Meet the architects

All of the architects we selected were happy to visit us on site.
This was a very good thing as, in our infinite wisdom, we had decided that the best way to 'get in touch' with land was to camp on it. But after spending a week in a converted 4WD troupe carrier doing a poor imitation of a camper van, about the only thing Viktoria was truly in touch with was her spine. The Android seemed happy enough to make fire and ignore her princess-like moaning.
We cannot over-emphasise how important it was to meet with the architects on site.
Granted our site is a little more "challenging" than most (to use the architectural vernacular of the day), but we really couldn't understand how someone who didn't see the site would be able to provide any kind of useful advice. Sitting in an office is no substitute for seeing how the architect responds to your particular site, what suggestions they can make on the spot about where to position the building, and any sorts of challenges that may be encountered (which, in our case, started with the gravel road up to the block).

TIP: Always try to meet with the architect on site!

While it was relatively easy to get a 'gut feeling' about each of the people we met, in hindsight we appreciated that meeting with three different firms was ideal.
We were confident that any of the firms we picked would be able to design us a beautiful home.
But as architect-friends had advised us, the architect you pick will largely come down to personality-fit.
Meeting with the three architects gave us a good point of comparison.

TIP: Always try to meet with three firms if you can - any fewer and you may not get a good 'holistic' understanding of what different people may be able to offer you; any more and you will thoroughly confuse yourself.

We were also careful to ensure that, after meeting us and seeing the site, the architect was still willing to take on the project - the architect has to like you just as much as you like the architect or it's just not going to work.
In the end, we chose the first person we had met with; Neal Mackintosh from JAWS Architects.
Apart from having that certain je ne sais quois which suited us, Neal manages to infuse a sense of calm and order into the chaos, which appealed greatly to the ever-so-slightly-anally-retentive Viktoria.
Having survived our gestapo-style interview in the back of the troupe carrier (it was pouring on the day we met), Neal immediately clambered over one of the cliffs and suggested there as a site (instead of the 'safe' sites we thought would be more feasible).
When he asked if we had considered an earth-roofed house the Android nearly blew a gasket with delight. We would have hugged Neal if we thought it wouldn't have terrified him.
Before heading back to Queensland once more, we spent our final night at a lovely B&B in Huonville, Walton House (hello John & Tanya!) - Viktoria's diva-fits about wanting to wash her hair and sleep in a bed becoming too much for the Android.
We were excited, we were freaking out, but we were keen to boldly go where lots of people had gone before and build our home.