Bellingen in NSW - about an hour west of Coffs Harbour and 5 hours north of Sydney -is a small piece of paradise surrounded by rain forest, the Bellinger River and rolling hills. Our friends, Felicity and Brian, developed an 80 acre property into a bed and breakfast called, "Lili Pili" - a country house. They invited us to stay with them at the top of their driveway in our caravan. (They would have happily let us stay in one of the beautiful bedrooms but we were very mindful of them preparing all the rooms for hand over when they leave in 2 weeks.) They have sold "Lili Pili" and settlement is taking place on 15th September. The new owners have bought a piece of paradise- all Brian and Felicity's work!
We were in awe of what they had created and kept stepping out of our caravan door snapping pictures of the beauty all around. After their 8 year project they are moving back to Sydney to enjoy their 3 little grand-children. We were so lucky that our visit coincided with their move and we spent the happiest 5 days in their paradise!! We shared spotting the platypuses in the creek at the bottom of their property, Brian's exceptional coffee, lovely homemade meals, lots of wine, Brian's music on his ipod!... and plenty of chat sharing experiences of the past 17 years as that was when we saw them last! Felicity was quite happy to have allowed her hair to silver and we had lots of laughs of how "old" we are getting and have vowed not to let another 17 years pass before we see them again!
Bellingen town is another perfect hippie town. I loved the times we spent walking around the very unusual craft shops and galleries...... and Chris came too and loved it. He always finds unusual people to talk to which suits me fine as I can go looking at other interesting things like art works and local hand crafted jewellery...!!!!
We were very sad to leave but loved every, single minute especially spotting the green tree frogs which lived all over the place. We truly hope that Felicity and Brian will be very happy back in Sydney. As Brian says, it's time to "have a rest and enjoy his children and grandchildren". He achieved his dream of playing "farmer, farmer". We aren't sure what Felicity's grandchildren will call her now. She has always been "Grannyfarm"!!
No comments:
Post a Comment