Day 4 - Herbs!

It was rainy today, so we spent our time replanting herbs that were pulled up from the fields.  We had to trim and replant them into pots for sale.  I love my herbs, so I was enjoying today's work.  Pretty tired though from the week...  very much looking forward to Friday!

Rosemary, oregano, mint, and thyme

I love rosemary!  My favorite herb

Nothing like a farm manicure!

Day 3 at the Farm

Day 3 on the farm was my favorite so far.  We started the day off picking kale and putting them in bunches for sale. 

They are growing 3 different varieties of kale.

Lots of greens!

I also got to pick some eggplant.  

We were then put to work making seedlings for sale to nurseries and for transplanting to soil and pots on the farm once they start to grow. 

Kale seedlings ready for the greenhouse

Some fun facts about our farm. They collect rainwater and filter it for drinking, bathing, and cooking.  We are encouraged to be conscious of our use and shorten our showers.  Also, they compost all their food scraps.  Go green!

Tuesday - Day 2 at the Farm

Day 2 of WWOOF-ing.  Today, we planted silver beet and kale in the fields.  We also helped to lay down weed mat in a new greenhouse that they are converting from the old chicken coup.  Today made me really appreciate organic farming and realize what needs to be done to make sure our food is pesticide and chemical free.  At the farm, they cannot use chemicals that are so easy to spray on the weeds and instead lay down weed mat for each crop to prevent them from growing.  It is very time consuming.  The work is not extremely strenuous here, but it is still manual labor.  It’s tiring!  I am starting to understand why we pay the prices that we do for food that is natural and chemical free.  Our host was telling us about how pesticides and fertilizers can be controlled now by computers and recycled to use over and over again on the plants.  Gross!  It can be hard to eat 100% organic all the time, especially with the prices, but being here and seeing my food in the ground really makes me want to eat more naturally.  It just doesn’t make sense to put chemicals into your body if you don’t have to do it.  

Silver beet

Silver beet in the fields

Len working on the greenhouse roof

Thai Basil

Lucy the cow!

Monday - Day One at Second Nature Organic Farm

I’m sure our WWOOF host got a good chuckle when he picked us up at the train station in Narangba today.   We stepped off in our pleather jackets, big sunglasses, make up on, hair done with 2 huge bags, and lots of extra stuff.  Not exactly looking like farmer hands! The farm is only about 2 minutes from town and the train station, which makes me happy.  We can be introduced to the farm experience, but still not be completely isolated and out in the middle of No-where-ville.  We went on a short tour of the farm, and then had lunch outside with the family. Len, his wife Renee, and their children, ages 4 and 4 months live in one house, and Len's parents live in another house on the property.  They emigrated from Italy and started this farm raising chooks (chickens), but now Len focuses on organic fruits and vegetables.

Then it was time for work! What did our afternoon of work look like?  Well, we started out putting tree branches in a pile.  Easy stuff.  And then it was time to shovel cow sh@t.  Oh yes, I can hear everyone laughing from here – hahaha - so hilarious! I can just see you at home cracking up at the image of us two shoveling manure.  Sorry – no photo documentation was taken, so you’ll have to leave that image to your imagination.  How did this work you ask?  Well, there was a guy driving a tractor with a bucket in the back filled with manure.  Pam and I spread the manure out over the crops with a shovel for about an hour or so.  Believe me, the sh#t and cr%p jokes were flying.  What a load of cr$p! We are shootin’ the s&it.  Hahaha, I guess that is what some would call “character building. “ I'll tell you what... I’ve never smelled so bad in my life.

Kale seedlings ready to plant in pots

We then got to plant some kale seedlings in pots.  Now this was way more our style.  We did have to mix in “blood and bones” which is an organic fertilizer made from the remains of a cow.  It sounds pretty gruesome, but it really just looked like sawdust. We were done by 4 and had time to shower, relax, and watch TV.  Our accommodations are separate from the family and pretty nice.  We have a separate bathroom, fridge, and sitting room.   The family made us an awesome dinner, and then it was time for bed since we get up at 7:30 AM.  Agh.  The holiday is over.   So, we will work Monday through Friday with the weekend off to explore the area or take the train to the beach.  I do have to say it feels pretty great to do a little work, to be outside, and to have some meals prepared for us for a few weeks.  We'll see how I feel in a few days!

Banana trees

Brisbane

Brisbane is a great city that actually reminds me of Pittsburgh.  There is a river running right through it and lots of bridges.  They even have a lookout point, Mt. Coot-tha, where you can see the entire city.  We got to go up there last night and it was pretty amazing to see all the lights of Bris-vegas.  We got to walk around the South Bank on Saturday which is an area of Brisbane that flooded in January 2011. They have cleaned it up nicely and there is a man made beach area, river front walking trails, and lots of outdoor dining.  After a week in Byron Bay, it felt strange to pull out the wedges and put on make up to go out, but we had a lot of fun Friday and Saturday night in the Paddington and West End parts of the city.  We even stayed out past midnight both nights which is a first in Australia believe it or not!  Our friend, Diego, plays in a Brazilian band, so we got to see him at Casablanca.  Then we were invited to see an adult circus entertainment show at an unadvertised place called the Ice cream Factory.  Invite is by word of mouth and there were some amazing acts - trapeze performers, contortionists, that kind of thing.  We met a lot of really cool and friendly people in Brisbane and the best part is, no one believes we are 29 and 30! I mean Pam had to pull out her ID last night to actually prove she was 30... I think we might just stay in Australia forever!  We made the most of the city life and are packing up for Narangba tomorrow.  I don't even know if we have Internet at the farm, so there may be a few days off from blogging while I'm out picking avocados!  Ciao!

South Bank

South Bank

Streets Beach - Man made beach at the South Bank

Urban beach - grassy spot to hang out on in Bris

Campervans!

Pammy suggested I do an entry completely devoted to Campervans.  Campervans are fascinating.  And they all over the place in this country.  They provide transportation for beach hopping, hold all the supplies you need for camping, and give you a place to call home.  There is usually a bed in the back that converts to daytime seating, a mini fridge, a portable grill and whatever else you can pack away inside.  If you could attach a hammock to one somehow, I'd be completely sold! Backpackers, surfers, locals, and tourists can park their van in a campervan park or even on a hidden side street for the night.  One campervan owner told me you could pretty much sleep anywhere as long as you move your van early in the morning.  Where do you shower when living in a camper van? Not sure.   I’m assuming you rinse off in the ocean with an occasional shower in the camper park.   Now I don’t think this will be our solution to a permanent home, but we may give it a try for a weekend in the future or for a music festival.  And there are just so many van options to choose from.  There is the colorful spray painted wicked campers van, there is the classic VW bus van (probably my favorite), and there is the "looks like a creeper would hop out" option – that one is definitely out for us ladies.  Which do you like best?

We had to leave Byron Bay on Thursday and felt very sad pulling away from that place on the bus.  It really is such a great town.  We are now in Brisbane for the weekend getting all of the city we can before we go out to the country Monday morning.  Cheers to the weekend!

Ain't no mountain high enough...

We did it! Made it to the top of Mt. Warning.  This was one tough climb.  The hike takes you about 1000 meters or 3280 feet high and it is around 5.5 miles of steps and steep hills.  The last 400 meters are literally straight up and you need to use a chain to help make it to the summit.  I was scared for sure.  I mean there was kids doing this climb without even blinking. They had NO fear.  But not me.  I was sweating, swearing, and praying silently to myself the entire last part.  It was worth the effort! The view at the top of Mt. Warning was beautiful and we got to see Byron Bay and the Gold Coast in the distance!

On the way up

Giant ferns!

On our way up

At the summit!  

This isn't even the steepest part, but I couldn't take a photo there because I was clinging on for dear life.  Hopefully, it gives you an idea of what the last 400 meters looked like.

 Success! Pam drove on the left hand side of the road today like a champ!  Right hand turns were a little tricky at first and she enjoyed hugging the left side of the road, but overall no problems.  The funniest part was every time she wanted to put her turn signal on, she turned on the windshield wipers... every time - which was about 50 times.... still laughing about that!

Dream car - Hyundai Getz

We stopped on the way home at a roadside market for some fresh zucchini, brussel sprouts, and watermelon! Yum

Our first WWOOF job

We have our first WWOOF job lined up!  Check out this organic farm we will be staying at for 2 weeks.  http://secondnatureorganic.com.au/about_us.   We will be about an hour north of Brisbane in Queensland near a town called Narangba. Here's a map for those who are curious.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&q=narangba&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x6b93fa064f2934c1:0x502a35af3de9270,Narangba+QLD&gl=au&ei=3p-5T6zYKOuTiQfZoNzWCA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ8gEwAA.

So, we will be given lodging and food in exchange for our work.  This farm also runs cooking classes and school tours which I hope to be involved with - I miss being around kids! Can you say - The Simple Life??? Someone should really be recording this.  We aren't as bad as these 2 were, but I am sure there will be some good stories coming.

We are headed to tackle Mt. Warning Tuesday!  Pam will be driving us on the other side of the road for the first time - I'm sure I will be in shotgun using my pretend brake and biting my fingernails.... Take a look!  http://mtwarning.com/.

Aussie's love...

Now I'm not an expert, but here are a few things I've noticed that the Aussie's seem to love!

Grilling

Havaianas

Not sure the name of this cut, but we're calling it the Peacock do.  It's a party all over.  Spikey in the front and all the way to the back.

If you don't have a bike, just board around town.  A quick way to get from A to B.

Beautiful things

Friday we went kayaking with Go Sea Kayak - an ecocertified company with knowledgable and cute guides.  It was awesome to be out on the water for a few hours, and it was actually so calm that they took us into the Pacific Ocean.  BONUS - we saw dolphins and sea turtles.  We also got to snorkel for a little in the Bay.  The water was pretty clear and not too cold since we were in our wet suits.  

Go Team Red

Watching for dolphins

Not having a television for the week has forced us to get out and about, so we saw a fun bluegrass band Friday night at the Beach Hotel - FREE of course!  It was a venue that was half inside/half outside.  On the way there, I saw this awesome light shop. I would just love to have these lanterns and lights out in my backyard and patio some day!

On Saturday, we walked to Cape Byron and the most easterly point of Australia.  Seriously, everywhere you look it is just gorgeous.  I feel like I sound like a broken record saying how beautiful it is over and over again, but Byron just doesn't disappoint.

Watego Beach

Aussie Bush Turkey

Cape Byron and Byron Lighthouse

Byron Bay

Byron Bay is absolutely breathtaking. It is my favorite spot so far in Australia and very picturesque.      It is a surfer spot filled with hippies, backpackers, tourists, and families.  On our first night, we went out to the Railway which is a local hangout with FREE outdoor live music every night.  It doesn't get much better than that!  There is actually live music all over this town and it is very relaxed.  Some of the locals don't even wear shoes regularly.  Here are a some of the amazing beaches we spent time at today.

Loving the murals everywhere

Tallow Beach (Dolphin Beach)

Tallow Beach

Main Beach

Main Beach

Yes, those are surfers down there!

View of The Pass

Throw in a rainbow to make the day even more beautiful...

End it with a sunset!