Train to Sydney

I left the Blue Mountains this morning on a train bound for Sydney. It is quite a shock to be in an urban environment again. I had gotten used to the quiet life of the country. Later that day I arrived in the suburb of Granville where I met up with my new hostess Sue. Sue keeps a permaculture household in Maquarie Fields, a small suburb 1/2 hour south-west of the city center. More updates soon!

-Matt

The Three Sisters

The Deep Ecology workshop finished yesterday. It was inpirational and nice to have done after my permaculture studies.
The Three Sisters are rock formations in Katoomba. I went to see them the other day, but the entire valley was shrouded in dense fog. I decided to take some pictures of the mountain mists anyways. I went back to the three sisters yesterday since it was clear and sunny. I was amazed to see what had been hidden a few days before. These two photos were both taken on the Prince of Wales Lookout, before and after the difference is quite dramatic!
-Matt
 

Fog in Katoomba

Today, I explored the mountain village Katoomba. Most everything was shrouded in fog. I did stumble across a gourmet chocolaterie though. I treated myself of course! They served my hot chocolate in a candle-lit ramekin with extra chocolate pieces on the side (just in case it wasn't intense enough). Tomorrow the Deep Ecology workshop starts. More soon.
-Matt
p.s. This photo was taken at Govett's Leap, one of the gateways to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are called as such due to the blue haze given off by the evaporating eucalyptus tree oil.
 

Lithgow, Blue Mountains

Two buses, one taxi, two trains and one short car ride later, I arrived in Lithgow, the Blue Mountains. When I stepped off the train at the Sydney central station, I definitely knew I wasn't in the country-side anymore. There were many people in a constant flow, moving from one train to another. The train ride from Sydney to Lithgow was beautiful. Lithgow is an old coal mining town surrounded by ancient eucalyptus forests and sandstone cliffs. The weather is much different here. I moved from the sub-tropical to cool temperate rainforests in a day. The climate here reminds me of home.

My hosts are leaving for Tibet in two weeks so we took their chickens to a neigbor in another town. Their property had amazing views! After that I went for a couple of "bush walks". All to be topped off by a tea service with scones and blackberry jam in the valley.

So Long!

Goodbye Nimbin!

So I'm leaving today, just before the equinox. I'm Traveling by night, via train and bus, southwards to the Blue Mountains of Sydney. I came to Nimbin feeling disoriented. The same feelings are present as I am about to leave. I wasn't sure about anything when I first came here. Now, I have grown, well accustomed to this place. As much as I will miss the surreal sub-tropical scenery, I will miss my new friends even more. I definitely plan on keeping in contact with all of them and will keep some room in my travel agenda to one day come back here. Well, I am nervous now, about leaving that is. I also am excited because a new adventure is about to start. Time to say goodbye now via contact info exchange and one last banana cake of course. So long Djanbung Gardens, Nimbin and the Northern Rivers Valley!

Stay tuned for the next chapter,
Matt

Designs, Tickets etc.

The advance design skills workshop started yesterday. We covered a variety of basic topics about site analysis and client briefs. Today we are practicing drafting techniques that incorporate permaculture principles and methods. This is a nice break from the technical drafting I have done in the past. We are designing things and spaces relevant to most people's lives, not close-ups of bolts and screwdrivers.

Oh, yesterday I also bought my train tickets for the Blue Mountains (south-west of Sydney). I'm headed for Lithgow, an old coal mining town. This is where my hosts live. I met them during the Eco-Village design course (during which I mentioned the workshop I was doing in the Blue Mountains). Lucky enough, they live close to Katoomba (the town were the workshop is). They decided to do the workshop too, so I'll have free lodging and transport! I leave Nimbin and Djanbung Gardens on the 21st. It will be sad to go, but I feel the time is right for something new before I go back home. Now I just have to pack. Noooooo!

More to come/ follow.....

-Matt

Gold Coast Weekend

Wow, a lot has happened in the the past few days, definitely time for an update. The EcoVillage design course has run smoothly so far. We have been learning about what it takes to plan a village with intentional community (similar to the early American and European settlements). The Eco-Village concept points out the redundancy of modern suburbia. Suburbia represents the worst of country and city living. Meaning there are usually no shops or amenities within walking distance and there are usually trafficked highways around.

We received our project prompts yesterday and surveyed the land we will make our designs for. Today we took a field trip to the southernmost coast of Queensland, the "Gold Coast". We visited the new EcoVillage at Currumbin City. It was very interesting to see how they were starting out with their project. They were very organized and by the looks of it , they will create a beautiful village. At Currumbin I also saw my first wild Kangaroos. There are plenty of Wallabees in the New South Wales area I'm living in, but the Kangaroos tend to hang out in Queensland where it's hotter.
From Currumbin we went to the Gold Coast beach. It was great to experience the Pacific from the other side.
There are baby tree frogs all around Djanbung Gardens. This one is on my pinky finger (that's how small they are). The day ended with a rainbow. How appropriate.
-Matt

Dirt, Worms, Soap and Rain

The last four days have been non-stop rain. The surrounding valleys are flooded as well as most of the northern New South Wales coast. It has actually been cold the past few days. Something I never thought I would feel here. Oh well, I guess the rain keeps everything green right?
Here are some pictures of the soap making last Monday. We also worked on the worm farm. Worm farms are a great way to process kitchen scraps into garden compost. They are also a good idea if you can't have (or don't want) chickens to process scraps. An urbanite solution to farm animals. The castings the worms produce are like black gold for the plants of the garden. One gallon of worm castings (watered down heavily) is enough to fertilize a reasonably sized garden area.
-Matt