Liana Walsh’s family of five have enjoyed a genuinely amazing holiday to the Southern Forests region in Western Australia after winning BRAVO™’s Bite Your Bravo™ photo competition in 2017.
Run on social media, the competition was created to help promote the Australian grown and bred apple during its second commercial season. The prize was a trip for two to stay at the stunning Foragers Field Kitchen and Cooking School in the heart of Western Australia’s apple country, and the birthplace of BRAVO™, to which the couple gladly decided to bring along their boys, aged 5, 8 and 10, to enjoy.
The winning photo was selected unanimously by the judges, featuring one of the family’s three boys enjoying a BRAVO™ on their cane farming property in Mackay, Queensland.
“My inspiration for the photo came when I was thinking of a way to take a photo of the apples, I saw my youngest son playing in his red cart I thought....APPLE CART!
“We love the unique colour and taste of the Bravo apple, but as farmers ourselves we appreciate the hard work that has gone into such a unique breed of fruit,” said Liana.
A highlight of the visit was a tour of the Lyster Orchard to see how the next season of BRAVO™ apples were progressing, and to compare farming notes. The Lyster family includes three generations of orchardists with a combined 60 plus years in the apple and pear industry, who are passionate about producing premium products.
Ann Lyster, grower and Director of Fruit West Co-operative Ltd, was on hand to show the family around the orchard.
“It was a pleasure to host the Walsh family and talk about the amazing journey of the BRAVO™ apple over the past 20 years from its discovery to commercialisation,” Ann commented. “Not only have the family been impressed with the bountiful produce from the Southern Forests, but also its amazing natural beauty,” said Ann.
For the Walsh family, it was the first aeroplane trip for the children and an eye opening experience.
“We felt so welcomed into the Southern Forests region by Ann, Sophie and all of the locals, with the orchard tour an absolute highlight of our trip. My children had so much fun picking the small apples off the trees. We visited every attraction in the area and got lots of inspiration to get home into the vegie garden after seeing farmers crops. Our stay at Foragers was beautiful, and overall for us it was by far our best holiday,” said Liana.
BRAVO™ will start returning to markets in its third commercial season in around May 2018. The apple will be sold Australia-wide and is also continuing trials into international markets as production increases.
The Southern Forests region is one of the most abundant and striking places to visit in Western Australia. A fact that the region is now focused on promoting heavily through its Genuinely Extraordinary Southern Forests Food & Farm Experience tours (more details below) and is located just 300km from Perth.
ENDS
For further information contact: Bevan Eatts - SFFC Executive Chairman 0419 811 823 or email bevan@southernforestsfood.com
Image:
The Walsh family tour Lyster Orchard to see how the next season of BRAVO™ apples are progressing_photography credit Sophie Brockmann