Never in her wildest dreams did Sahra Tohow imagine she would be raising her family on a working farm near Burragate on the New South Wales’ far South Coast. Fifty minutes south of Bega, Sahra, who grew up predominately in Sydney and later Brisbane, says she had “never, ever heard” of the region she now calls home.
“It was so far from anywhere I had ever known but we saw it as an adventure to move and start building our family and our life here,” Sahra says.
Taking the plunge with her husband, Hamish Dixon and their three-year-old son, Ali with daughter, Amira on the way, Sahra says the motivation to move from Sydney’s inner-west arose from their desire to raise their family with more space.
“We tried to buy around where we were living in Sydney for a few years but when that didn’t come off, we started to look further afield,” she says.
With their eye originally on Braidwood, in closer proximity to Canberra, Sahra then widened her online search and stumbled across a “dreamy, beautiful old homestead with established gardens”.
“We had a look on the map and it was in the middle of nowhere,” she says. “It was also bigger and more expensive than what we were looking for.
Hamish went down for the initial inspection and Sahra says at first it was “a flat out no” as the property was so far from anywhere.
“But a week later when Hamish couldn’t stop thinking about it, he wondered if I would be ok with it. So, we went and had a look together.”
Making the seven-hour trip from Sydney, Sahra says it was love at first sight.
“I thought, oh my gosh this is it,” she says. “We just then had to work out how we were going to do it.”
Fast forward almost three years later, and Sahra and Hamish are now running Angus cattle and Australian white sheep on their property while also establishing an agri-tourism venture by transforming their old woolshed into an events space.
Running workshops, long lunches and with weddings soon in the mix, Sahra says the idea grew from her passion to showcase seasonal produce. Adding it was also a “good time to be doing this” with the new Government agri-tourism polices to boost regional tourism.
“The area is really growing, and the Bega Valley has it all when it comes to local produce in terms of farms, dairies and seafood but there are not many places where you can connect with those that produce it,” she says.
“Consumers really care where their food is from and we see this as a way to connect with them.”
With their business, The Wool Shed, recently announced as the inaugural winner of the Bega Circular Valley Challenge, an initiative to turn the Bega Valley into a circular economy through the reuse and recycling of their resources, Sahra says it is an exciting place to be with farming a big part of the circular model.
“Living and working on the land really makes you think in a more sustainable way in terms of the environment, how we consume things, and manage the land we are custodians of,” she says.
Bringing up children in a “happy, healthy lifestyle, connected to nature” who spend their days “riding horses and playing outside in the creek.” Sahra says while she misses her family and friends and the walk to the local coffee shop, the upsides have well and truly outweighed any challenges.
“Our son, Ali is more curious, adventurous and has more confidence in his abilities, while Amira just loves the horses, dogs and chooks. I just can’t imagine who she would be if we were still in the city.”
Looking forward to a future with “more of this”, Sahra says they hope to grow their agricultural enterprise while continuing to spend time together as a family.
“It will be hard to ever leave regional NSW. This is it for us now.”
Instagram: @thewool_shed
Web: thewoolshednsw.com
