Autumn is harvest time at the stunning Yirri olive grove, situated in the remote south east coastal region of Western Australia near Esperance and the Recherché Archipelago.
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The five-hectare grove is one of the State's most eastern plantings of olives and the trees thrive in the Mediterranean climate with clean air and very few environmental impacts.
Being so remote means hand picking, processing and bottling the olives to extra virgin olive oil needs to take place on the 24ha Yirri property, which is owned and run by Anne and Shane O'Neill.
Their main soil type is deep sandy loam over limestone and the average annual rainfall is 600 millimetres, which is perfect for growing olives.
The O'Neills have about 1100 olive trees and four varieties - Kalamata, Manzanillo, Frantoio and Barnea.
Ms O'Neill said these particular varieties were chosen to assist with pollination and for their dual purpose of being high producing, high quality table olives and with excellent oils.
She said the olive trees were planted in 2000 by the previous owners of the Yirri property and she and her husband knew nothing about growing or processing olives when they bought it 15 years ago.
"We were looking for a small holding that we could make a living from, and the olive grove appealed to us," Ms O'Neill said.
"I come from a dairy farming family in England and Shane had some previous farming experience, but it has been a steep learning curve."
The O'Neills met when they were working in the building and construction industry in Kalgoorlie, and soon decided they wanted more of a relaxed coastal lifestyle.
They now have the coast only 10km away, but the lifestyle is far from relaxed.
Aside from the olives, the O'Neills have an established agri-tourism venture on their property with glamping-style accommodation and they work in conjunction with the local group Esperance Farm Experience that takes tourists on agricultural tours around the district.
There is also their Yirri Grove Restaurant and Farm Shop that is open seasonally and uses and sells their oil and other produce grown on the Yirri property.
The restaurant offers diners the full paddock-to-plate experience as they sit and take in the views of the olive grove and nearby coastline.
Ms O'Neill said the whole extended family was brought in to help with hand picking olives in March and April.
She said this involved using rakes and nets.
"Hand picking means we can better assess which trees are ripe and ready for picking, rather than just going in with a mechanical picker," Ms O'Neill said.
The O'Neills constructed a purpose-built olive oil press area in 2012 to process the olives, as the closest press to them was in Margaret River or York.
Their press came from Italy and can process 80 kilograms of olives per hour.
The O'Neills press about 500kg every day during the harvest period.
Typically, olives are picked one day and processed the next.
In 2014, the family needed to install a commercial-grade kitchen and toilet facilities and so decided to take the next step and set up a farm shop to sell their oils and other local produce.
"We were so busy in the shop that the logical next step was to find a chef and open a restaurant," Ms O'Neill said.
"We really like being part of the local tourism industry and we love having big and small groups coming through the Yirri Grove Restaurant.
"We also cater for events and participate in other local happenings.
"We can only open seasonally because we are a small family business and we can't open when picking is taking place.
"Doing both is just too much."
The restaurant uses the Yirri Grove olive oil, vegetables and herbs grown on the property and a range of other local produce.
"We want to be sustainable and environmentally friendly in the restaurant," Ms O'Neill said.
Two years ago the O'Neills received a grant to expand their restaurant and were able to increase the size of the dining room and scale of the olive press area.
The family is a member of the Western Australian and Australian Olive Associations and is certified 'Australian'.
This means the oil is regularly tested for quality assurance and to make sure it meets extra virgin status.
The O'Neills have had past success with their extra virgin olive oil in the WA Olive Show, winning several awards.
Their property and restaurant are regularly used for weddings and other local events with a range of community groups.
During the COVID border closures, the O'Neills had a lot of visitors to their property from across WA and decided to set up accommodation facilities.
Now they have two Heyscape tiny cabins on their property.
Heyscapes has a national network of these tiny cabins - which are similar to glamping tents - and helps with promotion and marketing.
Ms O'Neill said it was great having people come to stay onfarm in the cabins and experience rural life.
