Also, I will have to fill in the pictures later...)
We have been at Zaytuna Farm, in The Channon, New South Wales, since Shawn's friend Byron came up to Gold Coast and picked us up on Saturday March 24. It's about a 2 hour drive through some beautiful green countryside, and I found the trip to be incredibly relaxing, listening to Shawn and Byron catch up as the scenery blew by.
We arrived at the Permaculture Research Institute as the last week of a ten-week internship was beginning. We set up our tent in the camping area, as all of the platforms were being used by interns. "WWOOFers" don't usually work weekends, so we had Saturday evening and Sunday to spend exploring and hanging out with friends and other Zaytunaites at the Pub in The Channon (conveniently walking distance from the farm.)
Aside, WWOOFing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF; http://www.wwoof.com.au/
Shawn met Byron and Tim on his internship at Zaytuna in the fall of 2010. They are both charming wonderful people, as are their lovely wives and children. I am so happy to be able to get to know them.
During our first week we are regular "WWOOFers", working in the gardens with a half dozen or so others from Germany, France, Argentina and the U.S. It is hard work, and I don't always feel like I have a clue. Byron, who is in charge of us, is patient but I don't think he knows what to do with me. The Interns are taking care of many of the daily jobs, including the animals (dairy and beef cows, goats, rabbits, ducks and chickens) until mid week when they take a field trip. Because he is the only one with experience, Shawn and I are in charge of milking the dairy cows for the rest of the week, and the following week. It's hard work, cutting "forage" for breakfast of 4 cows, getting them to the milking area from whatever faraway pasture "cell" they are in, and then hand-milking them. We're getting about 4.5 L of milk from the 3 cows being milked (Layla is about to calve any day), which hardly seems worth it. Not to mention that I just can't seem to get the hang of getting milk out of them! (I am reminded how bad I am at being bad at stuff.)
The Interns left after our first week, so there was even more to do during the second week. By Wednesday I was running on empty and had to retire from WWOOFing. Which meant I could not eat on the farm. I was so spent, I found the whole situation a little overwhelming, and some of the stress of all of the changes was getting to me. Shawn and Byron suggested that I go into Lismore with Byron's wife on Thursday afternoon, to get some groceries and get off the farm for a little while. I wasn't expecting it to help, but I felt much better after spending the afternoon with the lovely Tracy. Friday I spent some time reading and relaxing (while Shawn slaved), then that evening we moved our "new" tent (inherited from a sweet intern couple from the US, Tatiana (originally from Russia) and Juan (Puerto Rico) to Byron and Tracy's place, as the farm was about to get crazy with more than 30 PDC students coming in. Tatiana and Juan are traveling for an extended time as well, and had bought a very nice tent that was too big to take with them. It's very deluxe, with 2 rooms, standable height, and many handy features. They also left us 2 nice camp chairs, a camp cupboard, and a large tarp.
On Saturday we took a day trip to Nimbin, an original "hippie" town nearby, with Leslie who works with Geoff and Nadia Lawton at PRI. She has lived a while in WI and we had met her in person (Shawn had corresponded via email previously) at Gold Coast. She is a feisty woman who has traveled extensively. SHe has a car and is staying a few kilometers away at an amazing Retreat, http://www.rainbowregion.com.au/havan/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12 I will post some of the pics I took later. After Nimbin, we got a roast chicken and some fruit and had a lovely lunch at Leslie's. We swam in the very cold and deep swimming hole in the river which was quite refreshing. Then, Leslie treated Shawn and I to a yoga session with the proprietor, Briggette. She is an amazing Vietnamese woman in her 60's, who moves like a tiger, and the painter of the incredible art that is all over the place. We do some breathing exercises and a couple Sun Salutations. Her french-accented voice is mesmerizing. It was a lovely, regenerative Saturday.
On Sunday the PDC began. I am spending from 9 am until 5 pm in the classroom with 30+ other students. More on that next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment