Mary Moody
Mary trained as a journalist on Australian Women's Weekly in the late 1960s and spent several years as a reporter and feature writer on various Sydney magazines and newspapers.
In the 1970s Mary moved to Leura in the Blue Mountains with her young family, and became a passionate organic gardener. She used her journalistic skills to write and edit more than forty gardening books and magazines, and for ten years she was the NSW presenter on the ABC's top rating show Gardening Australia.
In 2000 Mary spent six months living alone in a small room in a medieval town in southwest France. At the end of her sabbatical she bought a nearby village house that she still visits every year. She wrote four memoirs about her experiences as an Australian woman living part time in France, as well as a cookbook and several new gardening books.
Mary's passions are still family, food, gardening and travel. She leads tours in France and the Himalayas and has written a book and made a film on a local rural French restaurant, 'Lunch with Madame Murat', for the SBS Network.
After the death of her husband David Hannay in 2014, Mary sold the farm where they had lived for 15 years and moved back to the Mountains where she is developing a large garden in an extended family home with her son Ethan, his partner Lynne and their three children. She now has eleven grandchildren.
Humans of the Blue Mountains
My clever filmmaker friend Nick A’Hern has shot and edited a series of small films on people who live in our wonderful region. Th
is is one he did with me shortly after I moved from Yetholme to Blackheath, following the death of my husband David Hannay. I hope you enjoy it!
Two exciting tours for 2023 - regional France followed by Morocco
Food Lover's Guide to the Camino
The first is a walking tour in rural France, following a section of the famous Camino Pilgrimage and including the finest of regional food and wine.
This wonderful walk in France has been confirmed, however there are still a few places left. We walk the most beautiful sections of the French Camino and sample the best of regional cuisine and wine.
For all the details click here.
Run Away to Morocco
Mary has been leading this tour for seven years and it's always popular and lots of fun. A great mix of historical sightseeing, walking in the High Atlas Mountains and enjoying the brilliant local cuisine and wines.
For all the details click here.
A Visit from Gardening Australia
Costa and the Gardening Australia team made a visit to our garden in Blackheath and the segment was screened in early June 2020. We talk about the benefits of living in a three generational household and sharing the love of gardening; plus the ways in which gardening can be therapeutic after dealing with death and loss.
