A Very Special Guest: Celebrating Annie Holland’s 26th Birthday at Merilli1885

Some guests leave a mark that goes far deeper than footprints in the paddock.

Over the Australia Day weekend, we had the profound honour of hosting Annaliese “Annie” Holland at Merilli1885 to celebrate her 26th birthday (on the 26th January 2026). If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook (@merilli1885), you may have seen glimpses of her stay — quiet moments in the cottage, gentle light across the hills, a kind of peace that medicine can’t prescribe and money can’t buy.

Merilli1885 is a private luxury farm stay in the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, offering a heritage stone cottage designed for complete privacy and quiet stays near Middleton Beach and Port Elliot.

But Annie is not a typical guest.

Annie is a 26-year-old Adelaide woman living with Autoimmune Autonomic Gangliopathy (AAG), a rare and terminal autoimmune disease, that has taken almost everything from her life except the things that matter most: her spirit, her courage, her humour, and her fierce refusal to stop living while she still can.

Annie’s Story

For the past ten years, Annie hasn’t been able to eat a single meal. She receives all her nutrition through an IV line directly to her heart, connected for twelve hours every night.

She has survived sepsis 25 times. She has endured multi-organ failure. She has fractured her spine in four places.

She has spent more birthdays in hospital rooms than anywhere else.

She missed her school formals. Her 18th. Her 21st. She watched friends fall in love, get married, and start families — while she fought, day after day, simply to stay alive.

And yet, Annie is not defined by what she’s lost.

She is living. Fully. Intentionally. Bravely.

Annie has what she calls a F#$Kit List (not a bucket list), but a declaration. Experiences she wants to have. Memories she wants to create. Joy she refuses to postpone. Not medical milestones. Not hospital stays. Real life, the kind most of us assume will always be there.

Why We Hosted Annie

When we were given the opportunity to gift Annie a stay at Merilli1885 for her 26th birthday, it wasn’t even a question.

This is a young woman who has spent a decade surrounded by hospital walls. She deserved to wake up somewhere beautiful. To hear magpies instead of monitors. To watch the sun set over rolling hills instead of fluorescent lights. To feel, even briefly, what it’s like to simply be, not a patient, not a diagnosis, but Annie.

We offered her the cottage, the privacy, the stillness, and the space to breathe.

It was the least we could do for someone who reminds us what living really means.

How You Can Help Annie

The cost of Annie’s medical care places an enormous financial burden on her family. Alongside that, she is trying to tick meaningful moments off her F#$Kit List, experiences that bring joy, dignity and beauty to the time she has left.

If Annie’s story moves you, if her strength, her honesty, or her refusal to waste her days resonates — we ask you to consider supporting her.

You can follow Annie’s journey on TikTok and Instagram @annalieseholland, where she shares her life with brutal honesty, dark humour and a message that cuts through the noise: life is short. Bloody live it.

Her GoFundMe can be found here: Raising much-needed funds for Annaliese Holland

Every contribution matters. Whether it helps ease the financial strain on her family, supports her medical care, or helps create one more beautiful memory, it all counts.

A Final Thought

Annie’s time with us was a powerful reminder of why places like Merilli1885 exist.

It isn’t just about heritage cottages or luxury stays. It’s about giving people the space to feel human again.

For some, that looks like a weekend away from the city. For Annie, it looked like a birthday spent somewhere that felt like living, not surviving.

Happy 26th birthday, Annie. Thank you for trusting us with such a meaningful moment. Thank you for your courage, your fire, and for showing all of us what it truly means to fight for every single day.

And to everyone reading this: follow Annie’s journey. Support her if you can. And hold onto the truth she lives by — life is precious. Don’t waste it