Six months after ‘Million Dollar Munchkin’ landed on Australian soil, her loving owners are adamant the six years and tens of thousands of dollars spent to bring their dog to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast was worth it .

Munchkin, the Balinese street dog’s tumultuous journey from Indonesia via Singapore and New Zealand has been plagued by health issues, quarantine rules and then COVID-19.

Owner Natasha Corbin said for the first time in Munchkin’s life, the dog’s future was certain as she settled into life on the Sunshine Coast with co-owner David Daynes.

“I remember writing in my diary that I wanted to have days where we would go for walks on the beach with Munchkin and that was what our life on the coast would be like, our little family spending time at the beach. beach,” she added. said.

“Our whole vision of what we wanted when we decided to bring Munchkin home has come true.”

Ms Corbin said the international media attention enabled them to cross the finish line and secure plane tickets for Munchkin and Mr Daynes to Australia in time for Christmas.

“It was absolutely amazing, I can’t believe it happened,” she said.

Over 4,400 kilometers from Bali, Munchkin has attracted a devoted clientele.

“The best was when we went to his vet and when we got there the vet was like, ‘Oh my god, is that the Munchkin I heard about on ABC Radio,'” Ms. Corbin.

“They were really thrilled to have a little celebrity client.

“I don’t know if she thinks she’s more famous now than she was before, but she always thought she was a bit of a rock star.”

Marathon

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Ms Corbin tried to arrange a charter flight for Mr Daynes and Munchkin from New Zealand to Australia before their story went viral, which secured the two locations on different planes.

“I really didn’t think I was going to be back until February; I had been looking for flights and looking for ways to get home and I just didn’t think it would be possible,” Mr Daynes said.

“Then Natasha phoned me one day and said, ‘We’ve got you on a charter plane, you have three days to pack up, clean the house and change countries’.”

Ms Corbin said after years of arranging international foster families for Munchkin and moving to New Zealand to be with her, it was surreal that the assignment was over.

“It’s still crazy to me that it took us six years and kept going for six years to bring her home,” she said.

“She was such a beautiful little pup, and we really bonded with her, but I think if someone had said, ‘This is going to take six years and tens of thousands of dollars,’ we probably would have thought about twice before even starting on the process.”

While their determination has drawn encouragement from friends and strangers, the couple have also come under fire for spending so much money on Munchkin.

“People are like, ‘Why not spend it on starving children’ or ‘It’s such a waste’ [and] ‘Why are you doing this,'” Ms Corbin said.

“It was really for us that he helped us cement our reasons for what we wanted to do and why we are doing it.

“She is a family member to us.”

The couple joke about hitching Munchkin to a treadmill to power the lights to pay off their debt, but they don’t take their criticisms too seriously.

“At the end of the day nobody hurts anybody when they buy a new car and I’d rather drive a used car and have my mate,” Mr Daynes said.