Off the grid

It’s the first time in a long time that I haven’t been woken by an alarm. Between midweek meetings, early-morning gym sessions and weekend rendezvous, the not-so-soothing tune of cosmic chimes has become a perpetual sound in my day-to-day life. But not today. It’s just shy of 6am and a deep, resonant mooing breaks my slumber.

I’m at Kimo Estate, a 2833-hectare farm in Gundagai dotted with three luxurious eco huts, one of which I’m calling home for the weekend. Perched high on a hilltop, the simple A-frame structure is completely off the grid: no electricity or mod-cons are to be found. The lights are solar-powered, and water is collected from an underground rainwater tank then heated by solar power. There’s a fireplace, too.

I roll to my left and watch the