In Australian bush, with a grand array above

January 15, 2012
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  • A chook confronts the camera at The Belars ranch, 300 miles west of Sydney.
A chook confronts the camera at The Belars ranch, 300 miles west of Sydney. (Courtesy Larissa and Michael…)
  • A chook confronts the camera at The Belars ranch, 300 miles west of Sydney. (Courtesy Larissa and Michael…)
  • Larissa Milne feeds Bella, a motherless calf. (Courtesy of Larissa and…)
  • The long driveway at The Belars, a 3,500-acre cattle ranch where guests can experience a blend of rural life in Australia's bush country and world-class astronomical research, where observatories peer into the flawless skies. (Courtesy of Larissa and…)
  • Rob Wright, fourth-generation farmer and host at The Belars cattle ranch, where he was raised. He and wife Deb have created a retreat in the home built by his great-grandfather. (Courtesy of Larissa and…)
  • The Belars homestead, where visitors can get a feel for life in the bush country about 300 miles west of Sydney. (Courtesy of Larissa and…)
  • Bella, a motherless calf, comes to the back door looking for affection, perhaps, but more likely for the bottle she knows will be coming from the obliging guests. (Courtesy of Larissa and…)

I was staring at a beautiful tree frog - its tiny, bright green body with huge black eyes and cute little pods on its feet that were perfectly designed by nature to stick to any surface. There was only one problem: Those cute little pod feet were perched on the toilet seat I was about to use, and they weren't letting go. This was not a camping trip or a portable toilet in a national park. This was our home life in Australia's bush country.

After a month in cosmopolitan Sydney, we were itching to see "the real Australia" - the land famous for wide-open spaces and wild kangaroos. We drove about 300 miles west of Sydney to The Belars, a circa-1898 homestead on a 3,500-acre cattle ranch. To give you an idea how big that is, the dirt driveway was a mile long.

Story continues below.

Our host was Rob Wright, a fourth-generation farmer who looks a bit like Crocodile Dundee, dusty hat and all. He and his wife, Deb, have created a secluded retreat in the home his great-grandfather built.

The bathrooms were accessed via the veranda, so it was convenient for the frogs to visit as well. In the arid climate, toilets serve as a cozy pond, so they had a habit of hanging around in there. Add to this the warbling of a few free-range chickens (or chooks, as they are known) and a motherless calf named Bella, and we had quite a menagerie on our hands. Bella and the chooks seemed to like hanging out with us, so we offered to feed them for Rob. Bella took a bottle twice a day, and the chooks ate everything in sight. With the odd kangaroo bouncing by at dusk, we had a kind of Green Acres Down Under experience going on.

This part of the bush country is a surprising blend of rural life with world-class scientific research. The wide-open spaces and pristine skies are ideal for stargazing. About 45 miles south is the Parkes Radio Observatory and Telescope. Operated by CSIRO, the Australian equivalent of NASA, it relayed the first television signals of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. The story of this achievement was later made into the offbeat film The Dish.

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