No Place Like Gnome

Driving south from Port Augusta, travelers could be forgiven for missing the sign to Ray Myers' hobby farm. On a sunny morning, the lead smelters of Port Pirie shimmer on the horizon to the south like an outback Venice, while to the north, the Flinders Ranges begin their majestic roll. They were partly what brought Sydney-born Myers, 64, to the area on holiday in 1966, and his love affair with the landscape has continued ever since. "Change color every hour," he says.

Perhaps Myers' sign should be bigger, maybe even in neon, since what he is farming is...