Let’s see if I can channel my inner blogger and the beautiful descriptions from the first time I wrote out these experiences. Though I was hesitant to leave my beautiful friends in the mountains, I know I want to make the most of my last few months in Australia. I’m not great at deciding on which plan is best so I kind of shut my eyes and jumped (into a plane ticket to Tasmania and back!) The wonderful thing is that now I have a plan and don’t have to think about it, the tricky part is that sometimes I don’t want to leave where I’m at to do the next scheduled thing. I’m making the best of it all and have been meeting some incredible people! I have to say South Australia may be my favourite state if not solely for the beautiful, friendly and hospitable people I met there.
After eight hours of driving from Goolgowi on our way from the mountains, and lots of shared favourite musicians, we arrived at Victoria’s friend Allison’s place. We were greeted by two happy girls, eager to play with sweet Effie, and Allison and her husband who have taken on the beautiful project of maintaining a gorgeous old house. I loved the history seeping from within the walls, it’s an amazing place. A couple of Victoria’s other friends, Ariela and Yemme, had just flown in from England and were totally jetlagged and hilariously exhausted. We were quite the bunch of travellers plopped down in the gorgeous grass in the backyard. We shared much laughter and travel stories as we enjoyed amazing burgers! Vic and I shared the eggplant and lentils left from the trip on our burgers complete with beetroot, shaved zucchini salad, sautéed onions and mushrooms, chutney, avocados, home grown lettuce and yummy toasted buns. We were in a delicious mess of happiness! After helping clean up, Ariela had fallen asleep on the floor and Victoria went to help her up for a goodbye hug. The two of them (in flower printed shirts) went back down again in a tumble of “floral cascades” nearly crushing Effie and sending the rest of us in a fit of ridiculous laughter! It was an amazing evening and I’m so grateful I got to meet such a gorgeous group of friends.
Vic drove the rest of the way to her mum’s and it was all I could do to stay awake in the car. After a greeting, shower and quick cuppa tea, I found myself sound asleep wrapped in comfort and gratitude for my experiences. The next day while Victoria and Jenny were at the beach with Effie, (I slept through the outing!) I began looking for a place to do some WWOOFing near Yankalilla. The first response I got was from a commune nearby, though apparently no one would be home until that evening. While chatting over a beautiful tropical fruit breakfast, Jenny suggested I keep looking around and find something I was really feeling drawn to and offered her place another night if need be. She is such a lovely mum! Vic and I went down to the beach and threw ourselves in the gorgeously clear waters where I let go of all my apprehensions and let myself feel free to follow my heart! I’m so glad I did because after a wonderful homemade Mediterranean lunch, I called a beautiful couple who basically lived across the street (and up a very steep hill) from Jenny who said they’d love to host me a couple days. It turns out Jenny knew them and said she’d take me over in the morning. We took Effie for a walk as the sun set over the waves at the beach. On the way home we saw a whole warren of baby rabbits hopping through a neighbourhood behind the coastline. They were adorable and Effie was shaking in her boots to get out and play with them!
Wednesday morning as Jenny and I pulled up to the gorgeous property where Ruth and Tresh live, Phoebe came leaping over to meet us! Phoebe is their precious four month old puppy who is the perfect size color and shape to be a small toy but she’s adorably real! I never did get over her cuteness and we decided we must be sisters because our hair and silliness matched! Ruth took us on a tour of the colourful roses in her garden and Tresh invited us in for morning tea. We shared tea and toast and immediate bonding as we looked over their back veranda out at the ocean. (I even had some vegemite on my toast! Amongst other things like avocado and olive oil, tahini and homemade chutney.) After we ate Ruth sent me off with the clippers to dunk my head into amazing lavender bushes in need of pruning. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and the trees in the orchard provided just enough shade for me to enjoy the beautiful task. During a wonderful lunch, Ruth and I found ourselves enjoying deep conversations and decided to continue chatting over a lovely weeding session in the garden. (She was right in that weeding is quite enjoyable with two women and it reminded me of when I invited Coleen over for a weeding party in my backyard in Ashland and though she was too grossed out by the (flying!!) worms we really had a nice time together.)
Jenny came by after our work for the day was done to take me to visit her sister Marge’s farm. Though pretty far out in the country, it was only a ten minute drive to her paradise full of wildlife, farm animals and gorgeous landscape. We were initially greeted by their happy pups and then welcomed by Marge and Jen. Our first order of business was to feed their pet emu! He’d been taken in as a rescue animal and was very sociable. He’s such a gorgeous prehistoric looking creature, it was amazing to meet him! Next we wandered over to the cow pastures where the calves from last year weren’t so sure of a new visitor but looked quite sweet grazing by the creek side. Jen called over her old pony and was checking on him while Marge took us out to the other paddocks to meet the newest members of the farm. A couple of the calves were just a day old! It was precious to see them toppling around their mothers, every once in a while getting confused about who belonged to who!
They also had a few very silly horses on the back paddocks, one of whom used my hand as a scratching post as I reached out to pat him. I fed one of the chooks in the chook yard where we’d led gorgeous Big Bird in hopes he’d feel the need to display his feathers for all the ladies. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood but it didn’t keep me from acknowledging his amazing colors! I got to sit beneath their unbelievably huge fig tree, where hopefully one day they’ll have a cubby house! Before we left we explored the incredible Settler’s Cottage that came with the property that Jen has filled with family heirlooms making the place look amazingly old fashioned. I felt like we’d stepped back in time and we all agreed how wonderful it was they had such an amazing place on their land. Jen hopes to make it into a studio and I know if I lived there I would certainly make use of it! I would have loved to WWOOF on their farm, but as it was I was so happy I got the chance to visit the place and make a couple new friends!
Back at Ruth and Tresh’s we all shared a delicious dinner and chat. Tresh was trying to use a faulty website to get tickets to the Cricket test the next day and it opened the jar for much hilarious computer explorations, including making google talk to us like Elmer Fudd and a Pirate! I was happy to be of technical assistance, with what few skills I have thanks to Ms. Noble and computer class from second grade onward. I was also blessed with experiencing Tresh in complete uncontrollable laughter in telling me a ridiculous story about taking Phoebe for a walk which I dare not publish, but will never forget! Both evenings we spent together proved to be much too short as we all had many common interests and really got on so well with each other. Again, it was hard that the visit had to be so short but I’m so happy to have made such beautiful friends.
I will never forget their gorgeous and sustainable house either. The wrap-around deck seems like the perfect way to always enjoy outside even in wet or very hot weather. The massive windows that cover nearly every wall bring in beautiful sunlight and give a stunning view of their yard and of the ocean. I was also very impressed with their composting toilet and awesome bathroom. Walking through the gardens seemed like a dream, full of herbs, beautiful flowers, towering bushes and trees and a wonderful selection from their orchard. I enjoyed a delicious grapefruit the day I left and was absolutely so grateful for their generosity. Other than sweet Phoebe and Pippa, their cat (who were hilarious together by the way!) there is much wildlife around the property to keep anyone engaged. There was a massively ginormous grey kangaroo behind the veggie patch one night and I was almost scared for what a huge beast it was! I thought it was a moose! Phoebe did her best guard dog impression offering more cuteness I think than aggressiveness. The roo hopped off anyway. If I ever find myself back in Yankalilla it’s so good to know I have friends there with beautiful homes and generous spirits.
Tresh offered the wonderful connection of his friend Rowan in Melbourne where I was heading next with a ride share and it was perfect! We stopped about halfway from Adelaide to Melbourne at Mt. Arapiles which is apparently one of the most popular rock climbing spots in the world! I had a small go at it but without gear I didn’t want to go too far. I definitely felt the appeal though and was so grateful to wake up at the base of such an incredible mountain. Once in Melbourne I met up with awesome Rowan who connected me with wonderful Freeman, a young monk helping run a program at a local Vietnamese Buddhist Temple. After a quick dip in the ocean I spent the evening working with like-minded people to host a beautiful concert and dinner and made some wonderful friends. It’s incredible to me how many amazing people there are in this world and I feel so lucky to be continually meeting them! It felt so good to be a part of something and was inspiring to my cause of hoping to spread education to places where it’s needed most. More on this later…
I’m spending this week with my friends who rescued me from isolated Uluru on a horse stud in Euroa, north of Melbourne. It’s very hot and dry (and also isolated) but great to get a chance to catch up on some things before heading out to Tazzy this weekend! Yesterday we had a fun thunderstorm in the middle of the day and I was out for a walk (pretty far away from anything) and though I knew it was coming there wasn’t much to be done. I was surrounded by dry grassy paddocks of horses, cows and sheep and walking along a gravel road. I watched the sky get darker as the clouds moved overhead. I felt the wind get cool and smelled the dampness of the earth. I could see the wind pushing through the treetops and grasses and hear the thunder rumbling. The heavy drops began to fall from the sky just as I stepped beneath a large tree on the side of the road. I watched the ground around me grow dark with wetness and enjoyed seeing the ducks across the road shake their feathers and let the rain roll off their backs. I stood beneath the storm for a good ten minutes, mostly under the protection of the tree, until it stopped and then continued my walk to the creek and through the park. It was a wonderful experience, just as so many others have been! I love this adventure I’m on!
That is one cute little dog. ;~) Rock on Hannah! GB
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