I had a dream during my Masters of Psychology… that instead of having an office for clients, I would have a centre that they could come to; that had all the facilities.

In late 2007, almost 10 years later, I decided to follow through on that dream and began to look for appropriate places. Weekends were spent travelling from Sydney to areas where I could afford, with parcels of land over 100 acres. Yes, it would have been great to have a place within half an hour of Sydney’s outskirts, but I am not a millionaire!

So after numerous weekends, I drove to Booral, about 2.5 hours from Sydney, to check out another property. It was absolutely pelting down with rain, and had been for weeks, so I knew I would get wet. The front of the property was a derelict, half-fallen down wire fence, and I could not drive onto the property, because the track was only ‘4wdrivable’, and about 100 metres in, the wooden log bridge had been washed away in the recent rain. So on I trudged. There was not really all that much to see. It was just overgrown bush, but then I saw the first of 2 huge dams, and the imagination kicked in!

As I started to walk on the overgrown track up the hill for the first time, a family was coming down that had been looking at the property as well. They remarked that it was nice, but would be too much trouble. So on I went, up the hill; the rain continuing to come down. Not really knowing where I was, I headed down into a gully, and that is what won it for me. Down in the cover of the trees, the massive amounts of rain from the hills above were collecting into 3 creeks all joining together. It was just beautiful, and right then, I said to myself, this place is mine!

That was in May 2008, and it didn’t settle until September 2008. In that time, I couldn’t help myself and had begun to chop down trees here and there… and mow bits and pieces here and there. Back then I was the hard yakka man. But that was nothing compared to the ins and outs of what has been done in the last 14 years. What I could say to anyone preparing to do what I have been doing is that things will take much longer than what you think they will, and cost much more… and you will definitely have your mental strength tested.

Those 14 years saw many times where I questioned whether I could keep going with the project. Many times I bawled my eyes out at the prospect of ‘losing the property’ and then I would gain composure and pick up the wheelbarrow and a shovel or start up the chainsaw and push myself till I was completely exhausted. I have made tracks with gravel, had numerous ongoing fights with lantana (but I am learning how to beat it), sprayed termites to stop them taking over, dug hole after hole and lifted tree poles into them and battered them in, hammered thousands of nails … oh the fun!

Over the years came the safari tent and I have enjoyed many nights staying there in the tranquility it provides. Clients of my psychology practice would stay there. In 2019 after 20 years of ‘heavy’ post traumatic stress psychology work and a major car accident breaking my back, I decided that I needed to change my career for my own sanity. That was a pretty dark time where again I questioned whether I should sell the property. It became a bit overwhelming as I could not do any maintenance or even mow.

Then Covid hit!! Geez, how can I help people??? Hang on, I have a place that backpackers and the full time travellers with nowhere else to stay can stay. So I advertised on Facebook with a few pics and welcoming smile to those in need. Well, what a response! Not only did I end up having 55 people stay over the 10 weeks of national lockdown in 2020, but there was over 600 comments on Facebook with people expressing how beautiful the place looked and their desire to ‘pay to stay’. OMG there is the new direction … an accommodation venue.

During that time I also met a wonderful woman that made me smile and also had ideas galore about the property. That would be Veronika. With renewed inspiration and a rehabilitated back, I put a new cabin in (Kiara) that Veronika did the internal design for, and we spruced up other areas with facilities so people could camp in their own tents. What a summer of 2020 / 2021 it was. There was lots to learn but it was fun and I was so proud to have people enjoying my little piece of paradise, and even coming back for more.

What you see now in the rainy days of mid-2022 is the beginnings of the original vision, with much more to come as well as some tweaking from the woman’s touch (thanks Veronika). The plan is to have a resort with such ‘wow’ factor that people will have an awesome time when they visit, feel rejuvenated, inspired, and motivated to pursue their goals. A place that groups can come and want to come back again and again and again!

Why is the property called Hakuna Matata resort? Well, being a psychologist for 20 years and having clients come to stay to be treated, as well as being a singer, and also a lover of  The Lion King, it made sense. The place has an ambience that just takes all your worries away; “it means no worries, for the rest of your days …” Following from the name Hakuna Matata for the whole property, each of the areas are related to different characters from The Lion King.

For more information about the resort history, Kieran has been developing a picture book. When you stay at the resort, make sure that you have a look at the pictures from over the years.

Check out what’s happening at the Hakuna Matata Resort by visiting the pages below: