In March 2023, we purchased a 40-acre property at Cactus Ridge Road which is ten minutes by car from Warwick town. When I told my daughter who lives overseas the news, her response was ‘Cool, the castle is lovely and they have nice coffee shops there’
My response was ‘No dear it is not Warwick in Warwickshire, UK but Warwick QLD’ Radio silence and I have not heard from her since.
Our first encounter with this part of the country was when our son drove my husband and I to Warwick in February 2023. We were told by a friend that the best beef in Australia comes from Warwick and we were out to check the butcheries. That did not happen and until today I am not sure if that information is accurate.
Anyway, the drive took us through farmland with plenty of livestock and horses and large stretches of edible landscape of vegetables. We passed the picturesque Cunningham Gap and were entranced by the thickly forested valleys and gullies. A quick rain shower over the hills provided panoramic rainbows, not one but two. As we closed into Warwick, the first poster boards appeared of the ‘Rose City’. I am glad it is called ‘Rose’ and not ‘pink’ I thought.
We stopped to explore the Condamine River bed and chit-chatted with the families enjoying the playground and walking by the river. We quickly booked into a motel before it got dark and then went out to explore the butcheries. Helas, it was too late for the butchery. However, we got a glimpse of the very impressive rose-hued cathedrals and of a palm-lined boulevard with road dividers of vividly coloured red and pink roses. Several sandstone buildings lined the boulevard and we found Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and our favourite Bunnings, without searching, which reassured us that we would never starve or get locked out of our car in Warwick. On the way back to the motel, we drove past the Op Shops, and grand-looking Queenslanders with chimneys and real smoke. What more could city bumpkins from Singapore ask, I say.
We had dinner at the Burger King restaurant and remarked the menu was the same as Brisbane and the next day we drove home.
We set off for Warwick again, yes once again, within the month. This time we planned to stay in a different motel as there were so many of them, and brought our Eskies for our potential beef purchase. As a distraction, we walked into a real estate agency and were greeted by very friendly agents who quickly gathered our likes and dislikes of landscapes and terrain. I am not sure how they do that, I was only offering them my views.
‘Yes, why not’ I said,’ let’s look at properties’ I replied to a friendly invite by the real estate agent to visit the country as that would definitely tell us the state of the local economy. Anyway, we had time to kill and the day was still young.
We drove out of Warwick and passed more farmland and bush country and turned a sharp right into Cactus Ridge Road and drove up the hill. On both sides, we saw acreages upon acreages and hardly a vehicle passed by. We stopped at the property with a ‘For Sale’ sign and drove right past the gate and into the property. Eight frisky kangaroos skimmed across the car’s path reminiscent of the scene from Jurassic Park when the cute velociraptors chased after the hero and researcher Dr Grant.
The property owners were a very friendly couple, very into sustainability and solar energy. They were informative and candid.
We explored the 40 acres, the highs and lows, and, I must say it was not a difficult walk as the property had rolling hills, gullies and flat land overshadowed with tall pine and eucalyptus trees. There was Austral grass trees or kangaroo tail of different heights, everywhere. The ground was covered with brown/orange and green grass. There were cacti or prickly pear( Opuntia species ) growing fiercely on the ridge and many had fruits bordered by deep red sepals and exuded an exotic scent that added to the intrigue of the land. From the ridge, I reckoned we could catch the most magnificent sights of sunrise and sunset across the Great Dividing Range and the Southern Downs. The well-kept hedged nursery with fairy lights had my favourite fruit trees- mulberry, cherries, pomegranates and oranges.
Yes, we bought the property or rather our son did. Immediately after, we were told that some of the kangaroos on site were actually wallabies. But who cares, they are ours now.
Post-purchase I asked myself at least three times a day for the first month ‘What on earth we were doing in rural Warwick? ‘I do not do that anymore as this is now our home away from home.
The land has caught us in its spell as the real estate agent said it would. We have cut the grass which has been partly composted and partly added as fuel enhancing the splendour of our nightly campfires. The kangaroos visit us daily in the early morning and sip water from the dam with our rumbunctious canine, a hybrid staffy-mastiff. At night we huddle in front of the campfire which is serviced with log wood from our trees, and consume mugs of hot chocolate. We changed internet providers and were even able to watch the FIFA games on our laptop! I have not ventured to watch my Netflix favourites yet, and I will soon. Our days and nights are longer as we go to bed in our beddings at 9pm and wake up at 6 am to the sounds of the loud and melodious carolling of the magpies and other birds. We watch the surreal sunrises and sunsets and notice the change of colours with the changing seasons.
We have invested in second-hand ride-on mowers and chainsaws. My oh my, there are so many Facebook groups we are now members of, and everyone is so willing to share their ‘rural’ adventures. I still do not know if Warwick has the best beef in Australia and that is for another time.
‘So any regrets’ the pie shop lady asks me, ‘No, not yet’ I say and she drops over for a cuppa brewed over a campfire stove, two days later, even though we are out of the way.
