Our journey to Wonderland Retreat

Hi, my name is Tamaris. I bought My Wonderland in 2005. The house was structurally sound, but very run down. I am pretty sure most people thought I was mad! There was so much work that needed to be done, and I was a single mother with 2 young kids.

The story of 'Alice in Wonderland' captures Alice's imagination and dreams—her adventures and journey. This is 'My Wonderland'. It represents my imagination, my adventures, and my dreams.

The front 2005

A house is a house, a home is what you make it.

The big trees made the house very dark and cold, so I removed a number of them and opened it all up.

It is not environmentally friendly to have lawns in suburbia, unless it is in parks and public areas, where we can all gather and enjoy them.

We collected all the free bricks and rocks we could find, and built an easy maintenance, kid friendly front garden, with extra parking space.

As our family and business grew, we needed more parking.

Each step of the way, I learned new stuff.

And a fire pit of course. Everyone should be able to gather around a fire and connect with others.

The back

While a swimming pool in our back yard might seem like a dream come true, wasn't. The water to keep topped up, and the electricity it takes to run it were massive drains on our limited resources. In addition, the cost of the chemicals, the maintenance of the equipment, and endless hours spent cleaning it, only to have it get messy a very short time later, became wearing.

These fir trees at the back originated from Canadian rainforests. Should NOT be planted in suburbia!

Side Entrance

It started off as just another wasted space as well as an eyesore, but developed, along with our lives, into another magical world.

Out the back

More lawn! So I dug it up, bit by bit.

I used the limestone blocks to build new steps, and more free pavers to open up the space under the pergola. Everything used was what we already had.

The beginning of Tam's Gardens - 2009

In 2009 I was made redundant from my office job, so I threw caution to the wind, and started working full time as a gardener. My own garden was my practice place, and from there I started learning more, each and every day.

How My Wonderland got its name - 2012

In October 2012, for my 50th birthday, I had a Mad Hatter Tea party. As a present, my next door neighbour cut a log in half and burned the word Wonderland into it.

Building the Retreat - 2014

For years, our old tiled roof had been leaking in various places. I needed to borrow extra money to replace it, so I thought, 'While we are at it, the air conditioner needs replacing', and I couldn't not add solar. And then, 'Well how much more could it possibly cost to just slip and extra room in this space?' Turns out, quite a lot.

On the archectural plans, this room was labeled 'The Retreat'

Plumbing the retreat bathroom into the mains - 2016

Before I could plumb the retreat toilet into the mains, I needed to find it. So I started digging. It was a big job!

First section of our new fencing - 2017

We had issues with our rear neighbours about replacing the fencing. He took me to court and refused to negotiate. As it is with any of these building projects, we had to work within a certain time frame. As a solution to this conundrum, I decided to go ahead and install my half of the fence.

The Cabana project - 2017

Now that this corner of the fence had been replaced, we could move forward with the dream.

My initial idea for this space was for yoga type activities. So I made the floor out of a soft rubber, as used in play grounds. We moved the pool pump to the corner and ran the water pipe from the new water tank under the floor.