Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.


When we lived in Armadale in Western Australia, we spent many weekends travelling around to find what we hoped would be our ‘Forever Home’. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the house in which we lived. After all, we’d chosen it based on its excellent design and quality (it was an ‘AV Jennings’ home with three bedrooms and a study, with a total area of 155m2).

It was just that we had a romantic notion of living on ‘5 acres by the sea’.


After a lot of searching, it was quite plain that our budget simply wouldn’t stretch to any home close enough to ‘civilisation’ to allow me to work for a decent wage. I’d been an electronics technician, engineer, and salesman before this, all of which occupations really required proximity to urban facilities or customers.

Sometimes, though, an opportunity will arise out of ‘left field’ to change the course of your life, and I think losing my sales job was one of them.


Employment and Land:
In my search for reasonably reliable and lucrative employment, I found a position as a lecturer at a TAFE college. Then, when the employment rules were changed such that TAFE only looked for people with a Trades background, I switched to teaching at a secondary school.

Of course, I had to obtain a second Graduate Diploma in Education for this (I’d already managed to get one for TAFE teaching) and would be ‘allocated’ a school where I would teach my chosen subject. (I’d chosen mathematics, because I found it very easy. Although right now, I’m battling to bring myself up to speed with ‘String Theory!’)

The planets seemed to align for us, and we stumbled across a 5-acre block in a small estate in WA called ‘Dandaragan’ – apparently meaning ‘good kangaroo country’. We’d driven to Moora on one of our weekend exploratory drives and decided to drive back via the ‘coast road’.


A huge sign at the roadside said something like ‘5-acre blocks, SECWA to boundary, $18,500’. Without further ado, we walked over and quickly chose what we considered the ‘best’ block. We stopped at Joondalup on the way home and secured the block with a small deposit at Ray White, the estate agent selling the packages.

The block was about a half-hour drive from Moora, where there happened to be a pretty nice High School. I filled out my application for a ‘placement’, hoping that Moora would be where I was to be assigned. (It wasn’t such a huge risk, though. For some reason, many country schools are deemed ‘hard to staff’ and maths teachers are still relatively thin on the ground.)


Home:
Having found the land, we started our search for a house builder. We’d been looking around at kit homes for quite a while, and found ‘Bradford Buildings’ was worth considering.

The construction consisted of concrete slabs with moulding that allowed air space between any Gyprock or panel internal wall. The walls were, therefore, well insulated and quite strong internally and externally.

Building (or having built) a kit home makes sense in country areas. The home builder can carry out a certain amount of labour, and all the parts of the ‘kit’ can be delivered at once. All that has to be arranged is accommodation for the professional builders. Ours finished in roughly two weeks, and we were able to arrange accommodation nearby.

Power:
The sign said, ‘SECWA to boundary.’ The first thing we realised was that it meant that the high-voltage lines had to pass through a transformer to drop the voltage to 240v, single phase. We had to pay for the transformer (about $1000), but we would be repaid as each house around us shared the output from the transformer.

I think there were five blocks of land in question, so we ended up paying about $200. We were only ‘allowed’ a 32A circuit breaker, so running two air conditioners later was a bit difficult. We had to buy two 30m extension leads to allow the builders to use the power from the boundary pole/transformer to run their power tools.

Of course, for us, living in the country like that was well over twenty years ago. Now you’d be mad not to go completely ‘off-grid’ and have a battery/solar panel system. These work out somewhere in the region of $10,000 and avoid you having to pay any electricity charges at all.


Sewerage:
In the country areas, a ‘septic system’ is the norm for disposal of sewerage. It’s generally about 25 years I believe, before it needs ‘emptying’ and you just ‘get it done’. There are other forms of waste disposal - chemical toilet, ‘long-drop’ or ‘bio-metric’, but the septic system works like a normally sewered household.

Water:
Tank water is used in the country, with no supply of ‘mains’ water. You only need a large tank – typically about 100,000 litres – and a ‘pressure pump’. The pump is permanently connected to power, and as soon as you try to use a water tap, it detects a pressure drop and turns on. With modern pumps you wouldn’t detect any difference between tank water supply and mains water. The distinct and huge advantage is: No Water Rates!

All your roof areas should be draining into the tank, by the way – you don’t waste any water at all, if you’re sensible. The 90mm storm water pipes from the roof or shed are connected like a huge ‘U-tube’ to the tank. With a large enough tank, there’s never a problem with water supply, so it’s worth paying a little extra for a tank with a capacity of around 250,000 litres.

Tradesmen and Contractors:
Don’t expect a very competitive price from tradesmen or contractors. Many of them quote high for country jobs – far more than just the cost of travel – because they really don’t want the job, I assume.

If it’s tiling or plumbing, you may as well learn to do it yourself. It’s not difficult, and you’ll get far more satisfaction from DIY.


Internet and TV.
The system may be a lot better now, but when we moved to the country, we found the internet very ‘iffy.’ You were lucky ‘if’ you got it at all!

Even when we moved to Gingin (about 80km North of Perth), getting a decent internet connection at a reasonable price was very difficult.

TV was really no problem. With a good enough antenna, you can generally get a good picture. I’m not a great advocate of pay TV, but if you really think it’s worth it, you can get a good reception in the country. It comes straight off the satellite!


Prices:
Don’t expect city prices in the country. Depending on how far out you are, the prices will be measurably higher, and this includes petrol as well.

Things you can’t buy:
Be prepared for beautiful starry nights and absolute peace. Generally, there are no dirt bikes, hoons, mowing services, or wild parties. People seem to pull together in the country, and despite some parochialism, you get good neighbours, especially if you’re prepared to ‘join in’.

The only thing you can’t rely on is a decent medical service – so be careful!


From the Editor:
Many of us have dreamed of a forever home: the perfect spot where lifestyle, work, and family all come together. In this week’s reflection, Dr Al shares his journey from suburban Armadale to five acres of ‘good kangaroo country’ in Dandaragan, WA.

It’s a story of chasing a dream, making compromises, and discovering the rewards (and challenges) of country living from septic tanks and water pumps to starlit skies and neighbours who genuinely look out for each other.

Many of you will remember your own moves, builds, or ‘big changes’ in life, whether it was heading to the country, downsizing, or finding a place closer to family. We’d love to hear your stories and reflections in the comments below.


Love Alan’s writing and want to read more? You might also like to read:
Our Best Friends
The Gambling Compulsion
Father’s Days
Being Old!
It’s About Time
The Twang’s the Thang!
Being Lucky
Are We All Liars?
The Coo of the Doves, The Hiss of the Guzunder
‘Till Death Us Do Part
Living in Retirement
Alan G.’s Member Spotlight: ‘Almost Famous’
The Ice Cream Job: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
The Lucky Man: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
‘Ten Pound Pom’ Hostel Living: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Becoming a Better Driver by Accident!
Tech Talk with Dr Al: Accessibility Aids for the Home
Flying Round the World: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Many Happy Returns of the Day!
Reaching for the Stars!
My great-grandfather’s journal of 1908: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Pocket Money
University Days
Nasty Words and Silly Gestures
Up-Sticks and Move Interstate!