I have written about my beautiful little piece of country Australia on the outskirts of Dungog before, so I won’t go into all of that again, you can read earlier blogs about it if you want more information. I wanted to talk today about feeling at home. A feeling that just fills you with a sense of calm and joy, almost relief. Having searched the country high and low for more than four years, for the right piece of land, I was pretty certain about buying Barjol Sth.
Imagine my surprise when I found out, through a series of flukes, that my relatives had lived and died nearby. My grandfather’s parents and extended family had lived in Dungog for many years and many of them are buried at the local cemetery. Some people may find that unnerving but I think it is extremely cool. I have visited the cemetery and there must be a bit of a story about them because while the gravestones are substantial, they are also a little removed from the rest of the towns folk.
The telling of that story may have to wait for me to do a little more research. Though if I can’t find any real facts I may just have to make something up that sounds plausible. I have yet to find anyone in town that I am related to, but that is probably just a matter of time. That too, is cool as it just adds to the mystery.

None of this takes away from the fact that I feel completely at home there. In the hills outside of this beautiful little town I feel completely and utterly at peace with the world. Most days when I’m up there I work hard from sun up to sun down doing stuff that needs doing. My friend Adam reminded me the other day to make sure I set aside time for just doing nothing. So I am now being a little more sensible about my visits and ensuring that I go for a pleasurable walk bird spotting or wildlife spotting.

The views are sublime and the country is pretty hilly which adds to my enjoyment. Even my friend Farmer Jeff that thinks I’m a city lunatic appreciates the place for its beauty. Though my body aches for a few days as a result of the hard physical work I am doing, when I return, I ache to return as quickly as I can.