Greetings people!  

My name is Matt, and I’m the owner of Nattai Lodge. I purchased this old beauty back in October 2016 and have made it available for short stay accommodation and holidays (on Airbnb, Stayz, and direct through Holiday Rental Specialists who manage the property for me) since January 2017. But I have continued to live up in Surry Hills with my partner Rob, and our 13-year-old Border Terrier, Mavis! It would be remiss not to mention Spud! He was our beloved Jack Russell that we rescued in January 2013 and passed away in January this year. We’re not completely sure how old he was, but we think he was around 14 when he died. He was a mighty little man, diagnosed with cancer 3 years ago, but fought hard right until the very end. Short in stature but huge in heart and we’re still grieving his loss.  

But now we’ve made the huge decision to move to the NSW Southern Highlands permanently (well, we’ve signed a 12-month lease, so it’ll be for a year at least) and will be settling in Mittagong (close to Bowral) in early April. We will be renting a place not far from Nattai Lodge, so the lodge will still be available for short stay accommodation and holidays as it has been for the past 4+ years.  

Our original plan was for Nattai Lodge to be available for short stay accommodation for the first 10 years, and then move into the main house and rent out the cottage when we retired...but plans change and we’re pulling the pin on Sydney a little earlier than we anticipated. And I must say, I’m very nervous about the move. But Rob is ecstatic! Mavis indifferent!  

As an introvert, I will miss the chaotic anonymity of the city, and my regular coffee shop. The team at Single O on Reservoir Street in Surry Hills have been like family over the past 5 years. They’re funny, friendly and have my coffee waiting for me when I get there in the morning. And their coffee is THE BEST! As is their peanut butter on toast...with butter. I know it’s a simple breakfast. But it’s such a delicious breakfast (some would say snack) and compliments a coffee SOOOOOO perfectly!  

And while we’re on food and beverages. I’ll also miss having Four Pillars Gin and Messina ice-cream being only a 5 min walk from my place (or a 15-minute Deliveroo wait time )! Actually, I think that could be good thing? 🙁  

I also love walking around the city with people ignoring you...until you come across someone you know and can have a brief banter for 2 mins before moving on. I like that! I will also miss having my friends in such proximity. And only a 15-minute drive to the beach!  

Apartment living in the city is easy living. No fires. No floods. No snakes. No spiders. No termites. Everything is close by.  

What will I love about living in the southern highlands? It’s really hard to know, but I think I’ll love the seasons! The changing colours of the trees. The crisp highlands air. The fog and mist on a winter morning. All the dual cab work utes! I’m sure there will be other things I’ll love...but I’ll write about them in future blogs, once I start discovering what I love! 

Actually I will love beekeeping! Now we will be living down here, we will be getting a bee hive at Nattai Lodge. I’ve done a lot of research on bees and did an apiarist course at Sydney university and it’s so important for all of us to do our bit to encourage bees in our gardens and be mindful of things that can kill bees. So I’m definitely excited about getting bees! And providing our guests with fresh Nattai Lodge NaturalsTM  honey! It’s definitely going to have a distinct lavender flavour! 😊  

I will also love doing more work in the gardens at Nattai Lodge. The gardens have been a real learning experience for me. When I bought the lodge, I thought it would be something that my dad and I could work on together, but he unfortunately died 5 months after I bought the property. He was a great gardener. I’m not a great gardener. I’m the opposite of great. I just googled “the opposite of great” and it came up with “little, narrow, puny, scanty, few, short, ignoble, weak, unimportant”. And all of those are apt descriptions for my gardening ability.  

But the gardens at Nattai Lodge have a long and proud history, and it’s up to me to maintain them and make them a place that guests find pleasurable, tranquil and inspiring. So stay tuned for some significant garden work over the winter! There will be some failures and hopefully some great successes come spring.  

I’m planning on releasing a new blog update every 2 weeks and I’m determined to stick to this frequency. I’m going to talk about our move to the southern highlands, how I feel about leaving Sydney, what I’m starting to love about and my observations about the southern highlands, all the improvements we’ll be doing at Nattai Lodge, and anything else that pops into my crowded mind.  

I will also talk about my job search. I have always worked for large software companies, and I’m open to work in technology again...but only for the right company! Actually that’s something I do miss right now. Working with a team and leading and building businesses. So I’m sure that will definitely come up in my blogs! I’ve had a lot of bad and weird experiences, so I’m just warning you that there will probably be foul language when I discuss my job search. So if you have delicate ears, then you’re best to not read those blogs (I’ll put an R rated warning on blogs discussing my job search). 

It would be great to hear from other people, about why they moved to the southern highlands and how they are settling in, and people who are considering leaving metropolitan areas and moving to regional towns. There are a lot of us doing this now. Whether it is a tree change or sea change...I am interested in hearing why people are doing it.  

So, I hope you enjoyed my first blog and I look forward to chatting with you over the next year!!! 

PS I was kidding myself when I said moving away from Messina being a good thing. It’s NEVER a good thing being so far away from such deliciousness. I will miss it terribly and I don’t care about my unhealthy weight gain!