Grant

Australia
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
Description
My love of the outdoors, for the people and places I encounter as I travel and a passion for growing and preserving food and for community living makes workaway/wwoofing and I a great combo

As such it’s been part of my world for nearly 15 years. Amongst plenty of hard work I’ve met some wonderful people, learnt an incredible amount both in terms of farming practices, community living and different cultures and ways of life
Interests
Hiking
Nature
Carpentry
Cooking & food
Gardening
Writing
Farming
Books
Outdoor activities
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
Italian: Beginner
Japanese: Beginner
More details about my language interests
I love learning languages and although I am unlikely to ever become proficient in one other than English, I enjoy the journey that comes from learning them and always take the time to pick up what I can when in a new country
Find a language partner
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
Some knowledge of:
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Life at a Farmstay
Animal Care
Able to teach about:
Gardening
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Teaching
More details about your skills
Recently I completed a one year permaculture internship at Winderong Farm in Kangaroo Valley. There I was immersed in food growing, regenerative land/animal management including small-scale dairy, bush regen and infrastructure support, all underpinned by community living

Currently at home in Sydney I’ve got some longer term grapes and passionfruit growing and always try to keep 3 or 4 pineapples on the go. I have also managed to fill every spare growing space I share with my neighbours with vegetables, fruit and herbs. We’re also very lucky to have a community food forest, food co-op and tool library in our area that I volunteer at.

Read on for some other great experiences I’ve had in the past...

On overseas travels I have helped out with olives, vineyards and market gardens in Tuscan Italy as well as growing vegetables at altitude in South Tyrol. In Spain I was involved in some light construction and garden prep. In Hungary I helped finish a mud brick house on one farm while on another we helped with goat and cattle management as well as land clearing and some bobcat/JCB work. While on a hiking trip through Greece, I tutored Maths and English as well as assisted with stone construction work. On travels to the USA I worked on farm building restoration as well as their market garden planting/weeding/harvesting cycle, including learning the pleasures of scything. During an extended stay in New York City I was fortunate to volunteer at an incredible urban community farm as well as contribute to a composting program that was on a scale to behold. In Germany I was helping look after goats and the cheese they produced and constructing milking/feeding stands. I was also harvesting, prepping beds for spring planting, repotting perennials and cooking/bottling crazy hot 7-Pot chilli sauce. On a recent visit to Japan I was hands on with the rice harvest as well as gaining a unique perspective on community living

Closer to home I had a wonderful time wwoofing on the far south coast of NSW helping out on a mixed-use community farm and doing some native gardening and bush regen. I also had time in the Victorian High Country harvesting potatoes, looking after goats and helping out in a local bakery. In Tasmania it was prepping a winter (or two) worth of firewood as well as tending the veggie patch and enjoying peak berry harvest. On the Queensland Sunshine Coast hinterland and Northern NSW I’ve helped out with vegetable growing and landcare on various community farms

Beyond the Workaway/WWOOFing skills that I've picked up along the way, I previously made maps for a living and have spent a number years coaching outrigger canoeing
Age
53
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  no
- Special dietary requirements
  no

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21 Jun 2025

Left by Workawayer () for host (Permaculture homestead and ...)

I spent a wonderful month earlier this year. Here I was fortunate to have most of my time contributing to the vegetable garden. While getting amongst staking, pruning and harvesting tomatoes, raising and planting seedlings, digging up pounds of potatoes, prepping beds, mulching, and watering, I never ceased to be amazed at how in only a couple of… read more

(Excellent )

26 Mar 2025

Left by host for Workawayer ()

Grant was incredible to have around, just a dream. Calm, wise, diligent, a great listener, bursting with knowledge and passion about gardening and permaculture. His enthusiasm for the garden was infectious! He could work very independently and take initiative to set up his own tasks. He joined in on our communal meals, helped wash up & kept things… read more

(Excellent )

1 Feb 2025

Left by host (Help a community with a ...) for Workawayer ()

Grant is a highly motivated person with a high commitment to permaculture, systems, growing food and organics. He takes on projects and can work independently. He is extraordinarily talented and highly personable. He is a treasure.

(Excellent )

21 Jan 2025

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help a community with a ...)

I’m always inspired by the passion and energy of a group of people coming together to make a life as a community. This is no exception. With such passion invariably comes challenges and friction. This is no exception.

And amongst the striving for a better future it can be easy for a community to overlook what already is.

At this place what… read more there is right now is a passionate group of people of diverse ages, backgrounds and stories developing connections to the land, their food, each other and the broader community, all with the backdrop of the lush and abundant subtropical surrounds of the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Amongst this I had the joy of sharing, learning and building on my passions for growing food and also mapping. A lot of the work was self-directed which although fine for me was challenging for some volunteers. This is something I know this place is working on and I feel confident they’ll find a sweet-spot between the freedom of self-direction and leveraging the joys and efficiencies of communal enterprise.

With the hot days I appreciated early starts. The mist would be clearing from the valley as the sun sent its first rays through a gap in the distant mountain range. Occasionally a king parrot entourage would drop by for a foraging stop. The garden was a magic place to kick off the day. Finishing up and then taking a cooling swim in the dam capped each morning off beautifully.

Outside of work you’ve got the two bookends of south-east Queensland recreation possibilities on your doorstep. Walking straight out from here there’s some great hiking into the surrounding forests and hills. If you’re after a resort-style fix it’s only a short drive to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast. And in between there is the retro randomness and Belli Park social hub that is Mrs Brown’s Diner.

Between the residents, the volunteers and the owners I sense this place is on a journey to define what it wants to be in an era where permaculture principles and ideals are intersecting Australia's housing challenges. As it does this I can see this place taking all the amazing things that it already is and building on them to be a template of possibilities for Australian communities into the next quarter of the 21st century.

Thank you to everyone I got to spend time with at this place for sharing your world and your stories with me. You made me feel welcome and at home. I look forward to returning and seeing and hearing of you write the next chapters of your incredible journey

(Excellent )

7 Dec 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Stay at our permaculture ...)

A small piece of paradise tucked into a bigger piece paradise. That's one way I'd describe Izabella and Tony's place. And by paradise I mean a comfortable, beautifully styles place that brings people together around landscaping, growing food and raising goats, all with a permaculture focus. Thank you Izabella and Tony for sharing your space with… read more

(Excellent )

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21 Jun 2025

Left by Workawayer () for host (Permaculture homestead and ...)

(Excellent)

26 Mar 2025

Left by host for Workawayer ()

(Excellent)

1 Feb 2025

Left by host (Help a community with a ...) for Workawayer ()

(Excellent)

21 Jan 2025

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help a community with a ...)

(Excellent)

7 Dec 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Stay at our permaculture ...)

(Excellent)

19 Nov 2024

Left by host (Be part of a permaculture ...) for Workawayer ()

Grant was a great contributor to our gardens. He really knows his stuff about different aspects of gardening. I learned a lot from him. He works hard, and achieves a lot. We weren't needing to do any macro work, mainly weeding, pruning, planting and mulching. Grant works early in the day, which is perfect here, as the days are long and hot.
Grant… read more

(Excellent)

13 Nov 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Be part of a permaculture ...)

I had almost two week staying at Suella and John's musical permaculture haven. Here I was pruning, mulching and prepping beds for summer planting. I also helped harvest an amazing crop of potatoes which featured for many a meal thereafter.

They're both passionate musicians and outside of work I got to enjoy some great live music being rehearsed… read more

(Excellent)

29 Jun 2023

Left by host (Off-grid living in an ...) for Workawayer ()

Grant was a delightful guest. He was easy to be with and more than happy to help out. He also was able to work well unsupervised, as well as working together. We were more than happy with the results of his work. He enjoyed exploring the property, and some time alone as much as he enjoyed engaging in conversations or activities with us. We miss… read more

(Excellent)

26 Jun 2023

Left by Workawayer () for host (Off-grid living in an ...)

Tucked up the end of a beautiful rainforest valley is the community and the welcoming home of Johanna and Brett. I spent two weeks helping planting and pruning as well as fighting back the encroaching lantana to create a buffer for the upcoming bushfire season. I also helped sure-up a road bank from the appetite-fuelled scratchings of bush… read more

(Excellent)

21 Nov 2022

Left by Workawayer () for host (Daily life in the beautiful ...)

One of the beautiful things about being a human-being is the pleasure from being part of a community coming together. Whether it be weekend family gatherings, work colleagues celebrating a birthday, barracking for your country at sport, being stuck in an elevator with new found friends or connecting online with those having a passion for… read more

(Excellent)