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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Escape the city life in peaceful and historic Hall

Between wide, open country and the bustle of Canberra, historic Hall offers a serene escape from city life. This is a sponsored post.

BETWEEN wide, open country and the bustle of Canberra, historic Hall offers a serene escape from city life.

Sitting along the banks of the Hall Creek, the village, initially called Ginninderra in 1882, was renamed in honour of the town’s first landowner, Henry Hall, following protests from residents.

While Canberra has grown to become a modern city, Hall has kept its rural character and is home to some of Canberra’s oldest history.

St Francis Xavier’s Catholic Church, for example, built in 1910 with help from the Hall Catholic community, is one of the ACT’s oldest churches.

In more recent years, Hall has a population of about 271 people, according to the 2016 Census, and continues to be labelled as a rural getaway from the city, with plenty to do and a variety of passionate businesses to visit.

Ray White Rural real estate agent George Southwell.

Rural realtor is an advocate for Hall

WHILE the family-owned business, Ray White Rural is based in Yass, real estate agent George Southwell says the agency is a big advocate for Hall.

“We’ve always been passionate about the area,” says George who’s a member of the Hall and District Axemen’s Club and gives back to the community with his involvement in the Springfield Rural Fire Brigade.

George describes Hall as having country benefits with city convenience, and says: “The growth in and around the area in the last 12 months has been amazing, [too].”

Buyers have been coming from as far as Sydney seeking the blended rural charm and urban convenience of Hall, says George.

“People want more space. It’s become an exclusive part of the world given the turnover rate is so slow. It’s also very beautiful,” he says.

Licensed in the ACT and NSW allows Ray White Rural to service the whole of the ACT and the surrounding NSW region, and George says the team is known for its knowledge and dedication to the region.

“We started working in Canberra before it was Canberra,” says George, whose family have owned property in the region since 1863.

“I’m the sixth generation of my family from the area. I believe it’s about understanding the district.”

Ray White Rural, 93 Comur Street, Yass. Call 0429 838345, email george.southwell@raywhite.com or visit raywhiteruralyasscanberra.com.au

Where wine, food and art meet

Capital Wines co-owner Bill Mason.

BRINGING together wine, food and art, 15 minutes from the heart of Canberra, Hall is the perfect location for Capital Wines and Kyeema Gallery, says co-owner Bill Mason (pictured).

Bill, who describes Hall as “a hidden treasure in many ways”, took over Capital Wines, and in turn Kyeema Gallery, which operates in conjunction with Capital Wines Cellar Door, about a year ago with three other people.

As for the wine, it’s all from the Canberra wine district, according to Bill, who says: “They are good quality, value for money wines, winning various medals and positive reviews.”

“Our labels all have a connection with the capital. The thinking was to make a rye commentary on life in the capital and while we take our wines seriously, we don’t take our politics too seriously,” he says.

Visitors can try the wine at the cellar door, where Capital Wines offers groups as large as 25 its wine tasting, food and art experience, Bill says.

“We have an epicurean, which matches four of our wines with four dishes presented in the gallery and in the cellar door,” he says.

When it comes to the gallery, Bill says the art they show is diverse. Currently, he says the gallery features paintings from “Different Strokes Art Group”, which will be on show until November 22.

In the past Bill has shown Aboriginal art from Enrico Saccardo’s collection and still life paintings by local painter and photographer Brenda Runnegar.

Capital Wines and Kyeema Gallery, 13 Gladstone Street. Call 6230 2022, email info@capitalwines.com.au or visit capitalwines.com.au 

There’s a lot to love about gel nails, says Simone

SPECIALISING in Bio Sculpture gel nails, Endless Beauty owner Simone Stevens says the product provides a healthier, more gentle manicure that her clients love.

“Bio Sculpture gel is vegan, cruelty-free and contains no harsh chemicals, and I have clients that come here specifically for this brand,” she says.

Bio Sculpture also contains no dehydrators, primers or bonders, with more than 300 high-quality colour gels to choose from, she says.

Having always wanted to open her own beauty salon, Simone, 28, took over Endless Beauty five years ago.

“I love Hall because it reminds me of Harden, the country town I grew up in, before I moved to Canberra to study beauty therapy at CIT,” she says.

Simone’s mum, Annette Stevens also works at the salon, travelling from Harden twice a week to do waxing and tinting.

Simone says the team, including beauty therapist Emma Allen, is skilled and passionate about what they do.

Endless Beauty also offers tanning, make-up, general manicures and pedicures, eyelash extensions and shellac.

The salon offers facials using Dermalogica products, and is a Dermalogica stockist.

Endless Beauty, Shop 3, 2 Victoria Street. Call 6230 9703 or visit Endless Beauty on Facebook.

Celebrant Janine marries couples their way

Celebrant Janine Yokom with her son Craig on his wedding day.

IT’S the best job in the world to marry people, says Janine Yokom of Essential Elements Celebrancy, who’s been a celebrant since 2015.

“A wedding is a ritual that we still keep, and I love nothing more than to witness couples expressing their love,” she says.

“It’s the greatest privilege to be part of someone’s wedding day.”

Janine says her focus is on the couple and getting to know them in the lead-up to the wedding, whether they’re planning a small, intimate gathering, a large event or an elopement.

“It’s all about them and I’ll do whatever I can to ensure their ceremony is exactly what they want,” she says.

Janine’s open to almost anything to make that happen, and says she’s even officiated at a “Game of Thrones” winter-themed wedding, complete with mulled wine and artificial snow, where she committed to the theme and dressed up in a cape.

Janine says she’s been lucky enough to officiate for friends and family in the “generous, friendly community” in Hall, including two of her children, and had lived on a farm there for 14 years.

“When I first started as a celebrant I would come out to the paddock and practice on the cows!” she says.

Essential Elements Celebrancy. Call 0414 797211, email hey@janineyokom.com.au visit essentialelementscelebrancy.com

Better Blades owner Ian Brodrick.

Ian’s an expert at sharpening blades

WHEN it comes to care and expertise, Better Blades owner Ian Brodrick is unrivalled in blade sharpening, says wife and business partner Lee-Ann Brodrick.

Ian’s been sharpening blades in the region for more than 20 years and is known for his blade sharpening expertise but his claim to fame is restoring and renewing antiques, Lee-Ann says.

“People will bring 80-year-old dressmaking scissors [that] they never think will work again,” she says.

He also goes the extra mile for customers, according to Lee-Ann who says he provides the good old customer service that people used to do.

“He’s been doing it for many years and he’s seen a lot of cowboys coming into the market putting things on Facebook and then doing nothing,” she says.

“Once you’ve had someone sharpen your knives properly, whether you’re a professional chef or a veterinarian people are amazed by [the] difference that makes.”

As for being located in Hall, people love the location out here, Lee-Ann says.

“Since covid it’s been an opportunity to have a coffee while they are having some equipment sharpened,” she says.

Better Blades, 21 Gladstone Street. Call 0415 483089, email bblades7@bigpond.com or visit betterblades.com.au

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