Back in Bello

After seven months of travel we are back in Oz and moved into our house in the tree change heaven of Bellingen.  The first 4 days were spent going back and forth to our storage locker to unpack all our 'stuff'.  We couldn't help but wonder why after living quite happily for 7 months out of a small duffel bag we needed so much 'stuff'.  We culled drastically when we moved from Canberra but there is still too much and we are culling again.  Why did I think I still needed to keep a 30 year old jacket???

All our 'stuff' in the storage locker

Bellingen greeted us with a torrential tropical downpour of much needed rain.  It is very dry and poor Boggy Creek consists of just some sad isolated puddles.

Rain pouring off the verandah roof

Boggy Creek reduced to puddles

Boggy Creek by the bridge

As we suspected after nearly 20 years of tenants, termites and the sub-tropical rainforest environment, the house needs a lot of work.  We are going to have a very busy 5 months of fixing and renovating.  Despite having a great tenant for the last 11 years who loved the place and worked very hard keeping the grounds in check, the place is a bit like Angor Wat where the jungle has taken over.  Trees that were little saplings when we left have turned into 35 metre monsters. We are living in a verdant cave that not only is claustrophobic but a huge fire hazard.  We have arranged for Tony from Dorrigo to come with with his bulldozer next week to clear around the house.

That Tibochina 'shrub' was suppose to grow to only 2 m

This palm was below the bottom of the verandah when I first met Bob

View from the paddock

The driveway

There is a house behind those trees

The wildlife here is even more lovely than I remember.  We have a friendly Brush Turkey that visits the back yard everyday. An Azure Kingfisher flits around the dam and the frogs chorus us all night long.  We have seen some beautiful Regent Bower birds as well as the usual Kookaburras, Whip Birds, Honeyeaters and Lorakeets.  Then a wallaby and her joey comes to graze close to the house every evening and they are totally unfazed by our presence.  I do not remember the animals being so tame 20 years ago.

Brush Turkey.  We think their eggs are under that mound

 Of course being  amongst all the wild life also means sometimes sharing bits of the house with them as well. 

The 3+ metre python skin found in the attic

The area really is quite magical and I feel quite privileged to be able to spend some time here.

Looking up along Boggy Creek Road