No Phone Reception And...

Living in the country is different!

This thought has kept surfacing over the last few days - and was, in fact, only enforced a day or so ago when we had a power cut. Yes, no sooner did we move to this picturesque and rural sit - where I get no phone reception (as mentioned in a previous post) - than we get no electricity too! What are the chances? Especially after I’ve been telling everyone that if they need to contact me urgently they can do so by internet!

Also, believe it or not, no power for a wooden ‘hobbit’ house on 27 acres of native bushland is different from none for a house in the city. For example, did you know it means no flowing water? Yep, since water here is from tanks - not scheme, it has to be individually pumped around the house using an electric pump. This in turn means, if you have no power when you turn on the tap no water comes out, so… no cups of tea! It also means no refilling cisterns, so no flushing toilets! And that’s just for starters.

However being the ingenious couple we are, and since we were in the middle of a torrential rain storm (probably the reason for the power cut in the first place), we did consider simply doing what they do in the movies. However, here’s a useless piece of information for you, no matter how heavy rain looks, amazing little water actually gets caught in a row of saucepans lined up by the back door.

Thankfully though, in this instance, there had been some preparation. So we put on our waterproof jackets, and stomped out over the paddock to start up the generator. A generator, which in turn started the electricity, which in turn started the water pump, the lighting, the electric fences around the cows’ paddocks, the internet and who knows what else.

Still whilst everything caused by this lack of power might force the average city dweller to pause and think twice… one thing didn’t… and that was the no heating!

Why?

Because heating here is from a wood stove! Therefore all the heating here requires is a match, an old newspaper and a few blocks of wood. Add to that the fact that ever since childhood I’ve been a bit of a firebug, and you can see the highlight of my evening. Yes, for some reason, stoking the stove to keep our kitchen (and rapidly-emptying kettle) warm was a little more appealing than relying on our weak torch to avoid cow pats as I clambered through a cow paddock to get to the generator.

By morning, though… thankfully… power was back on, meaning no more concerns about the water pump, cow fences or internet. Instead, we were faced with the exciting opportunity of furthering my previous evening’s introduction to using the wood stove. So yesterday it was pizzas, today’s it’s roast, and tomorrow…

And this is only one of the many events we’ve enjoyed during our first few days here. Who knows what’s to come.

Hopefully, not too many storms… although they do mean the veggies don’t need watering, the tanks are getting filled, and the forests are look especially bright as we go for our regular strolls through them.