Original subtitles

From its barren beauty to lush landscapes,...

the Australian countryside is as beautiful as it is breathtaking.

Many Australians are discovering rural life and making the move,

so I'm on the hunt to help everyday Australians find their perfect country house.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023

Today we're in sunny Echuca, looking at properties with our couple, Amy and Colin.

Do you think your friends would like this?

I'm sure they would. We won't be able to get rid of them.

- Now, we have a really big house with loads of space, a project home with some kind of noisy neighbours...

- ...and country cottage that is straight out of a fairy tale.

- This is the type of thing we were looking to― to look at, so, no, it definitely felt like us.

- So let's see if we can find Amy and Colin their perfect country home.

Echuca has long been a favourite holiday spot. People just love the laid-back lifestyle here―

life spent on the river ― and it gets loads of sunshine.

I think that today's couple will absolutely love moving here.

On their wish list is a Central Victorian town, something that's easy to access,

good facilities, and I know that Amy and Colin will love the Murray River.

I really do think that Echuca will get a hook on their heart.

Now let me introduce our couple. Actually, hold on a sec. They can introduce themselves.

Colin Lane, aged mid-40s.

- You idiot. - Uh, we're from Nicholson in Victoria.

- We met in Horsham. Uh, we were at a pub. I was there with some friends.

He was playing pool, and I was standing near the pool table. He kicked me.

I grabbed his leg and made him hop, and that's the story, really.

- That's the history. We've been inseparable ever since, and that was 22, 23 years ago.

- Colin's job as an area manager for Elders Agriculture requires him to travel all across Victoria,

so our couple are looking to move to Echuca to be in a slightly more centralised area.

- What drove us to looking at Echuca was it's a thriving town, the Murray ― Amy's a Murray girl ―

and also for the kids. There's great schooling. A lot more centralised for my role as well.

- Amy is after a house that is great for entertaining,

and both of them would love a little bit of land for their children to enjoy.

- The new house has to have enough bedrooms so we can have family and friends.

I would like something that has a pool or a space to have a pool in.

- No neighbours. - No neighbours is a massive thing for us.

We can have the kids playing outside, riding motorbikes, and no one's going to be upset.

- I think once we put our roots down, this will be, you know, for the next 10 or 15 years of our life,

so we see ourselves really getting into the local community here in Echuca.

- Echuca is on the northern border of Victoria, across the river from the New South Wales town ofMoama.

The port of Echuca is home to the world's largest fleet of operating riverboats.

With a town rich in history and a thriving community,

it's pretty easy to see why our couple would love to live in this magical place.

Our first property is this five-bedroom, very secluded home on 52 acres ―

loads of space for the kids to make use of. Let's see what Amy and Colin make of this one.

Hello. - Hi. - Hi.

Thank you for turning on the weather.

- I can see why you love Echuca. - It's pretty, isn't it?

- But I am curious. Everybody has a different story. So, why move to Echuca?

- My work takes me all over Victoria,

and living in Nicholson, and it takes four hours to get to Melbourne

and then four hours to get to anywhere else.

Whereas here, in Central Vic, I can be four hours to anywhere in Victoria.

- Nice and central? - Yes. - We love that.

Uh, what exactly is your job? - Area manager for Elders.

I look after Gippsland and Northern Victoria for Elders.

- Right, and you love to talk with your hands. - Yes!

Me too. OK, so, what is on your wish list?

- Um, space where we can run a few cows. Just something that we can actually deal or do ourselves.

- Part-time. We can do it part-time. - Part-time.

- Cos you're a science teacher ― is that right? - Yes, I am.

- OK, and what else is on the wish list?

- It's gotta have a nice driveway, I think ― an entrance. - Why is that?

- Oh, just― It goes back to, as a kid, having a nice entrance as you come into a house.

Um, and plenty of room for people to come over, cos our family all lives away.

- Mm-hm. - We're brand-new to Echuca.

We don't know anyone, so hopefully we can make some friends.

- Oh, that's lovely. Sad but lovely. - So they can come and share our house with us. Yeah.

- I― I should ask ― what is your budget? - Between one and two mill.

- Great. - We don't mind if it's gonna be renovated or whatever.

We're open to different ideas. So it'll be interesting to see what you can come up with.

- I think I've got three good ones, beginning with this glorious home. You ready to come inside?

- Absolutely. - Let's do it. OK, let's do it. No pressure

OK, it's quite deceiving, this house, from the outside. - Phew.

What are you 'phewing' about? I just can't get over the void.

It's blowing my mind, actually. - Really? You like that?

- What about you? How do you feel as you're walking through here? - I feel very small.

Do you?

It's like a giant built the place.

- But that's a good thing. We like that. - Yeah, there's plenty of room.

- Absolutely.

The size of the house ― that's― that's a big surprise. It's massive.

- Yeah. - It's probably bigger than what we need.

- It's a wonderful entrance, and then you come into one of four living spaces.

We've got five bedrooms.

It's 52 acres, and I just wanna get your thoughts. Is it a scary concept to have that kind ofland?

- Oh, it doesn't scare us at all. Plenty of space for the kids,

plenty of space to run a few cattle ― it sounds pretty good to me.

- Just come and check this out,... - Beautiful.

- ...cos I know that you'll be entertaining. - Yep.

- I could show you any of the four entertaining spaces,

but I just wanted to bring you into this particular possie, cos there's a lot going on here.

The incredible bar that's here. This space ― you're straight out into the entertaining area right there.

Do you think your friends would like this? - I'm sure they would.

- We won't be able to get rid of them. - Oh.

There is a whole level upstairs that could almost be like a parents' retreat.

And then I have one final little cherry on top outside, so when you're ready, come and meet meoutside.

- All right.

What do you reckon, Col? - Yeah, well, it's― it's big.

- The parent retreat is amazing. - Well oversize.

- Yeah. - You could probably put a few other families in there if you wanted to.

It's gonna take a lot of work. There's stuff― The carpet's shagged. Um...

- Shagged? - The paint... There's a few paint things you don't like.

Yeah, the― the paint's not our― our choice, is it?

I'd change a few things, but if we purchase this place,

we'll live in it for a while and just work out what we need to do.

- Well, apart from showing you this gorgeous green space, it was on the wish list to have a pool.Is it OK?

- Yeah. - Oh, it's perfect. - It will― It will do the job.

- You've gone through the house. We've got a lot on that wish list that's working for you,

but what would you change? - Things that we need to change if we bought this is colours,...

- Oh yeah. - ...and we did notice that the carpet actually needs replacing.

OK. - So... Apart from that, I―

I actually quite like that it's spacious.

There's a lovely big study for me, so... - Yes.

And how about for you? Is there anything you'd change?

- For me, it's the size of it. It's― It's very, very big. I've gotta get my head around that.

- OK. It's got a― - Like, you're gonna tell us,

but I know it's at the top end of our range, too.

- It's not over your budget. Don't put the boot in just yet.

It is actually open to offers of 1.85.

Maybe pushing it a little. I don't know. I don't know. How do you feel about that?

We― We'll, um, have a look at the other ones.

- OK. - Just see where we go.

Although we said one to two million, it's the top end, isn't it? - Yep. Well and truly top end.

- It's a big place. It ticks a lot of our boxes.

Yeah, I'm going to interested to see what― where we go to from here. - Yeah.

- But I like this one. - I know you do.

- Coming up, we will tour this project home with a hobby farm.

And later on, we will see this gorgeous cottage.

I am in Echuca in Victoria, helping Amy and Colin find their new home in the country.

I first took them to a huge home on 52 acres,

but now I'd like to show them something just a little bit different.

It's on a lot less land and, yes, it does still have just as much potential.

Well, obviously, this place is quite different to our first home on the 52 acres. This one is on seven.

It's been subdivided, but you have the option, if you'd like, to lease that land back.

But this is your land, and as you can hear...

- Thank you. It's a hobby farm at the moment. Are you OK with the 7 acres? What do you think?

Oh, what?

- It― It's a little bit too small. - OK. - The house itself is quite cute.

- I just want you to know it's way under your budget.

- We're open-minded to all things. We're coming for a new start, so let's have a look.

- Now, remember to just be open-minded.

- Floors are nice. - Yeah, look at the floors. - You like the floors?

- Yes, I do. I love timber floors. - Yeah, beautiful original timber floors.

- Beautiful. - I believe that the current owners actually knocked a wall out...

- Yeah, right. - ...here, and they've opened up this space a little bit more.

Knowing that the home is under budget, what would you do here?

You could create anything you wanted. - Make the kitchen bigger. - Easy.

- More― More entertaining space for people to mingle.

- What we've done in the past with houses is put our stamp on 'em,

and that's what we'd probably do here if we went this way.

- Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's― it's got some great character...

- Mm. - ...in the house.

- They're two opposite ends of the spectrum, this house to the first house. Um, yeah...

- It's got a charming appeal to it.

- Well, I'll let you take a look around this house. And when you're ready, I will meet you outthe back.

Good luck. Have fun. - OK, thank you. - Thank you.

- It's small, Col. - Yes. - It's very little.

- I tell you what ― 20 years ago, this is―

- This would be ideal. - Would've been perfect.

But we could make it our own. Like, we could do a lot to this place,

and― and it's gonna be a lot cheaper, so it's worth considering.

- OK, you're smiling. - It's a good thing.

OK, I'm appealing to your creative side here. What would you do to this beautiful outdoor space?

- You could imagine decking out to a pool, beautiful big area here. Happy days in summer.

- Have a guess what the price is.

- Uh... s... - Mid-sixes?

- Yeah, I was gonna say― - Or low sixes? - Nah, I reckon it'll be over seven.

- 685. - There you go. - It's 685,

so considering your budget is one to two, boom, let's renovate.

- Yeah, well, when you look at it like that, you could do a lot of stuff with not much.

- You could go on a cruise after. I could help you out with that.

- You gonna look after the kids? - That's not what I was thinking.

- The price definitely is appealing, but it's a lot of work,

a lot of time, and it's― it's a lot smaller than what we're used to from Nicholson as well.

- I reckon we'd end up killing each other. - You're probably right.

- After the break, I catch up with Jenny to learn about the town's local ghosts.

- My favourite is― well, two of them ― Daniel and James in the underground bar at the StarHotel.

- And then we're off to a cottage that's had a very interesting addition.

People flock to Echuca for the many paddle steamers that grace their way down the Murray River.

So to learn more about the region's boat tours,

I caught up with Jenny, who's been working on the Pevensey since 1983.

It's no surprise to you that people come here on holidays, then decide, 'I wanna stay.

'I wanna live here.' What do you think it is that appeals to so many people?

- I really do believe it's because we're so friendly, and we do sort of engage with people...

- Yeah. - ...and help them out as much as we can.

- Mm-hm. - And we're only too pleased to have them there,

because they― they keep us going, especially with the port area, because we love having themhere.

I've been working here on the wharf on― on the wharf doing tours since 2013, and I just love it.

The people you meet are just fantastic.

And then we started the ghost tours, and I love the ghost tours. It's right up my alley.

- Favourite ghost? - My favourite ghost is― well, two of them ―

Daniel and James in the underground bar at the Star Hotel.

They're really cool. They killed each other there. They pop up when you go down,

and they touch you and run their fingers up and down your spine. It― It's really great.

It's a lot of fun.

- You're nuts. - Yes.

- Now on to our third and final home, which is the epitome of country living.

Well, I'm kind of splitting the difference with this property ―

33 acres ― and I think that that cottage, that is really, for a lot of people ―

that is their country-charm fairy tale. Is it yours? - Absolutely. It's stunning.

- I actually― I also noticed that we ticked off your wish list ― the long driveway.

- It's a very long driveway. - What's the appeal of a long driveway for you?

- I think it's just a― a grandeur. As you're driving through, you're― you just think it's...

I don't know what it is. - I think that it's― it's the illusion,

'What's― What's along that driveway?'

The sense of peace building up, the mystery, 'What's gonna happen at the end of this drive?'

Let's go and check out what this little country cottage is like. - Yeah.

- Come on inside. - Let's do it.

- Oh wow. Have a look at this. - Wow good?

- This is what we've been lookin' for, isn't it?

- It is. - Something like this. - Really?

Yeah. - It's got a good feeling about it. It really has.

- In here. - It sort of feels like home.

Like, this― this is the type of thing we were looking to― to look at,

so, no, it definitely felt like us.

- This is a cottage that was moved here,... - Oh.

- ...so I don't know what its former life was,

but you might need a stepladder for the cupboards.

Yes, I think I probably will.

- It's actually a funny little kitchen, isn't it,

when you think about it. - Yeah. - It's in a big room,

and it's sort of half-done or half... I don't know what you call it.

- I need― An island bench needs to be put in the middle so the kids can sit and eat while you're cooking

or doing homework. - OK, as if.

- Yeah, my kids don't do that. - Yes, that's exactly it.

- Go and have a look through here. I just wanna show you this bit. - Beautiful.

- So, I should just give you a little bit of background. This home ― well, this cottage―

was moved here when the property was first subdivided many, many years ago.

A local house painter bought the property, brought it out here,

and an architect added this section on. - Mm.

- So does that start to make sense? - Mm. - The steps, the mezzanine ―

you could tell it's not in its original form. Is that fair?

- It's quirky. There's quirky aspects to it.

- The light ― that's what I like too. - There's windows everywhere.

- Yeah. - I'm loving the light.

- I know that we've got the long driveway, but how about the rest of your wish list?

- It's― It's close. There's no pool. - And this is only three bedrooms, yeah?

- It's only three bedrooms. However, you could put another bedroom upstairs if you wanted.

Would you like to go and have a look? - Absolutely. - Definitely.

Oh wow. Have a look at this. - That's awesome, isn't it?

You could make it a w― a proper bedroom. You just need to put some wardrobes and stuff inhere.

- It's got a good feeling, hasn't it? - It's got an awesome feeling.

- Mm.

- Don't the birds sound lovely out here in this country garden that doesn't require a lot of work?

That it does.

- So, there's no pool? - Well, clearly there's no pool.

Excuse me. There's a little creek down the back, though. - Yeah, that's cool. I like that.

- Yeah, that is lovely. - And when you hear the price, it will open the creativity level.

So, how much do you think it's on the market for?

- Oh, it's under a mill, I reckon. - 900.

- 790. - Ooh.

- Now, look, I'll be honest with you. This place will go very quickly.

- We could see ourselves living here. - Oh, definitely.

It was gorgeous. It was cute, the typical country cottage, I guess.

Very similar to our first-ever house that we purchased.

- It's definitely well within our budget ― gives us a lot of scope to put a pool in.

- Do some renovations. - Renovate to make it our own,

put our own stamp on the whole place. - Stamp on it.

- I have shown Amy and Colin three pretty darn amazing properties in Echuca.

Now that they've had some time to think things over,

let's catch up and see if they have found a standout.

Come and join me. We've got so much to talk about. - We do.

- I'm so excited. Now, I've organised a tasting for you.

- I can read you like a book. - I know you're gonna love it.

But, first, you need to deliver the goods. Tell me how you felt about those three houses,

because I think we started very well. What did you think of house number one?

- Beautiful. - Yeah, the big thing for us is it ticked all the boxes.

We could move in there straight away,

but it― it's the price comparison between them and the others it's― we're weighing up.

- Absolutely. So, the first one was the top end, but I know how busy you are,

and so I can understand that. For house number two, where you would've had to have renovated...

- Yeah, we would. - And― And also when you go to, particularly country towns,

how are you going to get tradesmen? So how did you feel about number two,

where you would have had to have done quite a lot of work?

- Oh, number two probably we knocked out, I reckon, pretty well. - Yeah.

A, it was too small in the― land-wise as well... - Too...

Too much to do, not enough land, right on the highway, only 7 acres ―

it― it didn't tick too many boxes at all, to be honest with you. - OK.

What about number three? Because I know you loved the energy of that one.

- Loved it. - Yeah. Oh, yeah, it was beautiful. - Yes, I loved it too.

- Yeah. - Yes. - I loved it, yeah.

The long driveway. I loved the little creek out the back

and the farmhouse sort of cottage at the front. Yeah, very impressed with number three.

- Fairy-tale stuff. - Absolutely. - So, what are you gonna do?

- Well, we― we tossed this over... - Yeah. - ...quite a bit,

and, really, we couldn't go past number one. We're gonna have a crack at number one.

- I don't blame you. That's the one that made your heart sing? - Yeah, it did.

- It's ticked the boxes. Plenty of room for motorbikes. Yeah, we can run some cattle.

- And family and friends can visit. - You're living the dream.

Yes, that's it.

- Well, we wish you all the very best of luck. Shall we celebrate with a drink?

- Absolutely. - Beautiful. - Let's do it. OK.

- I'm gonna go the pink one. - Yeah, well, I actually wanted the― the purple.

- Cheers. - To Echuca. - Cheers.

- New beginnings. - Cheers. - Cheers.

- Amy and Colin put in an offer on the big house,

and, yep, they got it.

We wish you all the very best for your wonderful new life in Echuca.