Nimbin - getting back to the garden!

The warm climate, and familiar language has afforded ultralightweight travel as pilgrims before me have used to take travel deeper. Leaving behind those precious peices of duffel that makes travel so easy forces one to rely on others, and allows an ease of movement and spontaneity that alows wonderful coincidences to occur.

Soon after typing my last blog entry, I boarded a multicoloured bus from Byron to Nimbin. Back in UK I had heard of the place as a setring for a festival celebrating the dawning of the age of Aquarious (It was not just a song), where many alternative types never left and experimented with new ways of living in beautiful surroundings supported by their clandestine horticultural ventures. Though now sadly overrun by smack and acid casualties.

I decided to check the place out for myself, to see if it deserved its grim reputation, The coach was filled with gap-year students, the amosphere felt similar to a school trip. I was reminded of the couch tours "straights" make to see the self defined "freaks" of Haight Ashbury intersection of San Fran in the late sixties. The hippies of the time responded by holding up mirrors.

The choice of hostels was the YHA with pool, and the more alternative Rainbow retreat. I chose the former, interested to see what the relatively straight crew there would make of the town compared with my experience of talking with locals. My accommodation was a tipi, very comfortable in the rain, and the pool was bracing, the people were hard work. Though judging by the faces of the people back on the coach were either unused to the effects of the herb, or overwhelmed by the whole experience.

I spend the afternoon in a cafe chatting with the locals who were a very friendly down to earth bunch. They were upset by the young crowd openly offering marijuana for sale, and yes there were a few smackheads, but no more than one would see in any town centre. The locals enjoyed the local herb, unperturbed by the CCTV recently installed in the highstreet, which seems to have done nothing but get peoples backs up. MJ is still illegal here, and broken trees are testament to the helicopter raids. I find it hard to believe anybody really cares about it anymore. Its main effect being procrastination, and enhancing the experience of the present moment at the expense of dulling of everyday unstoned experience.

I was sat in the YHA internet cafe, with all my kit beside me in the side pouch off my pack. A lady walked in asking if she could put up a sign asking for woofers (willing workers on organic farms), these are people who work on farms in exchange for food and lodging. This was was something I had done at Auroville in Pondicherry, India and something I was keen to try again. The manager of the YHA responded in negative terms, though he did not use the phrase loco parentis, that was basically his gist. Clearly I had to get out of here.

Vicki asked me what experience I had, and when I was convenient, I was ready to go straightaway, and hopped in the car. As we chatted there were so many things that did not need to explain, always nice to meet people who are on ones wavelength. Her place was a huge one roomed roundhouse, with decking around the outside, fed with from a beautiful waterfall, solar power and surrounded by fruit trees, palms and plants on a community owned site.

I was given the use of a very comfortable caravan to sleep in, and made to feel very welcome. Our many cups of green tea I began to feel re-inspired. Permaculture is an approach to creating sustainable human habitats a great passion of mine, and a philosophy I often borrow from in bushcraft teaching. It had always been my intention to visit permaculture places, as the philosophy came from these parts.

In the few days I have been here, I have met an architect who is travelling to crystal waters permaculture village, and Robyn Francis of Djalumbang Permaculture Centre, on of my heroes, whos work I had read way back when I was a eco-greenhorn at stewardwod.org in Exeter the summer after graduation desparate to do something other than IT. Ironic really, as I have been fixing computer problems, and cooking here!

Lots of things to update you with, but the light is fading fast, I hope to clear some more ground. A jumping ant bit me yesterday, which is not playing fair, I'd always thought of them as 2 D creatures. The swelling has gone down, so I'm going to myself useful.

Take care all