The rain poured down as we drove through the farm gate. Pulling up close to the house after hours of driving, we looked around uncertainly. We were supposed to be screening here, but hadn't counted on the weather. And where was everyone? Kath dashed to the house to find someone while the rest of us waited in the relative warmth of the car. She came back quickly. No-one there!With our phones uselessly out of range, we were wondering what to do next when an eerie feeling caused me to looked up. A sillhouette in the doorway of another building! Uncertainly, Kath jumped out again to speak with the stranger, while we contemplated our chances of getting out alive... this was just a little too much like a B-grade horror... *
...and then back to reality when the sillhouette turned out to be the lovely Sam from Rosnay. Yes, we had arrived at Rosnay Organic Farms, one of SUFF's supporting partners. He gave directions to our new screening destination.
Only slightly disappointed that we weren't starring in our own horror flick, we headed to the hall to screen some of the shorts which featured in this year's festival.
While the numbers were lower than expected due to the rain and fears of flash flooding, we can safely say that everyone present had a ball! With dinner cooked and served by Florence and the Rosnay wines flowing freely, there was no chance of anything other than a good time to be had. In contrast to the weather, our hosts and the locals were completely warm and welcoming.
But the country hospitality didn't end there. After the screening we headed back to the Rosnay farm to the cottage they rent out (from $150 per night for 2 people up to $350 for six in case you're wondering). Totally gorgeous! And as were were to find out the next day, the views were as stunning as the location was peaceful. So much for our horror film scenario.
Canowindra (for some reason pronounced ca-NOWn-dra, took us city folk a while to get that one right!) is a picturesque little town around 45 minutes' drive south-west of Orange. We decided to check out Canowindra's main street and raid the local op shops.
Later we were shown around the vineyard and then invited to have dinner with Sam and his beautiful family in their home, a straw bale house they'd built themselves. Inspirational!
All in all, with the screening, the wines, the location but most of all the company of the locals, this visit was one that we'll remember for a long time.
You can check out our photos here!
*This and the preceding paragraph may not be entirely factual, in the interests of a good story.
