7 years ago when the BIG idea was conceived, it was to be called Little Bhutan. Bhutan is a country landlocked between China and India and known as the last Shangri-la in the world. We've been to Bhutan 7 times over the years, and fell head over heels in love. Unlike many developed countries that we've visited, Bhutan is traditional, culturally and spiritually rich. It used to be much easier for us to go to Bhutan when we were still residing in Malaysia. A flight to Bangkok or Singapore, and the next day we are in Bhutan.
The year was 2018. The first business plan for Little Bhutan was written up.
But before we could even move forward, we were thrown with the challanges of being a farm owner. Remember in our previous post we mentioned that the land was barren - it was agisted to a neighbour for cow grazing. A very old and run down shed used for lamb shearing was the only structure on the land.
There was no water, no electricity - quite simply, nothing.
We finally realised what we've gotten ourselves into. How and where do we start? In a town that we know no one - and we were so clueless to what the responsibilities are to own a farm land. It was a scary time. We were on our own - without any help. Then we were told to apply for planning permit with the local council to make sure what we planned to do is allowed. And that was just the beginning of the nightmare. To obtain a planning permit, we need to do soil test, fire rating and etc. Then you get to get all your surrounding neighbours to say Yes - and oh boy ! That was yet another nightmare. What we thought was very straight forward isn't very straightforward to those making decisions on our planning permit. We had to attend many meetings to get things sorted - arguing our case with the neighbours to debunk their objections. And then there's the real work that needs to be done with the farm. We need to start clearing things thats been laying there for years - fix things that's broken and get some infrastructure in. Ming was in charge of getting water and electricity in - she's always more process oriented, so I leave these matters under her care. I on the other hand, had more pressing matter to tend to.
Clearing the farm was my priority. It took us many months to just rid of broken glasses, rusty metals, rotting wood and god knows how many snakes and humongous spides crossed our path ! It wasn't fun. The work is tiring and there's no end to it. No matter how much we clear - there is always more to be cleared. And the soil. The land is barren. Nothing grows except for weeds. Old trees stood still telling the signs of time passed. Many nights we sat down with a bottle of wine asking ourselves if this was what we want. Did we give up our luxurious life in Malaysia for this ? Every night after a hard day at work, we asked ourselves the same questions over and over again - and when dawns breaks, its yet another new day for us. And somehow, time just goes by like that.
Finally Ming got water and electricity sorted and we can finally get some stuff done properly. Over the course of the next few months, we begin to extensively toil the soil to prepare for our veggie patch and some livestocks in. The soil condition in the farm was bad. Years of being grazed by cows have left it stripped bare. When we started toiling the ground, we dug out broken glasses, bottles, metals and even bones(animals, of course).
Getting the infrastructure up was a milestone for us. With water and electricity, the clearing work begin to take shape and we fixed up the shed and finally rid of all the mess. We decided on the vegetable patch which occupies about 4 acres (approximately, since we never really measured it). Soil were toiled lightly, and we start to lay out the garden beds. We added top soil to it - and started composting. But before we could start composting - we needed manure. And how timely, a neighbouring local was selling her horses, and we decided it would be good to start with horses - for their manure. Just like that, we had Yin & Yang and they didn't dissappoint in what they were supposed to do. We get heaps of manure daily - enough to kick start our composting project.
Then we got some chickens - for their eggs mainly. The next residents in the farm are the alpacas followed by the cows. And their manure are all golden nuggets for the compost.
Over the course of 4 years - by 2022 the flock grew and things started growing in the vegetable patch. All these did not happen overnight. Many sweat, blood and tears were sacrificed to make this farm liveable and usable again. A lot of people asked what took us so long - and sometimes it is not something that we could explain over a bottle of wine. Each and every day we had to battle with somethihng - good or bad. But mostly bad during that few years. It got to a point that we no longer bother to explain or talk much about it anymore. The foundation work for the farm was more pressing - not so much on the development of the retreat. Only both of us know how hard it has been for us during those 4 years since the big move to Yea. On the surface of things, nothing seems to be moving, as we were not doing anything that was related to the development. People start to judge. Tongues wagged. We paid no attention to it as it never really bothers us.
Our planning permit took us 2 years to be approved. Yes, during the 2 years of "peaceful war" with council and neighbours, we used the time to make compost, sow seeds, plant trees - started a regenerative program for the land.
And yes Covid. Who can ever forget those years? 2020 - 2022 was the lockdown years for Australia. Sometime early 2020 the world woke up to the news of Corona Virus. We stopped the plans for the retreat during Covid as we were threading into unfamiliar times. The world came to a stand still - planes were grounded, airports were closed and we were even not allowed to enter the city and roads into the city and into Yea was heavily guarded by police. Our then builder went into liquidation. We were lucky enough to be spared from that - we were so close to signing a contract and put down the deposit. The 2 years of lockdown was a blessing to us - we were lucky to have the farm to work on. We were not too bothered by Covid as we could go to work like normal, and rarely have the need to meet people (so less chance of catching the virus).
In a nutshell, 2018-2022 was groundwork for us. As time went by, and the farm starts to take shape - we start to reassess our ideas and vision. What we wanted 4 years ago, is no longer relevant to us. Of course, I have to add that it was impossible for any developers to build the architecture that we wanted. Over the 4 years, we grew. We became stronger (not just physically from the farm work) but also from life experience - especially being in Yea, and being a farm owner.
That day, I also realised I've finally traded my Louboutins for Hunter boots.
Comments