It all started in the year 2019 (March 2020 for those of us downunder) when the world as we know it came to a rapid halt! This was the beginning of what we have called 'the pandemic years'. It was a major upheaval for many, but quietly and most deliberately it was a time for us to put our roots down and start the magnificent journey stewarding a little piece of elevated land in the Mount Perry hills.
PIC 1 and 2: The pictures below capture the changing light, firstly in late afternoon light then the sunset that followed, April 2024.
Our vacant plot of land has become our oasis from the world at large, and a place of creativity, gardening, building, swimming and eating. The views change moment to moment, dependent on the light. It all sounds rather hedonistic, but there has been much work to do, scheduling, ordering supplies, digging, more digging and adhering to building compliance, to get to where we have. Originally we travelled to our piece of paradise each fortnight, until late 2021 when we decided to pack up city life and move here permanently. This has become a lifechanging choice, and one we reflect upon regularly with great joy.
While we are onsite, we are able to tend to our flock of Coronation Sussex, a heritage breed of chickens which are a nod to my English step-grandfather. These birds with their beautiful light lilac neck and tail plumage were originally bred for as a table bird in 1936 for the coronation of King Edward VIII (but he abdicated the throne before he could be crowned), are rotund, flightless, social hens. They are late layers, starting around 26 weeks of age, and lay a cream coloured egg many days of the year. They are very beautiful to look at!
PIC 3: Photo of a coronation sussex trio, rooster in the foreground and two fat hens in the background, courtesy of Pinterest.
Our property is mostly set up with drip timed gravity irrigation, but we are here to provide that little extra care the newest members to our gardens require. Our list of native edibles and botanicals grows most weeks, as the canopy of green in the rainforest garden closes in so I find myself wanting to fill each tiny gap with the understory plants. Further down the slope the vineyard infrastructure is done and the Chambourcin is planted out, with trailing sweet potato and native Ipomoea costata covering the vineyard floor. The spaces in the orchard are filling fast, with a pair of each of our favourite low-chill stonefruit and pommes, temperates such as citrus, mulberries and nectarines and tropicals such as avocadoes and bananas and a row of Italian stone pines (pine nut trees). We live in a unique region, being able to grow a great variety of plants.
PIC 4: We can see a Davidson plum emerging from beneath the cat's whisker (Java tea) shrubs and a little liriope border beginning to grow. There are also a couple of dwarf buddha belly leaves in the right foreground. This is an architectural plant and the bottom leaves have been stripped to expose the squat, round culms representing Buddha's belly (with which we have placed an uplight to highlight how spectacular they are).
Probably the most impressive moments have been the building of the Pavilion and awaiting the transport of a recycled (I like to call it upcycled) 1860's original Queenslander house that requires a great deal of TLC to bring up to scratch (and building code), which we aptly named 'Chaucer Cottage'. For it is here that I plan to continue to put pen to paper as it were and create more works of fiction and non-fiction to add to my repertoire of writing skills. We named the little cottage after Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of a Knight's Tale, one of our favourite movies and an author I was introduced to by my god-mother, Ethel Schouten.
Click on the link below for the most peaceful introduction to our rainforest garden, complete with flute accompaniment...
The Pavilion is a work of art! It is designed by my darling husband, Nathan. It is built by his bare hands, his ingenuity and his master craftsmanship that only three decades of experience as a carpenter can provide. We had the good fortune of deconstructing another Queensland house on the main drag in Rockhampton (all the while maintaining social distancing), and carting the vintage hardwood timbers, along with recycled bridge timbers, to Mt Perry. Nathan has utilised these ancient trees again and built an art deco styled Pavilion to surround the rainforest with a vast deck complete with an outdoor kitchen and fireplace that overlooks the valley, dams and hills below and beyond.
While we sit here and reap the benefits of the hard work, dedication and persistence we have shown, we look forward to turning our hands and minds to the next exciting venture, a small and exclusively range of face and body products made from native botanicals, herbs, fruits and spices from our property. I have been busy learning the alchemy required to make these uniquely fragranced natural balms, salves, creams, butters and oils. It is time to share what we have with you all...
PIC 5: Sneak peek at our most recent product, for those with a fractured tailbone or the like, but that is a whole new story...
