October 8th, 2025Koos on the move
Koos Hulst is on the move, to the Netherlands to be precise, where he met his ex-wife Carol in 2002. The couple fell in love, moved in together and with Carol an Australian ex-pat working for Shell, they talked about the future. Stay in the Netherlands or move to Australia? The latter won. In 2006 they moved to Australia and chose Daylesford for their home because they had bought a property, Sault Estate, and had plans to develop that into a well-being centre. Koos chatted with Kyle Barnes.
Kyle: Are you still involved with Sault?
Koos: Our plans for development of Sault into a well-being centre, planning-wise all went very, very swiftly and efficiently, but as soon we had our planning permits and architectural plans, we pretty much ran out of money. We hoped that we could get some third-party capital, co-investors, but that coincided with the global financial crisis. Everybody was tight-fisted and we couldn’t get any investors so in 2007 we had the planning permit and in 2009 we split up and each went our own way. The property has been sold and after that I started initially doing property maintenance, cutting grass, trimming trees… Gradually I moved into inspection and maintenance of wastewater treatment systems. And that grew from one customer in 2012 and now I have over 200.
Kyle: You have been quite involved in the community.
Koos: At the advice of my ex-wife I joined CFA in 2007. And I’m still a member, but I moved from the Daylesford CFA to Leonards Hill, because we moved to Sailors Falls. That’s still taking a chunk of my time. I’m the secretary and treasurer of the brigade, and that’s quite enjoyable. Later on, I became a founding member and member of the board of Hepburn Wind. As most people know, Hepburn Wind established Australia’s first community-owned wind farm in Leonards Hill. And I did that for four or five years.
Concurrently, I also joined the steering committee for the establishment of the community bank in Daylesford, part of the Bendigo Bank organisation. That was very satisfying to see that both the wind farm and the community bank came to fruition.
More recently, I joined the Rotary Club of Daylesford, where I’m acting as the secretary, which is very nice, because that creates a bit of fellowship and friendship amongst the members.
Kyle: So where are you off to and why? Will we see you again?
Koos: I’m heading back to the Netherlands. And initially, I’ll move in with my sister, which gives me the opportunity to find my own accommodation, or I’m probably looking for something to rent. There’s nothing I don’t like about being in Australia. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be here still after almost 20 years. It’s more that the attraction of going back to the Netherlands, being able to spend more time with my family and friends, that is drawing me back. After long years of nagging by both my family and my friends to return to the Netherlands, they finally succeeded to sway me in that direction. Will I be back? Never say never, finance permitting. I’ll come and check on the friends that I’ve made here in Australia, and in particular in the Daylesford area.
Kyle: Anything else to add?
Koos: The last years of my life in Australia have been revolving very much around work. I have no family here so if I want to do some work on a Sunday, who’s going to stop me? I’ve been working quite hard and I’m looking forward to winding down a little bit. I hope I’ll find some work in the Netherlands but not as crazy as here.
Kyle: Finally, did you know the Netherlands was just rated number one place to retire?
Koos: Is it? I didn’t know that!
