1st October 2010 "Permaculture Parr"

Group email 7:

Permaculture Parr reporting. 

Preempting a fairly long email I will cut to the chase, because that’s the juicy part, and the part I want you to read the most. No point having it at the bottom when a lot of you are too busy to read and take in it all.  So here it is:

I arrived a week ago here in Cairns for the 10th biennial Australasian Permaculture Convergence, held at Candlenut Steiner School, Kuranda. Permaculture (Pc) is a design system that can be related to pretty much any facet of life in a way that helps us live a more sustainable life, wherever and however we are currently living it.  That is to use the earth’s resources and our own energy as sustainably as possible. The three core ethics behind permaculture are Care for Earth, Care for People and Fair Share. Beyond these ethics are twelve principles that encompass the design system, but for the duration of APC10, we were mainly grounded in the ethics. 

If you put 350 people in a beautiful place who all share the same core ethics innate to life, you get love. There was an air of love all over the place, apparent as soon as I stepped off the bus. The chefs, the speakers, the kids, the adults, the hippies, the farmers, the elders, the people beamed in on Skype, all emanated love.  Love for each other, the planet and for the amazing work that Pc is doing for humanity. I hope that sets the scene. 

Four long days of ‘converging’ (I believe a convergence has an emphasis on ‘open’ discussion around a topic than say a conference) were at times intense, but mostly rich with conversation, debate, connections and inspiration. I experienced about 10 times more than I was expecting. I came wanting to be immersed in Pc once again (I did my Pc Design Course in Jan), meet some like-minded folk, see what happened. I left in awe of the movement, and in awe of the breadth of all the possibilities ahead. I feel like I now have my mission in life. Permaculture all the way.

I have gained numerous contacts in Tasmania, not least Bill Mollison, co-founder of the permaculture movement, who I had lunch with on several occasions and is up for me wwoofing with him in January (having people stay at your house is a part of Fair Share, or distributing the surplus).  Mollison walked into the main hall on Saturday afternoon and received an immediate and most deserving standing ovation. At 82, he’s not young but sure can make a room full of people chuckle at his humble anecdotes.  A truly remarkable man. David Holmgren (the other co-founder) joined us for the Gala Dinner via Skype. Setting the example for the rest of us that you don’t always need to spend oil to attend an event. I for one managed to attend workshops at the European Juggling Convention in Finland this year without leaving my bedroom. 

Holmgren presented “Applying Design Principles for Activism” using a photo slideshow and one-liners.  Here’s the first principle, and Holmgren’s one liners, to give you an idea:

1. Observe and interact.

• Network for inspiration and information but don’t get mesmerized by greener or distant pastures
• Read the social landscape to understand the constantly changing context for our actions
• Talk to others doing similar and related stuff, no matter what the label or the looks
• Find out who’s done this before, where it worked and where it didn’t
• Failure is a gift, so long as we learn
• We have a lineage and a history, make it a story to tell

After hearing all twelve of these, I was swimming with respect and awe. David Holmgren IS permaculture! The photo attached sums it up beautifully - I did laugh when he put his face in the middle of all the principles! 

Of course the co-originators are great to spend time with, but so many of the other speakers were just as incredible. The pick of the bunch for me is definitely Cecilia. Until recently she lived in North Melbourne (she had to move out of her house this year due to the landlord selling it, so all her stuff is currently in storage) but spends most of her time working as a Pc designer in Japan. Her design is all about balconies and share houses. She was so inspiring because she found her passion in Pc and is doing just that. She says she’s “slave to her heart,” only ever doing what feels right, and for her it’s balconies and share houses. I could write ten essays on the talks she did. She was written down for one, but by popular demand she ran three. I’ll give you an example: 

It’s cold in the house, you want to put the heating on, you feel that you shouldn’t use the heater but flicking a switch is much easier than finding a jumper to put on... “Whenever you are not doing what you first decided you were going to do, then you have a design problem, which can be fixed using Pc.” Cecilia fixed this problem by putting a warm jumper next to the heating switch. When you go to put on the heating, you see the jumper and it’s right there waiting for you. Of course the solutions can be different for each person, depending on the house, or the person, but the way she absolutely uses Pc to solve everyday life riddles is just fascinating. She uses Pc to make sure all the dishes are washed and put away, uses fish to ensure plants are looked after, organises the inside of the house with zones 1-5 (typically zoning is for outdoor food production). She’s so awesome. 

For me, through the myriad of interactions, I have come across the rather intriguing phrase “Social Permaculture”. I know that when Cecilia says she has companion planted people in her house like you would plants in the garden, that that is a form of Social Permaculture. But I think it goes deeper than that, and I am now on a quest to explore what it means, and whether there is a crossover point somewhere where it meets Social Circus, something I have ben teaching in Melbourne for the last 3 years through Westside Circus. It doesn’t take much word-smithing to get to the notion of “Social PermaCircus”. This is the latest coined phrase and I am real keen to see if I can make it happen. That’s what happens when you go to a Pc Convergence! New concepts, ideas and inspirations. 

There’s so much more I want to tell you... (in short) on day 5 we went on a day bus tour of the Tablelands visiting various Pc properties... A 2-acre family home set up on old dairy pastures (after 20 years is now an abundance of food production for the family and neighbours), a 20-acre polyculture farm, a humble but very productive 0.5-acre suburban plot, and then absolute epitome of awesome - The Botanical Ark - Alan has dedicated his life to preserving plant species from around the world and has several thousand species.  The photo of the fruit on the table... all that fruit was picked that morning within 100m of the house. We ate a selection for lunch. It’s hard to comprehend but if you know how to use nature to your advantage, anything is possible.  

On day 6 one of the APC participants wanted more so he organised a local aborigine elder, Willie, to take us out to a sacred and historical site. His knowledge of the land, fauna and flora is extensive. To think that aborigines were themselves classed as fauna until early 1900’s is unfathomable. They are more connected to nature, more understanding of the earth, more considerate to each other than us from the western world. Then we decided to invade, manipulate and slaughter...

Willie took us out to a place where his ancestors were based. They were forcibly removed in 1918. His tribe specialised in making axes, which were traded at the borders for plants, food, and other tools.  He showed us a place on the river where the stone axes were carved using the rocks. The site is unprotected, unsigned and is rich in history. We also went to a sacred women’s birthing site, and a mens initiation ‘waiting room’. Along the way Willie pointed out 2000yr-old trees, bush tucker, trees that make good didgeridoos, uses for termite mounds, and medicinal plants and trees, including a bloodwood, literally bleeding sap. The sap is good for stomach ache (diluted in water), an anesthetic and can be applied directly as a toothache remedy. 

Right now I’m sat at 107 Digger Street, Cairns. It’s an intentional community of 4 houses on a suburban block. I’ve only arrived today from the backpackers and feel so much more at home. For the $22 to pitch a tent in the garden, I will get everything included, that is internet, 3 meals a day, power and water.  We will cook together and on sunday is “Sunday Sessions” which I believe means DJs and dancing.  Every Sunday is a Sunday Session! 

Until next time, be well. 

Much love,

Christian. 

PS Trouble uploading photos, sorry this email might be a bit big for your inbox. Maybe I need to start blogging. Hmmm.... 

5th September 2010

Group email 6:

Hello lovelies! 

Some of you may already know about my plans for the rest of the year, others not.  Its been an amazing 6-months full of inspiration, insight and wonder, which culminates with the decision to move on from Melbourne to a more rural life in a lush place not too far away... to the island of Tasmania.  I am joining forces with Slipstream Circus, a youth circus based in Ulverstone on the north coast, to help them deliver social circus programs throughout the island, and also to be closer to nature, living a full life close to my heart.

For those of you in Melbourne, I am having TWO send off parties. The first is next weekend Sat 11th September at More Fire! (dancehall reggae gig near the Queen Vic markets) - you are invited to join me for an epic dance-your-legs-off occasion:

More Fire (Reggae Dancehall) - at the Mercat Cross Hotel (near Queen Vic Markets), 10pm til late.  

I know it's short notice and not everyone will be able to come, hence planning another large gathering in December... I'm not exactly sure of what will happen just yet... I'm joining forces with my good friend Briar (she is going back home to New Zealand around the same time) and we plan to throw a party of all parties!  Will let you know what we come up with later in the year.

So after the convention in a mere 12 days, I put all my belongings on the ferry, and pack my car for the road. WWOOFing (willing workers on organic farms) Victoria is the main task on the agenda for 3 months, with other exciting trips along the way including the Australian Permaculture Convergence (Cairns), International Intentional Communities Conference (Cairns) and Circulation circus festival (NZ). I'm incredibly excited to go travelling again, on another journey of discovery and intrepidation. If anyone knows of a good wwoof host in Victoria, properties with permaculture principles are at the top of my list, please send any suggestions through to me.  I have plenty to choose from in the wwoof book but recommendations are always great.

As before I will send updates to keep you in the loop with the latest discoveries during my travels.  Feel free to do the same back!  

While I'm here I may as well mention that if you've got nothing better to do between Friday 17th and Monday 20th Sept, here's some stuff you might like to come watch: 

The Couch Show, a fun open-stage show starts 8pm Friday 17th. 

Saturday 18th we're hosting the Public Show ($20) - 2pm and 8pm shows.

On Sunday there are more free shows from 6.30pm. 

Monday 11am-1pm we are running the Juggling Games, free event with a BBQ. 

There's also a semi-secret MJC after-party happening on the Monday night... I can't say much right now but if you want to come and join us, let me know! 

I hope this email finds you well and brimming with excitement for Spring. 

Love and hugs to you all, 

Christian. 

26 March 2010 "Another chapter finished"

Group email 5:
Just 1 sleep left... then my feet land back once again in fantastic Melbourne, nearly 4 months since I was last there.  Exciting and scary at the same time... 

The last 4 weeks here in Tasmania have been absolutely amazing and unlike what I was expecting, in a positive way. I was expecting 5 days a week of teaching circus classes, and a weekend or two away seeing some sights.  What actually came to fruit was a still-not-complete basketball stadium, the delay of which meant Slipstream's classes were to take place on an outdoor dog training area rather than the old gym and not very surprisingly very few kids turned up.  
Plan B was quickly devised: hire a local school hall two afternoons a week and try and get the numbers up for those sessions for the remaining 3 weeks, to try and rehab the numbers. Worked a treat. We got kids, 17 on one occasion, plus it meant I had 5 days off rather than 2.  Score.  My 16hrs/week contract remained active so the 10 non-teaching hours/week were spent carefully tweaking policies and procedures that were definitely in need of attention. (I finished my last paid hour of work yesterday arvo and have been celebrating my glorious achievement once again (I've had heaps of glorious achievements on this trip!) with one of my old friends, Mr Stone's Green Ginger Wine). So with these schedule alterations in my diary I decided to hire a car for 11 days and make best use of those days off, in the end seeing a great deal of the island, catching up with a few friends and making a bunch of brand new friends too.

I'm aware of the epic-ness my emails have become (I'd be impressed to hear if anyone managed to read them all top to bottom).  I've been adding photos for those who have less time and prefer to just scan photos rather than read rambles of a person chasing their dreams. Both options are valid and this email is no different. 

So, Tasmania.  Not that different to New Zealand (the most notable differences are that no-one calls me bro, there are no indigenous people left from what I could see, and the mountains are smaller) but its definitely much much closer to Melbourne.  

With the freshness of Permaculture, environmental sustainability, intentional communities, organic food production, and my two freshly trained eyes for the beautifully simple and abundant ability of nature to exist effortlessly as it does, I set off on the road to have a good look around and see what I could see. You will probably see from some of my photos, that not only are huge big gaping vistas incredibly beautiful, but a minute detail within a forest also has unquestionable beauty also. 

During those 11 days I saw so much, and have felt a great deal too. There's something special about this part of Australia, which is probably why Tasmanians seem to put this island quite separate to Australia, even going as far to say it's a separate country altogether. 

The photos do most of the talking when it comes to some of the things I saw, but by far the biggest impacts I have had on my psyche have been people. More specifically their ideas, their communities (and the abundant knowledge contained within them), their location, their freedoms and their restraints. 
Living rurally, or planning to, building their own houses, designing them, Earthships, food production, the system, permaculture, straw bale, mud render, solar water, WWOOF, harvesting clean energy, politics, compost, acreage, dams, cob ovens, chooks, the list goes on... all were seen or discussed.  So much food for thought, so much desire to join them in the amazing things they do, so much  excitement on my part. 

I was going to write more about my trip, I felt like there was so much to say, but I actually can't find the words. What I've discovered actually seems too big for words. Hopefully the photos can give you some insight instead of my ramblings. 
OK so I'm gonna clock off with a thank you. 

Thank you to all the beautiful people who joined me on this trip of discovery over the last 4 months, whether it was for half an hour or a whole month. I realise that without my friends life would be very different. I managed to travel for 4 months and only pay for one night of accommodation. The universe, and my friends are looking out for me. What an awesome feeling.

May you have a dream and one day realise that that dream has become your life. 

With love, 

Christian.

23rd Feb 2010 "Last Leg"

Group email number 4:


Kia Ora, 

I find it very hard to believe that this big trip is already so close to ending. I leave NZ in 2 days and then have a month in Tassie, teaching circus and hopefully getting out to see a bunch of people and places; a quarter of the trip left, I guess that's about right. I imagine this last month will zip by and before I can even start to close my eyes to blink, I'll be arriving back at Tullamarine Airport wondering how time managed to speed up so damn fast!

I think I last wrote from Sydney, just before hitting NZ soil.  That I have certainly done since, and approximately a million other things on top... no less than design my friend's intensive food production at his newly hand-built home here in Whangarei, Northlands.  I'll start at the beginning...

I arrived about 1am at Hamilton airport and was greeted by my very dear close friend Irene, whom I studied circus with at CircoArts 7 years ago. Her partner Damien now owns Circus Aotearoa, and her two children Artemis and Matthias are both growing up to be very intelligent and entertaining young people.  
I spent a few days hanging out with them at their farm just outside Raglan, helping with daily chores such as feeding the chooks and pigs, moving the goat, checking the possum traps. She regularly has WWOOFers to help with these sorts of things but no-one was staying while I was there. And then all of a sudden we were on the road. Heading North to Waihi where the circus had pulled up for the weekend, Irene was needed to fill in while a couple of performers were having a break. I decided to join in, do the act I had brought with me for the Convention, so performed a couple of times, which served a great way to warm up my act for the jugglers... 
I enjoyed the 3 days with Aotearoa but am certain the circus life on the road is not for me. No way. Much respect to those who choose that life for themselves, it certainly leads to a very close-knit community of people, a team if you like all living together making it work. Matthias, I am sure will spend some years doing exactly that when he's 18 or so. Matthias did his characterful triple-stack rola-bola routine and Artemis did a cute tissu routine with mum, amongst others. 

A few days back home, and then we hit the road again, bee-line for Levin, the host for the 2010 NZJC. As soon as we arrived I jumped into my role of workshop co-ordinator, writing up all the workshops Jo and I had compiled over the previous 3 or 4 months, and running one pretty much straight away (I ran 8 workshops in total!). All in all, NZJC was a great big fat hit. They broke even, the public show rocked the house, the venue ran 24-hours, the renegades were action packed... the only down sides were a lack of table-tennis table, my inability to win any of the games (!), and no-one putting their hand up to run the next festival next year.  Yeah, this last one is a big one but there is hope (read on). 

There was a small after party in the very local and beautiful Kimberly Reserve down the road, where people had their last juggles and said their final farewells. I had said my emotional goodbye to Irene at the convention, and my next lift was with Drew and his 'whanau' (pronounced 'farnow'). Another full car of kids and peeps; his partner Ilona is expecting her second child, nearly 1yr-old Django was with us along with teenager Ann... we were indeed very cosy! 
I've been here almost 3 weeks now. I have found it very chilled out here, despite having a baby and teen around. They all seem to get on so well (compared to my family, it's really nice to see), and Django is by far the most chilled out baby I have ever come across, gets it from his folks I reckon.
So this part of the trip was something I was looking very much forward to, even more than SJC or NZJC, as I had arranged to help Drew with designing is garden, with none other than my new faithful buddy, Mr Permaculture. 
Drew's spent the last 2 years solid building his home, and done a very very good job of it too.  With jawdropping views East & West from here, high up on a ridge, he'd lost momentum for the rest... the garden, landscaping, pathways, etc.  
So while I got shown around this stunningly amazing part of NZ (the real Far North; the surrounds; his two properties; the local falls; the beach; the lookout) and got fed meals, entertainment and shelter, in return I spent my days in the kitchen with my new retractable pencil, a tape measure and an A3 pad of paper, to set about designing his food production.  
To cut a long story short, I had my hump, during the first concept design, but sure enough got over that and this morning finished off drawing number 7.  I completed the front sheet (together with a logo for "Parr's Permaculture Design" and have handed over my work to Drew and Ilona, job done.  I truly feel ecstatic that I did what I came here to do and Drew and Ilona have both said they are also stoked with the outcome.  While I've been here, Ilona's bro Hugo has also been staying to do some WWOOFing work and has already implemented some paths and steps I outlined in my designs for part of the property, so I've realeady been able to see my design come to life a bit! I hope to revisit next year to see how they have progressed with their implementation.  I'm particularly proud of my balcony design, which has an innovative bed that also houses a sandpit and a paddling pool, and the way I managed to design in a 10-degree ramp in the outdoor garden to allow access to the higher raised beds from the ground level. I have copies of the designs on my comuter so if you wanna have a look, please come round to my place when I get back, I'll be happy to talk you through them! 
So yeah, New Zealand.  I could absolutely live here! I think if all else fails I definitely would... but to get to the point where all else fails, I have many many other options to test out first. 2010 is really shaping up to be quite a year! 

I have attached a HEAP of photos this time, some from the Far North, some along the way, some with Irene, and a few others which should be self-explanatory. In short, it is so stunning here, increasingly the more North you go... there's not that many people here, the roads are pretty quiet, especially if you compare them to Australia, there are more Maori up here, coming across several private Maori sites, private beaches with small graveyards attached - their true cultural settlements, some untouched, some hideously threatened by white-people's buildings. Its pretty sad to see sometimes but the Maoris did have a better time than our aborigines, that's for sure. 

Man, I need to go spend some times with my host, I hope you enjoy this email, and life as it continues in this never-ending spiral of awesomeness. 

Much love to you all, 



Christian.

28th Jan - "Glass Half Full..."

3rd Group Email:


Hey hey!  It's time for another update! 

Hope you're going well... the first month of 2010 proving fruitful, fun-full, friend-full, restful, healthful. It has for me, that's for sure. Thanks to all of you who worte back with your own news, or to comment on mine. Its so nice to be connected to people while on this amazing journey of discovery. 
I hit NZ tonight, here's an update about the last month...  

Last time I wrote I had just arrived Nimbin, fresh out of Woodford Folk Festival. I spent the next 3 weeks in the modest town located in Northern NSW, inland from Byron Bay.  Its a town of only a few hundred people which is controversially known as a drug den, illegal sanctuary, complete with its own hemp museum. It was quite a pleasant surprise to spend a decent amount of time there and find a whole lot more than people on or selling drugs, as you might expect given the gossip you hear associated so often to Nimbin.  
After a few days of decompression at my friend Janee's house just outside Nimbin, I found myself at Djanbung (Platypus) Gardens Permaculture Education Centre to embark on the course around which this whole trip has been carved. 
As soon as I got there I got a big fat hug from my good friend Tracey, one of my oldest Aussie friends from Melbourne. I forgot I was going to see her, so that was an awesome surprise! Tracey and her partner John are currently studying the Cert III in Permaculture, last year they posted a million inspiring photos on Facebook which caught my eye and voila, I booked myself on the short intensive design course (72-hr PDC).

I arrived almost a week early so that I could get my WWOOFing discount. In return for 20% off the course fee and free accommodation I helped out on the farm for all 5 days. 5 sweaty long hot humid sweaty days.  Did I mention the sweat?  Wowsers!  Serious humidity, plus energetic manual labour (mostly pushing a petrol mower around, cutting grass up to my knees) plus minimum 30 degrees most of the day, equals sweat... lots of it.  I think around day 3 it rained.  It rained and rained and rained and oh how sweet it was to push the mower around in the rain. 
As you can probably imagine I was quite glad to start the course after all the hard work and sweat. Slowly the participants arrived on the first day and by 2pm everyone had arrived for the course intro session. We did our introductions (unbelievably, there were two other Brummies in the room!!! Brummies are people from Birmingham - where I was born - what's the chance of 3 in the same room on the same course??? Freaky!). There were 12 of us in total. During the course we each signed up for daily jobs, such as feeding the animals, weeding, prepping food, washing up, cleaning... my favourite was feeding the pigs. Pure entertainment! 
Robyn Francis created Djanbung and did a bloody good job if you ask me, designing the education centre herself on 5.5 acres of land. Compacted mud brick building, water & waste recycling, you name it, she designed it. Awesome! 

I'd love to go through my whole PDC experience in one email but it would be an incredibly long email, so I'll give you an idea with some words/phrases:
Djanbung:
Pigs, ducks, chooks, turkeys, 3 railway carriages for accommodation, campsite, composting loos, orchard, bamboo for construction (I am so inspired by bamboo!), reed beds that turn black water (sewage) into pond water, swales, dams, food forest, wallabies, kookaburras, snakes, lizards, bandicoots, possums... 
PDC:
Learning modes, patterns in nature, zones 1-5, water harvesting, bush food walk in tropical rain forest, animals, succession, soil, pest management, building structures, intentional communities, compost, worms, sector analysis, catastrophe, tour of Jarlanbah Intentional Community, organic water treatment, 
Awesomeness:
Video nights, end-of-PDC open stage show, ginger beer, meeting the locals, free swimming pool in town, juggling by the pool, Hanging Rock with the kids (most amazing swimming hole ever!), hanging out and chatting with Ko a guy on the course, communal dinners, Robyn's cooking, mum & dad visiting for a day... 

I think you get the idea... lots of inspiration, a super crammed head full of information... what to do with it all? I expect (hope) that will become clear over the next 2 months!

So from Nimbin, I flew direct to the Sydney Juggling Convention, which ended a couple of days ago.  Wow!  What a culture shock.  I was a bit apprehensive about the imminent transition from deep rural to major urban, but it had to be done.  I arrived SJC just a few hours after leaving Nimbin, and it took me a good few hours to come to terms with it. My immediate feeling regarded the throwing of plastic in the air and catching them again as ridiculousness. But I also didn't want to just forget about what happened in Nimbin, start juggling and forget the valuable lessons I learned while in Nimbin - Permaculture is a way to live sustainably, a vehicle we can use to repair the damage to the earth so far inflicted, a way to bring the community together, to help each other help ourselves. I truly believe in it. 
But, back to juggling... I get it again now.... Of course, its heaps of fun! 
Favourite moments:
Wes Peden showing me 6 ways into 5-clubs using multiplexes, after me showing him one that I can't do very well - he hadn't seen it before (!) but landed it straight away.  
Wes Peden comfortably winning the 7-ball endurance with 7 clubs.
All the people wearing MJC t-shirts!  So many of them! 
Learning 7 new hula hoop tricks.
Several people coming up to me and congratulating me on MJC success.
Seeing all my friends from Melbourne (27 people came up from Melbourne for SJC)
Realising how fantastic the juggling community is in Australia, how united we are, makes me so happy. 

Wow, its an epic email this time.  Thanks for reading, I better pack my stuff up and call a cab. 

Will write again in a month when I get to Tassie. BTW you're still invited to send me some news from your end, or just to say hi!  

Much love, have a fantastic February. 

Christian xxx

3rd Jan 2010 "Happy New YEar - The Awesomeness Continues"

2nd Group Email:


Happy New Year to you all!  I hope 2010 is already feeling as fresh and inspiring for you as it is me. 

I last wrote to you from Canberra, a very strange place... I have since been in Brisbane for a week and Woodford Folk Festival for the last 11 days.  Yesterday night I arrived Nimbin, where I am finding it easy to recollect myself and my energy for the next stint of the epic journey of discovery... 

Brisbane... I could definitely live in Brisbane. Its awesome - friendly people,very pretty city as far as cities go (boardwalks that extend the whole length of the winding river through the centre of the city, through botanical gardens, past southbank swimming pool disguised as a beach, past numerous bridges linking to the other side of the river, bike paths a-plenty too) and the climate really does bring with it an amazing ability to grow exotic plants - banana tree in George's back yard laden with fruit, mango trees dropping fruit all over the pavement - the trees produce more than people seem to be able to eat!  I can imagine that growing food in QLD is easy to do in abundance. There were many storms indicating that water is not in hugely short supply - yes they are experiencing a drought too, but seems nothing like that of Melbourne's drought.

After a few days I moved from George's place (New Farm) to Mark's place (Paddington). Two very different parts of Brisbane, Paddington felt like an expensive place to live, but was a heaven for good health food shops.  I seem to have become a connoisseur of health food shops, and can tell a good one within the first 10 seconds of walking in the door. The further away I feel I am from a supermarket, the better. After a few awesome days with Mark, a good friend I used to pass clubs with in Melbourne, I got picked up by Gabe to go to her house and start the prep for Woodford.  2nd in command meant starting work as soon as I landed at her house.  Well, after a swim in her pool and a session in her full-body massage chair, that was!

It took two trips to the site to get everything we needed there to start with... other stuff was to follow n other various cars, vans and campers. A good friend Jen and I arrived onsite on Xmas eve, set up a bunch of tents and started setting up the donga (circadia's office space). The festival kicked off on 27th Dec, by which time all 50 circadia crew were settled in, tents/vans set up, and roles were established.  Quite an undertaking for us, let alone the entire festival!  2,200 volunteers, 150,000 punters in total! Out of my three Woodfords, this one was by far the best.  Our campsite rocked, 5 minutes walk from work (circadia), the weather behaved, massage chair in the donga, all in all win win win win win. I could write forever about all the millions of amazing things that happened but instead will do it in small phrases (in no particular order): 

chai from the lemonade stall - windchimes - access all areas - hugs - greenhouse talks - teamwork - being sober - connecting with beautiful people - sunrise Jan 01 - ops, the beating heart - rain - Flap! - 3-minutes silence - massages - Mr Percival made me cry - Geoff Lawton - synchronicity - permaculture - inspiration - love - blue moon - holding hands - sharing - remembering my brother - chai tent - humidity - circadia - Ian Lowe - cloudland - hot showers - eating dinner for breakfast - 1 hour of sleep followed by 13 hours of sleep 

Yesterday I managed to connect with my lift and head offsite early afternoon with Janee, Chinta, Matisse and Nahani, a family living just outside Nimbin.  We arrived yesterday, I cooked us dinner and hit the sack by 10.  A humungus sleep on a level bed (our camp was on a decent slope at WF) brought me close to normal today.  Another good feed tonight (BBQ is cranking now) and sleep and I'm ready for the Permaculture Course on Tuesday (day after tomo).  Its all worked out so perfectly, I feel better climatised to the humidity, and up for 3 weeks of hard slog on a farm working towards the permaculture dream.

As I said before, I hope that moving into 2010 is inspiring for you.  My vision as I head into this new year is one of humankind managing to heal the earth so that we are allowed to continue to inhabit it. 

If we look after the earth it will look after us. 

Be well & be happy...

Christian.

12th December 2009 - Journey begins

GROUP EMAIL 1 

You'll have to forgive the bulk-email-ness of it all... I put together a list of people I want to keep up-to-date while I'm away: some people I will bump into on the road, some may be relatively close the road, and some people on the list are unforgotten friends in my old home country, England. I have to confess, I'm not coming to the UK this year or next year as I had planned... I recently decided to bail on that idea, and embark on a trip closer to home. This way I can invest my energy into my life & career in Australia, rather than semi-aimlessly galabant around Europe spending all my hard-earned cash... Allow me to explain:

A week ago my housemates and I held a farewell party at my house in Melbourne, saying goodbye to friends near and dear. Yesterday I left Melbourne on a 4 month trip to chase a dream, follow my heart, and bring in the things that have become so important to me. It's a long time to spend away from home but on a personal level it's a pretty epic trip... My return will see me inspired and learned for the next big chapter in my life.
The pinnacle of the trip is a 14-day intensive Permaculture Design Course in Nimbin during January. Around this I have carefully sculpted the other 14 weeks.

I arrived Canberra yesterday, for a 5-day holiday before the craziness begins. Canberra's a strange place, I have to say. The city has been meticulously planned (aerial photos make the city look like a maze), a huge man-made lake sits by the government buildings in the centre, and the shopping precinct is a little way away from that, and called 'Civic'. I am staying with my good friend Sacha and his folks.  It's been action packed already here, the highlight being the Walk for Warming we were at this morning. Despite my borrow-bike breaking halfway there (meaning the others had to ride home to get the car to come and get me, and then drive us to the protest), we managed to be a part of the walk. It seemed like a pretty low turnout, maybe 1000 people, which is quite depressing when you think about what it was that we were there for... to ask that the government help us reduce the amount we pollute our earth... I will save you the rant.

After Canberra, Sacha and I head to Brisbane, to stay with a friend there. For the next 10 days, including xmas and NY, I'm onsite at Woodford Folk Festival (my 3rd year in a row). I'm acting as 2nd in charge of the circus tent, plus teaching a heap and having fun a heap too. Straight from the festival I will get a lift to Nimbin, catching up with a couple of friends there before heading to Djanbung Gardens Permaculture Centre. Permaculture is something that I have become incredibly passionate about, as it (amongst other things like producing organic food & harvesting water/energy) can directly help us reduce global warming and move away from our societal addiction to oil. I believe in it wholly as one of the tools that can help us move away from the looming threat we find ourselves facing. For more, check out countless youtube videos:
Search for: Bill Mollison (Permaculture); Richard Heinberg (Peak Oil); Rob Hopkins (Transition Towns).  If you want more references, let me know =:o)

After Nimbin I head to the Sydney Juggling Festival for 3 days of blistering fun, then to Hamilton (NZ) to stay with a good friend who lives on a farm in Raglan. Their self-sufficient lifestyle on 30 acres will be a feast for my senses. the family and I all pile into a car and we drive south to Levin for the NZ Juggling Convention. I'm helping run workshops, perform and do some back-end organising for the crew, which earned me a free flight over. My final destination for NZ is Whangarei, North of Auckland, where I will spend 2 weeks hanging with my good friend Drew and his family. the plan is to help him build his house and to implement my first permaculture garden design for the blank space he's left aside. Lastly, I fly to Tasmania where I have been booked as a circus trainer for Slipstream Circus, teaching for 4 solid weeks, before heading back to Melbourne, to my old room in Coburg. 

So that's the plan, and you're all people I've decided to send photos and stories to. If you don't want to get them, or its the wrong email address, or whatever, I won't be upset if you tell me. I will be happy to remove you from this list, amend your details...

I will stick to emailing in bulk, and will occasionally send photos. If you reply I will reply to you personally. If you are in any of the places on my route, get in touch! It would be lovely to see you & hang out! And if you have any ideas about what I might like to do wherever I plan to go, other links to thinsg I should know, please send me a line! If you just wanna say hi, do that too!

I hope this emails finds you well, and I wish you oodles of happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

With love,

Christian xxx