Tucked away.....

In 2001 we moved to a five acre block in Donnybrook, tucked away behind other five acre blocks, with slightly less than half given over to the house, small paddock and some fruit trees, the other more than half uncleared native vegetation.  At the back of the block is a state forest with very limited access to the public.  One result of this is that we have been very isolated for quite some time, particularly as neighbours who became friends moved away over the years.  The above picture shows the entire block, fence to fence in both directions.

Following events of October/November last year, I have had the house on the market since December 2009.  At one stage I thought I had it sold.  In June I accepted an offer that was based on the buyers being able to sell their property in Darwin.  They were certain it would sell, but that offer fell through in mid-November.  The house market across Australia has dropped badly in past months, and there was even a recent report in the news that we are at a 20 year low.  With that in mind, I guess I shouldn’t expect to sell too soon.  What will be will be.

Meanwhile, water is also an issue.  Being out of town, all our water has to be collected from rain for drinking, or the well for reticulation onto the gardens.  This winter has been the driest for many years, with drought declared in many regions.  Where this area would normally have had ample rainfall and water in the well from September through to January, this year I have sufficient rainfall for only one pump up to the holding tanks, and the well has remained completely dry.

I need to sell now, not just for the settlement, but with a smaller place to look after I would be able to spend more weekends doing things that I would like to do, such as spending time away on the motorbike instead of working around the yard and house each week like I do now.  

These photos show how the house looks now.  It’s grown much larger than it was when we bought, and has changed from a small, poorly equipped cottage to being a somewhat larger cottage with a few mod-cons, including solar hot water system, gas cooker as well as a wood fired cooker, and re-furbished bathroom and kitchen.