The Bloss menagerie

Central Queensland farmer, environmentalist and artist Bloss Hickson says she built her first cubby house at the age of six, and has been building houses ever since. The most recent “cubby” is a rock retreat on Huntly, the cattle property she runs alongside her brother, Rhu, in the Arcadia Valley midway between the tiny towns of Rolleston and Injune. Bloss shares her property with a loose affi liation of fellow creatives, international backpackers and environmentally concerned friends. During the week her husband, Rodney Perrett, lives 80 kilometres away on his station, Bungawarrra, and they spend weekends and holidays together.

The self-appointed president of the Anti-Rectangle Society explains that it took her 17 years to complete her new home, which is off the grid and runs on