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. But that was nothing compared to the ins and outs of what has been done in the last 9 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.

However, what you see now in 2016 is the beginnings of the vision, with much more to come. The plan is to have a resort with such ‘wow’ factor that people will have an awesome time when they visit, and feel rejuvenated, and motivate to pursue their goals. A place that groups can come and want to come back again and again and again!

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

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