Tahbilk’s Long Lost Lunch event has seen countless Australian families send in their stories to the local winery for a chance at a free trip to the region to reunite with loved ones at the picturesque estate.
After reading Barbara’s story, and the rich family history behind it, Tahbilk representatives selected the family as the first ever recipients of the Long Lost Lunch.
The Burgess story began in Hungary, where Barbara’s father fled communist rule.
He arrived in Australia as a migrant before making his way to Radium Hill, Australia’s first uranium mining town.
He then met Barabara’s mother, an Australian Inland Mission nurse from a dairy farm near Toowoomba, Queensland.
Barbara’s father and his brothers went on to hand-dig 39 holes in the South Australian outback before striking opal.
Today, Barbara is a retired paediatric nurse living in Toowoomba, after joining four generations of women in her family to work in medicine.
Her family is scattered across the country, from Adelaide and Roxby Downs in South Australia, to Caboolture and Brisbane in Queensland.
After 16 years of battling an undiagnosed illness, later identified as toxic mould syndrome, the financial and physical toll has made staying connected with family feel near impossible.
“Catching up with my cousins became too difficult,” Barbara said.
“It’s so exciting to think we might all be able to get together to share a meal and our love.”
Tahbilk will bring Barbara’s family together, flying relatives in from across the country, to reunite over a long lunch among the vines.
“When we read Barbara’s story, we knew immediately she was our family,” fourth generation Tahbilk custodian Alister Purbrick said.
“A Hungarian migrant father who hand-dug for opal, four generations of nurses and a family pulled apart by circumstances entirely outside their control — it’s exactly the kind of story this lunch was made for.”
Tahbilk’s Long Lost Lunch will be co-hosted by Saroo Brierley, whose 25-year journey to reconnect with his family inspired the internationally acclaimed film Lion.
“Reuniting with my family was the most powerful moment of my life,” Saroo said.
“After years of searching, we finally found each other again, and that sense of relief and peace is something I want another family to feel.
“Barbara’s story moved me. The resilience, the distance, the years of just wanting to be in the same room as the people you love — I understand that more than most.”
True to Hungarian roots, Barbara knows the power of a table full of food and family.
Her Uncle Victor had a saying that she has never forgotten: “You don’t have to be hungry to eat.”
On the day of the Long Lost Lunch, that spirit will finally have its moment.
Barbara’s story is one shared by countless Australians, and Tahbilk hopes that by bringing her family back together, it will inspire others to prioritise the moments and the people that matter most.
The lunch will take place at Tahbilk Estate in October.
