Never have we been happier to have wet muddy dogs run through the van and invade our small space. 27mm on Tuesday. Yes I know compared to the east coast that doesn’t sound like much at all, but to all of us out here in the country going through a drought it is absolutely wonderful. To see some water back in sections of the creek and puddles on the side of the road has cheered us up immensely and yes whilst it is not going to break the drought it has definitely helped to lift everyone’s spirits.

Beginning to think we most likely wouldn’t receive any of the predicted rain (which is generally what happens here) we woke through the night to hear that lovely sound of rain drops on the roof. We received more in that one day than we have for several months. Hopefully this will go towards helping keep the remaining trees up on the hills surrounding us and across the paddocks alive and we may just get to see some green grass before the frost arrives.

On another note the big red dog surprisingly turned 3 yesterday. Yes it is funny because it is true, as he has on numerous occasions almost knocked himself out running around chasing his ball. Honestly we are still amazed at how he just gets back up and keeps going as if nothing has happened 😳 And what better way to celebrate than with his two most favourite things in the world, (and no it’s not us or Chilli) but food and toys, in particular my pumpkin muffins🎂and a squeaky bone🎉

Shed land is progressing along nicely with the help of our friend Mr Scissor. We did attempt to start with only the trestles and planks but quickly realised that we would definitely benefit from hiring a scissor. Safety first says the work place health and safety officer (Chilli). I have to admit though, the height thing really does bother me these days, buck up little soldier I have to keep telling myself, we’ve got a shed to finish.

The quotes keep on arriving for the house and more brochures and colour swatches clutter up our small space. Decisions are being finalised which is exciting but at the same time the budget seems to keeps growing 😳

As another productive week passes by on the farm, little patches of green can be spotted across the paddocks and the dusty air around us feels so much cleaner. It’s funny how one very small rain event can alter the feel of the place and bring hope that everything will be green and lush again one day…

The Autumnal colours of rust caramel and honey throughout Tenterfield lift our spirits amidst the dry dusty landscape that currently surrounds us here at the farm. Whilst what little rain we did receive the other day was very much appreciated it didn’t do much to settle the dust. Our beautiful dams that were at full capacity just before Xmas are now getting precariously low with not much more than a dirty big puddle in the largest one.

Flowing creeks are now dry and dusty save a few sacred spring fed spots here and there. Dragonflies have disappeared and the sounds of the frogs are long gone. Hungry wildlife forage for food while the cattle trucks keeping rolling past emptying the neighbouring paddocks.

Amidst the death and the dust life rolls on and after our mid life crisis overseas holiday, buying, renovating and selling an old beach shack in Yamba we are finally back at Fatty Boy Run getting ready to build our new home. We had forgotten about the long drawn out process of designing, drawing and submitting plans, but Jason dusted off his pencil and paper, braved the online portal and after several hair pulling out changes everything has been submitted and we should have our construction certificate very soon🤞

In the meantime somehow hours have completely disappeared with online browsing of tapware, tiles, lighting, doors, windows, kitchens, curtains, fireplaces and everything else in between. Exciting but tiring at the same time.

Braving the dust and prevailing winds we have started the long awaited building of our shed hoping to get it up and finished before the ground works begin on the house slab. And aren’t we lucky enough to have not only a site supervisor but also a very cheeky work place health and safety officer!

Now the real fun begins, building, creating mood boards, planting more trees, eagerly awaiting quotes, choosing colours and of course there is always fencing to be done..

Word to the wise, wait until it has been raining for some time before putting up a new fence! The ground here is currently as hard as a rock and we certainly felt every year of our age by the end of it😳

As the temperature plummets the misty mornings arrive and the sunsets become even more stunning, reminding us that we are definitely still living our best lives, not just Chilli and Taco😊

Exciting times ahead, stressfull times ahead and very busy times ahead. All will be worth it to be able to relax back on the lounge in front of the fire with a glass of wine and enjoy the amazing view🍷

A new chapter begins…

Saturday 18th November, 2023.

The acrid smell of smoke still lingers…

Big old logs still smolder…

Wallabies try to hide amongst the boulders…

Blackened tree trunks stand out against the new green grass growth…

Scorched and shrivelled fruit trees droop in their prisons…

Hundred year old fence posts have completely disintegrated…

Lizards scurry to hide from predators…

A cute Echidna waddles around trying to find some grub…

Welcome to the country. After several dry lightening strikes starting multiple spot fires on Thursday the 26th October we and many others in the country are now surrounded by a scorched and scarred land. Mother Nature can be very cruel indeed. We knew it could be harsh out here but by god we didn’t foresee a fire storm like this one.

The weekend prior started at Yamba where we had excitedly booked a weeks beach holiday for our wedding anniversary. After checking in that things were under control we headed off Saturday afternoon to enjoy a week at the beach and enjoy some sand between the toes.Two nights later we jumped in the car and headed straight back to start moving belongings as the fire had broken containment lines and was heading in our direction. And now well over a week later we are all trying to catch our breath and work out how much damage has been done. I take my hat off to all of our fabulous neighbors who worked tirelessly around the clock for over a week fighting fires, helping others and saving property. I’m unsure how many thousand hectares burnt in the end but driving from Tenterfield back to Brisbane completely shocked us when we saw how many different areas were affected. But watching the community band together to help each other during this disaster has given me a new faith in humanity and makes me realise that we are extremely blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

After moving belongings twice and packing things into the container we had literally thought that we might be lucky and not be to affected by the fire but boy how wrong we were. With the wind constantly changing speed and direction, the hill behind us lit up like a xmas tree and sped down the hill towards the creek. Quickly moving everything once again to our neighbours all we could do was watch the fire move very quickly through the property and then across to the next neighbouring property. We have never seen or experienced anything like it in our lives and we definitely do not want to see anything like it again. The lightning speed at which the flames consumed the property and the intense heat that radiated it’s no wonder the place was literally incinerated.

After getting over the shock of seeing most of the property incinerated we spent the next few days helping the neighbours keep the fire away from their properties. And then after moving all of our belongings back to the property because lets face it, it wasn’t going to burn twice, we were able to head back to Yamba for one final night to collect our belongings and try to enjoy our wedding anniversary. Sixteen years which is traditionally celebrated with wax which according to google ‘ignites thoughts of candles and other fiery accessories’. Mmm, not sure they meant that literally but I don’t recommend it! I’d advise some beeswax soap instead maybe.

Whilst at times it feels like we have moved to the driest and windiest place in Australia, we absolutely love it here and our wonderful neighbours and community. We are proud to call Tenterfield home.

After some much needed rain earlier in the week the paddocks are looking greener already. Who would have thought this was as black as the night sky last week. New growth provides new hope that Mother Nature will be kinder in the future.

Friday 20th October, 2023.

Heading towards hills smothered in a smoky haze, the reality of how dry it is really hits us. Trees look so parched that the leaves are shriveling up. The grass is becoming more crispy and crunches as you walk over it. The wildflowers are still hiding below the surface waiting for a decent dump of rain to show themselves and allow everyone to enjoy the springtime. Not even daring to turn any machinery on lest we become those city slickers who inadvertently start a fire. And this is no where near as dry as it has been in previous years. Setting up camp for the week we watch the sun set through the smoke turning the sky several shades of red then fading to pink. What a sad but beautiful sight.

It’s been seven weeks since returning to Australia after what we like to call our mid life crisis holiday of six months. (Certainly way more fun than buying a sports car!) Arriving back at our property was like a breath of fresh air. The endless space in every direction and the complete silence that envelops you at times reminded us why we love this place so much. Tending to our various fruit trees has taken up a lot of our time as has planting several more over the last few weeks. Every hole dug for each tree needs to be quite large so we can add plenty of organic matter and each tree also needs to be fenced to protect it from the very cute but naughty and hungry Wallabies. It becomes quite a long and expensive exercise but we just keep focusing on the long term and smile with delight thinking about all the fruit we will eventually be able to devour from our grove.

Mornings begin with a steaming cup of coffee whilst being entertained by the Red-necked Wallabies. Tiny joeys perform zoomies around the paddock whilst a couple of males have a play fight then just as quickly give up and go back to grazing. The resident magpies perform a sing song that seems like it is just for our benefit. Maybe it is considering I fill there water dish daily. The nights and mornings have still been quite brisk so staying tucked up in our cocoon with our coffee has become quite the ritual.

Trying to keep up with the hiking we have explored Bald Rock National Park on a couple of occasions recently. Completing the Border Track and the Bald Rock summit we enjoyed the beautiful big blue skies and scenery around us. Bald Rock is the largest granite rock in the sourthern hemisphere rising 260 metres above it’s surrounding bushland and almost 1300 metres above sea level. Whilst we may not have hiked the kilometres we were completing in Europe we did thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Girraween next week!

Evenings are spent enjoying a refreshing cold one and watching the sun slowly drop behind the hills making way for a big bright starry night. Sometimes neighbours drop in to share some laughs after a hard day and sometimes it’s just us and the jump club settling in for the evening along the creek🦘!

With the extreme dry weather and the wind and smoke the flies have definitely arrived early and in force this season. Trying not to hit ourselves in the face whilst batting away the annoying insects has become the norm at the moment. It’s time to break out the fly nets that’s for sure, in order to help keep our sanity. And it’s time to organise a shed and house plans. Whilst we have started the ball rolling in regards to quotes for a shed, ( I never thought I would be so excited to design and organise a shed😆) we are still deliberating on exactly what we will build for the house and where.🤔 But hey what’s the hurry! I’m just happy to enjoy the local traffic jams and be entertained by the wallabies every morning.

To think that literally this time last year we had mini water falls cascading through our creek and could clearly see where all the springs on the property are. Talk about the land of extremes. Come on rain!!!

Kilometres Walked : Let’s not talk about that🤪

Kilometres Walked whilst away : 1995.3 km

Friday 15th September, 2023.

Back to reality as the famous saying goes. Where did the last 6 months go? At first it was going nice and slowly but then all of a sudden a few months in, it just seemed to tick by faster and faster until boom here we are back in Australia. After basically walking from Brisbane to past Melbourne our feet are grateful for a much needed rest. The first thing we noticed when we arrived back was the temperature. Whilst everyone here was still walking around with jumpers on commenting how cold it still gets here at night, we were stripping off the layers and opening up the windows! Anyone would have thought Singapore would have prepared us but obviously our bodies still thought we were back in the northern hemisphere. The first few days back were spent unpacking, washing, catching up with the family and trying to normalise our sleep pattern. Then the various appointments started, doctors, optometrists, dentist, blood tests, all those necessary things you need to do when you hit mid life and have been away for a decent length of time.

People often asked what we missed the most about home whilst we were away. First on the list was our endless big blue skies, oh how we missed that. Vegemite was second and then macadamia nuts. Obviously you could purchase Macadamias overseas but you needed to take out a mortgage to do so. So of course the first thing we did was go out and buy a huge jar of Vegemite (toast with vegemite, avocado and tomato is the best) and a huge bag of Macadamia Nuts. We are now well into the second bag😋 We tried our hardest to get back into a normal sleep pattern but jet lag definitely had other ideas. Every morning we headed out for our usual walk along the water admiring the bay and boats bobbing in the water. Finally after all the prodding and probing we were able to pack the car and head down to Fatty Boy Run!

With that big bright blue sky above us and acres of acres of farming land surrounding us we drove into our property with huge smiles on our faces. Yes it’s only tiny in comparison with some of the neighbours but it’s our little piece of rural paradise and we love it. Nothing beats the endless night skies that are dotted with stars as far as the eye can see or the complete quietness and stillness as day breaks. Yes, Home Sweet Home!

The sound of Magpies singing is our alarm clock every morning. Now that’s Australia. Perched on the big boulder behind the van the pair sing in harmony together as dawn breaks. Cracking the blinds to peer outside we spot Pretty Faced Wallabies chewing on the grass with tiny joeys hanging precariously out of their pouches. The sun tries it’s hardest to break through the magical mist on these crisp cold mornings while mobs of eastern greys get their fill before our movement scares them off down to the creek. Each evening has been sitting around the camp fire with friends and neighbours watching the sun set behind the hills smudging the sky with orange and pink hues. Once darkness sets in, the sky lights up the star super highway and the milky way floats right above us. What a magical place indeed.

We have been back in Australia for two weeks now and finally the jet lag has disappeared and we are sleeping well in our cosy little van. Now the time has come to get back into some sort of routine and hop back on the tractor and mower and start trying to work out what to build and where exactly to build it. Anyone would think it would be a simple decision but no it definitely isn’t. Stay tuned to see what we finally decide. As much as it’s fabulous to be home we are already planning the next adventure. There is so much out there in the world to see and experience and we plan to see as much of it as we can!

Thanks for following along on our adventure. I shall endeavour to keep you updated with all the farm fiasco’s at Fatty Boy Run🐄🦘.

Kilometres Walked : Thursday – 14.3, Friday – 4.4.

Saturday Morning 2nd September 2023.

The second last late one! After a wonderful 13 hours sleep we hastily raced down to our buffet breakfast with 25 minutes to spare🤪. Getting our fill and several coffee’s later we were finally feeling awake enough to head off to Gardens By The Bay to see the Orchid Display. Gardens by the Bay is a horticultural treasure trove. The park spans 101 hectares in the central region of Singapore. One of the incredible indoor garden domes ‘The Flower Dome’ was where we saw the ever changing display with this particular one being The Orchid Extravaganza. Well we certainly weren’t disappointed. The Singaporean’s always do gardens well but they are just magnificent when it comes to Orchids.

Breathtaking was an understatement whilst walking through the orchid display. The colours and the finer details on the flowers were just beautiful. Through the rest of the Flower Dome are different gardens from different parts of the world and one flower that also stood out for us was the fabulous fuchsia.

After dreaming about how we would go with planting Fuschia’s on the farm we then discovered the fantastic and very artistic sculptures.

What a wonderful afternoon immersed amongst the flowers. Feeling a little weary we started to head back to the hotel with a final stop off at Lau Pa Sat for a couple of refreshing cold beers and more delicious food.

Finally heading back to the Hotel we packed our bags up in readiness for the next morning and tried to get some sleep. Even though we were both tired we tossed and turned all night with jet lag so were feeling even more exhausted the next morning when the alarm woke us up. Racing down to breakfast once again before we had to catch a taxi to the airport we gulped down several cups of coffee, enjoyed a lovely omelette then off the airport we went for the final flight on this amazing adventure. Seven hours was a breeze compared to thirteen and went by faster than expected. Before we knew it we were landing back in Brisvegas.

Enjoying a long hot shower and much appreciated cup of tea we headed into a long slumber!

Kilometres Walked : Tuesday – 6, Wednesday – 11.3.

Thursday morning 31st August, 2023.

I know this is very late again. I’m slowly catching up😂.

Up and at it super early for breakfast then off we were to the airport for the final leg of our adventure. As much as we were excited to be heading home we were also dreading the flight to Singapore at 13 hours long. We had managed to book the extra legroom seats on this particular flight which definitely made things a little more comfortable but seriously I will NEVER sit on a plane for that long ever again. We have worked out that 8 hours is the absolute maximum flight we can cope with and we will also invest in noise cancelling headphones next time. (Can’t believe we didn’t this time round😳) Anyway first world problems aside we made it to Singapore, somehow lost a day somewhere over Europe and landed at Changi at 7.30 am on Wednesday after departing Heathrow at 11.55am on Tuesday. ✈️

Feeling completely shattered after very little sleep on the flight we stumbled through the motions at Singapore airport and made our way to our hotel to drop off the luggage. With a few hours to fill in before our official check in time we forced our weary legs out and about to wander around China Town. Singapore never disappoints. We always love stopping here. The people are lovely, the food is amazing, the flowers and gardens are outstanding and the architecture is beautiful. Singapore is either hot and humid or hot and humid and generally without fail it rains mid afternoon every day which is fantastic as it cools everything down. Trying to ignore the sweat trickling down our backs we meandered up and down the bustling streets enjoying the colourful shop houses that line them.

After a nice wander around and some lovely food at the Maxwell Hawker Centre we were finally able to check in and have a long awaited hot shower and lay down. We tried our best to stay awake but sleep over took us for the afternoon. Forcing ourselves back out of bed we headed out to our favourite Hawker Centre for dinner. Lau Pa Sat. Breathing in all those tantalising aromas we found some amazing vegetarian dishes and sat down to savour all the flavours. Feeling very satiated we sleepily made our way back to the hotel for a cold beer then bed😴

Thirteen hours later we jumped out of bed and raced downstairs for breakfast before we missed out!

Kilometres Walked : Sunday – 10, Monday – 8.5.

Monday 28th August, 2023.

Yes this is a little late, only eight days🤪. Plane travel and jet lag have slowed me down but here it is, just pretend it is last Monday!

After doing what we came to do at Bath Saturday night we just opted for a stroll around the city yesterday and not much else. Whilst it’s rather pretty down along the canal the rest of Bath is a little boring and extremely busy😳 . The other famous buildings of Bath other than The Roman Baths are the historic ring of Georgian Townhouses designed by the architect John Wood the elder named The Circus. Then The Royal Crescent which is one of Baths most iconic landmarks, designed by John Wood the younger. This impressive sight is a semi circle of terrace houses arranged around a perfect lawn overlooking The Royal Victoria Park which is 500 ft long. Both of these sights were extremely well done and quite lovely to see. I think now though after being to so many busy cities we were just getting over the crowds and the rude and pushy people. (Bank holiday weekend probably didn’t help with the crowds)

Today was our last big pack up of all of our belongings and yes we did purchase another small bag yesterday to make our lives easier at the airport. Packed up and ready to go, our original plan was to head to Kew Gardens on the way to the airport but after a coffee and breakfast pit stop in Corsham and then some traffic further along the way we decided we wouldn’t have enough time so we called into Eaton and Windsor for a wander instead. Corsham was another very picturesque Cotswold village and as it was fairly early it was lovely and quiet and we enjoyed a nice stroll through the Main Street almost on our own.

Once we got closer to Kew and decided we wouldn’t have enough time to visit we opted for Eaton & Windsor for a stroll and a coffee. Thankfully we arrived at the quiet end of Eaton and found a park as once you crossed the Thames into Windsor the cars and people were crazy busy. Eaton was yet another lovely English village and much quieter than Windsor but of course everyone was there to visit the castle or to hop on a boat cruise along the Thames. We managed to battle the crowds for about 15 minutes, looked at the Castle from the outside, checked out a few cute buildings then hotfooted it back across the river to the quiet side to have lunch and a coffee.

Finding a lovely quiet spot by the creek under the shade of a huge willow tree was the perfect spot to end the day to enjoy our lunch. It was then time to head to Heathrow and check in to our hotel for the night and drop the hire car back to the airport. After checking in and dropping the hire car off we were wondering why the air traffic was so quiet? Normally there are planes arriving every 45 seconds and we didn’t notice any on our walk back to the hotel. Whilst enjoying a beer at the hotel bar we finally noticed on the news the drama that had unfolded in the UK that day with traffic control down at all airports which obviously resulted in no planes arriving or departing Heathrow😱. Thankfully whilst quickly checking the internet things were just back up and running and our plane was still scheduled to depart on time the next morning👏. Homeward bound for us!

Kilometres Walked : Saturday – 10.3.

Saturday 26th August, 2023.

After a short stint in Stratford we once again squeezed our belongings back into our bags (Just😳) and headed for the The Cotswolds. But first we did quickly drive past Anne Hathaway’s house on the way out of Stratford. With it’s thatched roof and lovely garden it was extremely cute and also nice and quiet as nobody goes out before 10am here.

Our first coffee stop in The Cotswolds was the biggest village Moreton On Marsh. Really it was only because we were in desperate need of a coffee that we stopped. Whilst the village is very pretty, it didn’t really appeal to us with how big the place was and how the busy main road goes right through the middle taking away any romanticism of a small Cotswold village. Hence we didn’t even take any photo’s.

Boureton On the Water was next (we missed the turn off for a few other smaller ones🤪) and this village definitely felt more like The Cotswolds. The only issue was the crowds! With it being a Saturday, still school holidays and to top it off a Bank Holiday weekend there was no escaping the hoards. But we still had a lovely little wander and I was able to indulge in my last scone with jam and cream in England.

Bourton on the Water was very picturesque with little bridges crossing over the shallow water course running through the middle of the village. Pretty cottages lined the pavement with the quintessential cottage gardens and of course there were ducks galore waiting eagerly for the tourists to feed them. After our cream tea we had a meander and then headed for the next stop. Strangely enough it was The Gloucester Services (A service station for us Aussies). I know it’s not exactly a Cotswold village but we watched a television programme a few weeks ago which featured this particular service station and we were intrigued to check it out.

This was not your average service station. The place was designed to blend into the the surrounding hills and it has been done extremely well. It was like wandering into a tent on Harry Potter, it seemed so much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Some of the food looked very scrumptious indeed and we did purchase some homemade curry for our dinner which we are very much looking forward to tonight. Once we escaped the masses we then made our way to Castle Combe, another small village in The Cotswolds. A very beautiful and romantic place filled with super cute cottages and winding roads and a small watercourse.

Battling our way out of another busy little village with very narrow roads we then finally headed to our final destination Bath.

After checking in to our Airbnb we opted for the night entry to The Roman Baths. What an amazing place. The Bath complex was built around the middle of the 1st century CE. When you look at The Sacred Spring you can see the water bubbling and the steam rising from it and to think it is still going today after 2000 years. It was lovely to see all the lights come on as the sun started to set and wander around without hoards of tourists and see the reflections in the water of the great bath once darkness arrived.