Arnall's Adventures: It's a Bonus

The sign said “Quarantine Area, Private Property, Entry by Appointment only , No Vehicles past this Point”, the gate was locked and the open entry via the cattle grid did not look suitable for a caravan of our size. So we continued on a little further hoping to see another entry to Bonus Downs, a cattle property come farm stay that we had booked for the night.

Found nothing that looked like an entry so we returned to the gate. I checked the lock on the main gates only to find the chains were just hooked together so we opened them up and drove in.

The Entrance to Bonus Downs

There’s something about country people – quiet, unassuming , friendly, that makes you feel instantly at home. Madonna greeted us at the second gate and showed us to our site. Despite the lack of grass due to the drought, we could not have been happier – shady spot, concrete path to an ensuite, a view of the historic homestead, camp kitchen to name a few.

Bonus Downs is a 33,000acre working cattle property about 50km south of Mitchell, along a narrow bitumen road. Madonna and Lyle have owned it for 25 years saving the 100 year old homestead from being demolished, lovingly restoring it and the surrounding buildings to their former glory.

The Smoke House

Over a glass of wine at happy hour, Madonna and Lyle Connelly enlightened us with the history of Bonus and many stories of their journey as owners of the property – centenary celebrations, drought, fights with bureaucrats over the use of the land, the section of Ooline forest on their property which dates back 1.6 million years and tales of interesting people who have come to stay.

It’s a bonus to come across such a wonderful place to set up camp for the night. Bonus Downs has really set the bar high for the rest of our journey. Thank you Madonna and Lyle. We’ll be back.

www.bonusdowns.webls.net

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