A Reminder of The Little House on the Prairie

Had we not joined the family trip to Melbourne initiated by Sam’s family, it would never have occurred to us to visit Lucy in Tasmania. Such a visit would have been unlikely in 2019, especially since we had last met Lucy barely eight months earlier in West Malaysia (Read here).

Finding Lucy’s house turned out to be far more challenging than expected, even with the aid of our Garmin GPS device. We were first led to one end of a vast stretch of farmland. Realising that we were lost, we stopped to ask a local for directions to our intended destination. Unfortunately, he had no idea where the address was and could offer no help. As a last attempt, we switched on our Waze app, which promptly redirected us to another location about five Km away. Yet even there, there was still no sign of a habitable house in sight.

Our final resort was to call Lucy on her mobile phone. Only then did we discover that we were actually standing at one corner of her extensive farmland. To our surprise, she mentioned that she could see our vehicle during our phone conversation. Moments later, she guided us safely to her residence. From this experience, we realised that GPS navigation, which relies strictly on an address, does not always lead you directly to a house situated within a vast expanse of farmland.

Our immediate reaction upon seeing her home was a vivid reminder of the television drama series Little House on the Prairie, which was popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.

The house built on the top of a hill is accessible
via a 180 m long ascending straight road
tee-off from the main road. 

Casts of Little House on the Parries.

The farmland is blessed with a man-made mini dam, fed by stream water that flows year-round. Lucy’s husband, David, takes great pride in the quality of the water - so much so that a platypus has chosen to settle there and make it its permanent home. John was adamant that we visit the dam to catch a glimpse of this shy creature for ourselves. Although we managed to spot it through binoculars, it vanished instantly the moment we tried to move closer to the water’s edge.

Some time after we returned from our tour of Tasmania, Lucy sent us a WhatsApp message on 29 April with a video captured by David. To make up for our inability to see the large platypus during our visit, John was eager for us to watch the clip. The reason soon became clear - the big platypus had finally produced a baby platypus!

David was keen for us to see his farm. Almost as soon as we settled down upon our arrival to his house on 31 March, he ushered us to join him for a guided tour. He is well versed with every inch of the soil and every plant and tree. He took great pain to explain to us almost all types of vegetation we came across.

Pointing to the trees that he will harvest and sell one days 
for the timbers.

His greatest asset as he claimed is the Manuka trees grown in his farm. He confidently declared that his farm will be producing Manuka honey by the end of the year. He even invited us to come back to taste this world renowned brand of honey.

Talking about Manuka honey, David was clearly "annoyed" that New Zealand has "hijacked" the Manuka honey branding. He believes as many Tasmanians do that it is Tasmania which has the unique right to market Manuka honey because the honey harvesting and production was first documented in Tasmania!  

Some of his Manuka tress in his farm.

David's favorite companion, Bronte, the cattle dog.

Wombat's burrow in the farm.

The farm produces quality grass. David offers his land for cattle grazing for a fee and any excess grass is made into baled silage for sale.

Barriers of electric wires installed by John to keep
animals off the silage.

Lucy and David had proven to be great hosts and we enjoyed every moment of our stay in Burnie. But Lucy's mom clearly was not happy and she was keen to come back to Malaysia and Singapore to have a break from the cold weather.

Lucy's wedding in 1985 vs 2019

P/S Further update on baby platypus received on 26 May 2019