News

November 2007

Oh my goodness where has the year gone! It seems like just a few months have gone by since Stumpy and Rosie made Lillydale their home. And so much has happened since June…

Lillydale has undergone some big changes in six short months. We have had rain! The grass has turned from brown to green and our dam now has some water in it. Don’t get me wrong the drought hasn’t broken but we have had a reprieve. We still appreciate your water conservation when staying at Lillydale and have invented some new games to encourage you to try and become a water hero when staying here.

We also have many new additions to the ever growing and diverse family. Most important addition is Tyler James. This is Kim and Tony’s 3rd child and he is a little cutie. Mum and Dad went to visit them for two weeks and had a blast playing with Mary, Darcy and Tyler. I think when they arrived home they were glad to see that we hadn’t burnt the place down.

I am looking after some of the orphaned local wildlife and we currently have three little joeys, Smeagol is the oldest and is a cranky little boy, Jess is in the middle and is the sweetest little girl, and now there is Delilah who currently keeps me awake all night bouncing against the door.

Next came Moondoggy. He is a beautiful buckskin colt with lots of personality. He spends his day running around playing, taking big naps and bothering his mother. Does this type of behaviour sound familiar to anyone out there? I have big dreams for this little fella but for now he gets to just have fun.

We have been quite worried about the Equine Flu but we were very lucky to have our horses vaccinated. We still ask that if you have had any contact with horses up to three days before arrival at Lillydale that you let us know and we are happy to disinfect everyone and everything.

Our newest addition is adorable. Farmer Doug has a brand new roly poly kelpie puppy. This little fella makes it very hard to get any work done as he is so little and cute and I want to play with him all day. We haven’t come up with a name for him yet but we’re working on it. If anyone has any suggestions please let us know. The person who comes up with the best name wins a prize.

Lillydale has been in the news as well. We have recently been granted Advanced Ecotourism accreditation and we have won the Queensland Tourism Award for Hosted accommodation for the second year in a row.

Our Koala Corridor is getting bigger and bigger with trees planted from one side of the paddock to the road. A big thank you to Kylie who started us on this path, we kept thinking of you on the day we planted them all

We have seen many familiar faces in the last few months and we really enjoy catching up with past guests. We have quite a few families that come at least once each year and it has been a privelege to watch these children grow up.

We now have a coffee shop open on Sundays and we serve the yummy DiBella coffee and Teadrop tea. The Café is on the verandah and has fabulous views of cattle wandering past and of the gardens.

We have many tips on how to save our natural resources in all of our suites and we would appreciate if you would read the information and follow the simple suggestions such as switch off lights when you leave the room and use the timer in the bathroom to limit your water useage.

Our sheep have undergone the annual sheep shearing. It really is a sight to see. We spend more time watching the sheep outrun the helpers than actually shearing. It can be quite a while before the shearing begins. It is a funny experience with people diving for the sheep and coming up empty handed.

I hope that you all have a safe and prosperous Summer Holiday. If you are looking for something to do call up and organise a day trip or a night on the farm and share our little bit of heaven.