We're Moving!

Susan and I have signed a rental lease on a new house!!

     Front of our new home

We've enjoyed the opportunity to live on Susan's dad's property (Woodstock) and to be surrounded by such intense beauty and critters. However, we've been dreaming about moving into our own, bigger place, and last week, we found it!

      Side entrance 

       Back of house

Susan has been living at Woodstock for nearly two years as her father's caretaker. As anyone who has been in that role can attest to, it can be an exhausting job. It's time for a change, to say the least, and to claim some personal space and freedom to move forward in life.

Woody's good friend, Gary, will move into our caretaker's cottage in early October to help look after Woody each day. Bless his heart, I know Susan needs the break. We will continue to visit Woody several times a week to help with medical appointments and the multitude of other tasks required.

Anyway, back to our new home... We had put feelers out to find a rental house in the nearby village of Uki. We figured it would be a good way to test the area before committing to buying a property. A day after my return we were called to look at a rental there. To make a long story short, it wasn't what we were looking for, but while in Uki we saw an ad for another house in the nearby village of Kunghur (pronounced "caang-err"). Kunghur is an Aboriginal name which means "meeting place". Well, we fell in love with the house. It's a huge 1950s "Queenslander" style house that sits on 200 acres, plus we have access to the adjoining 200 acres.


Weird alcove for the stove. There is a window on the right side. The orange paint is going bye-bye.

Half of the living room

Kitchen and part of dining room


Yes, we are out in the bush still! I don't know about any resident snakes or lizards yet at the new abode. At least at Woodstock we know where they live. I'm hoping we are the only tenants in or on the new house. :) Oh, and there's a big fenced yard for Buddha, our little dog who is now six months old. He'll be sharing it with resident wallabies.

Behind our new house, literally out the back door, we have access to endless hikes and great bush camping spots. We took a long walk to the top of the hill and were blown away by the 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains, rock formations and valley. It's very ancient and beautiful and the feel and spirit of the location sealed things for us.

Back of house from hill above

I will post some more photos once we move out there. On our hike we saw wallabies and an echidna and were dive bombed by magpies! Susan kept saying "cover your eyes" as the birds fly so close they occasionally touch your head. (Not quite as bad as the birds in the movie "The Birds", but I see where they got their ideas from!) Apparently the magpies are only this aggressive for a few weeks each spring as they nest. Rumor has it you should wear a hat with eyes painted on the top of it to scare them off or feed them to make them your friends. I must admit I was a annoyed at first, but then got so fed up I picked up a stick in self defense. (I didn't take a swing, but it felt good to protect my vision!)

Echidna, rolled up in a hole right behind the house

When our American friends come for a visit, Susan is ready to fix you a damper and billy tea bush breakfast on an open fire. :)

Two weird Australian rental facts I've learnt:
1. Rentals rarely come with refrigerators. It's strange for me to picture all the Australians currently moving into and out of rental properties around the country with fridges in tow
2. Rent is due and paid each week, not each month. Makes no sense to me!

So, for now, we are in the process of buying, borrowing and stealing furnishings from generous friends and local furniture restorers. More soon!

Part of the view from the hill