Moriarty Street - Innisfail
My First Time as a Homeowner
After working at IBS for about six years and settling into life in the Innisfail community, I decided it was time to buy my own home. The old cane farmhouse I'd been living in for the past eight years had certainly seen better days—it flooded almost every year, and I doubted it could survive another cyclone. Sure enough, when Cyclone Larry hit in 2006, it completely flattened the place.
Thanks to my work at IBS, I’d built good relationships with the local bank managers, all of whom were eager to offer me a home loan. The owner of IBS and my good friend Elvio gave me valuable advice on which areas to steer clear of due to frequent flooding.
After some searching, I found just the right place. Queensland Rail was selling off houses on Moriarty Street—one side bordered the railway line, and the other overlooked the Innisfail Golf Club. The house sat on a 1,024-square-metre block, perched high enough to escape flooding. It was an old rental, neglected by both the tenants and the owners, and in desperate need of some TLC.
Street view of Innisfail - Moriarty Street marked in red
When it went to auction, I managed to snag it at a great price. While I didn’t take photos of the inside—because it was an absolute pigsty—you can imagine how it looked: everything needed a good clean and a fresh coat of paint. The house had four bedrooms but felt cramped and poky inside.
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Before moving in, I had some walls knocked out to open up the space, converting it into a two-bedroom home with a sleep-out. The kitchen was completely gutted and redone. A carport was added, to keep me dry when getting out of the car. Downstairs, on one side of the garage, I had a bar built. In the end, I spent more on the renovations than I did on the house itself, but it was worth every cent. The photos you will see next show the results after years of hard work and dedication. It took time, effort, and a fair bit of cash, but it all paid off.
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Living in that house brought me so much joy. It was by far the most convenient place I’ve ever lived. Every Friday night, the bar was open, and we hosted some unforgettable parties. Those were truly the best of times.
Not long after settling into Moriarty Street, the lease on my Holden Barina ended. I decided to sell it back to Holden, and since it was a four-door car, it held its value well. Splitting the proceeds between work and myself gave me a solid deposit for my next car, a Ford Falcon station wagon, which I kept until about 2008.
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The house had old louvre windows, and during the first cyclone after I moved in, I was caught completely off guard. Water sprayed in through the gaps on the railway line side of the house, destroying nearly everything in its path—including most of my lifetime photos. From then on, I had to board up those windows every cyclone season, which was an annual ordeal.
After a few years of this hassle, I’d had enough and replaced all the louvre windows with aluminium sliding ones. At last, the house was properly waterproof, and I could finally rest easy during storm season.
In 2002, I said goodbye to my beloved dog, Marmaduke. Losing him was heart-breaking, and I vowed never to get another dog. But the girls at the office had other ideas and kept nudging me to adopt another Great Dane.
They told me about a two-year-old rescue dog in Mareeba. I went up to take a look, and it didn’t take much convincing for Harley to come home with me.
Harley was my loyal companion until early 2009 when I lost him to leptospirosis. That loss was devastating, and I swore—again—that I’d never have another dog.
Meanwhile, my trusty red station wagon started to show its age under the harsh Queensland sun, so I decided it was time for a new car. As luck would have it, the car dealership next to IBS had a white station wagon for sale. It was love at first sight—and I’m still driving it to this day.
So, why did I leave this little slice of “paradise” in Innisfail and move to Garfield, Victoria? The answer, in one word:
!! Cyclone Larry !!
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Below are some photos of the clean up after the cyclone. As you can see I basically lost all my privacy and my most of my garden and plants. I also lost interest in life a bit after that, they said it was some kind of PTSD....
Des and I had kept up our friendship over the years. Des came to visit me shortly after I moved into Innisfail and again after the cyclone. We spent a few days holidaying after which I flew back with him to see his new house in Garfield. It was during this time that we decided I should move to Garfield and build a cabin-style accommodation on the back of his one acre property.
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Thank you for joining me on my journey