Original subtitles

- From its barren beauty...

To lush landscapes...

The Australian countryside is as beautiful as it is breath-taking.

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

- Today I am in the heart of New South Wales, in Dubbo,

helping our couple Matt and Blake find their dream country home.

It was a pretty good little cherry on top, wasn't it?

- I'm not gonna lie. It was a good jam.

- Now, they're looking for multiple living spaces, room for entertaining,

and loads of backyard space for their dogs.

Come along for the ride as we explore three Dubbo properties.

Hopefully we can find our couple the perfect country home to make their own.

So what do you think you'll do? Which one?

Hello, Dubbo!

We are in the hub of central west New South Wales.

This country community is absolutely booming with opportunity and popularity.

But as you're about to see with today's couple Blake and Matt, there is a new force moving in to town.

Now, they are going straight into jobs. They need a house that is move-in ready.

They would like separate living zones. They have totally different interests.

But they are the most gorgeous couple. You're gonna love them.

- So the New South Wales regional health system

is really struggling to get nurses and doctors out into these regional areas.

There's an opportunity for us to be able to come out and support the health system

and try and fill some of those gaps that are really struggling.

Blake and I are both registered nurses. Blake's nearly graduated

and Dubbo poses an opportunity for Blake to be able advance his career,

access skills and training that we wouldn't get on the central coast.

So Blake lived across the road from the hospital where I was working on the central coast.

We both have a bit of a love for coffee

so Blake would come to the coffee shop, I'd obviously be going to the coffee shop...

- And I cos I can't help myself and I will talk to anyone,

we got talking and then eventually I switched my career over to nursing.

So we got married just over a year ago today in South Australia.

- The decision process for the move to Dubbo has actually been really, really quick.

The offers came out for Blake for new graduate program.

Once the offers came out and we knew that, oh, wow, he's secured a position,

we've now actually got to find somewhere to live and make the move.

It's been a very quick process to find places to look at and decide what we're gonna do fromhere.

- Located around 400km northwest of Sydney,

Dubbo is the industrial and commercial hub of central New South Wales.

Dubbo boasts a relaxing country charm with all of the advantages of a major city.

And being one of Australia's fastest growing inland areas,

I think that Matt and Blake have chosen the perfect place for their move to the country.

Let's get started with the first house which I think targets their wish list really well,

however, what will they think of the style inside?

Come and join me.

Thank you. Our angels on this earth. A couple of nurses have come to town. I love it.

So I need to ask ― why Dubbo? Because you have left an area that many would consider heaven on Earth,

the central coast, or the beaches. - We made the decision together but we moved out here for the hospital.

- Oh, really? - Yes. - Yeah.

Blake had an opportunity to come out here for a new grad program. - That's such a lovely thing to say,

that you loved the hospital. That says so much about what they have here.

And you kind of like the glory of this region.

It's so beautiful, isn't it? - Oh, it's absolutely beautiful.

- Well, that is where I've brought you to for house number one,

because I know that you're looking for a house that's around about six to 700 grand. Is that right?

- Yeah, that's correct. - Yeah, correct. - Love it. OK.

Well, I've got three totally different houses.

The first one, I think it meets everything on that wish list. Let's go and take a look inside.

OK. You lead the way. You lead the way.

Just before you go too far, I just wanna quickly show you this area here.

The main bedroom is there. But this space, this is actually one of not two, but three entertaining spaces.

It's a big call because it's black walls. I know that's not to everyone's taste.

But it is OK to you or would you change it?

- No, that's us. - That's absolutely us.

- I think that you will love the next space in there. Head on through.

- Awesome. - Excellent.

- Oh, wow. - Yeah, this is nice. This is― - What do you think?

- Yeah, really open. Beautiful kitchen. - Already love the kitchen. Yep.

- So who's the entertainer amongst the two of you? Who cooks?

- I do like to have friends over and throw the barbeque on.

- For you, this kitchen space, this is a great kitchen. - Absolutely beautiful.

- Beautiful ovens, great devices here. - Big benchtop.

- Big benchtop. And how do you feel about the tiles? Is that OK for you?

- I actually prefer tiles over carpet. - Well, you've got dogs.

- Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. They don't come inside very often but tiles are cleaner and easier to look after.

- Are you OCD? - I tend to call it CDO, but yes. - What's CDO?

- Well, it's OCD in alphabetical order. - Right. OK. I'd say that's OCD.

Well, look. Why don't you take your time, check out the main bedroom, and when you're ready I'llshow you

the entertaining space outside. I think you'll like it. OK. See you soon.

- OK, I love the feature wall. - Yeah, wow. Beautiful room.

- A nice black wall so it will go with everything. - Yeah, absolutely.

Come on out to what may be your new entertaining space.

I mean, it's completely set up already, isn't it?

- It's beautiful. - Yeah, love it.

- This is a new suburb and you have complete open space. It's an open field so you can hear the birds

which I think is quite lovely because it's a new home, new suburb

but there's still that country connection. What do you think as you come out here?

Could you chuck a pizza in that pizza oven there?

- Absolutely. - I feel like we could, yeah. - Yeah, yeah.

I think there's something serene about, you know, being able to sit out here and look at thatoutlook.

- Priority ― would your dogs approve? - I think they would.

- Absolutely. Look, the outdoor is so well fenced. I can see that it's quite secure all the way around.

- All right then. Well, this is the first of our three homes so take a wild guess.

What do you think it's on the market for? - Mid sixes to high sixes?

- Yeah. Yeah, you're right. You're right. It's actually 660. - Wow.

- Knowing the area here in Dubbo, you will have to act fast.

- We've been looking between the six to 700 mark so I guess hearing that it sits at 660...

- It's a good halfway point. It's good to know what we're looking at

and what we can get for that price tag as well.

- Yeah. Fits right in it the budget. - It ticks so many boxes for us.

- You wanna go and see the next house? Yeah! - Let's do it.

- OK. Let's do it. - All right.

Stay with us for the other two Dubbo contenders, plus I'll stop by the

Western Plains Cultural Centre to learn about the area's creative spirits.

Western Plains Cultural Centre to learn about the area's creative spirits.

Today I am in Dubbo with Matt and Blake, looking for their perfect country home.

Now, we've explored one option so far which I think is a really great contender

but for house number two I have a little surprise waiting for them.

OK, I've brought you closer into town. You can kind of hear

we've got a bit of passing traffic as opposed to the first house.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that we're closer to work for you?

- I do call in in the middle of the night so it's not necessarily a bad thing to be closeby.

- It's not a deal breaker? - Yeah. Not at all. - No.

- OK. What do you think of this cute little cottage?

- It has definitely a country feel to it. - It does.

- Yeah, it's quite quaint. - Yeah. Looks like a nice, cosy cottage.

- What I like about this property is actually out the back. I'm going to show you that in a moment.

For now, let's check out inside and see what you think.

So as you come in here, this is where you can see it's still got the charm, the character

but it's got the modern styling. Can you see yourself living in here? Or maybe you could even― What?

- It's the eggshell walls. - Oh! OK.

- It's― yeah, it's a colour that I'm not overly fond of. It's got a nice feel to it.

- You'd paint it though? - I would paint it. Yes. - OK.

- To me it sort of says holiday home, like, weekender. - Yes.

I know, and you've come from the central coast so that's probably on your radar.

- Yeah. - OK. Do you want to go and see the rest of the cottage?

- Would love to. - Absolutely. - Let's go check it out.

So this is just an enclosed veranda. You can see that,

originally with this cottage, that's where it would have ended.

Here we've got the kitchen. Now this is enclosed. There's the entertaining space right there.

Is it your kind of thing or is it still a bit holiday house for you?

- I feel it's still probably a little bit holiday house but there's something kind of cuteabout it.

- Yeah. It's nice. It's cosy. - What do you think of this sort of industrial look?

- It's quite nice. I still sort of look at this and think, Airbnb, holiday home kind of vibes about it

but yeah, it's certainly nice. - Here is the current kitchen and you've got three bedrooms here

but you could knock this out and have a big, huge entertaining space out here. Do you think?

- Yeah, I could see this as expanding and big entertainment. Breakfast bar.

- There's certainly potential there. - Go and check everything out. Have a little wander.

I still have my hidden gem. I'm very excited to show you. - Looking forward to it.

- Head off that way. - I'll go out this way.

- OK. Very different. We may not have many clothes

but I still don't feel like that's gonna be enough space.

I don't know about the sleeping after night duties. - Yeah, it's a bit too bright.

- It's quite bright. I'm still seeing BnB. - Yep.

- Do you wanna go and have a look at this hidden gem that Catriona's talking about?

- Wow. This is different. - Exactly. Welcome to your second home.

Good hidden gem, hey? - Very good hidden gem. It's beautiful.

- Total change of scene. - Total change of scene? - Yeah. Yeah.

- So this was all one massive property that's now been subdivided,

and this second home could be either a guest house, it could be a passive income,

it could be anything you want, but it's pretty darn shmick, isn't it? Don't you just love theseopen doors?

You've got the light. You've got the air.

It was a pretty good little cherry on top, wasn't it?

- I'm not gonna lie. It was a good jam. - I gotcha?

- It was a good jam. - And it's got that modern touch to it.

- Yes. Now that I've shown you this, what do you think it's on the market for?

- I was gonna say― - Probably mid six to medium... - Mid sixes.

- It's 620. - OK. Wow. - OK. Wow.

Yeah, I guess the facade on this property's got that older, country style. Cute.

I could actually see this working in that if one of us are on night duty, there's a getaway.

There's the potential to be able to go away and do your own thing and not wake the other person up.

Price wise it certainly is attractive. There's more in our pocket which is always good.

- Especially with the need for possible renovation.

- I've only got one more place to show you but everything's going really well.

So keep that energy up. Let's go. - Let's go. Let's go.

Up next I catch up with Jessica at the Western Plains Cultural Centre

where I see how arts and culture are absolutely thriving in Dubbo.

And later on we see one more home for Matt and Blake to consider.

And later on we see one more home for Matt and Blake to consider.

- The town of Dubbo has loads to offer when it comes to arts and history

so I caught up with Jessica from the Western Plains Cultural Centre to learn a little more.

So am I right in thinking that you have not only a gallery here but a museum as well?

It's like a twofer. - It's a twofer. It's actually a three-fer.

We have a community arts centre as well. So all of your creative wants

in one place here at the Cultural Centre.

- In a way I suppose it sort of represents the forward-thinking attitude

that this town really has adapted, hasn't it? - Very much so.

Dubbo is a place that really values progress and really values challenging itself.

We like to be the place where we can show the leading contemporary art of Australia

so that people in Dubbo get to have access to what is happening on a national stage.

- And is that the exhibition that you've got here at the moment? Is that a reflection of that?

― It is. So the Western Plains Cultural Centre has always been committed to showing

new media digital art, and this exhibition from Experimenta is the leading edge of digital art.

- Does it in a way show what Dubbo has become? Is this why you have fallen in love with Dubbo?

Because you moved here from the central coast too. - I did. Yeah, I'm a blow in.

I loved that it had no pretension, and it was always interested in

just embracing new ideas and new experiences.

And the community really did that with the cultural centre.

We've got families here, family reunions, school groups.

Visitors to our region come here as their first stop

because it's such a great snapshot of our community.

I have been rewarded every moment that I've lived in Dubbo with that spirit of embracing the new

and the spirit of embracing new people to the region as well.

It's a really welcoming place, which is wonderful.

- All righty. Let's show Matt and Blake through house number three which is newly built

and offers everything they've been looking for.

Let's see what they think of this one.

Well, this is quite a popular area that I've brought you to.

They call Dubbo the 10-minute town. Everything is so close when you are in the central part.

This is a very, very popular area. A lot of new builds.

Where I've brought you to with this house, it's four bedrooms and it's just come on to the market.

The tenants have moved out so you're going to use your imaginations.

How do you feel about this house and the area?

- Well, so far it's nice and quiet. It's definitely what we're looking for,

compared to the last one with the busy road.

- The street appeal's probably not as nice as the first one, not as busy as the second one.

- But you don't mind the fact that it's a new build? - No, no.

- No. It's a happy medium. - OK, then. All right. Well, let's take a look inside

and let me see what you think, because it's also move-in ready. - All right. Beautiful.

- Wow. This is beautiful. - What do you think? - Oh, it's all black.

It's us. - You've got the black. That's right.

How do you feel as you come into this space? - This house is beautiful.

- Certainly a very open spaced... - It's us.

- No way. Really? - Yeah.

- I wasn't sure how that you'd― how'd you interpret this.

I didn't know how you'd go without the furniture, if it was too new.

But for you, this is your song book. - Yeah. I think the clean slate is a good thing.

Straightaway the first thing you do as you walk in here is you can picture your things.

- Four bedrooms. Three entertaining zones.

You've got that whole space there. You've got a butler's pantry. Beautiful appliances.

That kitchen is sleek, isn't it? - And it's black.

- Oh, my God. And it's black. - And it's black.

- Have a look at the main part of the home, and when you're ready, I'll see you outside.

- Awesome. - OK. - Sounds good. Thank you.

- Wow. That's a big master. - Very big.

- And walk-in robe. - Walk-in robe. Plenty of space. - Amazing space. Beautiful en suite.

- Still not eggshell in here so that's a positive. - That's always a good thing.

- Room for the dogs to sleep by the window. - Oh, gosh. Could you imagine?

I guess we got some big decisions to make.

- We do. - Let's go and see Catriona.

- Come on out. Join me for what is quite clearly a blank slate.

Do you think your dogs would enjoy this space?

- I think they'd approve. - I think they'd approve as well.

- You know, the property's quite deceiving because the fencing actually goes

all the way down the side, and you've got this here, something I should also mention,

is that as a part of this estate, there are the most remarkable walking grounds, parks, cycleways.

It's all a part of what you get when you move into this area.

That's something that's quite nice to consider as well. - Yeah, it is.

- So what do you think it is on the market for?

- I'd be thinking high sixes, towards seven.

- It's actually just over your budget. It is just over seven. It is around about 720.

- Right. - Which― Which is kind of interesting, don't you think?

- Yeah, a big change from the first one to this one, yeah. - Very big. Yeah.

- I'm a little surprised at the budget, given that it doesn't seem overly different to the first house,

to be such a huge jump in price. - And the hard part is that there's winning points on bothhouses.

So I guess we're gonna have to sit down and really have a good talk about it and decide whatwe do.

- So you have a lot to think about. We've shown you three places that all hover around your wish list

so let me know what you think when we catch up next time.

Well, I have loved spending the day with and learning from Matt and Blake

because I really wasn't sure if we had a clear favourite with our three homes.

They loved certainly number one. Number two, they really liked the guest house, didn't they?

And number three, well, they seemed to like that as well.

I'll be really intrigued what they go with when we catch up.

- Well, I've shown Matt and Blake around three country homes around the town of Dubbo.

After having some time to think things through,

I'm catching up with them to see if they've made a decision.

Hello. - Good morning. - Morning.

- I'm joining you at your happy place. - It's just so tranquil.

- So obviously you've been having a chat about the three homes that we saw.

- We have, yeah. - Yep. Communing with the elephants.

- And the elephants have advised you? - They have input, yes.

- So what have they told you to do? What did they say about house one?

- House one has a lot of ticks for us.

The multiple living spaces, the beautiful kitchen, but it also had that amazing outdoor area

that is really serviceable to have friends and family over.

- And your dogs would be happy. - My dogs would love it.

- And so with house number two, I could sense a little bit of doubt with that,

even though you wanted to move into the granny flat.

- I'd move into the granny flat but I just― I don't think it's us overall.

It's very comfortable. It looks very cosy. But it's not us.

- I think if I was looking for a holiday house that would be...

- Perfect. - Perfect. Absolutely.

- You threw me with house number three because I was like, it's not furnished, I'm not sure.

- And you went, oh, oh, we could move in. - Yeah, we loved that one.

- Yeah, house number three, it had a lot of ticks and the fact that there was no furniture

kind of gave us the ability to look at the surrounding and think, you know,

our furniture would fit here, or wouldn't fit,

and it was a very different aspect of it but it was good.

- So what do you think you'll do? - I think we'll go with house number one.

- House one. - Fantastic! - Yeah, yeah.

- Of course. Of course. I wish you all the very best of luck,

and I also noticed how much you love to cook so I've got a little bit of olive oil from my farm

just to― to welcome you and to say thank you so much for working with us,

and I'm so excited for your future. And I also need to say thank you

for flying the flag for our regional hospitals, you little angels on this earth.

- Thank you very much, and thank you for all the help.

- Matt and Blake made an offer on the first house, and, yep, it was accepted.

We wish them all the very best for their new life in country New South Wales.

Captions by Able.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able