introducing Toora

I haven't posted for over a week, things have been crazy at work and our focus this week has been on a different house. We have another old 1900's era house in a little town called Toora in Gippsland Victoria which we rent out. It is vacant now for a few weeks until the new tenants move in, so we're paying my Dad to do a little fixing-up... mainly painting and minor repairs. Not much, as we can't afford to do anything major, but it's a lovely house and deserves some attention. For a little effort it would really shine, I just wish I was able to be there to do it myself. Anyway, this week we have been picking paint colours, etc and Dad is down this weekend working on it.

We originally bought the Toora house as an investment back when the area was really cheap to buy in, with the idea that one day we might be able to buy some land around it and have our "farm dream" there. Unfortunately by the time the land adjoining the house came up for sale prices had skyrocketed so we couldn't afford it. It's a pity because it is a lovely area, and unlike Amherst it is one of the few parts of Australia with an English style climate in terms of getting lots of rain so would have been brilliant for gardening.

Anyway, now the plan is to hang onto it as an investment and perhaps one day use it as a holiday home. Toora is only about 15 minutes drive from some lovely beaches and only half an hour from Wilsons Promontory which is an amazing national park with forests, beaches... one of the the most spectacular places I've been. This site has some pictures if you're interested.

Since we bought it the big change has been the building of the Toora Windfarm, with these giant windmills. From what I read online, a lot of people were upset about them saying they spoiled the landscape, were loud, etc. So, when we were back in Australia last and went to visit, we weren't sure what to expect. But, they're beautiful! They're like giant modern art sculptures, just mesmerising to watch. We couldn't hear them at all, and our house is closer than most in the village. This is the view from our house:

IMGP0971
Originally uploaded by lynetter.