Wayne and Johnny Go Upcountry

[Wayne Kerr]

Having recently closed the big teakdoors of Thailand and Asia behind us for a while the family and I took off down under for some much needed R&R. Next up is a few years kicking around the Pacific Islands but before we could get onto that I had a few things that needed doing on my new joint perched up in Australia’s Great Dividing Range. Hope you enjoy the pics.

[Wayne Kerr]

To cut a long story short I’d been on the lookout for some land up in the mountains of Thailand for years and found diddly squat that I really liked. Anyway I got a call at Christmas from me old mate Johnny Longprong telling me he’d found the perfect mountain for sale, great views, river ,bit of a waterfall etc etc. Only downside was that it was located on the east coast of sub-tropical Australia. I wasn’t too keen on the joint at first but ended up taking the plunge a month or two back and put a deposit on it. Upside is that it comes with 3 little shacks but they’ll need loads of work before being much chop.

So first thing to do after pissing off from LOS was a trip to check the joint out properly. Johnny tagged along before pissing off back to his mango farm in Uthai Thani. Johnny is used to roughing it out bush but the state of the shacks scared Mrs. Kerr a bit so we ended up camping out most nights. My plan is to do the shacks up (oh and scare off the ghosts of course) before renting them out for weekends and the occasional family getaway. Not sure how much I’ll get done up there in the next few years but they’ll certainly give me something to worry about should I ever have a mid-life crisis. The idea of having a mountain getaway in Aus rather than LOS is slowly growing on the missus but I suspect I may have traded one too many “leave passes” for this.


^ This humble abode is now known as “Chateau Kerr” … some say it has a certain rustic charm


^ View from off the back of the joint


^ This shack is half way down a hill in front of Chateau Kerr, needs a hell of a lot of work, with rotted floor boards you can barely walk on


^ This one is next door to the one above … I’d like to set this up as a small bush study/office for myself and Johnny … but will have to fell a few trees first to get the timber to fix it


^ As you can see the main shack is also falling to bits but lots of nice timber and corrugated iron in it which I hope to be able to use most of when renovating

[Wayne Kerr]

Main thing pissing Mrs. Kerr off is the lack of a suitable toilet/shower. So the first job I’ve been tasked with is turning this small shed that was used for storing firefighting equipment into a decent outdoor composting dunny with a solar powered shower. The missus wants me to turn it into something like the flashy one below we came across in one of the nearby national parks. Having absolutely no idea about carpentry etc I reckon this will keep me busy for a few years.

[Wayne Kerr]

^One of the hills on the north east of the property overlook the coast and a large coastal lake which is located half way between Seal Rocks and the town of Forster in New South Wales


^ The creek this waterfall drains into marks the northern boundary, unfortunately the waterfall is on the other side and is near impossible to get down into, looks good though


^ View over a small river that runs through the valley down below


^ Small billabong at the bottom of the hill in front of the shack, will be near impossible to pump water up to the shacks. Johnny pointed out I’ll need some new rainwater tanks for the water supply which I’ll busy be busy paying for by slaving my arse off over the next few months


^ A nice little creek for a spot of fishing


^ Some cool looking trees we call “blackboys” ... thousands of years old these suckers are




^ Entrance to a small remnant rainforest in one of the smaller valleys

[natalie8]

Looks great. How is it in the winter?

[Wayne Kerr]

Here’s a few assorted pics of our camp sites during the trip. Johnny went looking for local dope plantations most afternoons whilst Wayne Jnr and I manned the fire, cooked prawns, and went looking for a bit of wildlife. Bloody great part of the world for a get away.


^ Main road running through that part of the world


^ My favourite camp site at the bottom of the property


^ Camp site sits right next to this brackish water river, loads of bull sharks in there which take kangaroos (and probably humans too)


^ Same river, different direction


^ River with morning mist on it, I was tempted to swim at dawn but it looked very sharky


^ Doing our bit for global warming

[Wayne Kerr]

One of the best things out there is all the wildlife. Unfortunately the only critter I have any skill at photographing is the double breasted mattress thrasher and nearly of my animal shots turned out crap.


^ Wayne Jnr chasing a small goanna for the barbeque


^ Have a nasty set of claws on them these suckers which can do ya a bit of harm


^ Goanna head … Wayne Jnr and I thought he looked to good to eat


^ Wayne Jnr chasing the brushtail possums


^ Bloody vicious little suckers they are too


^ Tree monster carved by the local red necks

[Wayne Kerr]

Oh yeah … not to forget the good old bush tucker. We scooped these prawns out of the local river by the bucket load. Succulent little bastards .

[Wayne Kerr]

We also hope to get some of the primary rainforest areas on the property listed by the government as private conservation areas which locks them up from any sort of development for 99 years. But this will likely to take years to happen to organise the wildlife surveys and so on to make it all happen. Hopefully I don't go broke in the meanwhile but I doubt any one will buy the joint so in the worst case scenario it would make great dope growing country. Anyway I'm sure Johhny has some more pics he'll come and post soon.

[natalie8]

Yum!!!

[kingwilly]

damn I love the aussie outback, thanks for sharing mate!

[Wayne Kerr]

Looks great. How is it in the winter?

Well it is autumn now and all last week it was about 28-30 Celsius in the day. This we have some coastal storms so a bit cooler. In the dead bang of winter the days are about 23-25 C, down to about 10 C at night

damn I love the aussie outback

This is all within 50km of the coast, but yep you sure feel you are a long way from everything

[MeMock]

Hi Wayne,

Great to catch up on what you have been doing. Your new place looks fantastic, well done and thanks for sharing!

I recently bought a block in Australia as well but it doesn't even come close to your in terms of scenery, not sure how many acres of canola yours would grow though!

[Rural Surin]

Lovely pics Wayne. Good to see that Aussie still warrants some 'green' time.

[Panda]

A little piece of heaven!

That river looks like it would hold Bass.

[dirtydog]

Its great the way they have hidden the mains electric cables, don't even see where they go into the buildings

[Loy Toy]

damn I love the aussie outback, thanks for sharing mate!

And the Pommies gave if too us for free!

Wayne that is god's country and whilst scrolling through your fanatastic photo presentation I got a tear in my eye.

Fook I miss the smell of the Aussie outback, the forests and even the great wildlife!

I am so pleased for you and your family mate!

[mobs00]

Looks great! Sign me up for a months rental.

[Marmite the Dog]

Wayne that is god's country

I thought he was in Australia?

[terry57]

Brilliant photos Wayne.

Cheers

[Bexar County Stud]

Cool photogs, looks like an awesome spread, dude.

[Super Swan]

Great pics mate.

Brought back some good memories from a year I spent in Australia. The Australian countryside is beautiful.

[general mark]

i can get those exact same prawns from woolworths for $12.99 a kg...

next time, ask me first, i can save you a lot of time and money too......

[phuketbound]

Beautiful area, and what a view from your new piece of property! How far are you from civilisation? Who cares, eh! Look forward to more pics.

Your son was a brave boy getting so close to the critters.

[Wayne Kerr]

i can get those exact same prawns from woolworths for $12.99 a kg... next time, ask me first, i can save you a lot of time and money too......

Oh yes I'll surely be in touch