Ocean lures Kalgoorlie couple to Yirri Grove olive oil life near Esperance

The lure of the ocean brought Kalgoorlie’s Shane and Anne O’Neill to Esperance in 2008, 10 years after they had met while working in the bustling mining town.

Now the duo are full bottle on everything and anything olives, after purchasing Yirri Grove, a rural property 20km east of the Esperance townsite.

With an established grove of 1000 olive trees on their new farm, the O’Neills had their work cut out.

“We’ve always loved Esperance because of its proximity to Kalgoorlie,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“In four hours, you can actually be on the beach, whereas if you go to Perth, you’ve got six hours and then still have got to get through the city and it’s just too much.”

Both from rural backgrounds, Anne originally from England and Shane from New Zealand, the two were drawn to the idea of a sea change where they could get back to their roots and live a more sustainable and environmentally conscious life — living and working on the land.

“We were hoping to find a property we could earn an income from because then that way, we could live and work in the same place and not have to go into town to get a job,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“The real estate agent rang us and we signed an offer of acceptance without even seeing it.

“I love working at my own project.

It’s hard work, and it’s taken a while to get really buzzing

Annually, Yirri Grove produces four varieties of olives: kalamata, manzanillo, frantoio and barnea, which are used to produce both olive oil and table olives.

Not satisfied with producing olives and oil, the O’Neills helped the farm continue to develop and grow.

“When we were building this shed (for the olive oil processing), the Shire said that to do what we are doing, we needed a commercial kitchen.

“So we thought, ‘Let’s go one step further and make it a shop’,” Mrs O’Neill said.

In 2014, the O’Neills opened up the Yirri Grove restaurant, a thriving space open over spring and summer each year, which showcases the best of their produce in a stunning rural setting that brings out locals and tourists to sample their homegrown goods.

“I initially was going to do morning teas and sell my olive oil, but I had the opportunity of a chef in that first year and it’s just gone from there,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“We cook everything in olive oil and use a lot of olive oil instead of butter; even the older oil I can make soap out of it, stuff like that.

“I was the apprentice, now I’m the chef.”

The thriving restaurant seats about 30.

Diners can sit outside among the trees and soak in the fresh sea air under a veranda surrounded by succulents, or dine inside in a buzzing setting filled with delicious smells.

“We usually open around September all the way through to the end of March, then April is olive harvest season, so we have to close really at the end of March,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“We pick for about a month and then we have a bit of a break and recharge our batteries, then it’s into pruning, fertilising, maintenance, stocking up on stuff, bottling.

“We then send the oil away to get it tested, start packaging the table olives, and before you know it we are ready to open again in September.”

With a big community in Esperance filled with like-minded souls, Mrs O’Neill can source the best in locally grown produce to stock up her kitchen to create the seasonal menu, which features pizzas, salads, home-baked breads, and of course, the hero ingredient, olives.

“What I really love about it and am a little bit passionate about, is how you’ve got a provenance of food,” she said.

“You know where it’s come from, it’s either been grown here, or within the district, or I know where it’s come from.

It all started with the olive trees of course, it’s all got a story, you know where it’s come from

“I think it makes it more enjoyable, it’s fresher, you are reducing on your food miles and employing local people and keeping the economy local, which I think in our internet-based world at the moment, that had got lost.”

Now the farm and restaurant are both set up, the O’Neills are never without challenge.

“Seasons are definitely changing, that’s in the back of our minds, we’ve constantly got that challenge,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“What’s going to happen? What size will our crop be this year, are we going to have enough water? That’s always going to be a worry.

“You just gotta be aware and make a plan B. That’s why the shop took off too; there is no way we’d make enough money off olive oil itself. We had to diversify and add value to it.”