Queensland couple Roz and Bernie have proved that you can create your dream with enough hard work, time and a bit of luck. Around 10 years ago this couple decided to build a 20m (70′) long steel hulled ship in their back yard in Redland Bay, Queensland. After 10...
People and Places
Famous Australian people and landmarks on Burke’s Backyard
Botanical Ark
The Botanical Ark is a private ethno-botanical garden on the edge of the Daintree rainforest in far northern Queensland near Mossman. It is owned and run by Alan and Susan Carle. Their goal is to collect new and rare species of tropical fruits and nuts from around the...
Bronte House
Burke’s Backyard recently re-visited Leo Schofield at his home, Bronte House, in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. The garden has been renovated since Burke’s Backyard visited several years ago and Leo told viewers of his ideas behind the change. Colour and...
Bullo River
Burke’s Backyard recently visited Sara Henderson, author of the best selling book From Strength to Strength, on her property at Bullo River Station in the Kimberley region of the Northern Territory. Bullo River The countryside on the Bullo River Station is...
Can Art
Jim Pike recently visited a retired artist, Lyn Pascalls who uses amongst other things aluminium cans as his canvas. He started his artwork after he retired as a structural engineer about 30 years ago. Technique Lyn cuts open the aluminium can and draws the design on...
Santa Fe Style House
Burke’s Backyard visited the hacienda of Buko and Helga Vogel at Bald Rock Bush Retreat on the edge of the Bald Rock National Park near Tenterfield in northern NSW. Buko Vogel is a builder and has built Paul Hogan’s house at Byron Bay. He was born in...
Dante Design
Ceramic artist Katrina Kenny and technician Eric Cossich have formulated a new type of ceramic material after two years of research and development. It can be glazed, moulded and used like ceramic but has a much smaller shrinkage rate (around 1%) than clay, allowing...
Hubcap Clocks
Elizabeth Scholes is an artist who has found an interesting use for abandoned chrome hubcaps. She makes them into clocks. Collecting them from roadsides, wreckers and anywhere else she can get them. First they get a good scrub with a rust remover, then the...
Monaro on Monaro: Come and See My Garden
Monaro on Monaro is an award-winning garden located in Canberra. It has been transformed by owners John and Judy Thompson over a period of 38 years from a functional, neat and tidy garden into a horticultural delight. Their efforts have recently been recognised with...
Secret Valley
In 1991 artist Elizabeth Fisher and her husband bought a house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Sydney suburb of Gordon. At the time the garden was an overgrown mass of bamboo and privet. Although they couldn’t see it, they knew that the remains of...
