upcoming wedding and shared her industry wisdom. It is such a pleasure to be able to work along side such skilled and wonderful humans.