Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
21 Jan 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
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Details
Description
Our place consists of our homemade wooden house (built 1980-84) , contoured food-tree swales and caged orchard/gardens , embedded in open forest on our beautiful mountain ( Bulga ) Plateau, 2 hours west of Port Macquarie NSW (also 23km from Ellenborough Falls & the village of Elands and 68km from Taree).
40 yrs off the grid on solar power in 1000acres of wild forest/rainforest surrounded by cascading river spa pools. Great friends and local community, transitioning away from fossil fuels and engaged in landcare projects and environmental activism, ( check out savebulga forest.org for our current local community campaign).
In November2019, towards the end of our worst drought on record, our whole Plateau was surrounded by a ring of fires and while much of our forested land was burned, the Plateau land and our house and gardens amazingly survived unscathed. ( we were trapped by the suddenness of the blaze out on the fireground all night in our 4WD as we tried unsucessfully to escape ). Since then, the forest regrowth has been stupendous but another dry Summer has us a bit on edge about what will come next and who can tell these days?
We are always enthusiastic, busy and really appreciative of those who'd like to join in both in food growing, helping Sue to build her bush cabin and Dave to build a new shed as well as various community projects like the Oxygen Farm walking trail, the Old SawMill events venue, our "recombobulation" (community disaster recovery) centre and sometimes even protests against logging for Woodchip to burn for electricity (we think this is pure madness in our climate crisis).
Happy to tour you around our beautiful plateaus' natural wonders including the Ellenborough Falls which is the second highest single drop waterfall in Australia and of course our 7 access tracks to the cascading Doyles River which wraps around our land and provides many invigorating spa pools all along the way.
We encourage longer stayers with their own camping setups but there are also 2 guest bedrooms in a wing off the verandah of our house available, one with 3 single beds and the other with a queen bed, so everyone is most welcome to come and experience our long term attempt at sustainable living.
Those with previous gardening/ building , and physical work skills are especially appreciated but enthusiasm to learn new skills can be just as good!
The Summer garden is currently harvesting masses of fruit and vegie produce and i'm busy preserving various combinations for our winter larder of Sauces, pickles jams and soon olives. Every day lunches come fresh and delicious to your waiting plate and evening meals are cooked on the old combustion wood stove ( which also heats water for the shower, etc).
Hope to see you in the near future. cheers Heather
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Sustainable living and a low carbon footprint is our aim and I'm pleased to tell you that we are doing quite well and that the whole system just gets better and better year by year,( of course, with the invaluable help from our multicultural visitor collaborations.)
Help
We are now into our third year of recovery after our place was scorched by the 2019 bushfires and tanks, fences sheds and all "hipstoric" cabins destroyed. However the house, gardens, orchard and swales survived the blaze and we are actively working both on the home front and around the community, generally trying to recombobulate. We always welcome help from and the company of intrepid Nature lovers who want to come out and help make a difference .
Both Dave and I are Zoologists and keen bird watcher/naturalists, loving to guide you to mountain lookouts, rainforest creeks, fantastic sculptured rock pools and cascades of the Doyles River (which wraps around our,now 940 wild acres and drops over 200m in 2kms).
The Summer garden is in transition to Winter crops and we have vegies new to many,such as Okinawa Spinach, native Warrigal Greens,Purslane,Fat Hen, and bamboo shoots; also loads of salad vegies and herbs that come direct to our lunchtime feasts. The well stocked pantry of home made produce, includes herbed olives, walnuts, macadamia nuts, assorted jams,pickles, bottled fruits,sauces and cordial.
Meals are cooked on the old faithful wood stove which also supplies hot water.
Our son Dylan has GPS mapped 31kms of tracks on the land and is developing bike trails which you can explore.
Our local community is actively transitioning to a resilient future beyond fossil fuels and projects like the "Oxygen Farm" Conservation Reserve, Solar array on the local Hall, the Community Health Centre and Old Timbermill regeneration project can also be part of your experience.
You will be genuinely welcomed & appreciated here . We are "off-grid" on solar power with data limited satelite internet and WiFi available. We are happy to pick you up from the closest towns - Wingham/ Taree/ Port Macquarie but as it is a 3 to 4 hr return trip we need for you to plan for a one week minimum stay if you don't have your own transport.
Currently gathering mulch, and animal manure for compost making and mulching garden beds. Also building Sues' cabin and a tin shed to replace the one we lost in the fires.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Our home has a verandah all around and a covered walkway to the guest bedroom wing close to Daves room. Heather has a sepatate living space above the main house.
Sue who came as a wwoofer before the fires and stayed , now has a caravan and is building a bush cabin on the site of the one which was lost in the fires.
Other helpers can also come with an independent camping setup (near to the main house) . Flush toilet(septic) and composting toilet. Woodstove runs cooking and hot water to shower in inside bathroom. Satelite TV,WiFi and internet,skype. Mobile phone reception at house with Wifi calling but also about 4 kms away on road to Elands. There are also 2 guest bedrooms in a wing off the verandah of our house, one with 3 single beds and the other with a queen bed,
What else ...
We enjoy taking our helpers on bushwalks and to local beauty spots and community events . The Ellenborough Falls in our local village 22kms away is the second longest single drop waterfall in the southern hemisphere (200m) but there are many other cascades and waterfalls,the Oxygen Farm Conservation Reserve and an old Sawmill which is now a community owned company hosting diverse events. Work is flexible depending on weather conditions and tasks we need to complete so we try for a good balance of work and recreation and are happy to take our visitors out sightseeing in our local area.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Have wifi and satelite internet but only limited data so can be used for basic email communication but not movies
Space for parking camper vans
4 Wheel Drive campervans (2WD in dry) . Not really big rigs as road in has one steepish hill.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Max 4-5 hours a day,most days but tours and walk/swims also. /rides in local area as weather appropriate.
