Tamasyn and Robin Ramsay are the owners of Billawin, a property situated in Victoria Valley, approximately 50km northeast of Hamilton, Victoria. The property is a well-established wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation site, and the owners are currently expanding to use the land for education and tourism. In the future, Tamasyn and Robin wish to host small retreats for visitors with a focus on reconnecting with nature. The property is currently registered with Land For Wildlife and the owners are in the process of applying for a Trust For Nature covenant. The property is also home to Wildwood Wildlife Shelter.
Billawin spans 114 hectares of native regenerated forest (approximately 30-80 years old) bordering the Gariwerd National Park. The property features two mudbrick houses and a man-made lake which spans around one hectare.
The block features a wide range of vegetation communities including wet heathland, riparian scrub, woodland/ heathy dry mosaic forest on laterites, heathy woodland, heathy dry forest and open grassland. Some of these communities are rare or threatened.
A wide variety of wildlife is found on the property including eastern (Macropus giganteus) and western (Macropus fuliginosus) grey kangaroos and swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), and there is evidence of bandicoots or potoroos on the land.
An array of birdlife is also present including tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides), boobook owls (Ninox boobook), sulphur-crested (Cacatua galerita) and gang-gang (Callocephalon fimbriatum) cockatoos, yellow-tailed black cockatoos (Zanda funerea), magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen), herons, honeyeaters and many more.
