Avocado madness

Eating too many avocados is apparently destroying Western democracy or something, so we did our best to speed up the downfall of civilisation as we know it by going to the Blackbutt Avocado Festival on the weekend. (Blackbutt, one of … Continue reading →

Eating too many avocados is apparently destroying Western democracy or something, so we did our best to speed up the downfall of civilisation as we know it by going to the Blackbutt Avocado Festival on the weekend. (Blackbutt, one of my very favourite small towns, is less than an hour’s drive from Lochanbar, and has hands down the best bakery with the best pies and sweet dishes I’ve ever eaten in Australia. Catch up on other events in the area through this facebook page.)

We watched the parade, listened to the opening ceremony, watched the parade, watched the wonderful reptile show by Dreamtime Reptiles, did not throw or roll any avos because I hate wasting food (and especially expensive luxury vegetables), did spend lots of money on photos from the Blackbutt Camera Club (which will soon be up on the walls at Lochanbar), and not so much money on some lovely pottery rice bowls (already in the crockery drawer at Lochanbar <img decoding=” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” />” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> ), and ate some extraordinarily delicious foods based on avocados – chocolate avocado mousse (so good we went back twice <img decoding=” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” />” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> ),  and an avocado lemon dessert, avocado lassi, and guacamole (of course <img decoding=” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” />” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> ) from an ‘Indian food’ caravan stall whose name I wish I had written down (it’s a purple caravan.)

We had an absolute ball, and will definitely go back next year if possible. So far we are two for two on vegetable related festivals in the area being great fun!

Elegant stilt walkers in the Festival parade

A young girl is dubious about the attraction of this snake being demonstrated by Dreamtime Reptiles

Um…parade characters 🙂

A heart transplant patient who was ‘staying alive’ mid-operation and mid parade, courtesy of the local medical centre

Violet ringneck, one of the fancy birds on sale and display at the festival

Festival mascot – whoever this is, they don’t get paid enough 🙂

A gentleman representing the Australian Light Horse. His beautiful horse was extraordinarily patient with people launching themselves at him without warning to pet or stroke him

An inland taipan, also known as a Fierce snake – officially the most venomous snake in the world, on display through Dreamtime Reptiles

Mr Avo gets around, this time with local dignitaries as the Festival is officially opened

 

Bunya Update September 2017

We’ve just come back from a glorious twelve days up at Lochanbar. The first few days were characterised by WIND! 🙁  And extremely dry air, which the already desiccated landscape could have done without. But slowly the temperatures rose, so … Continue reading →

We’ve just come back from a glorious twelve days up at Lochanbar. The first few days were characterised by WIND! 🙁  And extremely dry air, which the already desiccated landscape could have done without. But slowly the temperatures rose, so we went from huddling under blankets with the heating on, to having all the windows open and wondering if we might need to turn the fans on.

Last night we had the pleasure of sharing a glass of wine in the garden of  the lovely and extremely kind Sue Unwin, who is managing director of the Bunya Mountains Accommodation centre, and who has lived and worked on the mountain for forty years. It was a glorious evening, warm and sweet-scented (also dog-scented 🙂 ).

But overnight we had a couple of millimetres of rain, the wind returned in full force, and the temperatures dropped ten degrees! We had (a very tasty) breakfast at Poppies on our way out and I huddled over the mug of coffee like it was literally freezing (it wasn’t). So weather in the Bunya Mountains is never boring, to say the least.

Also caught up with the lovely Rebecca over breakfast, who is not only the best professional house cleaner in the world, but is also a talented artist. Look at her beautiful artwork on her facebook page.

Spotted this delightful Lycid beetle on our door frame during one of the warmer days:

We won’t be back up there until after the school holidays, but as we are now coming into the low season for the Bunyas, we hope to have some lovely long stays there before our guests come back over Christmas and the autumn/winter of 2018.

Our Visitors’ Book is an unending source of joy :)

At last we’ve managed to come up to stay for nearly two weeks after the winter rush has finished, and just before the September school holidays. It’s a lot warmer than the last time we stayed, but very windy just … Continue reading →

At last we’ve managed to come up to stay for nearly two weeks after the winter rush has finished, and just before the September school holidays. It’s a lot warmer than the last time we stayed, but very windy just at the moment.

As always, we rushed to see what our visitors are saying. It’s such fun to read the lovely comments and compliments—really, it makes the whole business of renovation more than worth it!

But the visitors’ book is also where our guest leave suggestions, and when appropriate, our wonderful cleaner Rebecca lets me know if there anything that might need attention. As you can see, we try to respond as quickly as possible 🙂

Three sets of visitors noted a lack of a non-stick frypan, so, voila!

It’s also fun to receive the slightly more unusual comments

The wallaby poo was everywhere but ad says it’s probably good for the grass…. Dad thought he was a real lumberjack by chopping firewood, we thought…

…he was a pretty poor excuse for one. [Such good printing for a 4-year-old :)]

PS. I love that an IKEA truck stopped at your front door and left you with half their store !!! [Actually, we had to haul half the store up the mountain ourselves, with the help of a good friend and a trailer, and the rest in many, many trips in our Mazda3 🙂 ]

Where are the squirells??? [In Austria, not Australia 😉 ]

It was good. I guess [Thank you. I guess :)]

When I went outside I had to be careful not to step in wallaby poo but in the end I had to step in wallaby poo.[Sorry about that, chief :)]

The wallaby poo is rather abundant right now, for two reasons – one, the lack of rain means it’s not being broken down as fast as usual, and the same lack of rain means our wonderful mower man/generally amazing bloke Allan Govan (who also owns the gorgeous Clydesdales you will see out and about up here) hasn’t had much to do, and so the poo is left undisturbed.

We need rain! (And not just for poo removal 🙂

Travelling to Tasmania via Phillip Island

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, we went to Tasmania over Xmas, staying in what turned out to be a really not very nice villa in Strahan (although the town itself is a good base for exploring, and has some rather lovely features like Hogarth Falls.)

But! We took our time driving down to Melbourne, where we stayed in Healesville for a couple of nights, then driving through the most glorious national parks and rainforests to Phillip Island, where we stayed for a few days at Cowes (and of course viewing the magical Penguin Parade), before catching the night ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania.

The trip was amazing, with stunning scenery both on the way there and in Tasmania itself. We took a cruise with Heritage World cruises at Strahan out through Macquarie Heads and up part of the gorgeous Franklin River, and travelled between Strahan and Queenstown on the West Coast Wilderness Railway.

The villa was so horrible, we left a day early and went to Stanley on the north coast. We stayed in a guesthouse so lovely we’re going back there this Xmas.

We (or rather Doug) took many many pictures, and here are some of them 🙂 Continue reading “Travelling to Tasmania via Phillip Island”

A public service announcement on showers :)

Until we bought Lochanbar earlier this year, we were consumers, rather than suppliers, of holiday accommodation. I think it’s fair to say that after travelling over a period of forty years to a couple of dozen of countries, and staying … Continue reading →

Until we bought Lochanbar earlier this year, we were consumers, rather than suppliers, of holiday accommodation. I think it’s fair to say that after travelling over a period of forty years to a couple of dozen of countries, and staying in hundreds of different establishments from Scottish B&Bs to five star hotels, we are connoisseurs of holiday accommodation.

And one very important part of that – bathrooms.

I wish to rant about Australian facilities. In Britain, Europe and aboard the cruiseships, a showerhead on a hose is absolutely standard.

In Australia, they are rare as hen’s teeth. And this drives me mental.

So, as I write from our holiday apartment on glorious North Stradbroke Island*, let me pass on a few basic facts and tips to our fellow accommodation owners:

1. Human beings have nooks. Depending the shape of their naughty bits and the generosity of their cuddliness, they may also have crevices, caves, blowholes and canyons. These innies need washing as much as the outies.

2. Fixed head showers are useless and tiresome to wash said bits, especially when coupled to a low-flow head.

3. Shower heads on hoses do not use more water, are not more expensive to buy or install, and are excellent not just for bits, but short people and children.

4. Also, providing somewhere for a person performing towel gymnastics or attending to gardening to prop their foot that isn’t the toilet, is only polite.

5. I might say the same for somewhere to hang dry clothes waiting to be put on, toothbrushes after use, and enough towel racks and hooks that a couple doesn’t have to share – especially if your bathroom doesn’t have a window.

The first thing I insisted on when we bought our house in Brisbane was that we had a shower spray, not a fixed head shower. And I did the same when we renovated Lochanbar (which also has a restricted water supply and no problem with the new shower.)

Guests come in all sizes, ages, and shapes. Why would you make life hard for them, especially when you are pricing your accommodation at luxury rates?

*If you’re a Queenslander and haven’t been to Straddie, especially in whale watching season, you’re missing out. We’re enjoying gorgeous bright weather in the day, cool nights, and lots and lots of fantastic scenery, including the whales 🙂

Credit where credit is due

We popped up to the Bunyas on Wednesday to deliver a chair and some sleepers for the driveway, and my goodness it was cold! From 17° in Kilcoy, to 8° at midday on the mountain! But the air was sparkling … Continue reading →

We popped up to the Bunyas on Wednesday to deliver a chair and some sleepers for the driveway, and my goodness it was cold! From 17° in Kilcoy, to 8° at midday on the mountain!

But the air was sparkling and dry, the sunshine perfect – the wallabies were all out sunning themselves in the most inelegant positions 🙂 – and I was sorry we weren’t staying to at least go for a walk. But our hit and run visit showed me what the place looks like after our wonderful cleaner, Rebecca, has done with it. She is a wizard, and so careful and thorough. I was so proud of what the house looked like, ready for the guests who arrived today. Thank you, Rebecca! We really do appreciate you.

Not being resident all the time, we are very dependent on the hard work of the staff at the Bunya Mountains Accommodation centre, our cleaner, Allan Govan who cuts the grass, the man who delivers the wood, and the civil servants who maintain the roads and look after the national park. It’s nice to know we can rely on the pride they take in their jobs, and that our guests have the best possible experience because of their hard work and attention.

Brrrrrr!

It’s 22.8° in Kingaroy right now, but up here on the mountain, a bright, lovely 14°C 🙂 Fortunately, I’m tucked up inside with the sherpa rugs and the laptop, all snug and warm. (And for the information of prospective visitors, … Continue reading →

It’s 22.8° in Kingaroy right now, but up here on the mountain, a bright, lovely 14°C 🙂 Fortunately, I’m tucked up inside with the sherpa rugs and the laptop, all snug and warm. (And for the information of prospective visitors, we have oil heaters for all bedrooms, electric blankets on queen and double beds, extra blankets for all beds and sherpa rugs on the armchairs and couch, a woodburning stove, and split system heating in the living area. You just need to bring warm clothing.) For the weather forecast, go to http://www.bom.gov.au/places/qld/bunya-mountains/

Yesterday we went to the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival – official, ate some great food, bought some lovely booze (Chocolate Port and Pumpkin liqueur from Moffatdale Ridge Wines), and a packet of pumpkin fruit slices from a stall run by the South Burnett Gumnut Place. Also discovered Gourmet Xcellence the purveyors of fine Italian small goods running a stall at the festival, are actually based in Scarborough, a short drive from where we live. We inspected some very big pumpkins:

Doug watched the pumpkin roll, and on the way home, we stopped in Memerambi for some delicious gelati.)

I’d never been to Goomeri before, and so didn’t know about the Wooroolin Wetland, just south of Wondai, nor about the lovely country towns (including Goomeri) such a short drive from the Bunyas. So much to explore here in the South Burnett, and winter is a great time to do it as it gets *very* hot in the lowlands in summer.

So why not come up and explore?

Early indications are good :)

We crept away at the start of April, renovations done, house reopened for bookings, just a teeny bit trepidatious about how people would react to the revamp. We went back at the start of May, and I went straight to … Continue reading →

We crept away at the start of April, renovations done, house reopened for bookings, just a teeny bit trepidatious about how people would react to the revamp. We went back at the start of May, and I went straight to the new visitor book to see if anyone had left a note, mentally girding myself for complaints.

Well, if the first entries are anything to go by, the reactions are good! (Don’t worry, I don’t plan to post every entry as they come in 🙂 ) And as you know, complimenting someone’s house is like saying nice things about their child, so I feel all warm and glowy about it now.

I loved it! So beautiful and relaxing! Lots of wallabys and [sic] sqriells

It was aw[e]some to stay. We all loved it.

A thoroughly comfortable and enjoyable stay in your beautiful house.

Amazing house! Very well equiped. Thank you for making it a lovely home away from home.

What a beautiful place to relax and unwind! We loves it. So comfy and well appointed. Thanks for making it a great place to stay. PS The transformation is awesome!

Thank you to the guests who commented, and all those who’ve stayed there since we reopened. The weather has become dramatically colder (which is lovely after the summer heatwaves) so the blankets and split cycle heater came in handy. I hope our visitors continue to enjoy staying there, and we will keep working on Lochanbar to tweak and improve it more.

One more expense

So, we can add one (and later another) septic tank pump to the list of new equipment we’ve had to buy for the house. On Saturday we suddenly had a power failure affecting all the power outlets, crucially, especially the … Continue reading →

So, we can add one (and later another) septic tank pump to the list of new equipment we’ve had to buy for the house. On Saturday we suddenly had a power failure affecting all the power outlets, crucially, especially the water pump and the fridge. Without water, we couldn’t continue finishing up the cleaning or anything else, so we packed up in a hurry and drove back to Brisbane (which I didn’t enjoy in the dark or while very tired.) Fortunately the lovely Jenepher at the Bunya Mountains Accommodation Centre was able to hook me up with Peter Elliot, who had a look at it on Tuesday. He reported that one pump had failed, the other is close to failing, and was able to replace the first, and get us our power and water back so we could finish up and clear out.

Even now we are still waiting for Kingaroy Joinery to replace the lock in the new laundry screen door for the second time!

Two things are good about all this though. One, that these problems occurred while we were still up there, and not while we had our first guests after renovation, and two, that they are fixable. We’ve ended up with quite a few unexpected expenses with the house – all of them pretty major, like the water tanks needing replacing, the driveway needing to be concreted, the front balustrade needing to be completely replaced and so on – adding at least $30,000 to what we’d budgeted. It’s not what we wanted, but in the end we have a house we are proud to let out to people, one which we believe is comfortable and safe, and hopefully there won’t be any more enormous expenses while we own the place (for many years, we’d like!).

Anyway, now we’re home and taking a well-earned break from being in our holiday home (oh the irony :)!)