Flights of Island Fancy

Today finds me sipping strong coffee on the shaded front porch of a sandstone house, with a sea view off in the distance. Rolling, faded-green hills surround me, stitched with fenceline and hedgerows. If you look to the right, you might glimpse a few wallabies sneaking past the acre of hard-worked vegetables. On the left, a pond gurgles, nestled in a horse-shoe of fragrant lemon myrtle and presided over by a lush-furred, keen-eyed cat.

We could go for a walk through the berry patch to pick ourselves a snack. Don't mind me if I nervously duck a bee or two that are heading to the neighbor's honey farm. Afterward, we can make our way back to the house, the dogs at our heels, to check on the tajine of local treats I've been simmering all afternoon.

The family animals are going about their business. The fowl are laying eggs, the sheep and cow are out the back, contentedly relaxing, having done their work for the day. The air is filled with their gentle collective chatter, and we're fairly sure they're discussing whether or not it'll rain.

The sun is setting over a nearby seaside cliff and tonight's dinner scents the air with simmered lamb, a waft of honey-tinged haloumi, and the crisp perfume of sparkling shiraz, breathing from an opened bottle off to one side. This neighborhood knows its food, and provides it all, without assistance. Freshly harvested veggie dishes cover the table, and those berries will make a lovely pie, don't you think?

There's a lot of work in this place, nearly constant and even back-breaking, but the payoff is this quiet bliss. It makes it all worthwhile, just to have an evening like this.

This is how I spent my day...in my head.

Being a bit under the weather gives one an excuse to kick back a little, and the chance to daydream a little too. Today's sick-day dreams find me on Kangaroo Island, and I thought I'd invite you along.

We're not ready for that dream to come true, not for years still. It's toyed with and tossed about, and though we check the listings each time we go, we're not in that place yet. Still too young to trade the city fringes for island isolation. But, if any place in Australia could lure this City Mouse into the quiet life, that tiny blip on the map, that land just south of south, and just beyond the beyond—that would be the one.