My husband Frank and I opened our Cairns Bed and Breakfast in November 2012, a goal that we had worked toward since 2005. We bought our 4 acre block in Clifton Beach, a suburb in the northern beaches of Cairns, in July 2006.
We named our B&B Warrawong Lodge. Our web site is www.warrawonglodge.com. Warrawong is the aboriginal word for hillside, and our house/B&B is on a hillside. People in Cairns hate to see development on the green hillslopes, so it is difficult to get approval from Council to build. Our building fits well into its landscape. We used dark colours for the paint (a Council requirement), so the building blends in.
My husband and I have professional backgrounds working with computers. I continue to program for a Sydney company, but Frank works full-time on our property. Frank's current project is putting in an irrigation system. Jumping into the hospitality industry is a big change for us. We reckoned that dealing with people would be our biggest challenge.
Dealing with people has been the most enjoyable part of operating our B&B. It has been a pleasure to chat with guests from different parts of the world. We discuss politics, things to do in Cairns, and our robotic vacuum cleaner.
