LLPOH: Update on the Homestead

We have now just about completed building our “homestead” in Australia. It has been a long process, some of it done from far away, and a lot of it undertaken on site. We are transitioning from the building stage to the improvement and development of the property stage.

Our property is about a half hour outside a regional country town. We are not isolated, but we are around a half mile from our nearest neighbors. We feel we are generally accepted by the locals, who are very welcoming, if somewhat perplexed by us. The folks around here are conservative and independent by nature. A number of them are retired, and a number had small businesses, so we have common ground. We gather regularly for drinks, meals, and dinner out.

Our homestead is quite substantial for the area. It is a source of some head scratching for the locals. We built the home to meet our desires, which far exceed our needs, and it is in no way similar to the farmhouses that are prevalent. Many of the locals do not understand why we have a theater room or or pool or why we landscaped substantially around the home – after all, it is, or should be, a farm, and anything not associated with farming is, well, wasteful. They vastly prefer function to form. We wanted both.

In addition to the house itself, we have several out buildings/barns, with total size of several hundred square yards. These are used for storage of equipment and tractors and such (buying a new tractor had them again scratching their heads. No one buys new, you see.)

As Australia is extremely dry and hot, we have put in substantial water resources, and are entirely water self-sufficient. We have four dams, one of which is quite large, that catch some millions of gallons of water each year between them. We have integrated all the dams so that we can pump water from one to the next, so that in dry times we can consolidate water if needed. We also have a very large fresh water tank, which catches water off all of our buildings. This water is then filtered and purified for household use. We get about a foot and a half of rain a year, and we can catch enough water of our various roofs (hundreds of thousands of gallons a year) for both internal and external use – even enough to allow us to have a pool.

We use the dams to irrigate the landscaped areas. We also have partially established a fruit tree area – citrus, apples, etc., that we also irrigate. This, as well as a large vegetable patch, are still under development, and will remain works in progress.

With respect to energy, we are not entirely self-sufficient at this time. We generate enough electricity from solar to meet most of our needs, but given we use air conditioning (again a source of some amusement to the locals, who consider air con wasteful in the extreme) and have a pool, we have opted to remain connected to the grid for now. We have designed the system to allow us to go fully off-grid if we choose, but it would require installing batteries, which we have as yet not done. We are keeping a watch on battery development, as this may impact if/when that occurs.

We are busy putting up new fence around the entire property. The old fence is shot, and we want to keep the kangaroos out, which are in plague proportions. We are doing this with the help of our neighbors, who were incensed that we were considering contracting it out. No one pays to put up fence, you see. Especially not by the mile.

I did some research into fence building, and insisted on some new-fangled equipment and products. They told me I was insane, and that it would not work, etc., and that their way was tried and true for generations. I told them we were doing it my way anyway. We are now half-way through the project, and I have converted the locals to the new equipment and products (primarily new-fangled post drivers, and post stay systems. We are putting posts and stays up in 1/3 the time the old fashioned way takes, with a fraction of the physical effort). Seems the city-slicker Yank turned out to be right. I tell them about it every day, too.

I have gotten my firearms license, and am beginning to accumulate guns – .22, shotgun, long guns next. Folks that think Australia is a gun free zone are mistaken. There are some restrictions, but in reality not many, and everyone around here is well armed. In all honesty, the folks around here are as well armed as any place I have ever lived.

We have also gotten a couple of large family protection dogs (boerboels). Well, at least one of them is probably a protector. The other seems like a lover not a fighter, but we will see, and I would not want him mad at me.

Again, there is the head scratching by the locals, as the dogs of choice hereabouts are blue-heelers, cattle dogs, kelpies, and assorted herding dogs or terriers. A giant breed dog bred for family protection does not compute, at first. The conversation often goes like this:

“Why do you need one of those?” they ask. “Because we are isolated, and getting older, and shooting folks is frowned upon here in Oz, and nothing quite says go away like a 150 pound dog with an attitude”. “Umm, how do you spell “boerboel” and where can I find one of them?” There are a few more in the area now. Good sense is good sense no matter where you find it.

I hope this update is of some interest. We are adjusting to the new lifestyle, and are gradually upping our work-loads. There is always so much to do on a largish property – fencing, planting, irrigation creating, logging and planting for logging, etc. – that there really is no end of it. We are slowly getting in better shape for the work.

We are making good friends, although for sure and certain we are seen as eccentric. Gradually I think they are coming to understand there is method to our madness. We want the best of all worlds – creature comforts, security, and sustainability in time of crises, and when they reflect on that, I think they do not find it so strange. As for us, it is quite an adventure.