Here's the News.....Heather's getting back to basics!


She’s brought the news into our living rooms for over two decades on Channel Nine News. But what you may not know is that the stylish and eloquent Heather Foord is not only down to earth, she embraces organics and a ‘back to basics’ way of life as Ben Sorensen discovers.

Heather grew up in Mt Gravatt, Brisbane and went on to study Journalism at the University of Queensland in St Lucia. Shortly after finishing Uni, Heather sent her resume to a number of local television stations. She said, “I sent applications to places where I really wanted to work,” which often goes against what you’re taught to do at Uni. Heather says a budding journalist is often told to start from the bottom and work at regional radio stations and small publications and then one day when you’re about 40 you might be lucky enough to land a job on TV.

So Heather was surprised when she got a call from Channel Nine shortly after sending off her application. “Unbeknownst to me Tracey Curro, the weekend newsreader was leaving to go to Melbourne and they must have seen something in me,” said Heather.

Since that moment, Heather has never looked back. Although she says she never pictured herself as a newsreader and always imagined being a foreign correspondent living an exciting life overseas. But after twenty-three fabulous years on TV, she says she has no regrets and believes this sense of adventure has been satisfied more in her private life on the farm.

Heather, her husband and four girls (aged 8 to 17 years) live on a 50 acre farm in Dayboro with horses and cattle. She says all the family ride motor bikes so, “the girls in our family are real tom boys.”

Living an organic, and chemical free life has always been important to Heather and her family. While she says she is no organic gardening guru, she explains that it’s magic to see what comes up each day in the garden and orchard. It’s not surprising that Heather is the picture of health and maintains a healthy diet. She says she has fruit and yoghurt for breakfast and a diet high in fresh raw foods, some of which is grown in her garden.

After growing up and working in the city, Heather says she really values coming home to a simple, country life. “I love the quiet and growing our own vegies and having our own organic meat.” She says she loves making Thai pumpkin soup with the pumpkins which have grown wild in the paddock and is currently sterilising jars to pickle some Jalapenos. “I’m hoping by pickling the Jalapenos, it might take a bit of heat out of them,” Heather laughs.

Heather is often asked why she lives so far away from the city. She says she loves living a fair way away from work because the drive home is a great way to debrief for the day. She can then let go of all the news of the world before she sees her husband and girls.

It’s easy to see that Heather and her husband embrace ‘back to basics’ family values. “My husband and I are a really good team and right from the start we said we were going to look after the children ourselves here at home and not put them in day care. He and I tag teamed, I would be with them during the day and he would be with them in the afternoon/evening,” she says.

Whilst Heather and her husband grew up in the city their children have had the opposite lifestyle growing up in the country. “When we first went into the heart of the city my eldest girls were about 12 years old, and the kids were shocked at how tall and close together the buildings were. Then we took them to the Queen St Mall and they looked like tourists,” laughs Heather.

Heather also believes in teaching her children to have a life outside of the world of technology. “We have a no TV and computer rule during the week. Although they can use computers to do their school work. They respect this decision and it keeps them a bit focussed because the electronic world can be so consuming,” she says. So instead Heather says they go and play outside, ride their horses and they have their own thoughts rather than constantly absorbing messages from the world.

The family will also have some new territory to explore as they have just bought a house to renovate in Kawana on the Sunshine Coast. So Heather and her family will have the best of both worlds with a bush and beach lifestyle. She is also excited with the prospect of spending more time on the coast and more time with her family now that she has left weekday news reading. Heather says the coast is a great place to swim, surf, walk, run and cycle and there are endless miles of beach and tracks to explore. She says the other spot they really enjoy on the coast is at Point Cartwright.

“My husband has remote control gliders and we love this spot so I have a very blessed life and I don’t take it for granted,” she says.

By Ben Sorensen in conjunction
with Vanessa Finnigan