We bought our first house in Australia in Noosa Queensland in 1999, but as it became increasingly populous and expensive we started to look around and we in fact visited places from the East Coast right way to Geraldton In Western Australia.

During this journeying around and staying in bed and breakfasts caused us to think maybe we ought to consider doing that ourselves so we now own 75 acre chunk of the valley bottom and slopes of Mount Greville near Lake Moogerah in Southeast Queensland we just over the hour from Brisbane.

With the almost complete construction of the Ipswich motorway, travel is becoming a non-problem between here and Brisbane.

Brisbane itself is crowded and it’s a city but we have learned to become country people. The nearest town here is Boonah which reminds me of a town in Cheshire in the 1950s/ 60s. It’s absolutely delightful, the people are friendly you can park when you go shopping and we have three real Butchers to choose from which I don’t think people in England would probably be able to even remember.

Operating a bed-and-breakfast in Australia for somebody like ourselves near retirement is actually a very good way to become an Australian citizen and I would highly recommend it to anybody who thinks that clean air, stars you can touch, fresh local food, wallabies jumping around your front lawn and not being able to see streetlights, is important to them.

Anybody who is contemplating their retirement in Australia should think very long and hard, but as I swim up and down each afternoon in my solar-heated pool and listen to my wife play Scarlatti on the Grand Piano in her purpose built music room I personally believe that it does not get any better than this.

Mike Leah
Brisbane, Australia