We've fallen in love with Western Australia's Wheatbelt and hope you will too.
Meet Damien Fitzpatrick and Erin Clark. Two professionals who decided to buy a hobby farm rather than make "good" life decisions. We've had a growing realisation that we're not Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm people (pun intended!). Our lives are more like projects - we have intensely busy periods where it is all a hands-on deck, which needs to be balanced with quieter periods where we connect with places and people to recharge and create the next spark.
Damien and Erin realising what they've just done on moving day
While lots of camping, hiking and weekends away are great, we'd often come back on Sunday nights exhausted... and with a car full of dirty clothes and gear that needed to be unpacked. Finding places that would accommodate us, our amazing friends and all of our small doggos was often tricky.
Zena, our chiweenie, agrees with farm life. She is also obsessed with sitting and watching the freight trains go past.
It's not just a farm - it's a place to create
The wide open space of the Wheatbelt is too empty for some, but we've fallen in love with it. Our favourite projects are ones where we create a space for co-creation. So somehow after a good bottle of red, the idea of a holiday house in the Wheatbelt turned into a brand, including a virtual farm shop. Over the coming months, we're hoping to connect with local suppliers of all types to create an online (and physical) hub showcasing the best that the Central Wheatbelt has to offer.
On a lazy Sunday morning, some bent wire and roadside weeds already sparked the inspiration for floristry workshops with the lovely team from Flora Loca.
It's not all smooth sailing
Let's be honest here. The Kellerberrin Swim Club definitely isn't ready for new members just yet. We do a different type of swimming right now. Our pool was one of the first in the region, and it looks like it.
While the 1950's farm house has been (largely) well maintained, the outbuildings have not. The country ethos is to not throw away a single thing. A single thing. Ever. And to make everything with random parts that often make no sense.
But, we've got some great neighbours (with heavy machinery!), family and friends to help us make sense of what we've just done.
We've got an amazing crew
We had a small army recently descended on the farm to help us with some demolition (and creation!). It was mind-blowing exactly how much could be achieved with some power tools and a sense of adventure. We're joking that the farm may double in the future as a Smash Room...
Some festoon lights, some clever upcycling and crafted cocktails turned what was a forgotten workshop (and site of one of Erin's meltdowns!) into an epic space to create memories for Damien's 40-something birthday.
Sunset really does make everything better.
Follow our blog to follow our adventures as we get the farm ready for paying guests.
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