Fragrant Farm

The rain has finally stopped, and last 2 days ridiculously hot again. James went off on Monday to vaccinate wild equines, so of course last night Lucy, the first pinkie, decided to farrow. I swear they wait until I am the vet on call before they maliciously break their waters.

By 10 pm there were 5 piglets, and this morning the head count was 11.



Meanwhile we have been spending a lot of time mulling over plans for a possibly disastrous real estate purchase. We viewed the property 2 weeks ago- a 25 acre plot in wine growing country, with a 5 bed house, a 2 bed holiday rental cottage, a shop, and loads of outbuildings ( or, in Aussie estate agent speak- 'benefits from abundant shedding' ).

http://www.diysell.com.au/realestate/detail.asp?PropID=P13616&loc=MUDGEE+Real+Estate

Comes with 2 donkeys, 2 geriatric ponies, a pet deer ( used to be a petting zoo ) and several aviaries.

The plan is that it would make an ideal camper/caravan park- the site is flat, the views are amazing.We would also rent out the 2 properties. I am still working on the figures to see if it could be viable, meanwhile Tim the casual estate agent is arranging a meeting with the council to see if a camper site is a possibility.

I realise that this was not the plan at all, at least not until we had finished our travels, but the plot is fabulous.

Mudgee has a population of 8,500, is less than 4 hours from Sydney, has 250,000 tourists visit annually, and the camp sites here already are far from great. We are looking at the eco angle, so we now know more about composting toilets and grey water recycling than we do about pig farming.

Really, the main appeal is that all our immediate neighbours would be vineyards, olive plantations and gourmet restaurants.

Watch this space.