ChristR

We always said that a team of draughthorses couldn’t pull us out of Ungarra. Our five years here have been among the best of our lives, but after 11 years on the Eyre Peninsula, illness and a need to be closer to family have won out and we have reluctantly put our “Outback” house on the market. That’s how our friends and family from Tasmania think about where we live!
We have never been lonely here and many a cuppa has been shared on that great timewaster, the verandah. We’ve sat with our neighbour Caddie and watched a huge cloud come up over the old lucerne trees each of us declaring, “Oh well, we must get on” only to be still sitting there an hour later. And the sunsets … oh wow!
Goodness knows how many magpies we have helped to raise. Cheap mince and grated cheese at first were fought over by the magpies but now the yard is filled morning and night with not only magpies, but Willie Wagtails and Murray Magpies all jostling for their little bit of takeaway. This year we have helped raise at least nine Wagtails and at least six Murray Magpies. One of the Murrays has only one leg and he and the missus are like an old married couple. Just on sunset each day, they occupy the lower level birdbath and after bathing, spend a long time just sunning themselves in the last rays of sunshine. The magpies have been an endless source of amusement for us. Last year, we helped to raise twins. They would hop onto the banana lounge and tap their beaks onto the window to let us know that they wanted a handout. If ignored, round they would go to the end door and tap on that. I have had one magpie that would find me wherever I was in the yard and it would fly with me, brushing my head with its wing as it went.
How could we not love it here?
Our trips to Tumby Bay and Port Lincoln are always different. Coming home, the view from Baileys Hill over Ungarra is spectacular particularly in springtime, the true green and gold of this country. It is such a pretty drive and yet I am constantly amazed by the amount of local people who have never ventured out to discover this wonderful area.
Above all, we have felt very safe and secure here. There are not many places today where you can go to sleep with all your doors and windows open knowing that this is how it used to be in many other parts of the country. I doubt we will have that again when we leave. Where else can we drive for just twenty minutes to town on beautiful roads to some of the best beaches in the country and hardly see another soul? I doubt we will have that again either.
We have loved the Mediterranean climate and watch in awe as the weather arrives from the West to slip south of us and do its worst in Adelaide. My washing dries quickly all year round and my towels are always fresh and dry in our bathroom, something so different from living in Tassie which is where we came from. We always feel a little smug when Port Lincoln and Tumby Bay are suffering from high humidity and we are comfortable out here.
It will be hard to leave. We have so loved living here.