Have found our patch of paradise...woo hoo

[HoneydaleFarm]

Well we have struck a deal on a house and land package down here in Tassie. Went through the house again on Saturday, and the owner had a couple of the Forester Kangaroos joeys he is rehabilitating at the moment with him which was lovely for Gracie (our 3 year old)! We have a deal on the house and land, the land property is 12 Hectares of bush and a half acre of cleared land , so we will have all the bush behind us up to the top of the ridge as well as the 1/2 acre of cleared land next to the house for the orchard...and as its on a separate title we can build a cottage on it whenever we decide. The house property comes with about 3/4 acre of gardens and fruit trees....best of all is that my hubby is happy as he only has to drive 10 minutes from work.

for those of you interested

Here is the link...house looks crappy for outside, but is very us inside...quirky is one work for it!

http://www.propertypoint.com.au/view_pr ... tyID=27578 (http://www.propertypoint.com.au/view_property.cgi?propertyID=27578)

[christopher]

Your house looks great! I love the floors and the indoor foyer.!

It looks lovely.

Congratulations,

C

[baldcat]

That's nice.... I wsih I was moving to Tassie :)

[Franceyne]

It sounds absolutely perfect!

Only in the wonderful Tasmania could you have all that and be only 8km from the capital city :D

I have my fingers and toes crossed for you and your family :lol:

When do you expect to hear back about your offer?

Cheers,
Fran.

[HoneydaleFarm]

offer has been accepted, and they have allowed a condition of sale on our house in Canberra which allows us to move in and pay rent until the house is sold....woohoooooooo

[Franceyne]

Ahhh - even more perfect :wink: Sorry I didn't read that into the original post :lol: I will now uncross those fingers and toes and cheer for you instead :hello1:

[HoneydaleFarm]

now we just have to move again (yuck)...but at least it will be the last one I hope...well except for the one into teh ground about 50 years from now :lol:

[Franceyne]

Somehow our last move seemed so easy - perhaps because, like you, it was our last planned move (after moving 22 times in 16 years).

I hope your move goes just as super smooth!

[baldcat]

SELL EVERYTHING


And buy fresh new stuff that fits in your house....


I wish I listened to my own advice sometimes.. my last move from Sydney was a nightmare............

[HoneydaleFarm]

:lol: I just know that because we have to move less than 10 km this time it will all be a bigger hassle than any of the 27 moves I have done, and some of those were international :?

Wish I had the cash to buy it all new, cos the stuff I have got won't raise enough for the hire of a removal van...

This time I have a fther-in-law with a big ole dodge truck, so we will look like the beverly hill billys

[Tamandco]

What a lovely place! Yes, I love the floor boards and the funny little atrium thingy too. What a lovely location nestled in amongst the hills like that.

Best of luck and look forward to lots of photos,
Tam

[sab]

hey, that's great. We might be "neighbours" next year. Some people in Glenorchy are pressing us to come and live there.

[HoneydaleFarm]

Here is the link to the 12 hectare adjoining block we are buying ...cute photos of the current resident

http://www.propertypoint.com.au/view_pr ... tyID=27578 (http://www.propertypoint.com.au/view_property.cgi?propertyID=27578)

the land has portions under conservation zoning which is great as well.

[Rob6014]

I wondered what that glow was coming from down south - it's the shine off your teeth because you are grinning so much. We will have to send you some lemons to suck to dim the light. :lol: I think the house looks great from the outside! And those views are something you will have forever. Looks like the neighbours have fruit trees, so if you make friends with them you should have a ready supply of fruit until your own orchard begins to bear. ;-)

[Franceyne]

Honeydale - that little wallaby is just gorgeous!

Does the adjoining block border any further bush lands?

[permaculture.biz]

G'day,

Congratulations on the move.

Many of us dream of Tassie, but family ties etc, preclude us from making the move, at least in our case anyway. My favorite place of all is Boat Harbour, to the west of Wynyard, and east of Sisters Creek (where Lisa and Bill Mollison live). Rolling basaltic hills, lots of rain, north aspect onto Bass Strait, bloody beautiful!!

Just wanted to suggest that you look closely in your design at the fire planning. You are in now in one of the most pyrophitic environments on the planet and this is a factor you need to design for as much as anything else. Simple things like gravity tank for roof sprinklers and irrigation (dont just rely on a pump or power), removal of pyrophitic vegetation near buildings (eg Cypress, Eucalypts, Tea Trees etc.), building strategic earth mounds, and planting lots of bands of lush broadleaves and evergreens. Designing for orchards etc. can dovetail very nicely with fire planning. The house though will need serious attention, unless specifically designed for fire in the first place, but this is very rare.

Grab a copy of the Australian Bushfire Book (can't recall author and I gave my copy to a mate outside of Launceston who was at the end of a bunsen burner!) and from Holmgren Design Services, http://www.holmgren.com.au "The Flywire House" by David Holmgren. There are a few other references in my library, but its at home and I'm over here in Viet Nam with just the Permaculture Designers Manual and Tim Flannery's new book on hand!

One just for an interesting read is "Burning Bush: A Fire History of Australia" by Steven Payne. Quite a read intertwinning the history of fire in Australia and its effects on the development of our unique range of environments.

Anyway good luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

Ciao Darren Doherty

[HoneydaleFarm]

I feel like we have just had a brand new baby :D. You are all welcome to come and have a taste of tassie..but beware there will be fence building and vege plots being put in!!

Francyene: The block adjoins the Mt wellington State reserve mostly, it is part of continuous bush running from the top of Mt wellington and is zoned conservation with some protected flora species on it.

Darren : Thanks for the tips on the fire stuff. We have already looked into the fire trails that surround the property and we will have to think about it carefully as there is a lot of trailbike activity up the top!

We already have a list of things to put in immediately like gravity fed tanks for the roof area and most of the plants near the house look to be pretty fire retardant.

Will look up those books though. Luckily for us there is good access for escape at last minute so will be able stay for a reasonable amount of time with hoses etc if a fire came through, and after living through the Canberra fires (almost lost our house) we know what it is like to be in the midst of it all and tend to be on the paranoid side when it come to planning!

[Rob6014]

Definition of a visitor on a farm;

Free labour!

[HoneydaleFarm]

Finally got a sale on the Canberra house, so we bring forward our settlement on the Patch of Paradise to before Christmas...

Never thought it would happen BUT IT HAS

[baldcat]

yay for you.. awfully jealous

[HoneydaleFarm]

Oh Dan...Fate will make it right when its right...we thought it would never happen, and just when we finally came across the right property suddenly everything fell into place...

we had a number of near miss with sales but in selling and buying...it got to the point where I almost gave up! But now I can hang my "Honeydale" sign on a gate!!!

it will happen to you to...

[christopher]

Now you have it, what are you going to do with it? What fruit trees work well there? Chooks, ducks, goats?

I liked your covered clear roofed foyer (wish we could find some of that roofing here....)

It sounds wonderful!

Whens the house warming? (I'll be there in spirit...)

Christopher

[HoneydaleFarm]

We want to extend the chook family (have 3 pekins and would like a few more)..also looking at putting in a mixed orchard and maybe some ducks or geese to keep the weeds down in it...but first up will be buiding all our vege beds and doing A LOT of fencing to keep the wallabies out...there are about a dozen that regularly come down through the property that have been released by wires into the area! We want to keep them as regular visitors, but keep them out of the areas.

First I want to sit down and map out a plan...so out come the colour pencils and all the great ideas from this site I have been hoarding away in a folder :lol:

[baldcat]

can I suggest that you give us some pics and plans, and post your drawings and stuff... Maybe if you ask BAZMAN very very nicely he may do up a digital plan for you... That way we can al see what you are trying to acheive and give advice and ideas accordingly

[HoneydaleFarm]

Dan, what a FABULOUS idea!

I am all up for using the brain power of many over just that of mine, Being a scientist by training I sometimes get caught up in the detail and forget about the "big picture"


I have been looking for a way to do some drawings as I don't have Correl draw or the like on my computer...thus the coloured pencils etc. In fact it has become a game with the family that we make little cutouts of buildings and structures and plantings and try and fit them on the plan! My 3 year old keeps adding ponies and lots of cherry trees (She LOVES cherries) and today I found a "dragon" her and her dad had added!! Not sure where that fits into the 3 use principles!

[baldcat]

to get the whole family involved in what they want the farm to be... Can I suggest find a blank wall, get some butchers paper, and attach... Now draw an outline of the farm and the exsisting features.. Label them properly\ appropriatly (little kids draw a house eg, big kids write house) as so the kids can see what they are... Then let them have a go at designing the farm ... Throw acouple of hints, you'll be amazed (or maybe you won't)on the ideas that they come up ... Then when you actually goto design your farm,, you can take into consideration what your kids thought should go where and if that was me as a kid, i'd one little happy camper :)

[Tamandco]

Congratulations. That's wonderful news!

When's settlement?

Can't wait to see pics of your projects unfolding.

Tam