Cutting the red ribbon

Hello friends. I am so excited to finally be able to say that our farm is open for business! The 3 year process from conception to construction has largely come to an end and two weeks ago we celebrated the milestone at our launch party with the Premier of Tasmania officially announcing the opening of Coal River Farm to the public. To say this process has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done is an understatement. Starting a new business is hard at the best of times but to build something from scratch adds a whole new layer of challenges. There were so many times that I doubted what we were doing and many more times I thought the whole thing would fall over completely but we got there in the end. Mostly I fantasised about how much easier it would have been to buy an already existing business but then again the rewards of watching our weed ridden paddock transform into something special and now to see people enjoy the food at the restaurant whilst admiring the view is the best reward you could ask for. I'm feeling pretty proud of what we have achieved and yes, I do think it was all worth the blood, sweat and tears.

And now the hard work really begins. So much for opening in the middle of winter and allowing ourselves time to find our feet before the busy Summer period begins. We have literally hit the ground running and our little restaurant has been running at capacity almost every single day over the lunch time period. I don't think I've worked harder in my life. I almost had my first day off today after 14 days straight until Daniel called me down to help out over lunch. We never expected it to start so strong and obviously couldn't be happier. The main shock to the system is for little old me who is having to get back into the swing of things after almost a decade off. I am coping, just :-)

Before I go reacquaint myself with my long lost blogging buddies, I just wanted to say a big thank you to my friend Natalie who captured our opening night so beautifully with her gorgeous images above.

Mel xxx