Back Roads: June 25

River Cottage Australia host, chef and food grower, Paul West is guest host on Back Roads tonight as he visits the small, yet spectacular, town of Natimuk in central western Victoria.

Paul grew up in the small NSW town Murrurundi, and he loved to scramble over a few rocks as a boy but wasn’t prepared for the challenge he faced at ‘the Rock’. Mt Arapiles or ‘the Rock’ as it is affectionately known is Natimuk’s favourite playground and one of the most challenging climbing destinations in the world. Paul discovers that two worlds have collided in Natimuk, where the community is an unlikely mix of rock climbers and German-Lutheran farmers. Paul sets out to find out how or if they get along. He also arrives in Natimuk just in time for the famous Nati Frinj festival, three days of music, silo art and snails.

Louise Shepherd is a role model for female rock climbers everywhere. She’s been climbing and guiding at Mount Arapiles for more than 40 years. In the 1980s, when there weren’t many women involved in the sport, Louise was regarded as one of the best on-sight climbers in the world. She’s lived in Natimuk on and off since the early 70s and remembers in the 80s when many climbers lived at the base of Mt Arapiles full time. There were no showers or toilets, and many climbers visited the post office in Natimuk to pick up their unemployment cheque. Times have changed. Louise says she has stayed in Natimuk because of the interesting and changing community. She says unlike many country towns which are dying, Natimuk is bucking the trend.

Brian Uebergang’s family moved to Natimuk in 1907. They were part of a wave of German-Lutheran missionaries who travelled from SA to the Wimmera to farm the land and convert the locals. When the climbers first started arriving in town, Brian regarded them as dole bludgers who lived out at Mount Arapiles in tents. He says the climbing community has changed dramatically and now they all get along well. He says Natimuk wouldn’t be the same without them.

Keith ‘Noddy’ Lockwood has been climbing around Natimuk since he was a boy. He’s a fourth-generation Natimuk newspaperman. Now he’s a guide, teaching city kids how to scale the rock and not fall off. He’s had a close call himself. He was halfway up a local cliff called Tiger Wall when he accidentally disturbed a nest of bees. They swarmed and stung him up to 100 times. He was saved by a local rescue group.

Every two years the town celebrates the incredible creativity that lurks within this small community. The Frinj is a three-day festival of music, comedy, silo art and snail racing. Director, Kate Finnerty says the Frinj brings together Natimuk’s two disparate worlds, the farmers and the goats – all in the name of art.

8pm tonight on ABC.