quickly, for those who don't know:
Jasper Hall, for all it's beauty, was somewhat disappointing in the farming sector, which is part of the reason i'm no longer there. the place seems to be in a state of flux, with some people on the way out, others on the way in, and nobody with enough focus or managerial skill to pull it all together. some of the garden beds were really in a shambles: full of weeds or just unplanted , half the veggies having been eaten by worms or an unattended horse, chickens not laying and constantly escaping from their pen, water pumps not working, tractor broken down, etc, etc, etc. boy, listing all those things makes me surprised i managed to stay there for the 3 weeks i did. it wasn't all bad of course, some of the people were really nice and i enjoyed their company, the setting in the mountains was beautiful and the swimming hole down at the creek was great. but i didn't really connect with anyone on a deep enough level to keep me there, and i didn't feel that i was learning anything about farming or gardening. the biggest reason i left was the place was just so isolated. at least an hour's drive to get to a real town or the coast, and since i don't have a car it was more like 2.5 hours to hitchhike down. without the beach or people it just didn't feel like Australia to me.
so now i am on the beach. i'm staying in a little township called Suffolk Park, just south of Byron Bay and just north of Lennox Head where i stayed last time. it's a neat little seaside town, quiet but active, secluded but close to town. it's kinda funny to me that i should be staying here now as i never actually visited it when i was here before. i found myself here, somewhat predictably, thru a man, Michael. we met online and after dinner and some drinks i ended up spending a weekend at his place. he's a nice guy with lots of connections and local knowledge. fortunately he helped me find my current job/housing arrangement here at the Suffolk Park Holiday Park, a sort of campground/caravan park on the beach. the people who run the place are really great, and i'm actually working less hours/day here than i was on the farm, doing pretty much the same kinda work. plus they're planning to erect several permanent cabin tents in the next two months so i'll be able to get some paid work as well.
as for farming, i do plan to get back to it at some point, i'm just not ready to be in such an isolated location to do it. right now i'm focusing on trying to find something close enough to public transport near Melbourne so i can combine the farming/city experience and have found a couple of promising candidates. however, Chad will be arriving in Dec/Jan so we may focus our time more in the city center. if that's the case, i'll wait till i'm in Tasmania to resume full time farmer fun, since everything in Tassy is isolated, and i've already found a farm there i'm excited about. plus i still have a contact down there in the form of my down under doppleganger, Tassy Nick (what's with me and the Nicks?) formerly a professional bush-walker, so maybe i can finally get some backcountry hiking and camping in. but for now, i'm fine with beachside camping and to-and-from town hiking.
that's all for now, getting a ride into town this morning to pick up a few small groceries, then back here for some work. hope all is well State side, you know you can always write and let me know what's going on with you, too. i'll try to be better about this blog in the future.
cheers,
nick
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