Every year on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) a fleet of sailing yachts sets out from Sydney to sail down to Hobart, Tasmania.
It is quite a sight to see all these sailboats from the fastest 100 footers to the smallest yacht tack upwind from the harbour and turn south onto the ocean.

Accompanied by hundreds of boats and news helicopters, the sailors are approaching South Head here for 2 days and 6 hours for the fastest, but over 5 days for the slower ships to get to Tassie.
Hope they all make it before the new year!
Between number 1 and 2 were only 3 minutes with Investec Loyal beating 5-times winner Wild Oates.

PDC at Milkwood

A week before the course at Milkwood starts I meet Paul at a Greenups meeting. He's going to the course as well and still without transport. I end up driving to Mudgee with a full car, Claire and Alexia also share the 4.5-hour ride. After the last 20km over a dirt road we arrive at the farm and we each get a camp site assigned along the Campbells Creek. That'll be our base for the next 2 weeks. Slowly more people arrive; tomorrow morning the course will start.
Milkwood is a small organic permaculture demonstration farm. It's great to be able to see different permaculture solutions in growing and working actuality around while learning the theory and principles behind it. The best part is that the solutions often look like total fun, for example the straw bale chook run, the food forest and of course the rocket powered shower. All the classes, entertainment and fantastic meals by cook Rose are in the multi-functional woolshed. Sometimes a bit cold and windy, but the warm drinks and good company keep us comfortable enough. It's immediately obvious that Nick, Kirsten and their team really practice the permaculture ethics; land care, people care and fair share.

The theory classes are interlaced with a lot of group design exercises and showcase walks around the farm. The different teachers are very knowledgeable and passionate storytellers. There's always room for Q&A and discussions on the topics. We learn a lot, also in a fun way. And not only from the teachers but from the diverse group of fellow students and Milkwood interns as well. Made a lot of wonderful friends, too ;-)
I'm very happy I invested in this course!


"Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple"
Bill Mollison (co-originator of the Permaculture concept)

Sustainable Streetworks

In the Custom House we saw the Street Works exhibition with ideas to liven up public spaces with interactive installations. A few of the entries in the competition organised by AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) were selected to be realised at different places around the city.
It was fun to fill my empty coffee cup with dirt and seed and placing it in the GIG racks to grow native plants or rest in the Beer Line,  an urban barley field that will be harvested and made into beer.

Wwoofing at Waru

To get some hands-on practice before I join the Permaculture design course at Milkwood I decide to go wwoofing - 'willing workers on organic farms'. A whole different experience for this city girl. After contacting a couple of addresses I end up at Waru organic farm just outside Orange, NSW. A beautiful place on a slope with views over a dam and forested surroundings.
On the Central tablelands it's really winter with frost in the night and morning. There are only some winter hardy veggies and herbs growing to be picked and harvested, like thyme, kale, rocket, beetroot. Most of the work consists of preparing the 18 meter beds for the new season; weeding and re-modelling them into terraces, and after that compost and mulch on top. The heavy duty weeding is a bit too much for my poor back, but hoeing and raking is going well. And I join the girls with the more gentle weeding of the herb beds.
We work from 8 am with a short lunch break till 2pm. The afternoons we can spend as we like; going for a walk (with Betty the friendly farm dog), behind a laptop watching movies or surfing the Internet (if you have a mobile broadband device), or reading through the extensive library of Anna. Sometimes we get a ride with Anna into town.

To my own surprise I'm thoroughly enjoying working outside in the fields, listening to the exotic bird calls. It's almost meditative. The city is literary far away with no reception on my mobile phone (I have to walk 20 minutes up the hill to get a bit of reception ;-) nor Internet access.
I'm learning a lot as Anna enjoys sharing her immense knowledge. She explains about crop rotation, seed harvesting, composting, companion planting, micro climates and a lot more. Really looking forward to get my own garden going someday. And definitely will have some chooks roaming around, what fun creatures!

Eikoh Hosoe: theatre of memory

Went to the Art Gallery of NSW to see the Archibald Prize 2011 exhibit, but was more inspired by the beautiful photography of Eikoh Hosoe who portrayed Butoh theatre from the beginning.

From harbour to coast

The end of June we're moving to Bondi Beach! Bye bye Woolloomooloo...'home sweet home'.

52 suburbs

In one of the rooms of the Museum of Sydney is the exhibition of 52 suburbs. Originally started as a photo blog by Louise Hawson it shows a different Sydney in all its colorful diversity. Hawson has a very good eye for 'the beauty in the burb'. Especially the combinations of pairs in which the images are shown, often make you smile. With over 600 suburbs she still has a long way to go...