Permablitz and Olivier's Place

Saturday morning was showers, breakfast and breaking camp. We packed the car and makeshift cooler carefully, anticipating a couple of days of driving and rough camping ahead. (If a messy house drives you nuts, imagine living out of a car for a few weeks! It really needs to stay organized.) We visited a bit with Thomas and Claudia at breakfast-- they were also heading north to Darwin, but a bit behind our anticipated schedule. We kind of wished for more time to hang out with them-- he seemed like he could be a bit much, but she was utterly charming. Maybe I am just a Bavari-ophile? ;)

The place were Olivier is living was just up the road. He came down and let us into the locked gate, and we drove up to the house. The compound is actually a defunct tourist attraction, having once been a bird sanctuary and sculpture garden featuring the work of William Ricketts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ricketts ) The estate, called Pitchi Richi, that has definitely seen better days, is on Australia's register of historic places. Olivier is living there, though the house is barely what most people would consider 'livable.' He gives us a bit of a tour, and some history of the place, as well as talking some about his plans for developing some permaculture projects on the site.

House and artifacts

Ricketts sculptures all over, disintegrating

Sanctuary relics

Ringneck parrots, unaware it's not a bird sanctuary anymore

We headed over to the permablitz site, a compound that was actually just next door, and over the fence from our site at G'Day Mate. It is the home of Steve Patman, a smiling bear of a man, and his petite partner, Trish. Their backyard was an amazing amalgamation of garden beds and fish ponds, as well as various potted greenery, sculptures and other aesthetic or useful objects. They had been away for 5 months, and had returned to a wildly overgrown yard two weeks previously. Who would have guessed that that would be the result, in the middle of the desert.

Their system involved Aquaponics, where the water from the fish ponds was circulated through the garden beds, which feeds the plants on the fish waste and cleans and aerates the water, which then returns to the fish. They had raised beds in bathtubs filled with gravel, and grew a big variety of things. Our first task was to weed one of the raised beds that had been clogged with vines and creeping cover. We removed the cover carefully, as it would be used elsewhere as much as possible. Olivier and I worked on one end of the bed, while Shawn took on the task of disentangling, cleaning up and trellising the other half of the bed that had become an enormous mass of tomato vines.

Olivier and the weeds

Ponds along the back veranda

Cleaned up front of the bed, tomato jungle behind

pots and things

Once the weeds were removed, I planted more tomatoes and peppers in the newly open space. I really liked working in the gravel medium, and in the raised beds. We showed up earlier than most, but people trickled in as the day went on. The whole backyard garden had a very nice vibe. I thinned some calendula in another bed, helped Shawn with the tomato jungle, and raked the paths.  Steve brought out cappuccino, expertly prepared to everyone's individual specifications. After WWOOFing for our meals for so many weeks, it was fun to be treated so well for such easy work. I almost felt a little guilty.


We were having such an enjoyable time, we decided to stay another night in Alice, and head north in the morning, though we didn't exactly know where we would be spending the night. Steve and Trish live the Do-it-yourself ethic; in addition to growing much of their own food (fruit, veggies and fish), they are both massage therapists. Until recently, they also ran their own shop, Alice Bodyworks, featuring their own homemade soaps. They closed the shop in order to take the long holiday that had left the garden in need of attention,but were planning to set up a booth at markets in the area. To that end, Steve fired up his latest toy, a commercial deep fryer, and spiral potato slicer, to make a late lunch for the crew. Shawn and I ended up taking over potato production for quite a spell in the afternoon. They were tasty and fun.

Spiral taters waiting for the fryer

The place was several acres, and consisted of various outbuildings and areas. There were chickens, a food forest featuring citrus and olives, and several caravans scattered around. There was a nice area for a fire, and a big metal wood fired pizza oven. It was to be pizzas and a fire for dinner. The conversation was lively, and the pizzas were delicious. We ended up staying upstairs at Olivier's place, setting up our big double sleeping bag on a nice Persian rug in a big empty room.

After a good night's sleep and tea in the morning made in Ollie's makeshift kitchen, we again hit the road, heading north, warm with the glow of friendships, new and newer.