Thankfully all went well Friday with the settlement and we are now the proud owners of 16 acres of semi cleared chemical free land. This is of course the first really big step in our plans and we are both so stoked to have so easily found a spot that suits us well in such a beautiful part of the world.
A massive weekend for Ali and I and our boys (the dogs). We traveled down on Friday with a quick stop past Mum and Dads on the way thru for a cuppa, timing our arrival perfectly about an hour after the settlement had gone thru at midday, super keen! A warm afternoon was then spent getting a further feel for the place.
Camping is the order of the day for a while and after some Veuve Clicquot celebratory champagnes and campfire cooked stew our first night was interesting, getting an idea of the different winds throughout the night and experienced a few weird lights playing over the tent which looked just like someone approaching with a torch, a bit disquieting. We finally worked out they were car lights from the highway over a kilometre away (we think anyway, may well have been the blair witch).
Visitors all day saturday, first Ali's sister Katie and the kids Hallie, Guy and Minty who had a great time traipsing around the block looking thru the different plants, trying a mulberry or two and bit of stick sword fighting for good measure.
Our prospective plumber then arrived to discuss the installation of the Biolytix wastewater system. A great positive guy who's going thru a similar process on a larger scale 100 acre property.
And finally our friend Becs (with bounding Bruce the labrador) arrived for a cooked meal and a few too many wines in town.
A rainy Sunday brought the planned visit of Jeff Nugent from SARI . Jeff is a permaculture guru who will be helping us with a design for the site. Jeff is a hugely interesting character with many insights about the history of the block and its remnant garden design which was apparently done when the original surrounding farm was divided up to be a permaculture village.
Jeff also had some interesting advice onhouse sites and the relateive fire safety aspects of stump foundations or a concrete slab. Fire safety may well be the deciding factor to go with a slab.
After a morning walking the block discussing the myriad plants and treees, and getting soaked by supposedly the first good rains of the year, my sister Miranda and her partner Darren, and kids Jack Dimity and Bill showed up by surprise, so we postponed the rest of the consultation with Jeff until our next visit.
Darren had some really valuable insights into how we could get power from the boundaries of the block to the main house site, and the relative costs. He is a linesman for Western Power and he and Miranda have a property just outside Bunbury so have recently been through the whole process themselves. Depending on the final tally up (may be as high as tens of thousands!) when we get some quotes from local electricians we may even go the wholly solar route. This does feel like a bit of a high wire act though, with another steep learning curve around batteries and very strict minimisation of our power needs.
Its interesting how the learning progresses; we think we are completely set on one strategy or design but the perspective of those in the know change things almost every time. I guess this is showing all plans are fluid until we talk with someone with current experience and a neutral (non-profit) mind set.
Our big weekend ended as we hit the road with tons to think of on our way back to Perth Sunday afternoon. Thanks everybody who made the trek down to us, its very heartening to hear others as positive about the block as we are.
