FOR an Altona Meadows couple who dared to dream, the weekend routine is as well trodden as the olive grove they planted almost a decade ago.
Every Friday night Greg Aimer and Christina Freestone pack the necessities, including their children, Hannah and Tim, into the car for the familiar drive to the Grampians to spend the weekend at their farm.
It’s been the same pattern for 10 years, missing only the occasional weekend each year.
“Our neighbours became aware of our unusual life style after we moved in,” said Greg.
“I think they were more than a little surprised to find olive oil producers next door.”
Now all the hard work is paying off.
Red Rock Olives is fast making a name for itself as a producer of boutique gourmet olive products – including tapenades, and flavour infused oils.
Among other accolades, the Royal Sydney Show recently honoured the family business with several awards, keeping up the fine reputation they have gained since their first win in 2003.
And success is all the more sweet, considering the couple’s return from hell when the Grampians bushfires destroyed 80 per cent of their olive crop and property in late January.
“Many trees, 1800 or so, were destroyed, and the remainder badly burnt,” Greg said.
“All the mulch and ground cover under the trees were destroyed and the irrigation system mostly melted.
“The farm looked terrible and smelt burnt for weeks.
“It was a very dispiriting period.”
Nevertheless, they harvested a small crop, albeit less than six tonnes of fruit versus the 30 tonnes anticipated in May.
Recovery is expected to take three to four years.
Painstakingly, all hands on deck, the family will prune all the trees, replace the mulch and irrigation equipment, and replant.
It will surely send Greg and Christina down memory lane – back to the days when the unchallenged confidence of youth spurred them to realise their dream.
“High on a Grampians cliff on a sunny day, we looked out over the olive orchards below and dreamed of establishing our own olive orchard and producing our own sensational olive oil,” Greg said.
“Australian olive oil was hard to find, not all that great – and we thought we could do better.”
And then on New Year’s Day in 1997, they found a large and rambling property near the picturesque township of Pomonal, on the main road to Halls Gap.
“The views were great, the wildlife was prolific and the red gums were spectacular.”
This is where Red Rock Olives was born.
“Eight years on, 6000 olive trees and two children later, we have built a business based around one of the worlds’ most generous trees,” said Greg.
