And so it begins...

After nearly 18 months of planning, negotiating with council, builders, designers, surveyors, engineers, consultants and more we have finally broken soil on the new build for the Stripey Pig Lodge.

It has been an interesting year and a half during which there were a number of occasions where we thought this would not get off the ground. The shifting financial tide, global uncertainties and inflation have all seen us question the financial viability and/or logic of such an undertaking. But in the end the approvals came through and we both figured: “Stuff it! What else are we going to do!”

And so it begins…

We are just a number of days in and have already seen flooding rains, a delivery truck get bogged, and the front gate need to be widened, but we are making progress. We now have a new branch of our driveway leading up to the build site and they are about to start on excavations and foundations for both the residence and the shed. Then comes the slab pour which will be very exciting.

In the meantime, we have also started to build out our fruit orchard (with a total of 4 trees to date), and continue to work on a variety of other details behind the scenes. These are many and varied, from picking tiles and lights to pondering wine lists and how many different whiskies is too many (of course the answer is there is no such thing).

We will need to come to final decisions on all of the fixtures and fittings, appliances, furnishings, food, wine, entertainment and landscaping plans over coming months.

Our intention is to update this blog every week or so and cover both progress on the build and other issues we are contemplating in the background. Our aim is to keep it light and it is as much a process of keeping us focused as providing insights and (hopefully) a bit of humour for our readers (yes I do expect there to be at least a couple - Hi Mum!).

So strap in for the ride and share it with us if you dare (or are at least a bit interested anyway).

First stages of the build.