Thank you!  Yes, getting the visa was a dream come true.  It happened on
August 30, about a year after we applied.  We were sooooo excited but
Dennis was away working so we had to wait until he came home to
celebrate.
The lot is 3.8 acres, faces west, has some trees near the top and the
rest is grassy field.  It slopes gently down from the road and has a
nice view of grassy hills.  We absolutely love it!  It was very
difficult to find a lot of that size, they are mostly going to little
1/2 acre or smaller lots.  But we really wanted some space.
We are thinking of building a rammed earth or rammed limestone house on
it.  It's a building method that they use fairly commonly down there.
The gravel is mixed with 8% concrete and gets pressure packed into a
mold.  Turns out like solid concrete.  Keeps it cool inside in the
summer and warm in the winter.  With a metal roof on it, it will be very
fire proof.
However, we won't be able to build the house for about 2 years because
we spent too much money on the lot.  When we get there, I'm going to
start working in some of the wineries and hopefully the money that I
make will make up for the fact that everything is so much more expensive
in Australia than in Thailand.
Dennis has been touring 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off in Burma.  He's stuck in
a camp with no drinking and nobody else to talk to except his elderly,
grumpy engineer.  But we like the fact that he only has to be gone for 4
weeks at a time instead of 6 weeks.
Yeah, I can't believe it, but March 15 will be our 5th anniversary of
being in Thailand.  And I think I was on this NG for a bit over a year
before we came here!  Time flies when you're having fun :-)
Can't wait for your update, Pam, and good luck with the kitchen project.
Hugs and purrs,