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Thread: Moving to the country

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    Default Moving to the country

    I nearly went to general chat with this one but I think it fits the bill in this forum.

    I am contemplating selling my current property and moving to a "very" rural property. I am wondering if anyone has done exactly this and what pitfalls they have found along the way ?

    The property is on 45 acres with solar power only and tank water, so it will be self sufficient living to a degree.......I am just pondering what pitfalls I will find when i get there that is different to living in the suburbs.

    Obviously off grid solar only will be a challenge. Mobile Broadband works surprisingly well without an external antenna.

    Interested to hear from anyone thats done similar and what improvements they felt they had to make.



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    Sanity, just do it, get out of the rat race!!!! 45 arces....mate, I would loose myself there and love it!!!!
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    Open country? Hilly? Timbered?

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    Quote Originally Posted by porkop View Post
    Sanity, just do it, get out of the rat race!!!! 45 arces....mate, I would loose myself there and love it!!!!
    Yes, its very tempting and it would also slash my existing mortgage to bugger all.....or I could rent this place out...lots of options and sceanarios. But I am going to have to do a lot of homework first.

    Quote Originally Posted by SCADA View Post
    Open country? Hilly? Timbered?
    Reasonably flat, part cleared part timbered.


    I havent inspected the property yet, just had a look from the outside and whats listed on the internet. I might hit up the agent for some more info on the solar specs and what water tank capacity it has.

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    what about your kids?
    it'll be pretty bored for them.

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    Talking Every home should have one.

    Update the Long Drop!

    From this,



    To this,


    Last edited by beer4life; 02-09-11 at 06:34 PM.

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    Sit there contemplating the lovely vista through the door ..

    Seriously water will/should be your major concern.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ben10 View Post
    what about your kids?
    it'll be pretty bored for them.
    One is 18 and can come or go, her choice she is an adult. The other is 14 and may stay where we are with relo's.....lots of undecided things yet.

    Personally I think XBox and Facebook are pretty boring.... I would rather have a minibike or a horse if I was a kid

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanity View Post
    One is 18 and can come or go, her choice she is an adult. The other is 14 and may stay where we are with relo's.....lots of undecided things yet.

    Personally I think XBox and Facebook are pretty boring.... I would rather have a minibike or a horse if I was a kid
    xbox/facebook doesn't really matter where you are.
    I was talking about Toy R Us, AMF , Cinemas.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanity View Post

    Reasonably flat, part cleared part timbered.

    I havent inspected the property yet, just had a look from the outside and whats listed on the internet. I might hit up the agent for some more info on the solar specs and what water tank capacity it has.
    If there is no power then heating may be your biggest concern. Are you up for cutting wood? This job sux! But its not an issue if your committed.

    I have many friends who have gone off the grid (not just in the electricity sense either), and the issues they had were depended on individual criteria. Some were strictly independent and wanted to grow their own food. This is a full time commitment and required access to substantial water and good soil types. This, for example, excluded a lot of the Vic. high country & Western Districts.

    Some others just wanted seclusion and had a job that enabled them to work anywhere (writer, sculptor, guitar maker) but didn't want to be self sufficient with food etc. Their income enabled them to not worry about these things and their only real criteria was power, internet & not too far from services - say an hour or so.

    So it all depends on what you really want to achieve, no way is right or wrong it just depends on what YOU want out of it all.

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    Quote Originally Posted by beer4life View Post
    [COLOR=Blue]


    i had a crapper like that in the late 50s. hahahahaha

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    Acreage also means a fair amount of manual labour to upkeep and I believe from past posts you are not capable of a lot of that.

    Mowing, fencing, pumps breaking down...mowers breaking down...the list goes on.
    I have lived on small acreage (4 acres) and was amazed how much work is involved.....great lifestyle though.

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    I'm on 5 acres, and agree with mandc comments.

    I have electricity. I had to sink a bore 235' down.

    Your body needs to be up to things, you have to rely on your own help at times. You need a good store of tools and equipment.

    You need close access to a shop. Do you get a mail service. You have to be unfearful of insects spiders snakes wild dogs etc.

    I woouldn't swap it though, but I,m only 3.5 to a shop, and 31 km to Coffs.

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    I assume there will be a open invite keg show
    Reality is an invention of my imagination.
    ಠ_ಠ

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fernbay View Post
    I assume there will be a open invite keg show
    I'll bring my lemon tree!!!!
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    One thing you should be aware of when you live in the bush and go out to pee on the acreage is always have the wind at your back, MOST IMPORTANT.
    What does bring it really home is when your watching the TV news, if you have a reception, and they show the traffic snarls and delays, you look outside and all you can see is the trees and your deafened by the complete and total lack of man made noises.
    The Bush is never quiet, day or night nor as black as you might believe, even on a moonless night but when the the Moon is full and sky is crystal clear, you wonder why you ever lived in so called 'civilisation'.
    I am not on the land, just a tiny rural village on a half acre and that does me.
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    you could always do as I did, I bought 20 acres of land with light bush, 2 big dams fully stocked with trout, ive dumped a 25 foot caravan on it and built a shack, I use it as my getaway and its just pure bliss, work committments I have to live in the town, but when i'm ready to retire I can sell my house and i'm going to live on my property, if you dont have work comittments or can work from home, I highly recommend just go for it!!

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    Sanity I moved to 5 acres about 3 years ago from Sydney after a previous aborted attempt made with my ex missus. I do have power to the property so I can't comment on that. I admit there is heaps of work even on 5 acres but if you're life doesn’t revolve around continually going out socializing you'll be surprised how much you can get done. I mostly am employed at work a normal 40 hours week plus extra at home but still have time to complete what I have to around the property with time to spare for a bit of relaxation and get to see friends and relatives each week. Do it because if that’s what you really want you won’t regret it. I don’t.
    Last edited by borisbadfinger; 02-09-11 at 10:12 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gordon_s1942 View Post
    ... but when the the Moon is full and sky is crystal clear, you wonder why you ever lived in so called 'civilisation'.
    I am on only 1500 sqm but Amen to that!

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    Heheh, you will no doubt usurp my position as chief Austech snake reporter.

    Stand alone solar, a challenge but doable. You may want to look into the condition of the current battery bank, maybe upgrade it, or split the system into several solar "stations" as I've recently done. That reminds me I must update my thread of my latest solar antics.

    You may want to look at wind generators also to supplement your PV power.

    With 45 acres, you really need to get into amateur radio. The allotment is probably a rare grid square so everyone will want to talk to you.

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