Avondale Estate, Toodyay

Avondale Estate, Toodyay We bought a village! Located less than a 5-minute drive from Toodyay’s town centre, the property is a unique piece of history.

Backing right onto the Avon River, the property offers six historic outbuildings, each brimming with Toodyay’s rich history.

Farewell Winter, hello Spring!!!As the last weekend of winter comes to an end, with a beautiful sunny afternoon, we’re h...
30/08/2026

Farewell Winter, hello Spring!!!

As the last weekend of winter comes to an end, with a beautiful sunny afternoon, we’re happy to close this chapter.
Late winter in Toodyay really is lovely. Apart from a few rainy days, the sunny winter days are beautiful, and while the nights are definitely cool, they’re much more tolerable!

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve spent our energy outside, trying to get on top of the ever-growing winter greenery (aka w**ds), in the hope that if we can tame it now, we might stand a chance against the spring growth!
Mowing, w**ding, pruning… and somehow it doesn’t look like we’ve made much of a dent.
We decided to send winter off with a bonfire — and boy, did we have some fuel! 🔥

Thankfully, Handy Son came to our rescue last weekend, bringing machinery to move what felt like tons of wood into two burn piles. While he was here, he also dug a trench around the house paddock to help with our rabbit-proofing efforts and moved two fruit trees from the shed paddock into the orchard.
What he achieved in one weekend would have taken us a month of Sundays!

This weekend, kids and grandkids came out for our first annual Farewell Winter Bonfire! Half the day was spent cleaning up around the dam, and the rest of the day watching it burn.

There was something very satisfying about watching years of accumulated rubbish and fallen timber disappear into the flames. We discovered just how furiously olive branches and leaves burn! Despite being freshly cut, they went up like dry kindling.

We’ve hard-pruned a lot of the olive trees on the property, but there are still plenty of overgrown ones around the buildings that will definitely need attention before bushfire season. So… more pruning is definitely on the cards!
Spring arrives this week, and we’ll continue the never-ending mission to tame the acres — mowing, pruning trees, tackling the grapevines, sorting firebreaks and trying to get everything under control before the spring growth really gets going.

As much as we’ve enjoyed working outside, it’s time to get back to renovations.
We’ve decided that Bulls Room is next up. This will create more accommodation for family and friends (and eventually guests).
The foundations have already been done, so now it’s time to put it back together — repairing, rendering and painting walls, restoring the floorboards, electrical work, painting, concreting finishing…
The very first job is to have a good look above the pine ceiling to see if the same beautiful timbers as those in the old part of the cottage have been covered over. 🤞

I’m really looking forward to this stage, because once Bulls Room is completed, we can tick the whole building off the to-do list!

Here’s to spring at Avondale — I have a hunch this might just be our favourite season! 🌷🌼🌸

Month 7 at AvondaleSmall wins keep the momentum going!Late July saw our focus firmly on the cottage, although we had som...
15/08/2026

Month 7 at Avondale
Small wins keep the momentum going!

Late July saw our focus firmly on the cottage, although we had some exciting distractions along the way. The Handy Son welcomed a beautiful baby girl, so plenty of time was dedicated to the very important job of baby cuddles.

With the Avon Descent approaching and a house full of family expected, we pushed hard to finish Bedroom 2 in the cottage. The lime render was completed, and the walls were primed and painted… almost. As it turns out, fresh lime render needs at least four weeks to cure. Who knew?

We're also learning that the order you tackle jobs really matters. Having to clean the ceilings again after sanding the walls was a lesson we won’t repeat!

The bedroom isn't finished, but it's definitely usable. In fact, it's now the cleanest, nicest and warmest room in the cottage.

That's a big win.

Last weekend was our own version of the Avondale Descent, as family descended from all directions. Parents, siblings, children and grandchildren filled every available space. We were bursting at the seams, and my brother and sister-in-law even travelled 1.5 hours to visit and slept in their car.
Clearly, we need more beds.

Despite the rainy weather, the river remained low, resulting in the jet boats being cancelled to the Darling Boys' great disappointment. But we still had a wonderful weekend watching the motorised boats and the kayaks. The fire was well earned, the company was excellent, and our darling little granddaughter enjoyed her very first farm visit.

We also tackled a few smaller jobs around the place.
A privacy screen was built in the outdoor washhouse, meaning you can finally p*e in peace.
Phil broke the mower (unseen rocks were involved)... then fixed the mower. We'll count that as a win too.

The winery kitchen received some much-needed attention. With help from my brother and sister-in-law (while the Senior-est Labourer supervised), we moved the island bench to its new location, centred on the windows for view of the river and the property entry.
We installed drawers for extra storage (the cutlery can finally be stored IN the kitchen) added a splash of colour, and treated the beautiful old timber with hard wax oil.
It's looking pretty good.
Is it finished?
No.
It still needs drawer fronts and final trim.

Is anyone noticing a theme here? Nothing at Avondale is ever quite finished!

The rabbit-proof fence hasn't seen any progress this month, but there's always next month. In the meantime, Obie is proving her worth. She takes her bunny-chasing responsibilities very seriously, carrying out perimeter patrols several times a day. If she spots a rabbit, she's off like a rocket. Obie and Master Banny are becoming quite the rabbit-deterrent team.

With a rare sunny weekend, we also managed to get stuck into some outdoor jobs — mowing, w**ding and cutting firewood.

Next up: more yard work, vine pruning, electrical work, a bonfire to celebrate the end of winter, and then we finally move on to the new bathroom.
And SPRING!!!

Sweet Obie 💕What a big girl at 4 months old!
01/08/2026

Sweet Obie 💕
What a big girl at 4 months old!

Morning playtime for Obie and her Duckie, she’s getting so big
22/07/2026

Morning playtime for Obie and her Duckie, she’s getting so big

Misty winter morning
21/07/2026

Misty winter morning

When kids are raised right 🤍Yesterday, a young man who regularly rides past the winery on the access road between us and...
17/07/2026

When kids are raised right 🤍

Yesterday, a young man who regularly rides past the winery on the access road between us and the river ran out of fuel.

I was outside looking for Obie when I saw him pushing his motorbike. I asked if he'd broken down, and he said he'd run out of petrol and was pushing it home.

I offered him some fuel. He only took enough to get himself home and insisted on paying me back. I told him don’t worry—it was only a little bit, just give us a wave when you ride past!

Today, I heard a bike start up just outside the winery, I walked out onto the veranda to investigate and found a bunch of flowers and the sweet thank you card.

It made my day.

When we first moved in he was riding by, stopped when he saw us on the veranda and asked if he was bothering us. Ever since then every time he passes he slows down to not disturbing us.

Haylen from West Toodyay, you're a sweetheart. Don't ever change. The world needs more young people like you 🤍

6 Months at AvondaleLess "we bought a village"... more "we bought a lifestyle that came with a side of mud, bugs and end...
16/07/2026

6 Months at Avondale
Less "we bought a village"... more "we bought a lifestyle that came with a side of mud, bugs and endless maintenance."

In reality we bought a challenge—one that's tested us, utilised the skills we have, skills we don’t have, exhausted us, surprised us and at times has us questioning our sanity.

Things we've discovered about living at Avondale
• Summer is HOT – dry, relentless and unforgiving
• Winter is COLD - damp, freezing and unforgiving …..it settles deep into the valley with cold nights, freezing mornings, lingering fog and damp that hangs around for hours, but the sunny daytimes are lovely
• Rabbits are the worst!
• If you need to dig holes, do it in winter after rain. The ground is basically concrete for the rest of the year.

Some lessons we've learned...
• Forget checking items off the to-do list, just tackle whatever is most urgent today
• Don't expect anything to stay clean
• Nature is in charge now – plants, bugs, animals… (I'm looking at you, Gary 👀)
• The war on vermin is ongoing. Who knew we'd spend so much time and money trying to evict mice and rabbits?
• Bugs…because they deserve a second mention
• Whatever time you think a job will take… triple it
• Budget? What budget? Everything costs much, much more than you expect and we spend money on things we never thought we would
• There is always, and will always be, another job waiting to be done
• And perhaps the biggest lesson of all… don't get a puppy before you've finished renovating. (Sorry, Obie 🐾)

The wins ❤️
• The pool saga finally seems to be behind us. There will always be bugs and leaves to scoop out, but the water has stayed crystal clear and will be ready for summer!!!
• Heating and cooling have become absolute priorities. We now have working air conditioning and fireplaces in both the winery and the cottage, making life more comfortable
• We welcomed new furry family members and watched them settle into life at Avondale

The heartbreak 🤍
We said goodbye to our beautiful old boy, Sir Harvey.
He'll always be part of our memories here, and he's missed every single day

Looking ahead...
We're hoping the next six months will finally bring some visible progress.
The cottage is slowly coming back together and, now that the air conditioning is installed, it will be a much more comfortable place to work.

Rabbit and Obie-proofing the fences continues—slowly but steadily. Around a quarter of the house paddock now has the above-ground component completed, which is keeping Obie away from the neighbours on the right. Unfortunately, the rabbits are far more determined and simply dig underneath, so we've changed our approach.
From here on, we're installing both above and below-ground protection, burying heavy-gauge wire beneath the fence line. It takes much longer because a trench needs to be dug first, but hopefully we'll only have to do it once.
But as usual this place likes to add to the to do list, the river-side fence is barely hanging on, so that will need replacing before we can rabbit-proof it.

Our goals for the next six months
• Finish the cottage and Bulls Room renovations, ready for guests
• Complete the rabbit-proof fencing
• Start landscaping around the cottage
• Enclose the winery verandah with insect mesh… because, well… bugs
• Document Avondale's incredible history (with special thanks to Michael for all of his detective work)

Our 12-month goals
• Winery renovations underway
• Cottage gardens beginning to resemble… actual gardens
• A vegetable patch replacing the current w**d patch

What we're looking forward to most
• Finally living in one building instead of several. I definitely won't miss the freezing 60-metre walk between the winery and the cottage on winter mornings and nights
• Welcoming family, friends and guests to experience this wonderful piece of history
• Making new memories here for many years to come

Six months in, there have been plenty of challenges, more than a few tears, and the occasional "What have we done?"moment
But there have also been countless moments that remind us exactly why we took the leap.

We're excited to see what the next season at Avondale brings…..if history is anything to go by, I'm guessing it'll include some new varieties of bugs!🐞

Today, Harvey, our much-loved old boy at Avondale, gained his wings and went to heaven. 🤍Harvey is part of so many memor...
10/07/2026

Today, Harvey, our much-loved old boy at Avondale, gained his wings and went to heaven. 🤍

Harvey is part of so many memories here — always happy for an ATV ride, finding any opportunity to go for a swim, following Banny around, and showing Obie how things are done. Just quietly being where the action was or by Phil’s side.

He had the most beautiful, gentle nature and will be deeply missed

Rest easy, Sir Harvey. We will missed you🤍

Obie enjoyed her first visit to Elixir Cafe today 🐾 When you’re a good girl, you get spoiled with a puppy cappuccino and...
05/07/2026

Obie enjoyed her first visit to Elixir Cafe today 🐾 When you’re a good girl, you get spoiled with a puppy cappuccino and a treat bowl!

05/07/2026

Sunday night….in my happy place….waxing 150 year old floorboards ❤️

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3 Rocca Way, Wanneroo
Perth, WA
6065

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