Farm Life

I’ve officially been a Queenslander for four and a half days now…and it’s pretty great!

We’ve moved into the donga and (mostly) unpacked. It’s AWESOME! So much better than I was expecting. It’s actually pretty big and there is a surprising amount of storage space for a tiny metal box. It’s been stumped about a metre off the ground and we haven’t got any steps yet, so it’s a bit of a workout getting in and out, but once we have a deck sorted it’s going to be great.

We’ve also bought a second hand ride on mower! Definitely our best purchase so far. The few rows of trees that we’ve mowed in between this afternoon look SO much better than it was this morning – the whole place is starting to look a little more loved.

We still need to prune back virtually all of the fruit trees to make them a bit more manageable and easier to navigate through, but it’s slowly coming together.

Tropical Cyclone Marcia was kind to us and we didn’t cop any damage at all. There was only a little wind and rain, but nothing more than a regular summer storm.

We’ve made a few friends in town so far. A couple who used to live in Perth have retired to Childers, and they invited us over for dinner our first night in town. It was SO great not having to worry about cooking on that first night. The brother of the electrician we used is another tourism operator in town and he’s invited us out for a beer tonight. Another couple who’s going to take some scrap metal off the property for us came around with some afternoon tea yesterday. Everyone has been really friendly and welcoming so far.

Queensland is starting to feel like home!

Josh getting some love from Sarge

Our makeshift donga stairs

Our first snake! 

Josh getting some love from the puppy at the bamboo nursery

Me, working hard on the new mower

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

Josh and I have been trying to prepare for everything.

Budgets? Check.
Licences? Check.
New signage? Check.

Cyclone Marcia? F**K NO!!!

At around 9am QLD time tomorrow, Cyclone Marcia will smash into the Queensland coast, a few hours north of where our farm is. It's a category 5 cyclone, the fifth ever to hit the Queensland coastline.

We've been nervously hitting 'refresh' on the Bureau of Meteorology website all day. We've seen it upgraded to a Cat 5, but then weakening to a Cat 1 as it makes its way inland. They're still predicting winds of 35km/h - 45km/h which is windy, but ok...but they also say they could reach 90km/h if the cyclone changes its direction. So basically, it will still hit us, and it could still hit us hard.

I'm crossing every single finger and toe that we make it through ok. It will absolutely gut wrenching to see the trees uprooted, or all the avocados off the trees, or worse still our little cabin swept off it's legs.

Only four more sleeps til the big move...what a lovely welcome to Queensland! :(

Moving day!

It's a strange feeling for two people to pack 26 years worth of belongings into four boxes.

While Josh may not agree with me, I've found it hard to part with a lot of my sentimental items (yeah, I'm a big softie). I condensed my huge bookshelf to about 20 books, and then had to cull it again to only pack two to go to Childers. Hundreds of photos and albums became the one framed photo of my gorgeous niece as a chubby baby. 20 pairs of shoes whittled down to just three.

Josh has had a far more stoic stance. "It's pointless. It takes up space. Where are you going to PUT this stuff?" is pretty much all I've heard for the past week. Heartbreaking for me, but ultimately true.

Anyway, there isn't much point dwelling on it - the truck will be here tomorrow afternoon and it'll be all over with. All we are taking is a fridge, bed, tv, cabinet, couch, washing machine and the four boxes - and with any luck it will arrive in Childers just in time for when we fly across on the 23rd.

At least it won't take long to unpack...

The Working Holiday

We were lucky enough to welcome in the new year in our new hometown.

On new years eve, Josh and I (along with four others) flew to Brisbane once again to visit the farm. We were planning on spending three nights in Childers then another six nights in Hervey Bay (a 'tourist town' about 40 minutes away). 

We grabbed the huge mini van at the airport and hit the road. It was a long drive and by the time we reached Childers at 6pm we were thrilled just to be done with travelling for the day. Excitedly, we drove around the back of the shed and all piled out. 

The noise was unlike any other. The cicadas were so loud, chirping as the sun went down. The cane toads croaked loudly as they jumped around. Something else noisily scampered off when it heard all the noise. This wasn't the farm that I remembered. 

The place seemed a lot more 'untamed' than last time. It had always been overgrown, but now it was also overrun by creatures. (In hindsight, this was the first time we'd ever been there in summer. It's the wet season in the subtropics, and everything was just out and about doing their thing.)

As the sun fell even lower, we accepted that we weren't going to get anything done that night, so we unpacked some gear and headed to the pub. The work could wait until 2015. 

The next day, we headed back to the farm bright and early. We started by walking around the property, just to get a better idea of what needed to be done. The boys dismantled the tattered old shade sails outside, and the girls started sweeping and clearing out the junk in the cellar. Slowly, but surely, we started to see the place change. 

The next day the boys got up early and headed into Bundaberg to grab some supplies from Bunnings. A few hours, and over $1000 later, they returned with a mini van full of gear...and it was on. Trees were getting attacked with chainsaws, the shed was getting a high pressure clean from top to bottom, toilets were getting bleached, ants were getting poisoned. It was full steam ahead, and we could start to see the changes. 

Our last morning in Childers was a little more relaxed. We finished up a few of the last jobs then headed to Hervey Bay. We were all so excited to start the 'holiday' part of our 'working holiday'.

It was great being able to sleep in, stroll down to the cafe to grab a coffee and have a late, lazy breakfast. My highlight from the next few days was the day trip to Fraser Island. We spent the day driving all over the island, stopping off in the rainforest, Lake McKenzie, Eli Creek and 75 Mile Beach. It was such a beautiful place, a true testament to how amazing Australia is. 

I loved spending a decent amount of time in Queensland - all of our previous visits had been rushed and crammed into a long weekend. It was great being able to slow down and take some time to enjoy our new home state. As much as I'm going to miss being a 'sand groper', I'm definitely excited to become a 'banana bender'. 

Josh, the L-Plate forklift driver

A tree, loaded with big, beautiful Jackfruit!

A golden orb spider, spinning his gold web

The beach in Hervey Bay

Fraser Island's rainforest

The spectacular Lake McKenzie

Four walls and a roof

One of the first things people ask when talking about our adventure is "so, what's the house like?"

I take a deep breath and say, "ahh, well, there isn't actually a house there..."

My favourite reaction was from a work colleague who was imagining me in this huge mansion overlooking the fields of grape vines in the Adelaide hills. (Chinese Whispers definitely got that one wrong!).

I explain that there used to be a house on the property, but the owner divided the land and sold off the house part about a year ago, and we bought the farm part. There's a shed, and a cellar door tasting room and a kitchen...but not much else.

Along the way, we looked at many different options for housing. Gorgeous old Queenslanders that we could get stumped on the property. Converting the shed into a house. Buying a kit home and building it ourselves. Renting in town. Living in a caravan. Nothing really felt quite right.

Then I was tagged in a post on Facebook from Josh. And I got a few frantic text messages. He has found our home.

There was a company just south of Brisbane who had acquired a few second hand prefabricated "dongas" from a mine site. They had one bedroom, a bathroom/laundry and a kitchen/dining. They also came with TWO air conditioning units and a stove in the kitchen. I was sold.

We found these while we were still waiting for the property to settle, however the company only had one left and we needed to make the call. Buy it and risk not having a property to put it on or wait til we had the property and risk not having the house. We took a gamble and bought it, and I'm so glad we did!

It was delivered to the farm just last week and the stumps have been put in. We've met a great house stumper/all around legend who is going to hook it all up for us and it'll be waiting for us when we arrive in February.

It may not be that big or modern, but it's got four walls and a roof...and it's all ours.

The Second Visit

It's funny how first impressions can change.

On September 18th, Josh and I (along with two others) made the trip to Childers once again. We arrived into Brisbane late Thursday night and stayed in a surprisingly nice airport motel. We were SO excited to get back to the farm and to show off our new adventure.

We still didn't officially own the property at this stage, but to us, it was already ours.

In our minds, the plan was to roll up to the farm, be greeted with open arms by the former owner, do a bit of work and enjoy our new tropical paradise. The reality was a little different.

When we arrived, we were met by Bill and Jeff - the owner and his offsider. It was immediately apparent that we were not what they were expecting. After an awkward chat it was firmly established (at least in my mind) that we were seen as two young city slickers with absolutely no chance of being able to pull this off.

Slightly perturbed, we pushed on anyway.

Feeling as though we were being 'tested', we were sent off in the rusty ute - armed with the generator and a chainsaw - to prune the avocado trees. Our instructions were to 'try and get the big one in the middle, and any big ones that are over hanging'. Josh got stuck right in, tearing through the trees chopping through any offending branch. I dodged the falling limbs and dragged them out of the way to let the ute keep driving through. While we had no idea what we were doing, we were proving a point - we can do this.

The next day, Bill and Jeff had softened a little. Maybe these kids aren't so bad. Bill sent Josh out in the rusty ute for some more pruning, and kept me back in the shed.

"Do you reckon you can do this, love?"
"Yeah. I dunno. I think we can. It's going to be tough, but we want this."
"I can see that. Now, get in."

We jumped in his car and he took me on a guided tour of the farm. He hooned up and down the rows of trees, stopping whenever he thought there was something I needed to see.

"Smell this" he said, sticking his arm out the window and grabbing a handful of leaves, "what is it?"
"Mmm, it smells like liquorice!"
"Good! Now, what do you use it for?"
"Flavouring things...?"
"Good! That's an aniseed myrtle tree. You use the oils in the leaves to flavour the liqueurs."

"Crush those berries in your hand."
"Oh! Eww!" I has stained bright red from these tiny innocent looking berries. "What do you use these for!?"
"Nothin'. But I like tricking people with them."

"Taste that."
"What is it first?"
"Taste it and you tell me."
"Hmm. It's kind of like a sour orange."
"Good. That's a kumquat. Use it to make marmalade."

We spent the next hour driving from tree to tree, and Bill told me everything I needed to know. I learned about the little caterpillars that attack the Ice Cream Bean trees, why the Sea Grape tree doesn't fruit, how much frangelico you need to add to the Black Sapote fruit to make a boozy dessert and how much to pay the backpackers to pick the Finger Limes. I definitely got the better deal that morning, while Josh was stuck in the field pruning.

It's funny how first impressions can change. After just four days, we'd gone from dumb kids to fruit farmers. Bill has taken us under his wing and has generously shared his extensive knowledge with us.

I'm truly grateful for the head start he's given us on this adventure.

Josh taming the wild avocado trees

Bill - the farming expert and great story-teller

In the beginning...

Let's start with the basics.

WHO: Zoe, 26, lives in the suburbs and works behind a desk. And Josh, 26, lives in the suburbs and also works behind a desk.
WHAT: Have bought a run-down tropical fruit farm/winey.
WHEN: February, 2015
WHERE: Childers, QLD. About three and a half hours North of Brisbane.
WHY: We're still figuring that bit out.

On Thursday, 31st July 2014, we got a call from a real estate agent called Andy. He said "I know you live in WA, but the other party are jerking us around. So, if you're keen to come over and have a look at it let me know".

On Friday, 1st August 2014, we said "Stuff it. Let's just go and have a look", and booked flights to Brisbane.

On Saturday, 2nd August 2014 we were on a plane thinking 'what the hell are we doing!?'. We landed in Brisbane, jumped in a hire car and navigated our way North.

"Look! Australia Zoo! Can we stop?" ... "No."
"Look! The Giant Pineapple! Can we stop?" ..."No."
"Look! A theme park! Can we stop?" ... "No."

At about 6pm, we rolled into town, headed to the pub for dinner, then settled into the motel for the night.

On Sunday, 3rd August 2014, at 10am we met Andy at the property. We walked all around the eleven acres, plucking a few fruits from the trees, dodging the ants nests and soaking in the sunny Queensland winter. We we're smitten. The drive back to Brisbane later that day was full of excited 'what if's' and a few phone calls to family back home. The flight back to Perth that evening was even more animated.

On Monday, 4th August 2014, we put in an offer, and it was accepted.

We loved the little farm and had this unshakable feeling that it was something special. Sure, it was a bit overgrown (but that's what chainsaws are for, right!?). And it was a little grubby (nothing a high pressure cleaner wouldn't fix). And there was nowhere to live (we can convert the shed to a house, surely!).

The next few months were frantic, and the reality of what we were planning to do started to catch up with us. We were giving up our enjoyable, comfortable, well paying jobs to become farmers. We were packing up all of our stuff and moving across the country. We were leaving our friends and family to move to a small town neither of us could have pointed to on the map.

On the flip side, our 'mid-life crisis' was lucky enough to happen when we were only 26. We were in the position to simply pick up and leave. We didn't have any kids or major commitments - we really could just leave on this adventure. We were young (and dumb) enough to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.

Now it's January 22nd, 2015. We're preparing to leave in a few short weeks. The removalist truck is coming on Feb 10th, the car is being trucked over on Jan 28th...and the adventure is about to begin.