Originally, The Taabinga Homestead comprised 305 square miles of rural country. When it was first established in 1846, the homestead was mainly used as a sheep station. After a dozen or so years, they realized that the thorny grasses and the wild dingoes didn't make it a prime sheep raising area. So, they switched to raising cattle, and for over 100 years The Taabinga Homestead has not only been continually occupied by the same family, but also has continued the tradition of being a working cattle property.
Today, when visitors first enter the 2,000 acre Taabinga Homestead, they are greeted at the main house by the current owners, Colin and Libby.
After checking in, we were directed down the lane to Jack's Cottage, one of the Homestead's many surviving outbuildings that ooze history from every corner.
Jack's Cottage was built in 1909, and is said to have been used as The Men's Quarters. It has been beautifully maintained and/or restored. Stepping into Jack's Cottage, we felt as though we had stepped back in time. In the center of the house is a country kitchen with a large boxwood stove surrounded by an even larger stone fireplace. On one side of the kitchen is the lounge room, and on the other side are three cozy bedrooms and a bathroom. There are two verandas, each running the length of the front and back of the house. From every room there are two doors that exit onto the verandas, and from every window there is a superior view.
On Friday night, we sat on the front veranda and shared a Tapas Platter and BBQ ed Pizza. And there may have been some bubbly and beer shared, as well!
We woke up Saturday morning to the birds chirping and drank coffee on the back veranda while dozens of kangaroos and one very cute cotton tail rabbit hopped around.
For lunch, we decided to drive further into the bush and have lunch at a winery called Dusty Hill. It was on this day that Ryan and I learned the word "Bushwhacked", and we also learned that when you're traveling in rural outback Australia...DON'T trust your GPS.
We ended up seeing much more of the country than we had anticipated. Once we started driving off road and opening our own cattle gates, I knew we must not be going in the right direction. But, we pressed on....trusting the GPS. Once the 'road' got impassable without either a 4X4 or dirt bikes, we decided to turn around and call the winery for better directions. Wouldn't you know, we had passed the winery about 40 minutes earlier, before going 4-wheel driving in the Subaru. But, if you must know.... the Subaru did fantastic off road!
Once at Dusty Hill, we had an amazing lunch. Keeping with the theme of the day, we all ordered steaks, and they were delicious. There was some debate over whether we thought they were amazing because we were two hours late for our reservation and quite hungry or whether we would have thought that they were delicious anyways. My vote was that they would have been delicious anyways.
After our late lunch, we returned to Jack's Cottage and strolled around the property taking in all the beauty.
Sunday morning, we again woke to the chorus of birds. Colin, the owner of the Homestead, gave us a tour of the main house, which we greatly appreciated. After that, we roamed the paddocks and pastures. My favorite area was where a field of purple wildflowers met with a rustic corral behind which were two extremely social horses who ran to greet me as I walked through the pasture. I could have stayed there forever!
But, it was time to say our goodbyes. And this is where it happened... As we were standing on the front veranda of Jack's Cottage saying goodbye to everyone, Ryan looked at me and told me that he had something to ask me. I thought he was going to simply ask me something. But, then he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and proposed. I, of course, said yes and have not been able to wipe the smile off of my face since.
Our weekend at the Taabinga Homestead was already a special holiday, but having Ryan propose to me on the front porch of a century old building surrounded by 1000s of acres of wild country made our stay at the Homestead magical!!
**To see more photos click on the title "Engaged in The Outback"
