New Life Project - Inspection Report

We were both excited about inspecting the property. I was up at 4 am to work on the wine making and set everything up for our extended absence. Pumping up water and giving the gardens a light soaking then across the river to move the cows and calves and set up both irrigators for new runs.

The joint decision was an early departure in order to spend some time looking at the area around the proposed new property. The nearest towns and their services. What we were trying to compare was what we do now and how we interact with our community and adjacent villages and towns with how all these activities would change if we moved. Being a list type person there were pages of lists for consideration.

Spending a couple of hours walking around the townships looking comparing services and facilities was a good investment. We talked constantly. It wasn't a straight comparison exercise but more about how would we fit in to this place and the way it functions.

In the end our needs were simple. We want easy access to a community pool for regular swims and exercise. Jean is keen on Zumba as well and classes were available in the local community hall. So that is pretty much it as everything else is doable irrespective of which town you look at. Not a demanding list.

Then onto the property. It was two properties.

The first was dismissed immediately. Too difficult to access, a very badly built home, no view and badly overgrown with everything let go.  Not even attractive if you were in your twenties and starting out.

The second property the one that really had our attention had some attractions. Access was fine. A little bit of dirt road but at least council maintained. The house was an illegal construction but interesting. A Hobbity house as Jean named it. Lots of rooms upstairs and downstairs. But you could live with it. Not much of a garden so that's good a clean slate. A few citrus trees established but needing attention. Various garages and sheds and close to a very good water supply in the nearby creek. Native trees crowded the house. Pretty much the house was in a gulley reducing the effects of any breezes.

Then there was the big shed. This was my interest. Very well constructed, huge with toilet, shower and a large upstairs office space. A dream for the handyman. Two ways to get to it from the house. Go out onto the public road and drive the couple of hundred metres to it or take a walk through the bush via a steep gulley. Not just a bit inconvenient but nothing dismissed yet.

Of course the agent (a word to describe cunning) then blew us away. We drove up from the big shed another couple of hundred metres to a large clearing. A track had been slashed through the thickly growing Sataria. Pretty exceptional growth for mid Summer with almost no rain. And we turned to see the view. North and north west was a massive vista stretching forever. It was as if you were up in the sky looking down on the world. What a spot. The HHF view but with the soils we desire.