Altona’s 2023 Sunflower Queen Olivia Driedger has rave reviews about her recent journey to Australia, where she attended the Central Highlands Easter Sunflower Festival in Emerald, Australia.
Emerald came to be Altona’s sister city a number of years ago, and their festival royalty have been exchanging visits ever since.
Joining her on the 18-day journey was her sister Chloe. First Princess Lanea Friesen and her father Mike joined them in Emerald as well.
The weather was as warm as a Manitoba summer when they arrived on March 22, and Driedger said she was amazed by how similar it was to her hometown.
“It’s a smaller city and the people were all just so warm and welcoming. Everybody seems to know everybody. I felt right at home.”
The landscape was beautiful, she added. “So green with these huge hills. It was all just gorgeous.”
While in Emerald, the visitors participated in preparations for the Highlands Festival, listening to the queen contestant speeches and interviews.
“Their pageant is a lot different than ours. There are no performances or a fashion show. It’s more about fundraising, and who has raised the most for local causes. This year’s queen raised an amazing amount and is an absolute sweetheart.”
The 2024 Central Highlands Easter Sunflower Festival Queen is Chloe Wright, and the Princess is Abbey Fouracre. Both girls will be visiting Altona this July for the Manitoba Sunflower Festival.
“The entrants all did a spectacular job on their speeches; they should be very proud,” Driedger said. “They both raised a phenomenal amount of money for their chosen charities, raising just over $18,000 combined.”
Touring the region proved to be just as exciting as the festivities.
“Rainbow Falls was just stunning. And we also toured the Jellinbah Mine in Blackwater, Queensland. I was blown away by the massive trucks they use. I learned that mining is a huge part of their economy. Almost everybody there has a family member who is involved with the mine.”
All the girls visited the Comet State School to judge their Easter bonnet competition and attended a council dinner to meet all the local dignitaries. While there, Driedger and Friesen enjoyed High Tea, presented speeches, and gifted the community with a souvenir Altona sunflower plate.
Another unique opportunity was panning for sapphires and touring local bat caves.
“We had to sift through the rocks to find the sapphires. You could tell they were real by shining your phone flashlight on them; they glow in different colours. We were even allowed to keep the sapphires that we found.”
While bats may not be everybody’s favourite creature, Driedger found them endearing.
“The bat cave was really cool, and we named one of the bats ‘Moose.’”
The girls also took photos in front of Emerald’s version of a giant painting on an easel, featuring van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”
“Seeing that made it feel like home. It’s really cool how this painting connects our two communities.”
While there was no opportunity to hold a koala, the group did visit a zoo where they saw not only koalas but wombats and kangaroos as well.
Looking back, Driedger still marvels at how at home they felt in Emerald.
“Everyone really opened their arms to us. They wanted to chat with us and get to know us. It was just a great environment. Welcoming the visitors from Australia to Altona this summer is going to be just amazing. I think the first thing I want to do is introduce them to Mennonite food.”
She says she is grateful to Bunge for sponsoring the trip, and to the Manitoba Sunflower Festival for giving her this amazing opportunity.
“I’m going to miss everybody. I made lifelong friendships there. I would love to go back one day, and I probably will.”
Supplied photos
