I've had an affinity with the small historic town of Childers west of Bundaberg ever since it had become my best friend's final fork in the road where he saw out the few remaining years of his life after my last visit there in December 1990.
And so I GOOGLE it every so often and was surprised to discover this beautiful property for sale at 1022 Haylocks Road, Promisedland, thirty minutes or so out of town. What a labour of love it must've been to create this wonderful place, interestingly named "Riverbend Retreat".
Don't get me wrong: I'm not swapping one country estate for another! I've lived my dream of country life and found it to be partly a myth.
Rather than being idyllic, country living is often more like hard work. And instead of sitting on the front verandah drinking pina coladas at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, it's 'Hang on, I've got to go and turn the septic system on' or 'Hang on, we've run out of milk'.
It's the sort of thing that people forget when they dream of living in the country. So what did the creators of this lovely retreat along the Burnett River forget? Just wondering.
P.S. Don't let me stop you from buying it. Go ahead! I promise to visit you several times a year! (Bummer! Shouldn't have let that one slip; now you definitely won't buy it!)
P.P.S. Originally priced at $685,000, reduced to 'offers over $600,000' in January 2018, it sold in March 2018 for $620,000.
