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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 are way out west in one of Australia's most breathtaking regions, Kalgoorlie.

I'm out here house-hunting with Danica and Luke ―

first-home buyers in need of something for their growing family.

- I love that it's not perfect.

It's just got a really warm... - That's a good way of puttin' it, love.

- ...home― Yeah, a real warm feeling about it. - Yeah.

- Together, we'll tour three Kalgoorlie properties,

while always keeping in mind the items on our couple's wish list.

- Always wanted a veggie garden like that ― for Luke to make me a veggie garden.

- Which will happen. - You're off the hook.

- You're off the hook,... - It's already done. - ...cos it's already ready-made.

- Yeah.

- So hopefully we can find our couple something truly special to call home.

Welcome to the booming mining town of Kalgoorlie, where the streets are literally glistening with gold.

I have a lovely story for you today ― a young couple in love have recently returned there.

They're looking for lovely family home with plenty of space; budget of around 500 grand.

Can we help them? I am ready!

- We met through mutual friends in Cairns.

It was smooth sailing, yeah. It all happened pretty easy.

- Moved in together after three months, I think, of, sort of, seeing each other.

- Yeah, I moved in. Yeah. - I moved in pretty quickly.

- Our couple has lived on the country's east coast, the west coast, and currently in Darwin.

But with a 2-year-old boy and a beautiful little baby on the way,

the timing is just right to move back to Kalgoorlie to settle into a place all of their own.

- My parents are in Kalgoorlie, uh, and then Luke's mum and dad are in Perth, so only a short drive,

compared to being up in Darwin.

This will be our first home together.

- Yeah, means a lot, because it means that I've got my family in our own house, and...

- Yeah, we've got security in our... - ...security, and it's ours. We...

- We can hang pictures on the wall, and paint, and I can have a garden, and...

It'll be so different to renting, you know? We've― It's ours.

- On our couple's wish list ― four bedrooms, so that there's room for all the family,

a big backyard, and space for outdoor entertaining.

So, let's get to it and see if we can find Danica and Luke their very first home that is truly their own.

Kalgoorlie ― known officially as the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder ―

sits in the northern part of WA's Great Western Woodlands.

The region lies on the traditional lands of the Wangkatha people

and developed quickly in the late 1800s with the discovery of gold.

And even today, most of the townspeople are in some way connected to the mines,

extracting gold or other precious metals.

Hopefully I can find our couple their dream home in this unique corner of the world.

Our first property is a renovated miner's cottage, and it's got a big surprise out the back,

so let's see what Danica and Luke make of this one.

- My young couple in love. - Hi.

- Clearly. Clearly.

Yeah.

- OK, so, tell me ― why does Kalgoorlie have a hook on your heart? What's brought you backhere?

- Our family support, friends, cousins ― having people around.

- Well, in this stage of our life, we're trying to get off the ground, so to speak.

- Mm. - Like, buying property and havin' a young family.

- Yes. - Yeah.

- Who knows where we'll be in 30 years, but... - Yeah.

- ...for the... At this time of our life, you know,

we've sort of got everything that we need to get going. - I love it. I love it.

And, so, you already have an 18-month old. - We do, yeah.

- Uh, and what's his nature like? Miles? - He is 1000 miles an hour.

- And so that's why you're looking for a little bit space... - Yeah.

- ...with your house. - Definitely. We're― We're outdoorsy people,

so, um... - Yeah. - And Miles, he―

he loves being outside, so... - And one on the way. - And one on the way, yes.

- That is not a big breakfast. - Yeah.

Yeah, few months away from having two on the ground, so,... - Lovely.

- ...uh, we want the space for them. - Yeah, for everyone ― not just the kids.

- Yeah. - We like being outside and... - Yeah.

- ...havin' a bit of room. - Yeah.

- That's a perfect lead-in for the first house.

It's a 1950s house. It's only ever had mining families living here.

Well, are you ready to check out the first house? - Yes.

- Yeah, we are. - Let's do it. - You're excited? Let's head on in.

Well, here, in a sense, is your period home ― 1950s.

It still has those beautiful little character elements, which I think you were after, weren'tyou?

- Yeah. - You like a little bit of character. - Yeah, a bit of character.

- Bit of character. - So, original ceiling rose.

- Mm. - Very beautiful cornice details as well.

But, most importantly, you can see it's already set up for a family. Everything is looked after.

- Should we continue? - Yeah. - OK.

Well, this is really the heart of the home,

and this is probably why so many people ― so many families ― are interested in this property,...

- Yeah. - ...because everything that you need is here.

- It's a beautiful kitchen ― dishwasher. We've never had a dishwasher before.

- Um, I'm the dishwasher, usually. - Well, I offer to do the dishes. - He offers to do the...

- Are you sure? - I'm positive.

- You're getting a dishwasher. That's all there is to it. - Yeah.

- OK. All right.

That's a relatively new kitchen. You can, sort of, see by the floorboards ―

beautiful old timber floorboards here, and it slightly changes as we go into that kitchen area.

That is a new build. Over here, full second living space.

I'm thinking Miles, your little one,... - Yes.

- ...is gonna completely take over there.

I think that you will really love what we'll just refer to as the parents' retreat.

I can't just call it a simple bedroom. - OK.

- The parents' retreat is through that way. - Yeah.

- And when you're ready, I'll meet you outside in the garden, OK? - OK.

- So, enjoy. - Perfect. - See you soon.

- Right. - Oh, yeah, this is nice.

- It's an OK size. - Yeah, it's a good size.

I like the floorboards. - TV. - Yeah. What's through here?

- Oh, yeah, now we're talkin'. - Is this just for us?

- Yeah, this is the parents' retreat. We wouldn't spend any time in that spa.

- We wouldn't. - Let's face it. It's... - No.

- Um, we'd probably use the space a bit differently, to be honest. - It's just not our style.

Should we go and find Catriona and see what she's up to? - Let's see what she's up to,yeah.

- OK, parents' retreat! Lot of space. - I don't know. We opened up into this, um, spa area.

- Yeah. - For most people, that's probably something they would love,

but it's just not our... - We probably wouldn't use it, to be honest.

- It's just not our thing. - OK. - Especially with a pool as well.

Like, we wouldn't― I don't know. We wouldn't use it. - OK.

- Yeah. - Well, that leads me to the outdoor area...

and the pool. Now, not every house that I'm showing you today will have a pool,

so this one ― it takes up most of the space in the back garden. So... - Yeah.

- Huge, yeah. See, this is taking up a lot of space in the backyard. - Yeah.

- Especially when half the year is... - ...cold.

- It's good to know how you feel about the pools. - Yep.

- So, let's just take a wild guess of what you think this is on the market for,

- cos I know you've been doing your googling. - Yeah.

- I know you've been doing your homework.

- I would probably say around the 450 mark.

- I reckon it would be more than that. I reckon... at least 460, 470, I'd say.

- You are correct. It's around 465.

- Uh, the price is to be expected, I would have thought. - I think it's to be expected.

I think the price sets for the house pretty well.

- I have something totally different for our second home. Are you ready?

- We're ready. - Yes. - Great. Let's go.

Coming up ― we are off to an immaculate family home with loads of outdoor entertaining space.

And then, later on, I have a quintessential country character home.

I am in Kalgoorlie, looking at homes with Danica and Luke.

Now, they're after something suitable for a young family,

so I think this next one might be a really strong contender. Let's bring in our couple for a tour.

Now, this location, I know, is a little bit closer to your work, so is that a good thing or abad thing?

- That's a good thing, I think. - It's a good thing.

- I don't know if I should apologise for that. I'm not sure. - Yeah.

- But I know that, for you, you want something that's easy to look after,...

- Yep. - ...so this place is definitely move-in-ready.

Let's go and see what house number two is like. - Yep.

- Minimum fuss. Maximum impact. I think that you like the floorboards, don't you?

- I love the floorboards, yeah. They― They're very neat, tidy.

- Does it have enough character for you? Because this is a modern build.

- It is a modern― modern-style house, but, um, can't take away the fact that it's a nice house.

- OK. - Very nice, yeah. - Yeah.

- All right. Well, let me show you the rest of the house, through here,

because there's a little room that I think you'll really appreciate.

Well, you can see, guys, it's immaculate. - It is.

- It is so clean. - Yeah. - It's completely pristine.

I think it's really important, the fact that this place is move-in-ready,

because pretty much all country towns at the moment have the same problem ―

we don't have a lot of tradespeople... - Yeah.

- ...to help you out. So it's a priority, isn't it? - Yeah, I think it is, and I don't―

Yeah, we're not interested in renovating

or living in a house that's half a construction site either.

- You've got other priorities. - I don't have the time.

- 'I don't have the time.' And you don't have the time either, do you?

- Nah. We're― We're not renovating sort of people. We're not really interested.

- Yeah. - We just wanna move in and start living in it.

- You really need the move-in-ready. - Yeah, we do, definitely. - Brand spanking new, and...

- So much space. - ...I think it's beautifully done. - Yeah.

- Oh, you know what? You know what? There's a fireplace down there too. - Yes. I did noticethat.

- That was a must for― for us, yeah.

- I think that's a huge thing for us.

- And do you know what's in this kitchen? - Oh, I know what you're gonna say.

Luke! I know what you're gonna say.

- It's got a dishwasher. - You beauty.

- Luke's blushing. I don't wanna make it a big thing. - Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no. OK. We're not making a big deal.

Now, guys, I will let you go and have a look at the primary. It's just down the hallway.

- Yep. - And then I know you wanna see what the garden's like,

so I'll see you out the back when you're ready. - Perfect.

- OK. Don't let him blush any more. Go, go, go. See ya. - Yeah.

Oh, this is nice. - Yeah, it's good. I like it. - This is a...

Nice light. The spare rooms are a little bit small, but this is really nice.

- Yeah. - Let's go find Catriona and see what outside's like.

- OK. - See if there's a shed.

- Now, I should probably let you know, they have a couple of dogs here.

And I haven't even asked ― do you have pets? - Yes, we've got...

- Yeah, we've got one dog. - ...one dog. - Oh, OK.

So, you can see, with the fencing, that's ready to go. Luke, what is the first thing you see?

- I see a big backyard and a good-sized shed. - That's important to you, isn't it?

- Absolutely, yeah. - Yeah. - How come?

- Oh, we're just outdoorsy people, and I'm a hands-on type of person ― like to tinker around inthe shed.

- Somewhere to put his Luke things. - Oh. What―? What are Luke things? - Yeah.

- What are Luke things? - Like...

- Things that aren't allowed in the house. - Bring home or...?

I have to hand it to the young family that is living here now.

I think they have done this... - It is so beautiful out here.

- I kind of love the fact that there is a very healthy lemon tree next door.

- Yeah. - That's a good sign about the soil. - Yeah.

- Yeah. - And just behind us ― over the other side of this wall ―

is a really fantastic veggie garden.

- And I've always wanted a veggie garden like that ― for Luke to make me a veggie garden.

- Which will happen. - You're off the hook.

- You're off the hook,... - It's already done. - ...cos it's already ready-made.

- Yeah.

- Have a guess what you think it's on the market for.

- Uh, I'm gonna go around the 460 mark.

- Mm-hm. - I reckon about the same ― 450 to 460.

- OK, very good. It's actually on the market for 449.

- So it's actually lower than I thought it was gonna be,

um, just in comparison to the first house we looked at.

- Next up, I speak with the mayor of Kalgoorlie, Mr John Bowler.

We have a chat about what makes this region so special.

And then it's time to tour our final home,

a picture-perfect country house with a picket fence and a veranda.

I'm in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia,

which is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. It's quite inspiring.

So to find out more about this awesome part of Australia,

I spoke with none other than the mayor of Kalgoorlie-Boulder himself, Mr John Bowler.

I need to ask ― are you born and bred Kalgoorlie? - Yes.

- What keeps you here?

- Oh, I― I'm leaving the day I find a better place to go.

- As soon as you arrive, you can feel a― a frisson, so to speak. - Yeah.

- There's an energy about this place.

I know also, at the moment, you can barely find a house. - Yeah.

- What is going on here at the moment?

- You can do any sports you want to, any art you want to, and jobs are great ― high-paying.

Uh, we've got the Indigenous heritage, we've got our built heritage,

and we've got our cultural heritage, so I think Kalgoorlie-Boulder's special,

but, you know, I'm the mayor. Why wouldn't I think that?

- All righty. We still have one more house to go,

which doesn't have the immaculate finish of the last house.

However, I think that the character of the home might just appeal to Luke.

Let's take a look and find out.

I know you loved the last place, but just for the fun of it, I want to show you this home.

- This one is nearly 100 years old. - Yep.

- But this is your classic country home.

You rock up, and there's the white picket fence. - Well, yeah, with...

- Yeah. - Give me a white picket fence any day.

- Yeah, and just the initial look of it ― the big veranda... - The veranda, yeah.

- ...and the tinted windows at the front and...

- That's interesting you mentioned the tinted windows, cos that's an add-on. Why do you like that?

- Just a privacy thing, I think. - Yeah.

- Like, to have, you know, no one be able to see inside and still have that light, hopefully, from inside.

- Keeps the house cool too. It gets hot here. - Yeah.

- Very good thinking. All right, so, the outside ― pretty good. - Yes, very nice.

- Let's go and go and see what the inside's like.

Well, you don't need to duck your head here.

I'm just curious ― how tall are you? - I'm 6'4".

- I think that's tall. I think most people would say that's tall. - It's pretty tall.

- Pretty tall. - So, do you appreciate the nice high ceilings in this house?

- I do. Yep, high ceilings and chandelier ― I reckon it's a beautiful entrance to a house.

- And look at that― that glass there. I think it's gorgeous.

- Yes, so do I. - It is. We love stained glass.

That's just a really nice entry to the house.

I love that it's not, like, perfect. I love that, you know, it's just got a really warm...

- That's a good way of puttin' it, love.

- ...home― Yeah, a real warm feeling about it. - Yeah.

- Nice original door. - Door. Yep, I love it.

- You like a good door, don't you? - I do love a good door.

You can't buy a door like that any more with a knob in the middle of it...

...or a knocker. I love the door.

- He's a details kind of guy. OK, something for you is in here.

I know this place is quite different to the last, because it's nearly a hundred years old.

You can tell with the― the floor. It's sort of dropped slightly. What do you think as you come in?

- I love the open plan as you walk through,

and then coming into that wood fire right in the living area is just beautiful, yeah.

- Yeah. I'm really disappointed to say there's no dishwasher.

Oh, no... Dammit!

...dishwasher.

- But that doesn't bother you, does it? - No. Um, it doesn't faze me.

- Yeah. - No. - I'll let you take a wander.

And when you're ready, I'll meet you out the back.

We still have a lot to show you out the back. - Yes.

- OK. - OK. Thank you. - Have a wander.

- Oh, this all set up already for a― - Yeah, it's a good spot.

- Perfect for a toddler's room. - Good size.

- Even for second bub. We could have them in here as well.

- Let all their stuff out and shut the door behind 'em. - Yeah, I like it.

- And this office here would be handy. I reckon we'd keep that as an office.

- Yeah. Shall we go see what Catriona's doing? - I think so.

- Think she's in the yard.

- There's a lot of space. - So much space.

- So much space. What do you think Miles would make of those bedrooms?

- Oh, he would love it. - He'd love it, yep. - Heaps of room for him.

What do you think of the thunderbox?

- Yeah, I'm a big fan. I reckon that's great.

It's a dad's retreat. You know, let's face it. All the big decisions are gonna be made in that room.

You've got time to think. It's a beautiful place.

- I'm a little bit nervous about the spa, cos I know that you... - Yeah.

- ...you're not really spa people. You sort of mentioned that at the start.

Yeah. - I don't know. It just, um― - Low-maintenance pool, really.

- Yeah, it suits the area. - If you don't like it, it's easier to move a spa than a pool.

- That's true. What do you think it's on the market for? Let's see if that works for you.

- Maybe the 450 range, 440?

- I would have thought at least, even more, but maybe it's even nudging 500? I don't know.

I wouldn't be surprised. - This is gonna blow your mind. It's 430.

- Yeah, right. - Yeah.

- Yeah, I was pretty surprised. I reckon they probably could have asked more

and most likely have got it, but... - Price-wise, yeah, amazing.

- Well, I have to admit that Kalgoorlie has a hook on my heart as well now.

So when it comes to the houses that they choose, well, I'm not so sure,

because I― I really thought number two had their name on it, but I think number three gives themoptions.

So I'll be as fascinated as you to see if and which house they do set their sights on.

Fingers crossed everything works out for them.

Well, I have just had so much fun touring houses with Danica and Luke

in the magical region of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

Now, unfortunately, by the time I left our couple,

they were still kind of in two minds, tossing and froing between the second property, with the spacious backyard,

and the third house, with the older-style fittings.

However, after some serious discussions,

they were able to come to a decision, and they have opted for house number three,

the one with all the character. I am just so happy for them.

That white picket fence, the beautiful classic facade ― it absolutely won me over as well.

You've made a great choice, guys. Well done to both of you.

We wish you and Miles, as well as your soon-to-be,

all the very best as you create your happy family home in Kalgoorlie.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.